bix
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2009 14:14:29 GMT -5
Posts: 106
|
Post by bix on Dec 12, 2009 19:33:40 GMT -5
- How rare/common are most of the figures considered? I know the Argentina-exclusive El Gigante from Play Well is the most valuable, but what about the rest? I never saw any of them other than Sting, Flair, Luger, Sid, Arn, and Windham in regular toy stores (I remember them being 3/$10 at KB immediately, sold at the checkout instead of with the action figures). I eventually got Pillman at L&S Comics (which specialized in wrestling stuff).
- Are the Twistables carded figures harder to find then the later Bend-Ems cards, the other way around, or are they split equally?
- Why did they make the exact same assortment of wrestlers as the US Galoob line?
- Were there any 2-packs other than Steiners and Sting/Luger? If so, were they of everyone in the line like with Galoob?
- What was up with Luger's belt?
- Why were Doom in street clothes (same goes for Galoob, but it's even weirder that both companies would make them the same way when the designs on some of the other wrestlers varied from the Galoob versions)?
Thanks!
|
|
|
|
Post by STOMWIJF on Dec 13, 2009 14:39:16 GMT -5
- Besides El Gigante I had trouble finding Tom Zenk MOC.
- Twistables are harder to find
- Have seen The Steiner Brothers 2-pack. Heard about a Doom set
- Do not know
- No idea, but am pretty sure that JusToys and Galoob are part of the same company.
|
|
|
|
Post by Lego Customs! on Dec 13, 2009 15:07:31 GMT -5
- No idea, but am pretty sure that JusToys and Galoob are part of the same company. I think Galoob became a part of Hasbro in 1998 |
|
bix
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2009 14:14:29 GMT -5
Posts: 106
|
Post by bix on Dec 13, 2009 16:16:29 GMT -5
Thanks Stom. Would you say that any of them are really worth anything aside from Gigante (and maybe Zenk MOC)? Any idea if there's a "Twistables" Gigante?
I don't know about Justoys and Galoob being the same company. Do the cards list an identical address or something?
Looking at eBay, I only see a handful of the WCW Justoys figures. I wonder why there aren't more, given that they were so common (especially the half of the line that I mentioned in the first post). It makes sense that people wouldn't bother trying to sell them loose since they got messed up so easily, but so few is pretty weird.
|
|
Hasbromaniac
Main Eventer
Joined on: Nov 17, 2004 16:13:30 GMT -5
Posts: 3,598
|
Post by Hasbromaniac on Dec 13, 2009 23:51:52 GMT -5
I'll have to dig my figures out of storage and make up a checklist as there is a boatload of packaging variations. Many that most collectors have never seen or heard of. Just a quick FYI: The 1st set of 6: Sting, Luger, Flair, Luger,Sid and Windham are pretty easy to find on either Twistables or Bend-ems cards. Zenk, Pillman, Rick, Scott , Simmons and Reed were only available on Bend-ems cards. Bend-ems came on small cards and large cards. Not sure why the figure line up was the same as Galoob, could have been the licensing rights at the time were for only those 12 wrestlers. More to come, hopefully in early 2010!  |
|
|
|
Post by WCWA Online on Dec 14, 2009 0:01:36 GMT -5
WCW in the early 90s had a licensing check sheet that all the wrestlers had to sign off on. Had action figures, foam stuff, t-shirts, other apparel (like sunglasses and stuff), posters, etc. The wrestlers all had the option to get whatever merch made that they wanted and got a percentage of the profits made from the merch, for the use of their likeness. I'd assume JusToys & Galoob had a partnership and just shared licensing rights, which just happened to be on the same 12 core figures. I assume if the Bendy figures didn't sell like snow to an eskimo, they would have made series 2 with the UK exclusive guys like the Freebirds, Big Josh, etc, and possibly the series 3 that even Galloob didn't get to with PN News and Ricky Morton. Who knows, revisionist vision is 20/20
sidenote, if you're the Bix I think you are (and I don't know why you wouldn't be, not like Bix is a common handle among internet wrestling fans). Welcome aboard. You do some great work. You make my wallet whine, but you do some great work.
|
|
romafan87
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Dec 21, 2008 22:24:31 GMT -5
Posts: 450
|
Post by romafan87 on Dec 14, 2009 1:08:09 GMT -5
When these first came out, I loved these. They were so much easier to play with and they had such better color selections. The Sting in the set is easily my favorite Sting figure ever and the Tom Zenk might have the coolest color scheme of any figure ever, even if he never wore that blue with two Z's on the sides of his trunks. Love the lime green on the Luger, too.
