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Post by The-Rock on May 1, 2020 0:34:39 GMT -5
The BCA era was a little bit like the wild west for Jakks, there wasn't really a rhyme or reason to their madness. Sometimes they'd totally knock it out of the park with a perfect figure, make a lower card guy, etc, where as other times we'd get totally made up attires, using the head of 1 wrestler and passing it off as a different wrestler, rereleasing near identical figures in subsequent lines.
Things started to settle down and by 2000 Jakks began to produce consistently quality TTL figures with good head scans, in wrestlers actual attires, and of all the regulars. However, as a kid collecting it always seemed like Jakks practices were clearly aimed at trying to string along and torture collectors in order to exploit supply and demand.
Here's what I considered to be some notorious Jakks & Collecting problems and torturing techniques during the TTL Era, and I'd love to hear your experiences:
-The constant use of arms without elbow joints...years after they released figures with elbow joints. It's impossible to do a proper stone cold stunner without joined elbows.
-The incomplete faction/tag team. Jakks loved to release tag teams in single packs and sometimes just 1 member of a tag team before they made the 2nd guy. It was always an issue that you'd find only 1 Dudley, 1 hardy, 1 member of 2 Cool, and Edge...and your collection was littered with incomplete tag teams and factions. Lucky enough to find TTL 6 Jeff Hardy...congratulations you're going to be waiting 3-4 months until TTL 8 Matt comes out. Missed out on Bubba Dudley in ROTR 1 but for some reason were able to get D'von...enjoy waiting almost a year for TTL 8. Got Bubba in ROTR 1, well you'll still be waiting a year for another shot at D'von and you'll have to buy the ultra expensive Cold Day in Dudleyville and get another Rock or buy FS 3...but boy you caught a break when a random D'von was released in Rebellion 3 in May. Had any of the numerous Edges? Congrats you now have to buy DS 5 or the picture perfect boxed set to get Christian...or wait literally almost a year for ROTR 4, No Way Out 2.
-Putting molded shirts/jackets with the best/most accurate attires. Cool Jericho attire? Better put a molded on shirt on! Edge in green, ya we better give him a molded black shirt...WM 17...he needs his trench coat! All the early American bad ass undertakers...nevermind the fact that he wrestlers sleeveless and shows his tattoo sleeves we made on earlier figures, he needs his molded on leather coat!
-Splurged and bought the expensive real sounds arena over the boring, relased a million times $10 hardcore ring? Not only does the arena not even do half the things advertised, but it's smaller than it looks! Wait now you need the hardcore ring for a bunch of incredible removable ring gear and the chaos on the cell...well just buy another ring! Chaos in the cell...oh ya that doesn't actually work like it looks...our bad!
-The 4 released figures of a single wrestler in 2 months without a perfect version. Real scan Steve Austin in ring...#1A or 1B guy in the company, yet doesn't get a ring gear figure until Spring of 2001? (1) No Way Out: screaming scan, no elbow joints, black wrist tape, knee braces, elbow pads but no knee pads, right boots; (2) TTL 10: new straight faced best scan, includes knee pads, elbow pads, and knee braces, white wrist tape, wrong boots, no elbow joints; (3) Rebellion 3: includes vest, black wrist tape, right boots, knee braces, but has screaming scan, now elbow joints, and no knee pads; (4) Famous Scenes 3 w/ vince: new straight faced scan, correct boots, knee pads and knee braces, jointed elbows...white wrist tape...came out last and requires you to get Vince too. Curiously the trading card from the famous scene it represents shows him in a vest with black wrist tape.
-The KB Toys gets the 3 new series you've been dying for problem. Planned to buy the whole series? Not if KB got them...Pick 3 you want most...that'll be $25.
