Handbangers Classic Superstars

[dante123]

Here's the cancel Headbangers classic superstars and those look pretty cool.

www.instagram.com/unreleasedwrestlingfigs/

[TKO Propagandist]

They were gonna be in the same set as D'Lo Brown. 3 Of my most wanted Jakks Classic Superstars that never got made.

[DRFTKO]

Mar 8, 2021 3:48:00 GMT -5 TKO Propagandist said:

They were gonna be in the same set as D'Lo Brown. 3 Of my most wanted Jakks Classic Superstars that never got made.

What wave were these slated for?

I know about the popular cancelled names like juvi and sandman, but never heard of these three even being planned at some point for the line.

[TKO Propagandist]

Mar 8, 2021 4:35:35 GMT -5 DRFTKO said:

Mar 8, 2021 3:48:00 GMT -5 TKO Propagandist said:

They were gonna be in the same set as D'Lo Brown. 3 Of my most wanted Jakks Classic Superstars that never got made.

What wave were these slated for?

I know about the popular cancelled names like juvi and sandman, but never heard of these three even being planned at some point for the line.

Series 28
Bam Bam Bigelow
Brian Pillman
APA Bradshaw
APA Farooq
Edge in "Brood" Style
Headbanger Mosh
Headbanger Thrasher
Steve Keirn as "Skinner"
D-Lo Brown w/chest protector
Randy Orton-LJN Style Chaser

The Headbangers sculpts survived but the woman who was sculpting D'Lo's head simply threw it away! After it was confirmed there would be no more waves. Series 28 instead ended up being repaints.

[DRFTKO]

Mar 8, 2021 5:30:07 GMT -5 TKO Propagandist said:

Mar 8, 2021 4:35:35 GMT -5 DRFTKO said:

What wave were these slated for?

I know about the popular cancelled names like juvi and sandman, but never heard of these three even being planned at some point for the line.

Series 28
Bam Bam Bigelow
Brian Pillman
APA Bradshaw
APA Farooq
Edge in "Brood" Style
Headbanger Mosh
Headbanger Thrasher
Steve Keirn as "Skinner"
D-Lo Brown w/chest protector
Randy Orton-LJN Style Chaser

The Headbangers sculpts survived but the woman who was sculpting D'Lo's head simply threw it away! After it was confirmed there would be no more waves. Series 28 instead ended up being repaints.

That would have been a hell of a wave to end on to say the least! Skinner and an updated release (by some company) of the Head Bangers are two of my biggest wants! We go from this to the trash that was Series 28 instead...unbelievable!

[primetyme9916]

Would have loved to have these in my classic collection!

[theoutlaw1999]

I would've loved those figures. Saddens me that they never got released.

[CM Tusk]

Jakks really went out with a whimper. Everyone can talk about how great they were, and most of that is probably nostalgia that I share, but Jakks really left a bad taste in my mouth with how they handled the end. That Classic lineup would have been amazing.

[hbkjason]

Mar 9, 2021 2:03:37 GMT -5 CM Tusk said:

Jakks really went out with a whimper. Everyone can talk about how great they were, and most of that is probably nostalgia that I share, but Jakks really left a bad taste in my mouth with how they handled the end. That Classic lineup would have been amazing.

I agree with you, I loved collecting Jakks, but the way they went out sucked. What made it even worse was that they half assed the line for that last year and then expected everyone to jump on board with their TNA line.


These Headbangers look awesome. I was always a fan of theirs back in the day and found them pretty entertaining.

[TheXtremisT]

There was clearly a big difference between Jakks not trying, and not putting any effort in at all.

Re-using parts that didn't work for certain wrestlers (including widely out of scale parts), not putting in effort for new sculpts (looking at Paul London/Brian Kendrick), lacking tattoo/logo designs..... all just so they could save money.....

And I'm talking since 1996, not just the final year they made figures. Obviously 2009 was notoriously bad, but they still pulled some of that s*** on a lesser basis, throughout their whole run.

