Why No Hasbro 92 Ultimate Warrior?

[repodan]

I've forever wondered why they never released a new or repainted Ultimate Warrior Hasbro after his return in 1992. The figure would have fit in perfectly with the Yellow Card line. Could it have been due to character licensing issues?

I doubt his firing would have had anything to do with it, considering they went ahead with releasing Nailz. Wonder if the Warrior was ever even in consideration? You'd think they would have cancelled a Nailz release over a potential seller like the Warrior. For comparison sake:

Ultimate Warrior - returned April 92, gone November 92
Nailz - debuted April 92, gone December 92

With the exception of Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels, the Yellow Cards feature wrestlers who all debuted in the weeks after Wrestlemania VIII. Warrior would make so much sense to be in this group. Aside from Nailz you had:

Crush - returned (on TV) April 92
Kamala - returned April 92

Razor Ramon - debuted May 92

[MKSavage]

It is possible that licensing may have been the issue. The yellow card figures didn't hit the stores until late 1993, it's possible that Warrior' merch licensing deal may have ended by that point, and they couldn't use him. Not too sure on this. Also, maybe they didn't want to release a figure that was recently fired due to steroid/human growth issues during the time the company and Vince was being investigated by the federal government for steroids. If I remember correctly, the series 3 wave was still being sold during 1992, so they may have considered this a merch for him during that year. Shame, a 1992 Warrior would have been great for the Hasbro line.


EDIT: Also, if my memory is correct, Series 2 Warrior was still readily available in stores during this time as well, so they probably felt he had enough figures out and they were trying to get more figures released. It was around this time that Vince had decided to go with the younger stars over the past stars. 

[drnickriviera995]

Well the Series 3 Warrior was held back in the US because of his firing in 1991. It came out in the US in mid/late 92 to coincide with him coming back at WM8.

At least that's how it seemed to me. I found him and Bossman 2 out with Series 4, so I always thought they were packed into later shipments of S4. I think had he not been rehired in 92 that figure would have never been released on English card.

I'd suspect there could have been one in the works for 1993, but I'd guess he was gone again so quick they may have just canned it early on.

[jason1980s]

Other than Macho and Hogan getting so many figures, the 1993 guys featured almost entirely new guys and I'm counting heel Shawn. So there was really so much that Hasbro could do.
They probably had guys planned for months. The first two series guys in 93 were pretty much based on the mid to late 1991 time period. The third series was late 91 to early 92. Warrior wasn't back yet. Then post Wrestlemania you had Kamala, Razor, Nailz and Crush and you also had Shawn and Owen so really no room for Warrior.
Like I said, only so much they could do. They had at least planned the Beverly Brothers (as we saw by the photo negative) and even they weren't released.
1993 Hasbro reminds me of 1987 LJN, both companies pumped out as much as they could during these years. 1994 Hasbro saw almost as many figures, or more but also a lot of repaints.

[drnickriviera995]

Feb 12, 2023 10:39:25 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

Other than Macho and Hogan getting so many figures, the 1993 guys featured almost entirely new guys and I'm counting heel Shawn. So there was really so much that Hasbro could do.
They probably had guys planned for months. The first two series guys in 93 were pretty much based on the mid to late 1991 time period. The third series was late 91 to early 92. Warrior wasn't back yet. Then post Wrestlemania you had Kamala, Razor, Nailz and Crush and you also had Shawn and Owen so really no room for Warrior.
Like I said, only so much they could do. They had at least planned the Beverly Brothers (as we saw by the photo negative) and even they weren't released.
1993 Hasbro reminds me of 1987 LJN, both companies pumped out as much as they could during these years. 1994 Hasbro saw almost as many figures, or more but also a lot of repaints.

1992 had pretty many to be fair too, when you count 3 waves of singles and the tag teams. They were still doing some repacks in 92' like Piper, Duggan, Rockers, Bushwackers, but still alot of guys.

I think 93 is also really weird with Anvil and Rocket being in seperate waves months apart. I see Anvil being ready slightly quicker since he was in development for a Hart Foundation figure, but if you look at the art for that besides the head, it would have been a totally different mold than the New Foundation figure. So I don't get why they didn't put him and Owen in the same set. Or did Anvil actually wrestle with that gear as a singles before Owen came in? It's possible that's the case, but I don't remember.

