Vintage ThunderCats Toys: The LJN Line and Today's Figures

ThunderCats is the Rankin/Bass cartoon that ran in syndication from 1985 to 1989 across 130 episodes. Its original toys came from LJN in three yearly series, 1985 to 1987, including the ThunderTank and the Cats’ Lair playset. Collectors look for complete LJN figures with their weapons, boxed vehicles, and Super7’s Ultimates figures from 2020 on.

What was the original ThunderCats cartoon?

Rankin/Bass made the series and Telepictures distributed it in first-run syndication. Its two-part pilot first aired starting January 23, 1985, with dates that varied by market, and the regular weekday run began on September 9, 1985. Season 1 had 65 episodes. A 1986 TV movie, ThunderCats Ho!, later aired as five episodes, and three 20-episode seasons followed. The final episode aired on September 29, 1989.

The animation came from Japan: Pacific Animation Corporation, a studio that was acquired in 1989 to form Walt Disney Animation Japan. The show sat alongside other toy-led cartoons of the decade, which our 1980s cartoon collectibles hub lists title by title.

A later ThunderCats series aired on Cartoon Network from July 2011 to June 2012, made by Warner Bros. Animation. It is a different show with different designs and its own toys, and the listings on this page leave it out.

What did LJN make for ThunderCats?

LJN made the original figures, and they arrived in 1985, the same year as the cartoon. Collector archives divide the line into three series, one per year from 1985 to 1987. Some references give 1984 as the start, but two collector references and LJN’s own 1985 Toy Fair catalog place the launch in 1985.

The first wave held eight figures, four heroes and four villains. According to The Toy Collector’s Guide, they were sold on solid black card backs and later waves on a white starburst card, so the card can help date a carded figure.

Each figure had its own “Battle-Matic” action feature, and some had light-up eyes powered by a battery, which LJN called the secret Power Ring. The figures were made at about a 5.5-inch scale.

Which vehicles and playsets matter most?

The ThunderTank (catalog number 3540) came in the first wave. At the push of a button it sprang open into attack mode, showing a pop-up gun cockpit and giant claws with hidden weapons. Check that the spring action still works and that both tank treads are there.

The Cats’ Lair was the big piece. LJN showed it, catalog number 3550, in its 1985 Toy Fair catalog as a replica of the heroes’ fortress. Its pivoting cat head fired and received light beams, with a counter that sounded an alarm on a hit. A secret door dropped invaders into an underground cell, and huge paws lifted to reveal a cannon. The box also held a Mutant Attack Sled, an Ion Cannon and a ladder, the loose pieces most often missing from a used set.

What ThunderCats figures have been made since?

Super7 revealed its ThunderCats Ultimates in August 2019, and the first wave reached buyers in September 2020: Lion-O, Panthro, Mumm-Ra and Jackalman. They are 7-inch figures with many joints and swappable parts, sold in slip-case window boxes. Three of that first wave had appeared before, in a 2016 collector line made with Mattel; Super7 re-released them with upgraded accessories.

Super7 kept the line going. Its ThunderCats collection page, opened on October 1, 2026, listed Wave 15 (Jagara, Zaxx, Wizz-Ra and an old-man Mumm-Ra) along with a toy-color Lion-O and Mumm-Ra with LED light-up eyes, a nod to the LJN figures.

For a gift, a sealed Ultimates figure is the simple choice. A complete first-wave LJN figure or a boxed ThunderTank suits a collector who already knows the line.

What makes a vintage ThunderCats toy valuable?

Three things drive it: completeness, condition and packaging. A loose figure with its original weapon is worth more than one without, and a carded figure is worth more than either, with the black first-wave card the one collectors notice first.

On loose figures, check that the Battle-Matic feature still moves and the paint is clean. On the light-up figures and the Cats’ Lair, open the battery area before anything else: leaked batteries can damage the contacts, and a seller’s photo of a clean compartment answers the question quickly. Ask whether the light works rather than assuming it does. For dating marks, reissues and knockoffs across every line, see our action figure guide.

Where else can you go from here?

ThunderCats shared 1980s toy shelves with Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles followed late in the decade. The 1980s hub lists every title we cover from the decade.