I don't think he's referring to the Mattel figures, but rather the "commemorative" tier of WWE replica belts.
I have a friend who has the commemorative spinner. I personally own an "ultra-deluxe" Winged Eagle and a "standard" version of the classic Intercontinetal belt, so I feel like I can give you a fair enough comparison. The only kind I have not been able to examine up close are the "deluxe" versions.
One thing that's interesting is that all of the belts
look very similar. If you had all three of those types I've seen setting on a shelf across the room, the commemorative would look a little cheaper but it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. When you get closer to them, the differences become more readily apparent.
The commemorative belts are toy quality, plain and simple. They look more like the real belts than the toys do, but you might be disappointed in the quality, especially if you're concerned about the leather.
The strap is hard plastic with a leather texture. I cannot stress that enough, because they really mislead you about it on the website. The plates look alright. If you've ever seen a Jakks or Mattel toy belt, the plates are made out of the same type of plastic. It looks fairly metallic, but there's no mistaking that it's plastic.
The WWE championship has a magnet on the top of the spinner to make it land right-side-up, but the only problem is that the magnet isn't quite strong enough for that to work. Half the time it just makes it spin in a wobbly manner before stopping upside down like a big "M."
It will look good hanging on the wall, just don't get too close to it.
There is a noticeable, but not overwhelming, difference in the quality of leather in the standard and ultra-deluxe. The real leather on the ultra-deluxe looks and feels much nicer and heavier, but like the standard, it still just feels like leather-covered cardboard. The faux leather on the standard feels cheaper and I've found it to be very easy to scuff. If you have these two types hanging on the wall, they won't look
too different.
The biggest difference in the standard and the ultra-deluxe is the thickness of the plates and the weight. The standard is surprisingly light, and the weight almost makes it feel like a toy. The plates look nice, but they are very thin. I'd say they're about the thickness of a quarter. The ultra-deluxe, on the other hand, is
very heavy. That's the first thing you'll notice when you pick it up. It may not look
quite as nice as a real belt, but it certainly feels like one. The plates on it are probably about as thick as two or three quarters stacked up.
For what it's worth, the standard came in a nylon bag and the ultra-deluxe came in a velvet bag.
:: EDIT::
If you're ever interested in seeing what the quality of the plates are like on the standard belts, order one of the belt clocks. They use the same thickness of plates, and can usually be found for about $15.
This is my ultra-deluxe Winged Eagle, BTW. You can see that the strap sort of wrinkles between the plates, which it wouldn't do if it were completely leather and not just leather over cardboard. Someday, I'd like to have it releathered.
I picked up my IC belt used on eBay for about $175. If you can get that good of a deal on one, it's really, really worth it to spring for the next tier up.
