Wow, it’s been about four years since I reviewed the last of Mattel’s ThunderCats Classics figures! These were offered through Matty Collector and only survived one wave before Matty shut things down and eventually passed the license off to Super7. Super7 stepped in by offering a redo of the first wave of figures with more accessories. They also adopted a made-to-pre-order business model, which means delivery is sloooooow. But now, a new wave with new characters has shipped and I’m excited to finally have new additions to this collection!

And who better to kick things off than with Slithe, Yesssss? As the de facto leader of The Evil Mutants from Plun-Darr, Slithe is without a doubt the most coveted release in this wave! Not only is he an important character, but he’s also one of the more unique character designs of the Mutants, and I was beyond curious to see how his figure would turn out. The packaging is super snazzy with a cover featuring the red foil insignia of Mumm-Ra The Ever Living. Lift the cover off to reveal the window box within. We can see the figure from the front and from the back some character art and a blurb about Slithe. Inside, the figure comes on a hefty tray with a second tray containing the accessories, nested under it.

Slithe is indeed a big boi, with a lot of satisfying heft to the figure. His stocky, hunched body is beautifully recreated here in what is a wonderful compromise between realistic detail and the simple nature of his cartoon counterpart. His green skin is textured with reptilian scales, along with smooth patches scattered throughout, and a smooth, light blue surface for the undercarriage of his tail and his chest. Personally, I would have liked that light blue to be closer to a greenish-gray, but I still think it looks good. He’s got a yellow sash tied around his waist, secured by a Y-shaped harness with two brown suspenders running up from the back, over his shoulders and joining together in the center of his chest at what looks like a steer’s head fixture. Below the yellow sash he has a shaggy brown skirt that covers the modesty of his lizard-goodies. His tail curls up behind him, and his hump is crested with dinosaur-like spikes. The sculpt and coloring on display here are both fantastic, and this figure not only looks great, but feels incredibly solid in hand!

Slithe’s ugly mug is positioned dead center of his hump and mounted on a dumbell-style arm, which allows it to look side to side as well as up and down and swivel, like a dog hearing a strange noise. The sculpted is packed with detail and personality. His headpiece looks like it’s a separate piece that’s attached to the figure. One eye is characteristically popped a little larger than the other and he offers a slightly pensive glance, as if wondering why their last plan to defeat the ThunderCats went tits up. The paint on the exposed fangs could have been a little tighter, but you have to get in pretty close to see any issues.

Slithe features a second head is a lot more expressive, with his one left eye squinting a lot more and his mouth slightly agape to show his disgusting mutant lizard tongue. It’s really a toss-up as to which head I will display him with the most, but I’m currently leaning toward this second one.

Other than the unusual neck articulation, everything else is pretty standard. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The ankles are hinged and have generous lateral rockers. The wrists are on hinged pegs so they can be swapped out with the accessory holding hands. The tail will swivel, and he has what feels like a ball joint tucked under that waist sash. The joints work well and do a nice job of supporting his bulk, even if he isn’t resting on his tail. The balance on this figure is actually amazing for such an oddly shaped fellow!

You get three weapons with the figure. The first is this classic spiked mace. The shaft is a little bendy, but otherwise it’s a nice enough weapon.

Next up, you get an ax with a gnarled, rustic looking shaft, and a pretty well worn blade, full of nicks and dents and other battle damage. This is probably my favorite of the three, as it has loads of personality.

And finally, you get a cleaner ax with a spear head on the tip and a less worn blade. I like that the butt cap on the pole of this one matches the one on the mace.

Damn, this figure turned out great! And most importantly, I’m happy to see that the Ultimates fits in seamlessly with Matty’s Classics, as they are meant to. Yeah, it’s been a long road, and it goes without saying that collecting this line is not for those without resolve and patience. But the fact that it survived being cancelled to get handed off to such a skilled creator of action figures tells me that this line was meant to be. And having never had any ThunderCats figures as a kid, this line continuing is like a dream come true, and I’m happy to see it’s in good hands. It also makes me happy to see such high quality paint and quality control here, because I am pretty much All-In on their Silverhawks and G.I. JOE lines. I just hope I live long enough to actually get all these great figures in hand!