Rebuilding my collection again....for the Third time

[MonsoonMan]

Happy Superstar Saturday!!



Hall Of Champions Batista

Batista bombing into the reviews today is the Hall Of Champions Batista figure. This is the first ‘older’ figure that ive bought in a long time because im weary of them getting re-released in the GH line; I also bought this figure because it was being sold for $25 MOC +shipping on ebay and that was a STEAL, imo so unless it IS getting re-released and I don’t know yet I think I made a good solid purchase here. Also an interesting note, we got the 2005 Royal Rumble Batista figure recently, so it’s a tight little timeline progression of the character available now. The headsculpt on this figure is GOOD. I can definitely see Dave’s likeness in the sculpting however I think the paint apps to his eyebrows kindof take away from the portrayal. This figure utilizes the classic Batista formula using the super ripped heavyweight torso. This was a 2005 era Dave so he only was sporting his classic tattoos at the time and mattel did a great job applying them crisply and in correct positioning. Batista was given some black elbow pads and also black legsleeve style kneepads-which I suppose are accurate. for the event, Dave was wearing some red trunks with ‘The Animal’ logo in black and white on the front and a logo of him flexing also in black and white on the back of the trunks. Finishing up the figure are some studded black and red boots. For accessories, big Dave was given a wwe folder with a contract for the wrestlemania 21 match against Triple H, a black pen, and the wwe heavyweight championship belt.
All in all this is a great Batista figure. We’ve been seeing a lot of Batista figures and my collection has also been seeing a lot of new Batista acquisitions as of late. I was shocked to see this figure listed so low but im grateful to have this iteration of the animal in my collection. It’s a unique attire, a great point in Batista’s career and as I mentioned now that we have the RR 2005 ‘tista his mattel career timeline is looking great.

[MonsoonMan]

happy Slammin Sunday!!

Merry Christmas Eve y'all!

This year has been really strong for multi elite figure packs and my wallet hates seeing them but I love buying them. I had seen the 60th anniversary 4 pack posted on youtube and I really wasn’t too sure how badly I wanted to buy it. I remember finally seeing it in person while I was on a business trip and almost bought it but didn’t want to try and hassle with making enough room in my luggage to accommodate it. I went back and forth a few times over whether I wanted to put down the money for it and what I really wanted from it. Alas on black Friday I popped into the target app and saw it listed for $45.99 so I jumped on it right away.



Then Now Forever 60th Anniversary Elite 4 Pack
Hulk Hogan

Hulking into the reviews first is ofcourse the one and only Hulk Hogan. What would a multipack of the history of the wwe be without the everlasting phenomenon that is Hulk Hogan?! To be honest however this is a great figure; this hulk was given two headsculpts and they are both absolutely amazing. They portray a younger hulkster as evidenced by the fuller head of hair sculpt, but his facial features are damn near photo realistic. One headsculpt portrays Hulk in a confident, positive smile and the other in a sort of tight lipped, series grimace expression and they both look really freaking good. Hulk was given a softgoods red shirt that Velcro opens in the front featuring his ‘American Made’ logo in white font on the front and Hulk-a-Mania in matching font on the back. Hulk was given his Hogan torso and classic hot dog tan along with some interchangeable hands aswell. This Hulkster figure drops the leg in his classic yellow tights and boots with red kneepads. The main draw of this figure -to me- was the inclusion of the BIG GREEN wwe championship belt. The new legends Iron Shiek figure will look great with this big green belt!
All in all the 60th anniversary Hulk Hogan figure is definitely something different than what mattel has offered us so far and honestly this figure would have stood on its own as a single elite in the main line. Ive seen him being priced out the highest when people break down this set and sell the figures individually and frankly I don’t blame them. The headsculpts are really amazing and the big green belt is a welcomed prize for us belt nerds. This was a very welcome addition to the Hogan career timeline.

[MonsoonMan]

🎄🎅MERRY CHRISTMAS🎅🎄

its been a great year for figures! i hope yall were able to get all the figures you needed/wanted throughout the year and took advantage of some year end sales to sweep up the last on your list.
i dont think i missed out on any figures i really wanted; i did want the ultimate kane and eric bischoff figures but dont want two more huge rings laying around 😂 speaking of, i actually DID want the Nitro stage and ultimate figures but its a shame it didnt get funded...
ANYWAYS, season greetings, happy holidays, spreading cheer to you and your(figure collections 🤓)




Then Now Forever 60th Anniversary Elite 4 Pack
Stone Cold Steve Austin


Breaking the glass next in the reviews for the 60th anniversary elite pack is the Texas rattlesnake himself, Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is another unique figure that frankly could have stood on its own as it is currently mattel’s only offering for a current day stone cold figure. This figure comes from his historic step out of retirement to return at Wrestlemania 38 in Dallas to whoop kevin owens’ ass. At first, seeing other people’s reviews of this figure I didn’t like the headsculpt at all but getting my figure in hand, I genuinely like it and think it looks amazing! The sculpting definitely captures Steve’s likeness to an almost photorealistic level and at certain angles you can really see the attention to detail mattel nailed in the sculpting to make him look ‘older’. Going down the figure, Steve is wearing a softgoods Austin 3:16 from Wrestlemania 38 Texas as evidenced by the Texan themed smoking skull logo on the back. I wish they hadn’t done the Velcro closure on the back and left the shirt seamless instead, but ohwell. Underneath the shirt, mattel kept the classic Steve Austin torso formula which works but ofcourse I wish they beefed him up, especially in the arms. Steve is rocking his classic jorts and kneebrace look which mattel captured perfectly. The jorts are a light blue somewhat washed out color which look great. Finishing up the figure are steve’s classic short boots and Texas longhorn tattoo on his left calf.
All in all this is a really cool, unique offering from mattel in this 60th anniversary elite pack. This iteration of steve really exceeded my expectations HOWEVER my issue with it is that I don’t see the selling point of having this particular figure in the pack(modern day steve austin from WM 38). It could have been a stand alone in the main line like the K.O figure or hell a ringside exclusive two pack featuring the two. I see the desire to have Steve represented, and I understand how his standard ring look is a little redundant so maybe they could have done the alliance era where he wore the white kneebraces or gold or red kneebraces or something. As mentioned it turned out to be a great figure regardless, but its just a strange choice to me.

