WWF Nailz Hasbro distribtuion question

[mrh]

This was my grail figure for 20 years -- the only Hasbro I never found as a kid (my grandparents bought me the Green Cards from a magazine, and I bought the Nasty Boys at a toy shop -- found all the rest at retail).

Does anyone know definitively why Nailz was so rare? Did they change the case assortment after his fall-out with Vince?

[LA Times]

When that figure came out, the line was declining and TV ratings were abysmal. Not too many retailers were interested in carrying it.

[mrh]

Aug 4, 2021 10:46:07 GMT -5 LA Times said:

When that figure came out, the line was declining and TV ratings were abysmal. Not too many retailers were interested in carrying it.

I thought that Nailz had lower distribution than the other Yellow cards -- does anyone know?

[Rasslin.Bros]

Aug 5, 2021 0:06:37 GMT -5 mrh said:

Aug 4, 2021 10:46:07 GMT -5 LA Times said:

When that figure came out, the line was declining and TV ratings were abysmal. Not too many retailers were interested in carrying it.

I thought that Nailz had lower distribution than the other Yellow cards -- does anyone know?

It's been theorized his production run may have been cut short due to him leaving the company, similar to Dusty. But no one knows for sure.

Nailz was the only Yellow Card I never had as a kid, either.

[mrh]

Aug 5, 2021 20:29:12 GMT -5 Rasslin.Bros said:

Aug 5, 2021 0:06:37 GMT -5 mrh said:

I thought that Nailz had lower distribution than the other Yellow cards -- does anyone know?

It's been theorized his production run may have been cut short due to him leaving the company, similar to Dusty. But no one knows for sure.

Nailz was the only Yellow Card I never had as a kid, either.

Thanks! I knew Dusty was rare of course -- but I actually didn't know they stopped production of him and that's why. I still have my old, horribly beat up Dusty! 

[hbkjason]

I grew up in Scotland and from series 1 all the way up to series 10 the dark blue cards I managed to always find the figures in my stores. The only figures I never saw in stores here in Scotland were Dusty Rhodes and the black/silver Shawn Michaels and the purple Razor Ramon, I am not saying that these were never available here in the UK, but if they were I never saw them. As far as Nailz go, he was one that I saw multiple times, the guy from the yellow card series that took me the longest to eventually track down was Crush. I assume that was because of how popular he was though.

It is kind of interesting to read how some people in other parts of the world had a hard time finding these back in the day. The Nasty Boys and the 3rd Ultimate Warrior figure are two that I hear a lot of people say that they never saw in-store, but in Scotland, I saw them multiple times. Especially the Nasty Boys! Towards the end of the line there was this department store that was clearing out about a million LOD and Nasty Boys sets..... man if only I could go back and buy them all!

[ozz]

All the yellows were hard to find for me, in the Northeast even. If my memory is correct, I had Shawn, Razor, and Owen only because those were all I could find. It wasn't until the famous KB Toys 3/$10 sale that I finally found and got a Kamala. I didn't even see a Mr. Perfect at that time, and I don't believe Nailz was available then either. There was definitely something up w/his distribution/production #s because I'm not going to believe he kept selling out everywhere - lol

[drnickriviera995]

Aug 5, 2021 20:29:12 GMT -5 Rasslin.Bros said:

Aug 5, 2021 0:06:37 GMT -5 mrh said:

I thought that Nailz had lower distribution than the other Yellow cards -- does anyone know?

It's been theorized his production run may have been cut short due to him leaving the company, similar to Dusty. But no one knows for sure.

Nailz was the only Yellow Card I never had as a kid, either.

I dunno, Nailz was priced lowest of the yellow cards in the figures inc. cataloug, I wound up buying Nailz, Owen, Crush, and Kamala through them in like late 94'. I remember Nailz was only $25, while the rest were $35 each, possibly $30 for Kamala, so I don't know if that means anything or not.

[Rasslin.Bros]

Aug 6, 2021 9:33:34 GMT -5 drnickriviera995 said:

Aug 5, 2021 20:29:12 GMT -5 Rasslin.Bros said:

It's been theorized his production run may have been cut short due to him leaving the company, similar to Dusty. But no one knows for sure.

Nailz was the only Yellow Card I never had as a kid, either.

I dunno, Nailz was priced lowest of the yellow cards in the figures inc. cataloug, I wound up buying Nailz, Owen, Crush, and Kamala through them in like late 94'. I remember Nailz was only $25, while the rest were $35 each, possibly $30 for Kamala, so I don't know if that means anything or not.

$25 seemed like a million dollars to me for a Hasbro in 1994. Almost all of mine came from KB Toys 3/$10 sales.

Interesting to know about Figures Inc. I got all of my Yellow Cards at KB Toys. I don't remember seeing Nailz there but it may just be because I didn't want him as a kid. I know KB also got in weird case assortments of newer figs with older figs, so it may also have been Nailz just wasn't in the case (or had already sold) when I got the rest.