Looking at Mattel vs Jakks, Mattel seem to actually care enough. Jakks kind of did, but their bottom line was to half-ass things to save money and make poor choices.

The Classics line was mostly well-handled. But overall, the RA line was only a slight improvement over TTL and were cheaply made figures.

Toybiz/Marvel Toys' TNA figures (ones with no action feature) were better handled. Better paint apps, more dedicated sculpts, better articulation. For the same price point. At the same time period. Obviously WWE licensing meant the prices were higher comparatively.

But I think Jakks gets a pass because of nostalgia. They were fun toys. They are fondly looked back on. But I think that's also reflective of being the only game in town and the WWE product being more popular. In a less biased way, the figures were terrible. They all looked the same and overly muscular.

If they stuck with R3 tech, introduce bicep swivels, better torsos, and maybe hip articulation, that would have been an A++ line.

[wolfpac]

I always thought while Jakks might cut corners, they normally had amazing distribution - so yeah Mattel figures are better, crazy to deny that, but who cares since people cannot find them or you are paying twice the price online, and that was a problem before the pandemic.



Makes me wonder if Jakks cut corners, to keep production costs lower, because they paid more for distribution? It would be really fascinating to see the break down of where every penny went to in making a jakks figure

[J'Dinkalage Morgoone]

Mar 11, 2021 4:27:31 GMT -5 TheXtremisT said:

There was clearly a big difference between Jakks not trying, and not putting any effort in at all.

Re-using parts that didn't work for certain wrestlers (including widely out of scale parts), not putting in effort for new sculpts (looking at Paul London/Brian Kendrick), lacking tattoo/logo designs..... all just so they could save money.....

And I'm talking since 1996, not just the final year they made figures. Obviously 2009 was notoriously bad, but they still pulled some of that s*** on a lesser basis, throughout their whole run.

Looking at Mattel vs Jakks, Mattel seem to actually care enough. Jakks kind of did, but their bottom line was to half-ass things to save money and make poor choices.

The Classics line was mostly well-handled. But overall, the RA line was only a slight improvement over TTL and were cheaply made figures.

Toybiz/Marvel Toys' TNA figures (ones with no action feature) were better handled. Better paint apps, more dedicated sculpts, better articulation. For the same price point. At the same time period. Obviously WWE licensing meant the prices were higher comparatively.

But I think Jakks gets a pass because of nostalgia. They were fun toys. They are fondly looked back on. But I think that's also reflective of being the only game in town and the WWE product being more popular. In a less biased way, the figures were terrible. They all looked the same and overly muscular.

If they stuck with R3 tech, introduce bicep swivels, better torsos, and maybe hip articulation, that would have been an A++ line.

Attachment Deleted

[mrh]

Mar 11, 2021 9:25:27 GMT -5 wolfpac said:

I always thought while Jakks might cut corners, they normally had amazing distribution - so yeah Mattel figures are better, crazy to deny that, but who cares since people cannot find them or you are paying twice the price online, and that was a problem before the pandemic.



Makes me wonder if Jakks cut corners, to keep production costs lower, because they paid more for distribution? It would be really fascinating to see the break down of where every penny went to in making a jakks figure

In the era of no Toys R Us, and just Target and Walmart, I guarantee Jakks would have the same distribution as Mattel has now -- maybe just a little better, but I doubt by much

[mrh]

Mar 8, 2021 5:30:07 GMT -5 TKO Propagandist said:

Mar 8, 2021 4:35:35 GMT -5 DRFTKO said:

What wave were these slated for?

I know about the popular cancelled names like juvi and sandman, but never heard of these three even being planned at some point for the line.

Series 28
Bam Bam Bigelow
Brian Pillman
APA Bradshaw
APA Farooq
Edge in "Brood" Style
Headbanger Mosh
Headbanger Thrasher
Steve Keirn as "Skinner"
D-Lo Brown w/chest protector
Randy Orton-LJN Style Chaser

The Headbangers sculpts survived but the woman who was sculpting D'Lo's head simply threw it away! After it was confirmed there would be no more waves. Series 28 instead ended up being repaints.