[nomorexclusives]

Hey just wanted to say i love your reviews of these figures. Really helps me figure out what to buy. Keep up the great work and happy holidays to you sir!

[MonsoonMan]

Dec 25, 2023 16:16:12 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

Hey just wanted to say i love your reviews of these figures. Really helps me figure out what to buy. Keep up the great work and happy holidays to you sir!

thank you so much!! i just saw the thread breached 50,000 views which is massive for me i appreciate all of the views and attention!

i just know as a collector sometimes there isnt a great outlet for pics of figures. these days its easier for people to make videos and there are only a few of us nerds out there taking pics of the figures we collect still and im really happy to do it! my pics arent pro level by any means but i wish imageshack wouldnt compress them so much when i resize them i do try to capture the details as much as possible.
but i remember back in the jakks days where they would completely not paint the back half of the figure and you wouldnt know until you bought the figure because no one was providing good pictures---well here i am now. props to other members like PJ who also share their receivings and do some cool pics aswell.



Then Now Forever 60th Anniversary Elite 4 Pack
Rocky Maivia

Smiling and dancing all the way into the reviews today is the one and only Rocky Maivia. I was slightly less than thrilled to see this figure represented because I remember buying the original for my collection not super long ago but it was a treat to get him back in with new double jointed elbows and truefx technology. I tried digging around a bit for my original rocky figure for picture comparisons but he mustve been buried deep in one of the drawers. Either way, this is still a fun figure given the cool shoulder gear and colorful blue and teal streamers. The headsculpt on this figure does look really good with the truefx tech, it portrays Rocky in a brimming, confident smile and his stylish curly hair. Mattel gave him his ‘classic’ era torso choice and I was looking at pics and I slightly think that the Uso torso would have looked pretty good maybe as Rocky was still a little plump on his debut but either way the torso works well. Rocky comes to the ring wearing bright blue elbow pads and wristbands, the elbowpads featuring light blue traditional samoan designs. His trunks and kneepads are all a matching bright blue and feature the same samoan style art. Finishing up this figure, Rocky is wearing his trademark boot in a crisp white color this time.
All in all this Rocky figure is really cool to have pop back up for collectors to grab. Mattel found a way to improve upon the figure in every way giving him new double jointed elbows, truefx face tech and new interchangeable hands. Im somewhat conflicted on this figure being in the 60th anniversary pack—Rock definitely deserves a spot along with Hogan and Austin, but Rocky Maivia? There is still a Nation look Rock sported that mattel didn’t touch on yet where he wore black trunks with Polynesian designs-a candidate. I would even accept a 2000-2001 era Rock in ‘Just Bring It’ gear. any Rock in any ring gear other than a silver bull logo 😂 ANYWAYS regardless if it’s worthy of 60th anniversary, its still a colorful look and great figure that mattel improved upon the original release enough to make it worth everyone to buy again.

[MonsoonMan]

happy wrestle wednesday y'all!

went out for a figure hunt yesterday to see what was up after christmas---nothing new on the pegs at all. i did stop off at the wal mart out of town and scooped up some star wars figures but nothing new or exciting for wwe or aew figures on the pegs 😭



Then Now Forever 60th Anniversary Elite 4 Pack
Becky Lynch

Shattering into the reviews—finishing up the reviews for the 60th anniversary pack is Becky Lynch! Ill give credit to this figure-I anticipated it being the weakest offering of the pack but I genuinely like it way more than I thought. This Becky comes to us in her Hell in a Cell 2022 gear where she came to the ring in a strange post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, lady gaga, look and to be honest I really didn’t hate it then, and I like it more seeing it in figure form. Becky features her headpiece from the look that features many silver and black shard designs—it fits the figure fine and looks great. Beneath that she was given her ‘chopped’ hairstyle which was executed well by mattel and looks great on the figure, I don’t know how accurate it is to the hell in a cell event, but this was her style for a while so maybe from a different event. I think the headsculpt may be new too, but I could be wrong on that. Going down the figure she was given her cool entrance gear featuring a rubber top with spiky shoulders and many sculpted studs and zippers throughout. Attached to the rubber top is some nice, quality softgoods lace material and I really like the inclusion and execution of this by mattel. When removing the gear we see Becks’ ring gear featuring a black bodysuit with many mesh and solid black details throughout. She features some loose weave mesh leggings that transition into her ‘scarlet witch’ style kneepads that then go into some all black kickpads.
All in all as I mentioned, I did end up liking this figure much more than I expected to. I don’t think I would have bought it if it was a standalone release, but it’s a quality effort by mattel. I compared it to her ‘scarlet witch’ figure in red and they are essentially the exact same figure, just re-painted. As I mentioned with the stone cold figure, it was a unique choice of mattel to release this “current look” becky in a multi pack and not have the casual collectors have a fair chance at this look but they did pretty good. As far as whether Becky belongs in the 60th anniversary pack------------she seems to have been the chosen as the figurehead character for the womens division at this point over charlotte and the other breakout stars. I think mattel could have really done a killer job adding Trish to this 4 pack as she was recently prominently featured on tv and has a legendary career as the leading breakout diva to womens wrestler. Her figure formulas are still solid, she just needs new headsculpt tooling and they could be off to the races.

Was this 4 pack worth it?!
Ultimately, im gonna say yes. The Hogan figure is done really well to replicate his look from when he first won the wwf championship-then known as the big green from Iron Shiek. There has not yet been a figure released to represent that look, so this is the only pack to have it. The steve austin figure-this is the only pack to feature an elite representation of modern day stone cold. The rocky maivia figure is a treat to have re-released with updated facial tech and interchangeable hands. The becky figure is highly detailed and for Becky fans it is a great look to have represented and the only pack to feature this look. Mattel could have easily re-packed a roman, john cena, hogan and charlotte and the pack would have TANKED. They made good character choices here, good attire choices here and so far these are exclusive looks.