Always wondered why Doom were in their street clothes. I know they did most of their interviews like that, but it's weird that they both were featured like that in both sets. The Bend 'Ems all had cooler attire than their Galoob counterparts with the exception of four that didn't change: Sid, Windham, and Doom. Anyways, HUGE fan of Bend 'Ems.
|
|
bix
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2009 14:14:29 GMT -5
Posts: 106
|
Post by bix on Dec 14, 2009 16:51:55 GMT -5
I'll have to dig my figures out of storage and make up a checklist as there is a boatload of packaging variations. Many that most collectors have never seen or heard of. Just a quick FYI: The 1st set of 6: Sting, Luger, Flair, Luger,Sid and Windham are pretty easy to find on either Twistables or Bend-ems cards. Zenk, Pillman, Rick, Scott , Simmons and Reed were only available on Bend-ems cards. Well, that certainly makes a lot more sense out of everything. I presume that the Twistables only listed the first six on the card backs? WCW in the early 90s had a licensing check sheet that all the wrestlers had to sign off on. Had action figures, foam stuff, t-shirts, other apparel (like sunglasses and stuff), posters, etc. The wrestlers all had the option to get whatever merch made that they wanted and got a percentage of the profits made from the merch, for the use of their likeness. I'd assume JusToys & Galoob had a partnership and just shared licensing rights, which just happened to be on the same 12 core figures. I assume if the Bendy figures didn't sell like snow to an eskimo, they would have made series 2 with the UK exclusive guys like the Freebirds, Big Josh, etc, and possibly the series 3 that even Galloob didn't get to with PN News and Ricky Morton. Who knows, revisionist vision is 20/20 Did they always sell badly, though? I always got the feeling that the Twistables set, at least, was designed as a discount set (first showing up at KB as 3/$10, around the same time as the Galoob set came out), but I didn't see the other 6 at retail aside from one store specializing in wrestling products (who also had the UK set, which I saw at their booth at the Weekend of Champions convention right after they came out, but they charged $16 each, and even getting one didn't seem like a good use of my parents' money). Yup, same Bix, and thanks for the compliments. Been lurking here for a while and figured I might as well start posting, at least in this subforum since I stopped buying figures regularly years ago (just some occasional Jakks Classic Superstars in the last few years, generally if they were clearanced, like the Freebirds set when it showed up at KB for $20). When these first came out, I loved these. They were so much easier to play with and they had such better color selections. The Sting in the set is easily my favorite Sting figure ever and the Tom Zenk might have the coolest color scheme of any figure ever, even if he never wore that blue with two Z's on the sides of his trunks. Love the lime green on the Luger, too. Always wondered why Doom were in their street clothes. I know they did most of their interviews like that, but it's weird that they both were featured like that in both sets. The Bend 'Ems all had cooler attire than their Galoob counterparts with the exception of four that didn't change: Sid, Windham, and Doom. Anyways, HUGE fan of Bend 'Ems. I too loved playing with these more than any of my other figures, though I hated that they weren't in scale with the Galoob or Hasbro figures (the closest were the few AWA Remcos I picked up loose at a Weekend of Champions) and I agree that the alternate gear was generally superior. But seriously people, Luger's belt...that confused me as much at 5-6 years old as it does 2 decades later (I feel old). |
|
|
|
Post by WCWA Online on Dec 14, 2009 20:26:58 GMT -5
I only found the WCW Bend'Ems at drug stores and grocery stores and they were seemingly always there, for $3 each. I could only get one about one month and still had no problems completing the set
|
|
VintageFigs1
Main Eventer
Joined on: Oct 12, 2003 17:20:53 GMT -5
Posts: 3,514
|
Post by VintageFigs1 on Dec 16, 2009 13:20:22 GMT -5
L&S in Merrick, NY? Man, I miss Larry & Steve.
|
|
bix
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 8, 2009 14:14:29 GMT -5
Posts: 106
|
Post by bix on Dec 16, 2009 14:35:18 GMT -5
Yup, the L&S that was in Merrick. I was sad when they closed the store and moved some of their operations to the Smithtown Mall (I think).
There was an article about the store in WWF Magazine once. I'd love to see a scan of it.
|
|
VintageFigs1
Main Eventer
Joined on: Oct 12, 2003 17:20:53 GMT -5
Posts: 3,514
|
Post by VintageFigs1 on Dec 17, 2009 13:28:39 GMT -5
Yeah I used to go there all the time. I wasn't aware that they had moved. I just thought they closed. I was there the day of or a few days before WWF came to shoot for the article. They put out so much more wrestling stuff than they normally had on display.
|
|