Man -- that's heartbreaking. That set of repaints really sucked. How cool would these have been??

[LeighD]

The CS collector in me, is so happy to see these yet saddened at how easily JAKKS could have pumped these out. I actually expected one of them to had the "beefer/loose" mold shirt (no sleeves) and one to have a tanktop or no shirt at all.

To clear CS 28 up here is the timeline:
The original line-up, with a high emphasis on WWE gimmicks, was released (list only) in February 2009 is shown below:

 Bam Bam Bigelow (Wrestlemania XI Attire) (1)
 APA Bradshaw (1)
 APA Faarooq (1)
 Edge in "Brood" Style (1)
 Pat Patterson - 70's/80's Version w/ IC Title (1)
 Headbanger Mosh (1)
 Headbanger Thrasher (1)
 Skinner (1)
 Brian Pillman (WWE Style - Hart Foundation Era w/ Jacket) (1)
 D-Lo Brown (w/ Chest Protector (1)
 Vader (WWE Attire w/ Mask) (1)
 RANDY ORTON - LJN STYLE CHASER (1)

Over the course of the next 6 months, the line remained stable, with few changes that included the addition of Blackjack Mulligan and the removal of APA Faarooq and APA Bradshaw, which left the line-up looking like:

 Bam Bam Bigelow (Wrestlemania XI Attire) (1.5)
 Blackjack Mulligan (1)
 Edge in "Brood" Style (1)
 Pat Patterson - 70's/80's Version w/ IC Title (1)
 Headbanger Mosh (1)
 Headbanger Thrasher (1)
 Skinner (1)
 Brian Pillman (WWE Style - Hart Foundation Era w/ Jacket) (1)
 D-Lo Brown (w/ Chest Protector (1)
 Vader (WWE Attire w/ Mask) (1.5)
 RANDY ORTON - LJN STYLE CHASER (1)

The line-up remained unchanged until early September, when the line-up was completely overhauled and collectors were given this as the new official line-up:

 Bam Bam Bigelow (ECW gray-flame attire) (1.5)
 Brian Pillman (WCW-era attire) (1)
 Vader (WWE Attire w/ Mask) (1.5)
 “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (1)
 Bret “Hit Man” Hart (2)
 Shawn Michaels (1.5)
 Hunter-Hearst-Helmsley (1.5)
 The Undertaker (1)
 REY MYSTERIO - LJN STYLE CHASER (1)

However, CS 28, the clusterf*ck that is was turning out to be, underwent yet more cuts; Vader, Brian Pillman, & Bam Bam Bigelow were all removed leaving the CS line ending with the following set:

 “Rowdy” Roddy Piper ()
 Bret “Hit Man” Hart ()
 Shawn Michaels ()
 Hunter-Hearst-Helmsley ()
 The Undertaker ()
 REY MYSTERIO - LJN STYLE CHASER ()


JAKKS really went out like a lamb on the CS line. CS 28 (and CS 27 to some degree), the final CSTT and CS3Ps were basically all re-paints. Compared to some of the stuff they claimed that would come out, they never followed through.

[TheXtremisT]

Yeah because they already had the molds/headsculpts and only had to do paint apps. Too easy for them.

They would have made that decision basically almost a year before the release date and just changed it last minute to prevent consumers kicking off too soon.

[micco]

Mar 8, 2021 3:48:00 GMT -5 TKO Propagandist said:

They were gonna be in the same set as D'Lo Brown. 3 Of my most wanted Jakks Classic Superstars that never got made.

The chick who sculpted the heads used to be on these boards at that time and showed his head and others. Seems like she got in trouble for doing so. Wonder if anyone still has those pics

[jboi1306]

The Headbangers would have been a great addition to the Classic Superstars line. Looking at what could have been with series 28 - such a shame!