LJN George Steele Hairy Chest proto- looks like real deal!

[mesteve]

I'm sure everyone remembers that George Steel hairy chest proto that was up on Ebay for all those months. Some thought it was legit, but I think most thought it was a fake. I had that auction watched in my watched list, and looked at the pics often. But it wasn't until recently that I looked over the photos again, and had an "aha" moment. I still like to look at LJN ads from time to time, and I was looking at one online and just happened to have my George Steele factory produced figure right there in a box. From the pics it looked like the proto, at least the one in this particular ad, was a different sculpt than the produced version; not just the same figure with painted hair.

I looked at it enough to convince myself and ended up purchasing the figure and will post some close up pics later. But basically, I found, after comparing my factory produced figure with my newly acquired proto, that the factory figure has an extra quarter of an inch or so added to each shoulder to make them wider/broader. The angles in the armpits are totally different too whereas the produced figure is rounded, and the proto is sharp angled. Upon further examination, it seems that the sculpted hair is different too in some spots, with the proto not having hair in certain spots, and with it being more faint in the spots it does have it.

Here's my take:
-Proto in this particular ad (shown below on left) is a slightly different sculpt than produced version (below on right) for the reasons above.
-Proto shown on card backs (not pictured) appears that it may be wide-shouldered version but it is difficult to tell; hair appears to be all black though
-Some thought proto figure on Ebay was fake because hair wasn't black but instead brown. When I received the proto figure (middle pic below) I noticed that the hair is painted both in brown with black mixed in as well, similar to the below advertisement pic. You can also see a similar "blotchy" pattern in another LJN ad I've seen too. The brown is actually a reddish brown color.

Let me know your thoughts. I'll post better pics soon, but if you have a chance check out the arm pits of your Steele figure and you'll see what I'm talking about with that extra "bulk" on each shoulder and the more rounded shape they make. Sorry for the long read all...

[ozz]

I remember when this (along w/Panther Piper) were the most sought-after prototypes around. I have no input re: real vs. fake, and I'm not a naysayer, so kudos to you for obtaining it.

[mesteve]

Thanks for the comment Ozz.

Those figures in those two pics are almost exact, so I'm totally convinced that I own one version of the Steele proto. Lighting can sometimes make shades and colors look different, due to shadowing etc, but those two figures look really close, if not exact in terms of shape and proportion, which is definitely different than the produced figure. I don't think anyone has ever noticed or commented on that before.

I wrote on this board that I thought the R & B Valentine was genuine for those same reasons; I looked over all available pics very closely and what I was looking at mainly wasn't color, again because it can be deceiving depending on lighting, quality of camera used, or printer toner variations if in a paper advertisement etc., but I focus more on patterns, lines, and shapes, which the Valentine figure had plenty of in order to distinguish between. Too many matched in my opinion for it to be a fake, and I feel the same with this Steele figure. Different artists can paint a prototype differently, for instance painting one musical note and not another, or painting a thick stroke of paint at the tip of the hair on the forehead, whereas another artist painted that hairline thinner, but if it's the same version of a particular prototype, the overall shapes, lines, patterns, etc will be the same.

BTW Ozz, I've bee meaning to ask you where did the original proto pics of Panther Piper come from? I remember seeing them on your website years ago. Was it an old advertisement?

[mesteve]

Here's a few more pics for those LJN fanatics like myself that might be interested. I tried to get a good closeup of the right armpit areas so you could see what I'm talking about. Thanks for looking!

[ozz]

I think it's awesome. I always wondered about this figure. It was a grail for many collectors back in the day. Now it appears and most doubt its legitimacy. I take no side of the argument and will just believe it for the sake of believing it. I see no real point in creating one and it looks dead on to the original photo.

Anyway, have you ever seen the retail version that was painted solid dark brown on his torso? That used to be a "would-be" variant but I never fully believed it. It looks ridiculous but a couple popped up here and there. You never hear about such a thing these days.


The Panther Piper photo came from either a WWF magazine in the '80s or another wrestling magazine that had The Wrestling Ring ads in it. I would lean towards WWF magazine, and for some reason I kinda want to say Dec/Jan 1985-86 with a cartoon Piper on the cover. I realize the dates don't quite match up for the series 1 release, but I doubt back then they cared to be too up-to-date.

[mesteve]

I love how WWF used to have the illustrated magazine covers. Thanks for posting that.

Anyway, pretty sure I found another pic of the alternate sculpt Steele, this one with no painted chest hair. This has really gotten me interested now in seeing if there's any other pics out there. This one's not as easy to spot, but what gives it away is how close the right bicep is to the chest, i.e. how the arm is closer to his right side. Not sure what's on the right forearm or why they put it there, but I'm guessing it's a piece of clothing.

For those that haven't seen this pic before, it's a press release from one of the advertising firms working for LJN discussing the Stretch Wrestlers line. But the only real stretch figure in the pic is Orndorff in the upper left. The rest are just the regular 8" figures with clothes put on them.

[@WWERetroStars]

mesteve, can I steal that ad picture for our Facebook page?

[ozz]

That photo is awesome! I've never seen that before. The George Steele figure is definitely a "prior sculpt", whether it be the "hairy" one before it was painted or a different one all together. Seeing the clothes on them is so cool; they resemble the Remcos a lot because of it.

[romafan87]

Jan 28, 2015 13:05:52 GMT -5 mesteve said:

I love how WWF used to have the illustrated magazine covers. Thanks for posting that.

Anyway, pretty sure I found another pic of the alternate sculpt Steele, this one with no painted chest hair. This has really gotten me interested now in seeing if there's any other pics out there. This one's not as easy to spot, but what gives it away is how close the right bicep is to the chest, i.e. how the arm is closer to his right side. Not sure what's on the right forearm or why they put it there, but I'm guessing it's a piece of clothing.

For those that haven't seen this pic before, it's a press release from one of the advertising firms working for LJN discussing the Stretch Wrestlers line. But the only real stretch figure in the pic is Orndorff in the upper left. The rest are just the regular 8" figures with clothes put on them.

Steve - thank you for sharing the photos from the press kit. After all these years, that's one I've never seen!

[bdhaines26]

Piper prototype is indeed shown in Dec/Jan 85/86 issue, on the very last page.

[ozz]

Jan 30, 2015 14:13:43 GMT -5 bdhaines26 said:

Piper prototype is indeed shown in Dec/Jan 85/86 issue, on the very last page.

That image link doesn't work, but damn what a guess that was!

[mesteve]

I thought that photo had been posted before, but maybe I"m thinking of the youtube video. I have to thank and give credit to the man who runs Woodrow's Toys for that one. He was good enough to let that photo and a few other cool items go not too long ago, one of which was the Steele figure.

Cincy, feel free to use that photo however you like. I'm a big fan of your facebook page.