Posted in: Collectibles, Mattel | Tagged: harley race, jake roberts, jake the snake roberts, king harley race, mattel, mattel wwe, ricky steamboat, ricky the dragon steamboat, shawn michaels, stone cold steve austin, walmart, walmart exclusive wwe, wwe elite figures, wwe elite flashback

Let's Take a Look at Mattel's New Wave of WWE Flashback Elite Figures

WWE Mattel collectors live in a world where the pegs are constantly full of John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins figures. Plenty of kids love gobbling those figures up, but us older collectors love when the design team over there gives us some of the giants of wrestling. While they have not been doing it as much in the main line, they have been adding in classic superstars in other ways. Mostly with store exclusive lines like the Hall of Champions line at Target and Flashback Elites at Walmart. Today we will look at the latest wave of Flashback Elites. Four legends, one we never thought we would get, and a BAF of a Raw commissioner. Let's take a look!

First up, a new version of Stone Cold Steve Austin. He comes with a vest and a WWE mic. I have to ding this one for the giant black paint streaks he has on his arm, that really have no business being there. Besides that, if you have one Stone Cold, you have them all. This one is just as good as any other.

As sad as this may be, this is how I remember Jake the Snake Roberts in the ring. Not the 80's badass but the mid-90's kinda bloated, shirt-wearing Jake. This gear in particular. Mattel did a great job on this attire, nailing the snakeskin and especially the hue of green. The snake is pretty easy to pose on his shoulders, although I do wish that he would face forward a bit more. While the face scan is accurate to his look then, it does not translate very well to the figure form. Solid Jake figure though.

This Ricky The Dragon Steamboat is one of my favorite WWE figures of the year. The cloth robe makes all the difference, and the design on the back is spot on. He is the easiest of all these to pose, and that he comes with the Intercontinental title is icing on the cake. The face scan is top-notch, the headband is perfect, and overall this is just a great figure all-around.

Steamboat would be the best figure of the wave, if not for this one. King Harley Race is a figure I did not think we would ever get, but I am so glad that we did. My initial disappointment over the plastic robe went away as soon as I got him out of the box. Race comes with his robe and crown, and features another one of Mattel's best WWE scans. That stare, they one hundred percent captured Race. His tattoos are perfect, and having this old school legend on my shelf is a giant thrill. He is the must-have flashback elite of the year.

Collect all four and build yourself a commissioner Shawn Michaels. He looks weird with his cowboy hat on, but if you take it off, this is not a bad figure. These suit bodies are hit or miss, the chest is a bit too bulky on most, including this one. But as a display figure, he's not bad.

Overall, this is a great wave of figures. Stone Cold is the only one I didn't really need, but if you don't have one yet, this is a good one. Roberts, Steamboat, and especially Race are all well-worth a purchase. Harley Race will be tougher to track down, as he is only one per case. Walmart has been doing a good job getting these on the shelf however, so keep checking if you haven't found them yet.

There are rumors that this line is going away, and I hope it is not true. We need more and more of these WWE legends in the line, not just to appease us older collectors, but to help educate the younger crowd about what came before.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!