Posted in: Collectibles, Games, Recent Updates | Tagged: Brock Lesnar, John Cena, kevin owens, mattel, Roman Reigns, walmart, Wrestlemania, wwe

Mattel Turns Back The Clock For Classic WWE Figures

Being a wrestling fan, and especially a collector of wrestling figures and memorabilia, there is no shortage of merchandise available for me to purchase. Funko Pops, replica Championship belts (I have the white Intercontinental title and it's gorgeous), t-shirts, and action figures are pretty much everywhere, and it can be difficult to know what to throw your money at. Fortunately, Mattel has come to our rescue and put out what is arguably the best figures in over 20 years.

If you grew up a wrestling fan, Hasbro's old line of wrestling figures holds a special place in your heart. From their action moves, colorful designs, cartoonish designs, and deep roster of figures, there arguably hasn't been a better line of figures ever made. And while the current WWE Mattel line is amazing, the older figures remain very desirable on the secondary market so we can all relive the glory days of 80's and 90's  wrestling glory days. Mattel has a new line of figures (that are unfortunately exclusive to Walmart) that are complete throwbacks to the vintage Hasbro figures. Same style, same all-plastic mold, all with action features. The great part is, they have used modern paint aps and tooling to make them feel both classic and modern all at the same time.

The first thing you notice when handling these figures is the packaging. A complete throwback, the feature a giant image of the wrestler and the WWE logo on the card, with an illustration showing how to use the action move on the back. Sadly, the back of the card doesn't have a cut-off collector card like the older figures, but that's OK.

Once out of the package, the figures are exactly the same as the ones I had when I was a kid. The body molds are completely hard plastic. The amount of details on the figures are amazing, great care went into getting things like tattoos and logos painted correctly. My figures have no bad paint aps to speak of, and I have yet to see many people complain of any. As far as action moves, each figure "performs" one of their signature moves when pulling back on their arm/body/etc. So John Cena can hold Roman Reigns up in the Attitude Adjustment and deliver the move with great accuracy.

The character selection for the first wave of figures are heavy-hitters: John Cena, Brock Lesner, Roman Regins, and Kevin Owens. The back of the package also teases an Undertaker and an Ultimate Warrior. If the line is successful, I am sure we will get pretty deep into the current roster, with maybe some Legends thrown in as well. I am hoping for some more colorful attires as well, as all four first release figures primarily feature black paint apps. It makes for a pretty basic look, but I am sure that won't be a problem going forward.

I am all in on this line, I only hope that people support this line and when they pick them up, have the same sense of nostalgia I feel when I see them. They have a real opportunity to, combined with the older figures, have the deepest roster of represented wrestling talent ever.

Jeremy Konrad loves Star Wars and collecting action figures and collectibles. He also watches wrestling, maybe more than Jude Terror. Follow him on Twitter @jeremyohio

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