[MonsoonMan]

Royal Rumble Virgil BAF
Batista

Bombing into the reviews again today is the return of the Animal, Batista! Today he comes to us in the new Royal Rumble Virgil BAF wave and the figure represents his 2005 victory in the Rumble! This is a classic Batista, so he is sporting his slicked back hair and goatee strip look. The headsculpt on the figure is great, the sculpting and truefx capture the Animal’s likeness perfectly as he can be identified from any and all angles. Dave was given his classic body formula, arm tattoos, back dragon tattoo and navel tattoo on this figure, all accurate for the era. As mentioned, this figure depicts Daves Royal Rumble 2005 look, he comes to the ring wearing red trunks with silver flame on his right hip and flaming silver batista logo on the back of the trunks. finishing up the figure are some black legsleeve style kneepads and medium height black boots.
All in all this is a pretty straightforward Batista figure. Its cool that it represents his 2005 victory in the RR and we already have the Wrestlemania 2005 look so the timeline of career looks can be compiled pretty well for this year. we got this rumble look, the wrestlemania look, and the Ultimate Edition look in the white trunks and red flames; i recall him wearing some blue trunks at one point and other different colored trunks during his championship reign, hopefully we see some of those looks brought into the line. He comes with interchangeable hands which aid in making those cool, iconic Batista poses but beyond that the figure really isn’t that remarkable. Im a big Batista fan and will bite on any classic era Batista because I was watching the product heavily at the time.

[MonsoonMan]

Happy Figure Friday y'all!



Royal Rumble Virgil BAF
Ridge Holland

Coming into the reviews today is a figure I literally only thought would impede my quest to complete the Virgil BAF in the cheapest way possible—Ridge Holland. Ill come right out of the gates and say I was pleasantly surprised with his figure and actually am happy to have added it to the collection. Ridge comes to the ring wearing some badass entrance gear; he comes equipped with a grey drivers cap, black facemask, baton and softgoods jacket. The headgear looks great on the figure and fits great; the mask is made of a really soft, stretchy rubber and I almost advise to be careful it doesnt tear when trying to put it on the figure. The softgoods jacket is amazing; it is super high quality, imo and I love the herringbone pattern of the fabric. It is a dark grey material with some black ‘leather’ accents on the lapel. The headsculpt on the figure looks great, it portrays Ridge in a confident, teeth bearing grimace expression ready to throw some fists! It turned out great and looks like Ridge. I really like the body recipe for this figure, they gave him the sheamus torso and appropriate arms and legs; the figure build looks really good. Ridge comes to the ring wearing some clean looking black and gold gear, the trunks are all black with gold accents around the waist and a flower design on the front right. The back of his trunks feature a gold RIDGE logo and mattel did a great job with the paint apps on my figure. Finishing up the figure, Ridge is wearing some small kneepads and medium height black boots that feature the golden flower design on the outside and ‘made in yorkshire’ on the back of the boot in gold.
All in all despite being in a BAF wave, this figure is actually pretty stacked! The entrance gear is really quality and he looks like certified ass kicker. I truly felt like this would be my least favorite figure of the bunch, but it may even be my favorite!

[MonsoonMan]

coming in today with a ⭐⭐VIRGIL ⭐⭐ Saturday!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .WRESTLING SUPERSTAR. . . . . . . . . . . . .




Royal Rumble Virgil BAF
Virgil


Coming in today is the result of the BAF wave, Virgil!! I got lucky and was able to get the BAF parts from the Brock and Beth figures on ebay so I didn’t have to buy another redundant Brock figure and I really wasn’t super interested in the Beth figure anyways. This Virgil is a great figure, the headsculpt is amazing it holds an immediate likeness to him the second you look at it. I can see it getting re-used in the future for a wcw Vincent figure. This Virgil was treated to a brand new torso sculpt and to be honest I really like it, especially for Virgil it looks really good on him. His tights start a little high on the waist, the waistband is white and features a red Virgil text front and center. The rest of the tights are carny like white tights with red pinstripes going down each leg. The tights transition into some medium height white boots and Virgil features some new? Sculpted boot tassels.
All in all this Virgil figure came out looking fantastic and im glad to have an updated Virgil for the collection. I think when it’s all said and done I was once again probably 2/4 excited for this BAF wave. I did not want or need another Brock figure, I had no real interest in the Beth figure, the Batista figure was welcome-but not necessarily needed and I wasn’t sure what to think about the Ridge Holland figure at first. The Virgil figure came out looking really good, but im not completely sure as to what direction Mattel is going with their BAF figures now so I don’t know what critique to hold him up against. These BAF waves always seem to have 2/4 stinker figures, imo and this wave was no different. Probably going to roll into the Survivor Series BAF wave next and *spoiler alert* I skipped figures from that wave aswell. The BAF concept is really fun I enjoy getting essentially a free figure for buying 4 but I really struggle to actually WANT all 4 figures mattel chooses for these lineups.

[MonsoonMan]

coming in with an Olympic Slam Sunday!!