[MKSavage]

Feb 12, 2023 16:15:22 GMT -5 drnickriviera995 said:

Feb 12, 2023 10:39:25 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

Other than Macho and Hogan getting so many figures, the 1993 guys featured almost entirely new guys and I'm counting heel Shawn. So there was really so much that Hasbro could do.
They probably had guys planned for months. The first two series guys in 93 were pretty much based on the mid to late 1991 time period. The third series was late 91 to early 92. Warrior wasn't back yet. Then post Wrestlemania you had Kamala, Razor, Nailz and Crush and you also had Shawn and Owen so really no room for Warrior.
Like I said, only so much they could do. They had at least planned the Beverly Brothers (as we saw by the photo negative) and even they weren't released.
1993 Hasbro reminds me of 1987 LJN, both companies pumped out as much as they could during these years. 1994 Hasbro saw almost as many figures, or more but also a lot of repaints.

1992 had pretty many to be fair too, when you count 3 waves of singles and the tag teams. They were still doing some repacks in 92' like Piper, Duggan, Rockers, Bushwackers, but still alot of guys.

I think 93 is also really weird with Anvil and Rocket being in seperate waves months apart. I see Anvil being ready slightly quicker since he was in development for a Hart Foundation figure, but if you look at the art for that besides the head, it would have been a totally different mold than the New Foundation figure. So I don't get why they didn't put him and Owen in the same set. Or did Anvil actually wrestle with that gear as a singles before Owen came in? It's possible that's the case, but I don't remember.

Yes, Anvil wrestled in that gear, and was also an announcer in that gear, prior to the New Foundation forming. He did have a big match against Ric Flair on Wrestling Challenge or Superstars in late 1991 before the Survivor Series. I imagine that he was probably in development with the series 4 guys, but once the Hart Foundation split, they chose not to release him and instead remolded his torso and legs and put him in the series 5 wave. I think Owen probably went into production just after this, but by the time they were going to release him, the New Foundation already split as well. On the card back for Owen, they mention he is a member of High Energy, but the figure is still wearing the New Foundation attire, High Energy wore suspenders. 

Here is Jim Neidhart on commentary when Bobby Heenan debuted the Big Gold Belt just before Summer Slam 1991:



Here is a picture of Jim Neidhart vs. Ric Flair from November 1991:


That match actually the reason why the New Foundation formed. After the match with Flair, Anvil injured his leg badly (kafabe), he was heading back to the locker room when the Beverly Brothers made their way to the ring for their match but instead attacked Jim Neidhart. Jim eventually brought in Owen to help him get revenge against the Beverly Brothers. However, Jim quit the company before the feud with the Beverly Brothers could really get going or end with a final match. 

[drnickriviera995]

Feb 12, 2023 17:37:21 GMT -5 MKSavage said:

Feb 12, 2023 16:15:22 GMT -5 drnickriviera995 said:

1992 had pretty many to be fair too, when you count 3 waves of singles and the tag teams. They were still doing some repacks in 92' like Piper, Duggan, Rockers, Bushwackers, but still alot of guys.

I think 93 is also really weird with Anvil and Rocket being in seperate waves months apart. I see Anvil being ready slightly quicker since he was in development for a Hart Foundation figure, but if you look at the art for that besides the head, it would have been a totally different mold than the New Foundation figure. So I don't get why they didn't put him and Owen in the same set. Or did Anvil actually wrestle with that gear as a singles before Owen came in? It's possible that's the case, but I don't remember.

Yes, Anvil wrestled in that gear, and was also an announcer in that gear, prior to the New Foundation forming. He did have a big match against Ric Flair on Wrestling Challenge or Superstars in late 1991 before the Survivor Series. I imagine that he was probably in development with the series 4 guys, but once the Hart Foundation split, they chose not to release him and instead remolded his torso and legs and put him in the series 5 wave. I think Owen probably went into production just after this, but by the time they were going to release him, the New Foundation already split as well. On the card back for Owen, they mention he is a member of High Energy, but the figure is still wearing the New Foundation attire, High Energy wore suspenders. 

