Hasbros Warming Shelves?

[Chicago]

Now, since I was very young in the early 90's, I can't remember vividly what it was like to purchase a Hasbro figure in stores. I remember going home with them after trips to the local mall, but I've always wondered, what was it like for older collectors during this time?

In other words, which Hasbros were hot sellers and which were the Adrenaline Gymini sets of their day? I could probably guess which did or didn't sell much, but I would like to hear from some of the older collectors or anyone that remembers purchasing Hasbros in the early 90's.

So, what was it like?

[kev85hasbro]

I'm 22 now and when they were first in british shops i was 4 - 5. I didn't know all of the wrestlers but I knew most.

The ultimate was my first, then jake roberts.

A big store near me sold loads of figures. I use to beg my mum to take me on the weekend. She used to say to me, don't run off to the wrestling section, I want you to take your time and try and get something useful like a board game or something to do with football (soccer )

Anyway as soon as the door would open i would run as fast as i could to the hasbro figures. I remember taking ages over Demolition and Hulk Hogan number 2. I chose Hogan as I had smash loose.

I would have to save the backing card to see who i need, and to stare at.

As i got older i would spend my pocket money on them.


I'd say IRS was the easiest to find. A dusty Rhodes was hardest.

It was like winning £25 on the horses today. Exciting and loved it happening when you saw a new one in the shops.

wish it could happen now.

Whats your favourite figures

[Ruby Fusion]

I bought my 1st ones in 1997 (Hasbro had lost the license by then and I was just 22) in the local toystore. Now over here we had only seen series 1 and 2. Anyway, the store had: 2 rings, 2 Demolition Smashs, 1 Demolition Ax, 1 Ultimate Warrior (s1), 1 Macho Man (s1), 1 Akeem, 1 Brutus Beefcake (s1), 1 Roddy Piper and 1 Jake Roberts. So there you have the belgian pegwarmers.

The 1st time I came home with the ring and Roberts, then I went back and bought the rest (sold the 2nd ring on ebay as well as the other Smash).

[hbkjason]

I vividly remember the Nasty Boys being everywhere lol so from my POV they were the biggest shelf warmers the hardest for me to find was Yokozuna it took me forever to find that SOB

[Does that make me bad?]

I remember going into Brooklyn with my dad and little brother and seeing Alot of the tag teams. Seeing HBK, Bret Hart, Warrior, Hogan, Shango, Doink...ECT.

All i know is which ever one i wanted my brother got.

[JWLJN]

Here in the Pittsburgh area the Legion of Doom were shelfwarmers for years, especially at Hills. The Nasty Boys were the only Hasbros I was never able to locate at retail, leading me to believe here we only received the fabled Legion of Doom-only cases of that particular tag team series. Had no trouble finding Dusty, Andre, Nailz, the King of the Ring ring, the Royal Rumble ring, the Green cards etc. Bought the Nasty Boys from Figures Inc. around 1994.

The single carded Bushwhackers, Piper, and Honky Tonk Man also clogged up various Hills clearance aisles for years after the line was cancelled.

-J\/\/

[STOMWIJF]

I bought my first (Hasbro) wrestling figure while on vacation in the USA. In one TRU on Long Island they had rows and rows and rows of fat Big Bossman and Rude figures.

[Scotty Flamingo]

I remember Dusty Rhodes and Savage with the Jacket warming the shelves. The Yellow Card Crush, Nastys, and Green Cards were the hardest for me to find.

[kingofgoreobo]

single carded Bushwhackers and Headshrinkers were patheticly bad shelfwarmers.. at one point, I had 3 Samus, because every time I went to the store, I wanted at least one new figure. no clue why I kept getting Samu when there were no other figures, but w/e..

Samu was the worst, followed by Butch, Luke, & Fatu

[GreatOneBNBPro]

I was too young to really remember, but i do remember having a hard time finding
ANY yokozuna
ANY green cards(only have yoko and bomb)
Ric Flair
ANDRE
Nastys

Easy ones to find
Jake Roberts
Tito Santana
M$M (1st one)
Rockers

[GoldenHulk]

hbkjason said:

I vividly remember the Nasty Boys being everywhere lol so from my POV they were the biggest shelf warmers the hardest for me to find was Yokozuna it took me forever to find that SOB

I hate it when people from England tell us that! I looked all over for those figures back then, but never saw them at a retail store here in the United States. I never got them as a kid!

I'd say the common ones I always found were The Rockers, Bossman, and maybe Nailz from later in the run. After the first few series, nothing really hung around the shelves for too long, it seems. Fewer stores were receiving them and the ones that did sold them all down pretty well.

That's my experience in the middle of Illinois in the US, anyway.

[Deleted]

From my expereince Samu seemed to be the biggest shelf warmer, which is the reason i didnt own him up until a couple of months back because i wanted to get the others before they go.

I also actually remember my Woolworths had a lot of green crads when they came out and stayed there for a while too they were quite easy to find in my town

the hardest to find forme were repo man, and warrior 3, it took me ages to find those

[Mastermind]

there werent a lot of stores around me that carried hasbros..but the ones i remember on the shelves at a lot of places were the rockers,virgil,sid,and warlord..i never saw the green card series or the red cards in stores

[msenger76]

rockers, nasty boys, and big bossman filled the shelves forever in southwest michigan and northern indiana

[Deleted]

Well I was young when they were in stores but let me try to remember who wasn't warming shelves in the NY ares.

I passed on Andre the Giant once, and NEVER saw him again. Never found LOD, Nasties, Natural Disasters and Bam Bam. I had to resort to a hobby shop to get the set with Ludvig Borga, Yoko, Smoking Guns, etc.

Pretty much the rest were all in stores and gettable. As far as who you always saw, that I don't remember.

[ecwfan514]

I never experienced having WWF Hasbros as peg-warmers, they usually sold out as soon as they hit stores. I remember buying the first series Warrior and never seeing one since.

It got tougher as the line advanced. Because I lived in Quebec, the packaging had to be bilingual, and at times, stores abandonned ordering new sets. I always ended up buying them in lots during my summer vacations to the States, picking up complete sets before I headed home.

I completed finishing my regular (non-mail-away) set two years ago, when I bought a lot of the last series MOC for under $100.

[HHH316]

ecwfan514 said:

I never experienced having WWF Hasbros as peg-warmers, they usually sold out as soon as they hit stores. I remember buying the first series Warrior and never seeing one since.

Thats how it was a lot of times for me too. I'd see a figure once & never see it again. My hardest to find was probably Bret Hart. I couldnt find him anywhere. Yokozuna was pretty tough too. I got them both in the same day. I do remember seeing a lot of Greg Valentine & the Skinner.

[Stoker Ichikawa]

for some reason i have vivid memory of all the red card series shelf warming, and the Santana/Ric Flair series being in a bargin bin for £1.99

[Titantrap: Gold Club Veteran]

there were million dollar man fogs warming kb shelves here as late as 1999

[wrestlelord]

Late 1996 was a nice time to buy Hasbro's at KB Toys. Red cards were surprisingly huge shelf warmers in Norther California. I remember tons of Lex Luger, Yokozuna, Mr Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelows there that were 3 for 9.99. Bret hart (with purple hart) were 3 for 5.99 before they got put into the $1 bin (which is when I bought 15+ of them). Samu and Bushwhacker Luke were also huge shelf warmers at Toys R Us. Believe it or not, there were about 20 KOTR Yellow Rings at TRU in 1995 that never got bought. My brothers friend worked there and told us that they marked them down to 2.99 a piece. My parents bought 10 of them and when Ebay came years later...we sold them all for triple digit prices.

I will sure miss those days...