Ultimate Edition Kurt Angle


Olympic Slamming into the reviews today—Its True Its True It’s the Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle! I typically don’t review my ultimates because I kinda wanted to do a separate thread for ultimate figures but this was one of those ‘kinda controversial’ figures I felt the need to highlight. The figure starts off with an offering of three different head sculpts: one serious, one smiling, and one emotionally crying. The serious head sculpt is a little off on the likeness, it seems to portray a younger Kurt but something about the eyes I think lose the likeness to Kurt. The second smiling headsculpt I believe is an existing headsculpt and with the truefx apps it looks really great. The third headsculpt is a brand new and it portrays a very emotional Kurt in a crying (happy tears) expression—to be straight it does look really good, and it accommodates many different poses but I just think as a collector it wasn’t really a look we all were expecting or clamoring for? It falls into the category as the Goldberg smoke head and the Roman Reigns OOHHAAAHHH head—kudos to mattel for the effort of thinking and providing outside of the box, but IMO not really something we are all looking for in our collections. Going down the figure I guess the next thing to discuss is the body recipe. They chose to give Kurt the Ultimate Warrior, Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Batista torso and it works 80% of the time. There is only one weird angle the figure can be viewed at that makes the shoulder width look obnoxious, but their inclusion of the softgoods top and the gold medal accessories downplays the size of the torso. Torso choice aside, mattel DID decide to go with a softgoods singlet on this figure instead of their rubber top that we recently saw on the mr perfect legends figure; very grateful for that lol. Im not a Kurt historian, but I don’t think he was wearing this red singlet when he won his first wwf championship, maybe in the weeks leading up to it, but not sure when he sported this look. Underneath the singlet, Kurt is wearing red shorts that showcase the same design as the singlet, reminds me of some jakks ttl figures. This kurt figure was given some blue elbowpads and matching kneepads—I THINK the kneepads are a new sculpt, they are fairly accurate to the style that Kurt wore to the ring. Finishing up the figure are Kurt’s signature medium height red boots with white soles and laces.
All in all this Ultimate Kurt figure is actually pretty cool—not a COMPLETE pass. The included headsculpts are really good, IMO only one of them is a miss. The torso choice can be downplayed with the addition of the cloth singlet and gold medal accessories; when Kurt is all decked out and posed the torso choice isn’t so glaring. As mentioned he has a cloth singlet which is a huge plus and all the included gear and accessories make this figure really fun to pose around.

[ttmbrad]

Angle looks great. Hope to find him myself soon.

[MonsoonMan]

HAPPY 2024 EVERYONE 🎉🎈🎊🥳

i wanted to do my own little year-end wrap up for my thoughts and ideas on my favorite or least favorite products that mattel gave us this year.

im gonna be taking the knowledge of the 2023 releases from the voting survey thats currently active.


E97 : well I guess we started the 2023 releases with Elite Series 97, a pretty weak wave, IMO. My Most Valuable Figure goes to Chainsaw Charlie. I only ended up buying 3 figures from this wave and of those 3 I liked Charlie the most. The Omos figure gets an honorable mention for the sheer size of the man, but Charlie brings new sculpts to the line, is an attitude era guy and the figure turned out great.


E98: E98 was also a bit of a weird offering of talent. I purchased 4 figures out of the wave and to be honest I really like them all despite being unconventional. Ill give the MVF award to Rick Boogs! I like his gimmick and his look and mattel was able to sneak in that crappy rubber top on this figure but they did it in a useful way and I really ended up liking the figure- It poses really great and looks cool. Runner up would probably be Mandy Rose, her headsculpt and paint apps looked really freaking good and I thought her attire with the black wings looked really rad.


E99: E99 was also a bit of a weak offering of talent for me. First wave to have double chase figures but the chase Brock figure looked dumb in that radiant blue color and boogie man was just a different head? I bought 5 figures from this wave, skipped out on Riddle. my MVF for this wave goes to…….Seth Rollins. Im not even really a seth fan but I remember really liking the quality of the coat and his attire just looked really good all around and the headsculpt tied in great too. Runner up would probably be Queen Zelina her headsculpt was just really immaculate and her attire pops on the shelf-when shes all geared up with the crown and scepter the figure presents really well.


E100: big fanfare for Elite series 100! Mattel made it 100 series and chose some interesting superstars and looks to commemorate the milestone series. I once again bought 5 figures from this series, skipped on the becky figure. My mvf goes to…….(this one was tough) The Rock. I wasn’t a huge fan of the headsculpt, I felt like it didn’t match the era he wore the trunks, but it was a new headsculpt and I do like having it. The Brahama Bull championship belt and blue softgoods jersey put this figure over the top for me. Those accessories are way more useful than the mish mash man MDT special they pushed through to production. Runner up would be Andre SIMPLY because his figure was the debut of the Andre ’86 championship and that belt is my all time favorite belt design. I was level 10 hype to get that belt in my figure collection.



E101: E101 was also a kindof weird lineup to me. Im not sure what constitutes a ‘good lineup’ or ‘weird lineup’ but this one was weird I guess. I bought 4 figures out of this series, but one got perpetually delayed and eventually cancelled. My MVF goes to Mr. America hands down. I was glued to my TV during the Mr America run I REALLY wish we could get a Sean O’Haire figure he BEAT Mr. America clean 😝 I digress, the Mr. America figure came out looking great, he suffered from the dreaded sheamus torso that MDT for some reason thought was good for him for a stretch but when the figure is all geared up he looks amazing and the red white and blue pops on the shelf. Runner up is obviously Johnny Knoxville; it was a close tie between the two, im a HUGE jackass fan and I was so excited to know we were getting an elite Knoxville. The Knoxville figure turned out really great but I gotta go with Mr. Hulk America. I had ordered the Cody figure but it got delayed and then cancelled so I guess I cant offer a fair opinion on it.


E102: E102 didn’t bring the excitement for me at all. The lineup didn’t offer many desirable characters to MY collection-I only ended up buying 2 figures from this series. my MVF goes to the Commissioner Foley figure hands down. The headsculpt and overall presentation of the figure and accessories came out looking great. Runner up would be the Gunther figure. Softgoods coat looks great on the figure and the new torso and headsculpt MDT made for him looks great.


E103: I completely passed on E103. No figures from this series sparked my interest. I don’t know why they released another Roman figure—his top picks figures were flooding shelves already. The liv morgan figure looked cool in the black and green but im not a huge Liv fan and typically don’t collect her figures. Stardust; I never liked the gimmick and im honestly not a huge cody Rhodes fan as it is. Ford and Dawkins look cool and im glad their figures got the re-design treatment but im not a fan and don’t collect their figures. And then finally the Lashley figure just doesn’t really jump at me design wise.


E104: I guess the last mainline wave of 2023, I bought 4 figures from this series and this one was pretty easy my MVF in this series was Rick Steiner. Old school fan here and any old wcw guys or wwf guys will always get a buy from me, cool to see Rick’s mattel debut just wish they used a beefier body recipe but regardless it turned out okay. Runner up would be Bron Breakker, I ordered this figure from EE or Amazon I think and I got a chase figure which was cool because I really wanted the yellow singlet over the pink so that was a treat.