Here is Jim Neidhart on commentary when Bobby Heenan debuted the Big Gold Belt just before Summer Slam 1991:



Here is a picture of Jim Neidhart vs. Ric Flair from November 1991:


That match actually the reason why the New Foundation formed. After the match with Flair, Anvil injured his leg badly (kafabe), he was heading back to the locker room when the Beverly Brothers made their way to the ring for their match but instead attacked Jim Neidhart. Jim eventually brought in Owen to help him get revenge against the Beverly Brothers. However, Jim quit the company before the feud with the Beverly Brothers could really get going or end with a final match. 

Those 92 releases were really interesting. Actually, I'd of thought Anvil and Bret to be a 2-pack along with LOD and Nastys. And then Bret got pushed into S4. Gotta wonder what was originally on the drawing board before they decided to make Bret a singles. Would S4 have been Bossman, Dragon, Taker, Bulldog and maybe one or two other guys?

And I also wonder if Tugboat would have been for 92' or if that would have been 91? So fun to speculate, wonder if we'll ever find out any more answers on this stuff.

[jason1980s]

They should have just went with Bret and Anvil. Hasbro and LJN took so long to release guys it's not like anyone would be too out of date. Even Steamboat was still produced well after became an upper mid card guy in WCW.

Most, if not all of the 1992 WWF series guys were from late 90 to early 91 so still time for a Hart Foundation. They even pushed Crush into the 91 series though I think the lower body mold was already in place for an Ax #2 as the Hasbro sketch suggested. Or maybe that was Ax #1 and the body was replaced by what we got in 90.

I don't know when exactly Anvil started to wear the blue baggy pants but I think he did have a match (it's on a Coliseum Video) with Skinner and that was around June 91.

[MKSavage]

Feb 12, 2023 19:58:26 GMT -5 drnickriviera995 said:

Feb 12, 2023 17:37:21 GMT -5 MKSavage said:

Yes, Anvil wrestled in that gear, and was also an announcer in that gear, prior to the New Foundation forming. He did have a big match against Ric Flair on Wrestling Challenge or Superstars in late 1991 before the Survivor Series. I imagine that he was probably in development with the series 4 guys, but once the Hart Foundation split, they chose not to release him and instead remolded his torso and legs and put him in the series 5 wave. I think Owen probably went into production just after this, but by the time they were going to release him, the New Foundation already split as well. On the card back for Owen, they mention he is a member of High Energy, but the figure is still wearing the New Foundation attire, High Energy wore suspenders. 

Here is Jim Neidhart on commentary when Bobby Heenan debuted the Big Gold Belt just before Summer Slam 1991:

Here is a picture of Jim Neidhart vs. Ric Flair from November 1991:

That match actually the reason why the New Foundation formed. After the match with Flair, Anvil injured his leg badly (kafabe), he was heading back to the locker room when the Beverly Brothers made their way to the ring for their match but instead attacked Jim Neidhart. Jim eventually brought in Owen to help him get revenge against the Beverly Brothers. However, Jim quit the company before the feud with the Beverly Brothers could really get going or end with a final match. 

Those 92 releases were really interesting. Actually, I'd of thought Anvil and Bret to be a 2-pack along with LOD and Nastys. And then Bret got pushed into S4. Gotta wonder what was originally on the drawing board before they decided to make Bret a singles. Would S4 have been Bossman, Dragon, Taker, Bulldog and maybe one or two other guys?

And I also wonder if Tugboat would have been for 92' or if that would have been 91? So fun to speculate, wonder if we'll ever find out any more answers on this stuff.

Yeah, you're right, the Hart Foundation were supposed to be in the tag team set with LOD and the Nasty Boys. I think there may have been another team to be released as well but I can't remember who that was, maybe Power & Glory. What they should have done was release Tugboat in Series 3 instead of switching him to Typhoon, then release the Hart Foundation in the tag team set with LOD and the Nasty Boys, and quickly add the Natural Disasters to this set as well. It would have been an easy repaint of Earthquake, and the same execution for Typhoon. This way we would have gotten HF Neidhart, Tugboat and a Natural Disasters Earthquake. For Series 4, they could have just done a repaint for Bret Hart to be re-released. 