-Similar to the KB Toys problem, the prisoner's dilemma. You've got $20 on you (or more likely your parent says you can spend $20) and your store just got in the (1) House of Pain, TTL 5/6/7, DS 5, ROTR 2 wave; (2) TTL 8, Rebellion 1, FS 1, Ring Gear 1; (3) Rebellion 2, TTL 9, FS 2, Ring Gear 2; or (4) TTL 10, Rebellion 3, ROTR 3, FS 3 production waves. What's more important...getting an updated American Bad Ass undertaker or having the APA? There's 4 Rebellion 2 Undertakers, who is the guy you've wanted most, but only 1 of Crash, Jericho, HHH and Foley who you also want. Do you gamble that 1 of those will be left?
-The best version or only way to get a figure is by buying a 2-pack, box set, and getting an unnecessary double. Not getting Christian unless you buy him with your 3rd edge. Famous Scenes 2 HHH, sure the cactus is nice...but the new shaved head foley's are far superior. Oh you need the dudley's desperately, want them in their signature red camo, and we should put them in a $10 2-pack series? Hmmm, well here's a $30 TRU boxed set with a totally unnecessary Rock.
Ultimately these types of issues made collecting a real pain back in 2000-2002. I'd be interested to hear your TTL-era collecting
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D Rock
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Post by D Rock on May 1, 2020 8:14:46 GMT -5
Ultimately these types of issues made collecting a real pain back in 2000-2002. I'd be interested to hear your TTL-era collecting I simply stopped purchasing figures. I have always and will always hate the TTL line. I stopped collecting after the BCA's and picked it back up with the R3 line. |
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Post by therealworldchampion on May 1, 2020 8:58:30 GMT -5
I'm almost certain the 3pack box sets were only $20
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Post by The-Rock on May 1, 2020 9:04:52 GMT -5
I'm almost certain the 3pack box sets were only $20 A Cold Day in Dudleyville, Brothers of Destruction, and the Too Cool 3-pack were 27.99. Trust me if CDID was only $20 I would've been able to get it. |
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aboyes1989
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Post by aboyes1989 on May 1, 2020 13:36:02 GMT -5
My favourite time collecting figures was during the TTL era. I Do agree with most of this, and it was annoying, especially looking back, but I was around 11-12 at the time and the availability of these figures in my local shops was amazing.
I missed out on some figures here and there, but no big deal.
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CMW Toys
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Post by CMW Toys on May 2, 2020 2:42:06 GMT -5
I was young through the TTL era, would have been 10 or so, but I just loved how many figures you could get. Seemed like there were so many sets coming out. Yeah I look back now and some of the figure designs were pretty bad, but at the time they were awesome!
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Post by The-Rock on May 2, 2020 13:39:55 GMT -5
I was young through the TTL era, would have been 10 or so, but I just loved how many figures you could get. Seemed like there were so many sets coming out. Yeah I look back now and some of the figure designs were pretty bad, but at the time they were awesome! Ya it felt like summer 2000 Jakks turned the corner and started pumping out great stuff, and it was a little bit more methodical than BCA's. BCA's you'd just have this weird roster hodgepodge of like Austin, Rock, Undertaker, HHH, Al snow, Kane, D'Lo, Road Dogg, Edge, Droz, Bossman, Foley, Val Venis (I didn't, but my friend did). My BCA's weren't as inconsistent with Austin, Rock, Undertaker, HHH, Mankind, Shane, Bossman, Kane, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Big Show, Road Dogg, Test, Bob Holly, Al Snow, Christian, Jeff Jarret...with some doubles of Rock, Austin mixed in. It only got bad in the early going with random TTL's mixed in. Prior to holidays 2000 (when it really got streamlined) I only had TTL's of Rock (multiple), Austin (multiple), HHH (multiple), Undertaker, Kane (multiple), Big Show, Billy Gunn, Edge, Vince, Jericho, Angle, Tazz, Ivory. Between holidays 2000 and end of 2001 that grew to include: Matt, Jeff, Stephanie, Benoit, Foley, Rikishi, Tori, X-Pac, D'von and Bubba, Eddie, Scotty2Hotty, GMS, William Regal, Molly, Al Snow, Raven, Albert, Perry Saturn, Christian, lita. In 02 I added RVD, Flair, Booker T Crazy to think that from almost 3 of collecting TTL's I only amassed 33 different male wrestlers. That seems like nothing. |
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Post by wolfpac on May 2, 2020 16:26:38 GMT -5
It always seemed like they didn’t release certain guys to come back to doing it later but never getting a chance
How about some of the glaring ttl omissions?