ALL in all I guess if we’re grouping the figures up that I purchased from each series my favorite would be……..E98. Demon Finn, Farooq Asad, Mandy Rose, and Rick Boogs. FIGURE WISE I think looking at these figures they are the most toyetic group and honestly I just had a ton of fun posing the Farooq figure and the Demon finn was awesome but I really hated the fact that they gave him shorter legs. E101 would be my second favorite as Mr. America was highly anticipated from me as was Knoxville.


My favorite Elite Greatest Hits figure would have to be a CLOSE tie between the Shawn Michaels figure and King Harley Race---gonna give it to Harley that was a super rare figure and im glad mattel re-release it for everyone.


My Favorite Elite Top Picks figure might have to go to Ronda Rousey. I really liked the overall aesthetic of this figure, the John Cena from the same wave would be a close runner up. Not a very exciting year of top picks, IMO.


My favorite BAF series of 2023…this one was hard to choose I think overall series was the Wrestlemania BAF with Mean Gene. I was stoked to finally get that 2002 era Hollywood hogan elite and the macho man figure turned out looking very cool Aswell. I liked the concept of doing both figures from the match hopefully mattel moves forward with that concept in the future. Special shoutout to the Royal Rumble Vader figure and the Summerslam Hogan figures for being so cool. ALSO BIG shoutout to the Survivor Series HBK figure, one of my all time anticipated figures from mattel, they botched the tights color a bit but the figure came out fine regardless.



My favorite ringside exclusive figure has to be the Defining Moments Shawn Michaels figure. Not a lot to pick from this year but that figure was my favorite out of the pack.



Elite legends line gave some pretty decent offerings this year. I think my favorite OVERALL legends figure from 2023 would be Paul E Dangerously. Im a certified Paul Heyman guy and it was just super rad getting a flashback Heyman figure.


Runner up figures were tight, I think the Shamrock figure was especially useful to me and my collection as were all the series 19 figures. That being said, series 19 takes my vote for favorite overall series this year. Getting those NOD Kama and D’Lo figures were ace for me and the Undertaker figure was REALLY lowkey an awesome figure. Brother love was a cool new manager to add to the roster but the execution on his figure left a little to be desired.



Moving on to MULTI PACKS. Holy cow this year was the year of Multi Pack elite figures. It was tough, despite all of the offerings I think I really liked the Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar figures from the Beast vs Tribal Chief 3 pack. I do not yet own it but the Coliseum Collection Piper vs Steel pack looks amazing.



Ruthless Aggression Series----unfortunately 2023 saw the end of the Ruthless Aggression line. One of my favorite lines to hunt for I remember being on the road for work just stopping at random walmarts to see what RA series was on the pegs. VERY TOUGH calls on my favorite figures from this line there were many but the clear winner has to be Eric Bischoff. I was hyped to get the nWo 2002 Kevin Nash elite figure finally and I am a huge fan of Torrie Wilson, so to see her get an elite figure blew my mind and mattel did a great job with it.




ULTIMATE EDITION – 2023 was a big year for the ultimates. We saw a ton of re-releases in the greatest hits line but also a ton of new offerings and a few exclusives. Once again very tough choices for me if I really put them under a microscope, but I think ULTIMATELY I will give the Target Legends Rock ultimate figure the MVF for 2023. The Ultimate RVD figure comes in a tight 2nd place because I love RVD.(i dont have any pics ready of my ultimate rock figure)



SO if were getting down to the nitty gritty….what is my favorite figure of 2023?!?
Super super tough figure choice but I think what it really comes down to for me was just anticipation level for a figure that was announced. I think there were a lot of figures I heard were announced and I just thought ‘well we’ll see how that figure looks in person’ or just a casual ‘yeah id buy that’ feeling but I think overall looking at the choices for mattel wwe figures for 2023…….my top figure would have to be…………E101 Mr. America. As mentioned in all my reviews and discussion for this figure, I was heavily watching the product at the time and I was really excited to get this Mr. America look from the Hogan timeline after getting the also highly anticipated E91 Hogan figure. Runner up would have to be the Target Legends Rock Ultimate Figure, literally the Ultimate iteration of the Great one, in my eyes-wearing a softgoods tracksuit and the blue attitude era logo trunks---just a chefs kiss of a figure.(i dont have any pics ready of my ultimate rock figure)



Okay….i think that’s it for me to talk about!! Um.. be honest 2023 felt quite less exciting than 2022 to me? I felt like we finished the year strong with the Survivor series and Royal Rumble BAF waves, but the mainline figure choices really failed to garner real interest from me. There were a pinch of character selections that actually got me excited but not as many as the past year and as mentioned I skipped an ENTIRE elite wave and that’s kinda rare for me. The top picks and greatest hits lines are getting to be a little much and their character choices are really lacking in that vein aswell. The legends series I felt like started out the year strong and each series release got less and less enticing as we rolled into December. I can also echo that sentiment for the Ultimate line of figures. I feel like we got far more ‘Greatest hits’ Ultimates this year than new offerings to the line. I traveled a ton this year and I saw what was at retail and what was rotting at retail on the pegs and obviously mattel had a much better year than jazwares but still there were a number of figures just hanging out in walmarts from city to city all across the central region of the US and I think its just the fact that mattel uses these silly marketing tactics of always seeming to have an anchor so to speak in each wave of a figure that will hold the presence of the series on the pegs. The BAF waves this year continued the trend for me of being 2/4 excitement levels across the board and I cant wait for the Monday night wars line as it looks to be starting out really strong to me. As evidenced by my reviews and favorite figures, im a nostalgia collector and I don’t really get too high off of buying figures of newer talent. We did see some really cool flashback figures in 2023 and with all the new headswap and hand swap technology im hoping we see more and more flashback releases because the quality of figures are getting much better. I think this year I had less figures with bad truefx paint apps and bad joints but there still were a few bad apples.