[@Chair.Shot]

The only Hasbros I never saw at retail:

Green Cards
Nailz

The only time I saw yellow cards was during a summer in southwest Washington at a regional chain called Fred Meyer. Not once did I see them at Toys R Us, KB, Target, or Kmart.

Come to think of it…I don’t think Freddy’s sold Hasbros at that particular store before or after!

[Rasslin.Bros]

Around Series 10, the figures became hard to find for me. I could never find Fatu, and never saw the Green Cards. Almost all of my Hasbros were from KB Toys and KB Toy Liquidators outlet stores. A few from TRU, I don't remember finding any Hasbros at Walmart. I didn't live near any stores where people report finding their Green Cards, like Hills and Caldor.

[mrh]

I just want to say I LOVE this thread.

I also think Nailz might have been priced lower because of low demand. Though I really wanted him. The Yellow Cards were amazing. 1/3 of my Hasbros disappeared -- and one was Kona Crush. God, what an awesome figure.

The one thing I can't remember now is if I found the last Blue Card wave (Bushwhackers, new Duggan, Marty) at retail, or bought online. But I think it was retail...

[Ohtimate Wahriah]

I remember there was a point where I stopped seeing the WWF Hasbros at Toys R Us (maybe around series 4?) and for a while I would only see them at KayBee. Then around the Nailz series I use to only find them at a Mom & Pop shop in White Plains NY called “The Toy Chest”. So they definitely faded into obscurity, and I wonder how many people didn’t have specialty stores to find these.

I was spoiled, my Mom was actually friends with a lady that worked in the Stamford Headquarters and she had a hookup to get the toys for her own son and she’d get my mom all the figs, totally free.

The only ones I never had was the last set with 123, Adam Bomb etc because I was really into X-MEN & Power Rangers at that time and just wasn’t asking about the wrestlers I guess.

[BoJack Hogan]

This is going back years, so I don't remember for sure, but I know that I saw the yellow card series at Hills when they first came out, then they were abundant in the KB 3/10 sales. I don't recall TRU ever having the yellow card series. I'm pretty sure Nailz was one of the easier ones to find, I just didn't want him because he might've already been long gone. The only ones from that series that I cared about at the time were Michaels and Razor, with I think Razor being the toughest to find. I got Kamala at KB in the 3/10s years later, but never bought Crush or Nailz. I don't remember if Nailz was there at the time, but I can only assume that he was.

As for the series beyond that, I definitely saw the red card series at TRU and KB (first run as well as 3/10), but everything after that (dark blue, purple, green) I found at Hills and probably nowhere else. Kid was the only one of those that I never saw in stores, and possibly the only Hasbro that I never saw in any retail store including Toy Liquidators.

[jason1980s]

Either I or family members found all the Hasbros until 1992 with not finding Steamboat and Bulldog until mid 1993. Everything else was found until the yellow cards and it wasn't until November 1995 IIRC that I found the yellow card guys but only the five not including Nailz.

They yellow ones of course were found at the amazing KB sale. I never did see the red card series in stores though my grandmother got them for me in early 1994. Nailz I had to buy from the cite whose current name is banned from this site from being mentioned. I always liked the goofy gimmick guys so Nailz was a must have for me. The green card guys amazingly were found at Hills during a family gathering weekend my grandmother took to PA that year.

[MKSavage]

Yeah, the yellow card series and the green card series were the only ones that I never saw in stores. I also didn't see all of Series 10, I only found the tag teams.

[mrh]

Yeah -- I don't think anything after Red was at TRU.

The irony is that I was able to find the yellow cards and others elsewhere, so I NEVER bought a 3/10 KB version. God, those were the days weren't they! KB was such a great store

[jason1980s]

Aug 8, 2021 1:11:12 GMT -5 mrh said:

Yeah -- I don't think anything after Red was at TRU.

The irony is that I was able to find the yellow cards and others elsewhere, so I NEVER bought a 3/10 KB version. God, those were the days weren't they! KB was such a great store

I found the purple at my TRU probably late spring and then the blue late summer 1994 which included the white version of Shawn and black vest version of Razor (which made me think the other yellow cards would be around soon...wrong!)
Some figures stuck around until early 1996 (Scott Steiner, Samu, Luke, purple Razor, black Shawn). I did originally find those last two at Hills in April 1995 with an Adam Bomb green card.

[Rasslin.Bros]

I for sure got my Yellow cards and Red cards at KB in the 3/$10 deals.

I got the Purple cards at a discount store called Roses, minus the Steiner Bros. I got Scott at a Winn Dixie grocery store, and could never find Rick.

In 1994 and 95, KB started getting a lot earlier figs on foreign cards in. That's how I got a lot of series 3-6, guys like Koko, Hammer, Tornado, Papa Shango. Those were the last figures I bought new at a retail store.

[mrh]

I still have a MOC Papa Shango, and a Spanish Ultimate Warrior 3 -- I have no idea where I got them. The labels are off -- but I do remember buying them at the end of the line. So maybe it was KB...