We got BCA versions of Godfather, Dlo brown, Val Venis, Taka - why did we not get TTLs? They never really left tv besides not being used as much - but still Venis was IC champ during the ttl era, godfather was on tv lots he was more over then hardcore holly who got like 4 or 5 figures in 2000/01
On this same note how did get so many Bob Hollys? Steve blackmen’s? They were used the same amount as the other guys
Or if jakks mad an awesome mold for someone like Rikishi get ready for like 5 versions of the same figure with minor paint changes
I always laugh at the TTL8 and 9 rikishi it reminds me of the simpsons with the new Malibu Stacey “But she has a new hat!”
Also how many Triple H in jeans did we need? I think we got like 5
And no Faarooq in ring gear to go with Bradshaw. I always hated that, I don’t think we ever got a ring gear faarooq even in the RA days
I also really wanted them to release the entire RTC for my figure fed, instead we just one a Stevie Richards in a suit that makes no sense to just have him as a singles guy lol
Still the good memories out weigh the bad but I’ll never forget those frustrations lol
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Post by Chicago on May 2, 2020 18:24:48 GMT -5
This period of Jakks is almost a blur for me. I've gone back and researched the BCA era to where I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of it, but by and large TTL is uncharted waters. I'm nowhere near as passionate about it as I am BCA, but I did grow up with TTL figures (I was between the ages of 11 and 13) so I still have a great deal of nostalgia for the line. What I remember most though is that I stopped collecting at some point in mid-to-late 2001, so unfortunately I missed out on Unchained Fury and the debut of R3 in '02. I don't recall if I kept up with every new TTL figure from '99 to '01, but I did have access to the Internet so I was at least familiar with the main releases. I ordered for the first time from RSC in the spring of '01 because I couldn't wait to get my hands on Rulers of the Ring 3.
Any time a new character was introduced, my parents would usually hook me up. There were some that I did not have, like Ivory and Tori, but the honest truth is that it was probably for the best, as I doubt I would have played with them much. Never had Tazz either, so I made do with my OSFTM Taz (sadly, the purple repaint). I remember having split tag teams in the sense that they did not match; for instance, my Too Cool consisted of Rulers of the Ring 2 Grand Master Sexay and Ringside Chaos 1 Scottie Too Hottie. I could be mistaken, but I think the only TTL Hardyz I had were Series 8 Matt Hardy and Rebellion 3 Jeff Hardy. I was always so envious of my friends' ROTR2 Scotty and Double Slam 4 Hardyz. I wasn't big on TTL repaints, yet I still ended up with two sets of Dudleyz (Series 8 Buh Buh/Rebellion 3 D-Von, and Famous Scenes 3). Same thing for E&C - I had the pre-Real Scan versions, Series 6 Edge, and the Picture Perfect box set; the latter was my favorite TTL box set, but I hated how my Christian had a loose hand that would always fall out.
My favorite TTL release of any kind that I had when I was younger was easily Famous Scenes 2 Triple H and Cactus Jack; runner-ups would be Raven and Perry Saturn from my favorite series, Rulers of the Ring 3. Favorite Grapple Gear accessory from that era would be the telephone booth from Series 4. Favorite Ring Gear set was the turnbuckles and ring posts from Series 1. Favorite TTL play set I had was the Titan Tron, although I do have a soft spot for the Trash Talkin' Stage, Backstage Mayhem, and SmackDown Entrance Stage. Chaos in the Cell was a huge disappointment, but the cage walls still very much came in handy for the Hardcore Ring. Of course, nothing was going to be perfect, except for maybe Jakks' bait-and-switch tactics. The experience of playing with TTLs was different from playing with BCAs, but it had to be done if you weren't any good at making customs and wanted to stay current. I was still a big WWF fan throughout that time, and with the promise of Real Scan on the horizon for '00, that made the transition from BCA to TTL a little bit easier.