I guess looking forward to 2024 im hoping to see some CM Punk figures, obviously! The Monday night wars line looks amazing so far, really looking to see the fruits of that line. Legends line is off to an okay start with reveals—never really know what to expect from that line but im always pleasantly surprised. I don’t really have any preference of ultimate figures, I guess more flashback and classic talent is always desired lol id really like to see some new Road Warriors figures, attitude era guys ofcourse, more wcw guys? I feel like there is a lot of attention wcw talent could be getting but isn’t—that would be cool. ECW guys ofcourse would be rad to see in the line; sandman, raven, shane douglas, sabu, taz, tommy dreamer, rvd, etc. just want mattel to keep up the good work! Honestly I do want to see less gimmicks from MDT……less rubber singlets and less hair swapping technology and weird stuff like that. I mean the effort is always appreciated but we’re practical collectors, just give us cool figures don’t need these 2-in-1 figures or goofy things like that.

[MonsoonMan]

Happy Figure Friday Brothers!!



Basic 142 Hulk Hogan

Hulking into the reviews today Brother-Jack-Dude is the One and Only Immortal Hulk Hogan! This time the Hulkster comes to us in basic figure form but with new articulation so we’ll see if we like that upgrade. First off the Hulkster comes to us with a really good headsculpt, it portrays the Hulkster in a straight faced, soft smirk expression and the likeness is spot on, it really provides a near photorealistic representation of Hulk. Its very similar to—if not one of the same headsculpts we saw in the 60th anniversary elite figure 4 pack. This headsculpt however comes with a removable white Hulkster headband it looks and fits the figure great. Moving down the figure; this Hogan is fitted out in work out gear or backstage brawl gear as he comes to us wearing a white shirt with ripped sleeves like his headband it is branded this time with a red Hulkamania logo and big cutouts in the back of the shirt for mad flexing during iron pumping workouts. Beyond the white Hulkamania shirt(which had to be rare at the time) the Hulkster is wearing some white fingerless workout gloves that extend a bit further up his wrists than normal gloves. Finally we get the new feature of the basic line figures—more swivel articulation on the hips!! I am grateful for the added articulation and upgrade to the leg design, however I just think the sculpting needs a little more work because it looks SO unnatural. This hogan in workout gear is actually really cool looking and desirable but the legs seem just funny---like youd expect this figure to have some whacky squeeze the legs or pull the lever action feature. I do like the added mobility of the figures and I could certainly see myself being a little more swayed to buy a basic figure moving forward, but I would like to see them re-visit the sculpt and make that ball joint area look more natural. ANYWAYS this hulkster comes to the ring or atleast fights his fights backstage wearing some blue tights with elevated socks above the boots and some medium height black boots.
All in all I really dig the appearance and colorscheme of this Hulkster’s gear. It could certainly be a fun Elite but it is a perfect basic figure as it’s a sort of promo/backstage look and you don’t necessarily need full on articulation for out-of-ring looks. The new hip articulation is cool, it certainly helps make the basic figures a little more desirable but as I brought up, they need to re-visit the sculpting to make it look more natural and less utilitarian at that joint area. Time will tell, but the new outward mobility will only do so much without having swivel hips as well to keep the feet level in any outward direction posing with the legs. Big props to mattel for going back to the drawing board on the basic design…as mentioned FOR NOW it seems to have piqued my interest back into basic figures we’ll see what other looks they’ll put in the basic line but the figures feel like they’ve gotten better at this point.

[MonsoonMan]

happy Superstar Saturday!!

after seeing reports of the elite 106 figures hitting walmarts, i cruised out to my two local wal marts this morning and was only met with a lone Roxanne Perez left at BOTH stores for new elites 😭



Greatest Hits Scorpion King Rock

coming in today with a SCORPION KING Saturday! i was pretty excited for the hollywood series mattel played around with, i really liked the idea of getting the wwe talent in figure form from their movie and pop culture appearances. unfortunately mattel dropped the bag on that idea and it fizzled out to the point where figures had to be re-released due to poor distribution. in comes this GREATEST HITS Scorpion King Rock figure that i was frankly pretty thrilled to have picked up. i owned the Jakks Scorpion King figures as a kid and remember fantasy booking the scorpion king AS Rocky Maivia--the Rocks twin brother 😂😂 no lying though i did have a bunch of fun with those figures and getting this updated scorpion king rock figure is a real treat. this figure comes to us with a new-ish headsculpt; if it isnt brand new it does seem to resemble the WM BAF Rock figure with new longer hair sculpted on it. i do really like it it offers the rocks likeness in an almost photorealistic interpretation. the paint apps on the eyes of my figure are ever so slightly off but the head still looks really good at a certain angle. the face sculpt portrays the scorpion king in a serious, determined, straight faced expression and although it looks good i would have also liked to see some more emotion of expression out of the head. the hair sculpting on the figure is good, we get scorp sporting some long black hair with a small ponytail drawn down the center; i couldnt even see the rock sporting this type of hair in the 80's but things were different in ancient egypt. Going down the figure, scorpion king was given some tan colored bicep wraps and some REALLY cool wrist and hand guards. the hand guards feature some black studded pads on the back of the fist and the wrist is protected by leather pieces strapped together. someone with a skilled hand could really bring this figure to life by filling in all of the molded details with color and shading. this figure was given the classic rock torso; no real complaints with that when Rock took the role he actually slimmed down and didnt shred up so this torso works perfect. up next this figure is sporting a really unique leather belt and codpiece. mattel did a great job with the sculpting and did the best they could with the paint apps. like the wristguards there are many small unpainted details within but it still looks great. Mathayus is rocking some period correct laced leather trousers and mattel featured all of the appropriate sculpting to the laces and paint apps to the brass eyelets. finishing up this figure are some unique sculpted footwear, Mathayus is rocking some leather boots with laced shinguards-mattel captured the details in the sculpting but neglected to add the paint apps to the shoelaces.
All in all this figure really hits me in the nostalges. i remember just having grudge match after grudge match between the Rock and his evil Twin bother in my fig fed and i really was just so surprised to see it get re-released with modern mattel tech. the figure itself turned out fantastic for the small line it was planned to be a part of. there are a TON of brand new, unique sculpts on this figure and it most definitely deserves a spot in the collection. i do wish he was packaged with a sword 🤔