I thought I remember reading that Series 4 was put together quickly to get more figures out in a year, to be a second wave for the year with Series 3. At the time, each year had one wave/series released in the year: 1990 had series 1, 1991 had series 2, but 1992 had both series 3 and series 4. 

[MKSavage]

Feb 12, 2023 21:26:04 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

They should have just went with Bret and Anvil. Hasbro and LJN took so long to release guys it's not like anyone would be too out of date. Even Steamboat was still produced well after became an upper mid card guy in WCW.

Most, if not all of the 1992 WWF series guys were from late 90 to early 91 so still time for a Hart Foundation. They even pushed Crush into the 91 series though I think the lower body mold was already in place for an Ax #2 as the Hasbro sketch suggested. Or maybe that was Ax #1 and the body was replaced by what we got in 90.

I don't know when exactly Anvil started to wear the blue baggy pants but I think he did have a match (it's on a Coliseum Video) with Skinner and that was around June 91.

Agreed, they should have just released the Hart Foundation in the tag team set with LOD and the Nasty Boys. 

That's also interesting, I always assumed that the sketch with Ax having the closeline action was for the tag team series in 1991, not his series 1 figure. But come to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing the drawing of Ax like the figure that was released in series 1. And it seems odd that they would change Ax's look but not Smash's for the tag team series set. Maybe the original Ax body mold was supposed to be the closeline action and they switched it to the gorilla press/press slam action for some reason. Maybe they couldn't get the closeline action mechanism to work and they had to make the change. When they finally did get it to work, they just used that for Crush in the tag team line since Ax was no longer with the team. Shame, I like the closeline action better than the one we got for Ax, the way his arms and hands were made it difficult to play with. Now I want someone like chella or zombie to make an Ax figure like the sketch below:






I believe Jim started wearing the gear in the spring of 1991, I remember him doing commentary with Gorilla and Bobby at many MSG shows, and he was wearing that gear. However, I don't think he started wrestling in that gear until summertime. He wrestled the Warlord on the UK Rampage 1991 VHS, but I believe he was still wearing the Hart Foundation gear. 

[MKSavage]

Has a reason ever been given as to why the Macho Man figure in series 3 was just a simple repaint of his series 2 figure? Was he a quick replacement for someone? It seems kind of strange that they would release Savage in trunks for series 3 when he hadn't worn trunks since the end of 1989, which was before Series 1 was even released to the public - if you will... I remember seeing a sketch (EDIT: found it, shown below), and the head sculpt shows him wearing a bandana which didn't come with either figure (Series 2 or 3). Were they going to do a new head sculpt for series 3, but scrapped that and just rereleased the figure from series 2? Seems odd. Or was this sketch already produced for series 2 since it started when he was still the Macho Man, and they just added the crown and scepter to the figure? 

[tigerdrivercollect]

Feb 13, 2023 9:27:35 GMT -5 MKSavage said:

Has a reason ever been given as to why the Macho Man figure in series 3 was just a simple repaint of his series 2 figure? Was he a quick replacement for someone? It seems kind of strange that they would release Savage in trunks for series 3 when he hadn't worn trunks since the end of 1989, which was before Series 1 was even released to the public - if you will... I remember seeing a sketch (EDIT: found it, shown below), and the head sculpt shows him wearing a bandana which didn't come with either figure (Series 2 or 3). Were they going to do a new head sculpt for series 3, but scrapped that and just rereleased the figure from series 2? Seems odd. Or was this sketch already produced for series 2 since it started when he was still the Macho Man, and they just added the crown and scepter to the figure? 

An older Macho Man figure probably looked better from a practical sense. Licensing issues with other talent, roster changes, etc. Plus, Macho was so colourful and quite marketable,
so, no one (other than us diehard collectors) probably batted an eye at the decision.

To recall an old Jim Ross quote "the Ultimate Warrior was smart changing his makeup often. The different looks made for a lot of merchandise".