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on May 2, 2020 19:22:55 GMT -5
IMO the TTL's were a huge downgrade from the BCA's. Surely they had more articulation but the figures looked awful.
The hip joints were really stiff, the early headscans were mediocre and finally the variety of wrestlers were awful.
From my memory nearly every set had Austin, Rock, HHH. At least during the BCA era you got guys like D'lo, Godfather, Viscera etc.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 20:09:24 GMT -5
the early headscans were mediocre The head sculpts we got for the first few sets though...not good. Everything once they paired up with Gentle Giant and got Real Scan going was amazing. |
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Post by wolfpac on May 2, 2020 21:17:19 GMT -5
the early headscans were mediocre The head sculpts we got for the first few sets though...not good. Everything once they paired up with Gentle Giant and got Real Scan going was amazing. It’s crazy to think that the BCA sculpts were passable with a few really bad ones but the early ttl sculpts.. man they are so bad it’s crazy, I would say if you had a list of ten bad wrestling head sculpts 7 of them Would be the early ttls it’s almost like they had a sculptor they just couldn’t fire and said “screw this guy,’let’s just scan the heads” |
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 21:30:16 GMT -5
The head sculpts we got for the first few sets though...not good. Everything once they paired up with Gentle Giant and got Real Scan going was amazing. It’s crazy to think that the BCA sculpts were passable with a few really bad ones but the early ttl sculpts.. man they are so bad it’s crazy, I would say if you had a list of ten bad wrestling head sculpts 7 of them Would be the early ttls it’s almost like they had a sculptor they just couldn’t fire and said “screw this guy,’let’s just scan the heads” Honestly, a lot of the BCA sculpts are really bad with the exception of Cactus/unmasked Mankind, Dude Love and Big Show. But the pre-Real Scan TTL head sculpts are horrendous. Legitimately the worst ever. |
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y13
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Post by y13 on May 3, 2020 8:17:50 GMT -5
These were the glory days of collecting for me so I can’t really nitpick much, other than the fact that they made so many figures during this time. There was the TTL main series then every other subsequent sub series. Me being a 10-11 kid, I was a sucker for anything wrestling so I had to have everything. I was overloaded with TTL Austin’s, Rocks, Angle’s, Jerichos.
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Jackass Pacific
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Post by Jackass Pacific on May 3, 2020 8:22:33 GMT -5
there's some modern collectors that wouldn't have survived the hobby back then
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Post by The-Rock on May 3, 2020 9:54:47 GMT -5
It always seemed like they didn’t release certain guys to come back to doing it later but never getting a chance How about some of the glaring ttl omissions? We got BCA versions of Godfather, Dlo brown, Val Venis, Taka - why did we not get TTLs? They never really left tv besides not being used as much - but still Venis was IC champ during the ttl era, godfather was on tv lots he was more over then hardcore holly who got like 4 or 5 figures in 2000/01 On this same note how did get so many Bob Hollys? Steve blackmen’s? They were used the same amount as the other guys Or if jakks mad an awesome mold for someone like Rikishi get ready for like 5 versions of the same figure with minor paint changes I always laugh at the TTL8 and 9 rikishi it reminds me of the simpsons with the new Malibu Stacey “But she has a new hat!” Also how many Triple H in jeans did we need? I think we got like 5 And no Faarooq in ring gear to go with Bradshaw. I always hated that, I don’t think we ever got a ring gear faarooq even in the RA days I also really wanted them to release the entire RTC for my figure fed, instead we just one a Stevie Richards in a suit that makes no sense to just have him as a singles guy lol Still the good