[MonsoonMan]

Coming in today with a ....MUHAMMAD ALI MONDAY!! 😲😲🥊🥊



Ultimate Muhammad Ali

Floating like a butterfly into the reviews today is THE GREATEST!! Muhammad Ali!! I took advantage of mattelcreations awesome BOGO sale and scooped up this Muhammad Ali Ultimate pack and the Jake Roberts & Rick Rude Coliseum Collection figures. Im not a boxing historian by any means but my casual viewing has caused me to have some level of reverence for Muhammad Ali; literally watched clips of him ducking, dodging, and weaving an opponents every attempt to land a hit on him. Then after his opponent was tired out, crack, boom, pop! Ali would put them to sleep. A famous clip from an interview between Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali shows Tyson bow to Ali’s greatness, thus cementing him as the greatest of all time! I think it was a fantastic idea to include Ali in the Mattycreation program, he was a great candidate. Starting off this figure I do want to say that I LOVE the packaging and the concept behind it. The wrestler vs Boxer match against Inoki was iconic and I love how they used the translucent bubble to give that retro vibe effect when looking back at these legendary memories. For this match they printed an Inoki on the ground and packaged Ali in his famous ‘come get some’ pose standing over him. On the flip side we see Ali wearing the official uniform from when he was the referee at Wrestlemania 1 and once again really dig the use of the translucent bubble to show him raising the arm of the Hulkster in victory during the event. i do kinda dig this concept of having one character in a two pack, almost like a debut look, final form kinda deal? Superstar Billy Graham in his superstar look and then next to him the Karate Master look. Ok anyways these two figures came out looking really good- they came with 4 headsculpts, two really gritty with emotion, and two seemingly the same? Maybe I had a packaging error? I have two headsculpts for the boxer side, one shouting or screaming and one teeth bearing really focused and determined looking. The other two headsculpts seem to portray Ali in a soft, confident smile. Either way they all look good and hold a likeness to Ali from all angles. I really like the two boxer heads, they are super expressive and really make posing the figure super fun. Starting off with the Boxer figure, he comes to the ring in a really nice softgoods entrance robe with ‘Muhammad Ali’ printed on the back center in black font. The robe is a really nice….towel? like material but it looks and fits the figure great. I like the fine details mattel used on the robe like some belt straps to hold his belt in place. The figure underneath the entrance gear is pretty straightforward: we see Ali wearing some red boxing gloves, white shorts with black detailing on the waist and stripes down the sides, and black socks poking above white short boots. I also wanted to comment that I like the body recipe they used; he was very fit and trim, never really shredded in his prime so this is a great look for the figure.
All in all I really like this mattel Muhammed Ali Ultimate boxer figure. Is it practical to the wwe line? Not really; it is a great figure regardless? Hell yeah. We have numerous other figures outfitted with boxing gear that you could do plenty of posing and fantasy booking. Hell, you could even take off the gloves and put on the normal hands from the pack and pose him like that. Ali is a legend among legends and im glad we were able to get a really cool Ultimate figure of him as he appeared close to his prime. Hopefully he paves the way for a Tyson figure next year or something I think that would be more welcomed by the fanbase.

[MonsoonMan]

coming in for a TWO COUNT Tuesday!!



Ultimate Muhammad Ali Referee

Counting into the reviews next is the Referee incarnation of the Greatest when he arrived in the wwf to officiate Wrestlemania 1 in a match between mr. t and Hulk hogan vs Roddy piper and Mr. wonderful. This is also a pretty straightforward figure but still providing something new and unique to the Ultimate line. As mentioned the headsculpts for this figure are pretty ace, the attire of this figure sees Ali in the classic Blue ref gear of yesteryear. He is wearing a black bowtie, light blue longsleeve button down shirt, navy blue slacks and black ‘suited’ shoes. This figure really shines for the referee aspect with all of the added articulation, it poses really well and looks great hitting all of those classic counting and officiating poses. It comes with a plethora of hands aswell, notably 1,2,and 3 posed hands.
All in all I guess not really being an enormous Ali fan or not having all of the figures associated with his appearances to pose with him I still really like this double Ultimate pack of the greatest. The concept is really cool Im sure mattel will hit us with a Hogan style pack or Ultimate warrior style pack some day like this. Id like to see something like a triple h two pack, the rock two pack, they could already do undertaker. The presentation was really spectacular for this figure I liked the translucent sleeves they had over the bubble of the figure to represent each ear of the figure. I would say that this pack is good on a discount or sale but I don’t know-youd have to be a serious collector to want this pack for full on price. As mentioned I got this in a BOGO sale so Im not really that bothered. i think theyre doing a good job of filling out those big celebrity spots of the classic era, as mentioned in my previous review, i think that a mike tyson figure would have really gone over huge but this muhammad ali figure seems to have been met with a lukewarm reaction. i dont really know the crossover of classic boxing fans to wwe collectors so i think this figure might just linger in their shop for awhile--but i still think its a quality figure and definitely worth a spot in the collection. "don’t float over this pack, sting it into the collection!" 😂

[MonsoonMan]

Happy SHIVERING Sunday 🥶🥶🥶

we are currently enduring NEGATIVE temps here locally, a low of -11 and a high of -1 today 😭😭 im also fighting off a small cold so THATS always a fun time not being able to breathe or taste or just be comfortable at all--but beyond that all is well inside.

i got all of my Target Legends 21 figures in the mail, really stoked for all the offerings that wave brought us target hooked your boi up with a chase Andre figure so that was really cool. i will say that i had a bit of a scare when i got home one night and half of my shipments said 'delivered' with that green check mark-----delivered in a different city 😱 as it turns out UPS had the packages and handed them off to USPS to complete the delivery, so the next day it looked like Christmas on my front porch.