memories out weigh the bad but I’ll never forget those frustrations lol There was a proto of TTL Val Venis in RTC gear, and it may have even been on the back card of some figures. Godfather I think had a similar issue as Val Venis. Had he stayed the godfather he would've gotten a figure, but he joined the RTC and went to the back of line. I think to a certain degree Jakks knew RTC figures wouldn't sell well. D'lo was relegated to Jakked and not on TV regularly (if even still in WWE) by the time Jakks starting expanding their production. The excessive amount of figures in jeans/sweats wasn't limited to HHH. We went almost 2 full years with 1 Austin (DS 2) in ring gear. Even Steve Richards was released after the RTC ended. RTC was on it's last leg by WM 17...and the figure came out in May or June 2001. I remember thats why I passed on him. Side note that was such a great heel gimmick. |
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Post by The-Rock on May 3, 2020 10:08:28 GMT -5
IMO the TTL's were a huge downgrade from the BCA's. Surely they had more articulation but the figures looked awful. The hip joints were really stiff, the early headscans were mediocre and finally the variety of wrestlers were awful. From my memory nearly every set had Austin, Rock, HHH. At least during the BCA era you got guys like D'lo, Godfather, Viscera etc. Excluding rulers of the ring. That may be a true statement. KOTR 2002, Ringside Rivals 6, and No Way Out 2 are the only series that didn't feature them! TTL 1: Rock, Austin; Smackdown 1: HHH; DS 1: Austin TTL 2: Rock, Austin; Smackdown 2: HHH, Austin: DS 2: All 3 Smackdown 2 packs: All 3, Raw Heat: Austin & Rock; other random 1 off series (like back alley street fighters) had at least 1 of the 3 TTL 3: Rock, Austin; DS 3: Austin TTL 4: Rock, HHH DS 4: HHH TTL 5: Rock, Austin DS 5: Rock/HHH TTL 6: Rock, HHH TTL 7: HHH TTL 8: Rock TTL 9: Rock, HHH TTL 10: Austin, HHH TTL 11: HHH TTL 12: Rock, Austin TTL 13: All 3 Rebellion 1: Rock Rebellion 2: Rock Rebellion 3: All 3 Rebellion 4: HHH Ringside Chaos: There was at least 2 of the 3 in all 3 series FS 1: Rock/HHH FS 2: HHH FS 3: All 3 FS 4: Rock, Austin House of Pain: All 3 KOTR 01: Austin Summerslam 01: Austin and Rock WM X7: Austin Rumble 02: HHH No Way Out 1: Austin, Rock |
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Post by The-Rock on May 3, 2020 10:11:25 GMT -5
there's some modern collectors that wouldn't have survived the hobby back then I'm not sure if you mean survived in terms of they would've been financially recked from buying so much or driven crazy by the time periods between sets/issues everyone has identified. In fairness WWF was a lot different then than it is now. If you had Rock, Austin, Undertaker, Kane, Jericho, HHH, and Angle + anyone else you could get your hands on you were in overall decent shape. |
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marklud
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Post by marklud on May 3, 2020 12:01:36 GMT -5
I was out of wrestling/collecting during this time period but must say I've had a good time getting some of these TTLs lately. They're pretty cheap and as long as I stick to the face scan ones, they look pretty great (my god those pre-scan ones are hideous, lol). Gonna do a complete collection of one of every character, about halfway there right now.
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Jackass Pacific
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Post by Jackass Pacific on May 3, 2020 14:28:43 GMT -5
there's some modern collectors that wouldn't have survived the hobby back then I'm not sure if you mean survived in terms of they would've been financially recked from buying so much or driven crazy by the time periods between sets/issues everyone has identified. In fairness WWF was a lot different then than it is now. If you had Rock, Austin, Undertaker, Kane, Jericho, HHH, and Angle + anyone else you could get your hands on you were in overall decent shape. "are you KIDDING me! ANOTHER austin/rock/triple h/undertaker!? we just had one! uuuugh why can't we get _______(insert person who just debuted on velocity)?" |
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