BUT TODAY......i think we're gonna move forward with a SHAWN MICHAELS SUNDAY ✝️



Survivor Series British Bulldog BAF
Shawn Michaels


Superkicking his way into the reviews today was one of my all time most anticipated figures from mattel, the Survivor Series 2002 Shawn Michaels!!!! The early 2000s were very formative for me and I was glued to the wwe product during the time frame and Shawn Michaels was so polarizing during the time. He returned to the nWo which was a huge plus for me (im an nWo mark and fantasy booked HBK into the nWo in my fig fed way before he did in wwe) and then broke away and became the Heavyweight Champion. I remember REALLY wanting the jakks RA version of this figure and this look with the bob haircut and was never able to acquire it—making this elite figure that much more valuable to me. The headsculpt on this figure is good—I like it; it captures Shawn in a positive, confident smile with his iconic ‘bob’ haircut. One thing mattel did that I don’t care for is that on the back of his hair they made some strands of hair ‘whispy’ or something and sculpted them out of place and I could’ve done without that. Otherwise, I really like this head and hair sculpt. Shawn was given his classic torso choice with body hair and was also given his unique white hand wraps for the event. THE MAIN DRAW OF THE FIGURE is the classic brown ‘unfinished’ tights Shawn won the championship wearing. UNFORTUNATELY, I feel like mattel got the shade of brown incorrect; they should be a few shades darker and they seem to be a bit too far in the ‘green’ spectrum and need to be more earthy brown 😝. Shawn’s Tights feature silver ‘SM’ logos outlined in blue in the front and back of the tights and the beginning of the ‘HBK’ logo on the hips but only the ‘H’ is visible. Beyond that, he is wearing some small black kneepads which are appropriate and finishing up the figure are some brown cowboy boots. So mattel did a strange thing with the transition to the boots; they used the very upper portion from the kickpads mold but then just plugged in some boots underneath that. It WORKS but its not accurate and I kinda think mattel coudve really executed that better given its such an iconic look and demanded figure. HBK wore some straight up boots in the match and they aren’t represented accurately here.
All in all, despite everything I still really like this figure. I was level 10 hype for it and although mattel didn’t absolutely knock it out of the park they still did a great job representing this look. Im hoping that with this new headsculpt and hairstyle available we get some other iconic looks from this era too but time will tell(nWo 2002, Summerslam 2002).

[MonsoonMan]

Survivor Series British Bulldog BAF
Jerry Lawler

Fist dropping into the reviews is Royalty as Jerry the King Lawler makes his way into the collection! I was pretty excited for this figure; I never had an opportunity to own King figures as a kid so I jump at the chance to get Jerry in the roster. This figure comes to us from Survivor Series 1996….the debut of Rocky Maivia! This Jerry comes to us wearing his iconic Red Crown and this iteration sees him in a black jacket with medallions on the chest and yellow epaulettes. The jacket looks great, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the dreaded molded rubber. They did use some of the ultra-light rubber that they used in the Ronda Rousey figure recently, but it still completely restricts movement and poseability of the figure. Underneath the cool new entrance gear, the main draw of this figure is a brand new headsculpt for the king and I think it looks amazing! 98% of the time I can see Jerry from any and every angle, but for some reason in some angles I see Jim Ross? Lol the headsculpt captures Jerry in a very subdued, confident, determined expression and it really offers a somewhat photorealistic interpretation of the King. Being a 1996 portrayal of the King, he was given his long front bangs as was his hairstyle for the era. Jerry was given removable elbow pads that can be applied after removing the jacket and the rest of the figure is classic mattel Jerry Lawler body recipe. I think the entire body recipe could be beefed up a bit for the king but it gets the job done. Jerry was wearing his red tights with white crown logos on the legs and black single strap bodysuit for the event.
All in all this Jerry Lawler figure is actually a really strong offering from mattel. Im a rabid Attitude Era collector as well so this Jerry will look great in the lineup of figures from the era or behind the announce desk next to Vince or Cole Or J.R, plus mattel did a bang-up job on the new headsculpt. 10/10 worth the pickup.

[mikedanger]

I don't say it enough but I love this thread. The pics, the stories, everything. Big Fan.

[MonsoonMan]

coming in today with a STUN OWENS STUN Sunday!!



Survivor Series British Bulldog BAF
Kevin Owens

Stunning into the reviews today is Fight Owens Fight himself, Kevin Owens. Interestingly enough it seems like mattel chose to base this Kevin Owens on his appearance at Survivor Series 2021, but as i recall, he immediately walked out of that match and got counted out 😭 beyond that this figure is essentially a repaint of his E91 figure however this time he is sporting a red and black look. the headsculpt on this figure is really freaking good, it is the same headsculpt we saw on his E91 figure and as i recall i gave that figure high marks for such a good headsculpt and paint apps as well. i guess my only complaint is that looking at pictures of Survivor Series 21, K.O was sporting a much cleaner haircut with less of a fade on the sides and beard--but its not something that really takes away form the figure. the headsculpt portrays K.O in a serious, determined, ready to kick out some stunners expression and it looks great. as mentioned, this K.O utilizes a red and black attire colorscheme, coming to the ring wearing a black and red 'Relentless Fight' shirt, black handwraps, and black shorts with a red K.O logo on the right leg. mattel also did a great job on Kevin's tattoos, all of his sleevework was printed cleany and crisply on my figure. finishing up this figure are the classic Kevin owens kneepad boot combo lower legs molded in all black.
all in all this is a really good Kevin Owens figure for the elite line. i do like that it contrasts the E91 figure that was repping the blue colors and still utilizes that really good headsculpt. to be completely honest, if i didnt HAVE to buy this figure to complete the Bulldog BAF, i probably would have passed on it. i saw far more K.O figures for sale without the Bulldog head than spare Bulldog heads on the secondary market(i didnt see any otherwise i would have bought one), so it seems to me that there were a ton of collectors that felt the same. i feel like the E91 Kevin Owens figure is better than this one because that blue and yellow really pops and looks unique on the shelf and for the character-black and red colorschemes feel REALLY overdone at mattel and thus lose their luster and dont garner much excitement in the lineups.