Slim Jim Macho Man

Slim Jim Macho Man

Mattel - SDCC Exclusive

Now this is one piece of 90s nostalgia I could not live without!  Slim Jim turned the already awesome Macho Man Randy Savage into a Kool-Aid Man ("Oh yeeeeah!") type spokesman, crashing through walls to dispense meat sticks and combat hunger at the drop of a hat.  The bonkers commercials were a great fit for Macho Madness.  So good, that if you watch a certain sequence of them together, it looks like a murderous decent into madness for the sake of snack treats. 


























Killing Shakespeare:

Terrorizing the elderly:

Beating on kids:

Finally brought to justice:

Alone with the madness:

And now we have a figure to commemorate it all!  This was a San Diego Comic Con exclusive (*throws up in anger), but was pre-sold on Entertainment Earth before the show.  I was lucky to get one before he sold out.  It comes in a snazzy Slim Jim replica box (another package I am forced to keep.)

The figure is a bunch of reused parts from other Macho releases, but features a new paint job and two plastic Slim Jim box accessories.  It's rare to get a MM fully decked out from head to toe with hat, glasses, and tassels galore.  Everything looks great, but I have one gripe with the hat.  It's a bit small on the head they used, which is one of the newer scans.  It's not terrible, but even looking at the picture on the back, that hat should be riding lower on his head. 

Even with reused parts and an ill-fitting hat, I won't pass up a Macho Man figure.  Yes...that goes for WCW era, too.  In fact, one MM I want the most:

If Mattel can get me that truck in figure form, all past SDCC transgressions will be forgiven.  Even the Gleek fiasco.

Sting

Sting

WWE basic figure

Mattel



 

This! Is! STING! WCW's answer to Hulk Hogan... until they bought Hogan out, that is.  Okay, maybe, with the facepaint and wild colors, he was the answer to his Blade Runner buddy, the Dingo Ultimate Warrior?  Oh, wait... they bought him out, too.  Man, Sting deserved better than to be pushed into the background!  I actually really enjoyed WCW before Ted Turner went nuts with the pocketbook.  Sting, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, The Horsemen, The Rock and Roll Express, the Midnight Express, the Fabulous Freebirds, The Road Warriors... heck I would even say that the brief tenure of the Shockmaster was more fun than years of NWO repetitiveness. 

Sting was the anchor, the crowd favorite.  And he was never better than in his earlier, surfer look era.  Sorry, "Crow" fans. While not quite as eclectic as the Macho Man, Sting had quite a number of costume changes.  This is the third Surfer Sting from Mattel, and it is so far the best.  The head scan on the previous releases really failed to capture Steve Borden.  Even though this one lacks the screaming intensity, it's pretty spot-on with who it's supposed to represent. 

 

This color scheme also has the other Sting figures beat.  The orange and blue really pops... so "90s!" The scorpion graphic is clean and clear.  Paint all around is pretty good on this figure.  The only downside I can see is that it's a basic figure and not Elite articulated.  Although it means giving Mattel easy outs with paint redecos, I would gladly welcome more surfer variations into my growing Sting army.

Hollywood Hogan

Hollywood Hogan

Storm Collectibles - Ringside Collectibles Exclusive

Storm Collectibles and Ringside have joined forces to bring you the most controversial action figure since "Math Class is Tough" Barbie.  Yes, the WWE and Mattel might have tried to erase the legend, but there are still Hulkamaniacs out there runnin' wild and there's money to be made!  Hulk's bad guy, New World Order turn made it as far as prototype designs before the scandal pulled the plug on any current and future merchandise.  How well does this figure fill that gap in the collection?  Pretty good, if you ask me, brother! As you can see above, he stands in scale perfectly with Mattel's figures. 

The paint and articulation is better than you would get from other companies (which might make him stand out too much amongst your Mattel figures.)  Double-jointed elbows, upper torso ball joint, and "butterfly" shoulders can give you more and better classic Hulk posing than ever before.  Also, something else he has going over Mattel:  he has nipples!  Why don't most wrestling figures have nipples?  They will go out of their way to flock George "The Animal" Steele with faux body hair but not give him nipples?!  Weird.

Check out the apps on the boots and tights!

He also has more accessories than your standard Mattel Elite figure.  You get an extra set of gripping hands and several removable clothing items: bandanna, sunglasses, cross necklace, black and white "feather" boas, weight belt, and shirt.

There are a few nitpicks about this otherwise awesome figure.  The crotch section is just a rubber piece that kind of floats over the t-joint legs.  Because of that, it takes some readjusting when posing to cover up the floating look between the waist and torso.  And while you do get better articulation, paint, and accessories, it does all come at a slightly higher price than a Mattel Elite.  Hollywood Hogan runs wild at $35, which is about $15 more.  I think it's worth it for the quality, let alone the uncertainty that we'll ever see Mattel get to do a take.  Don't miss your chance to fill this important gap in your collection.  It's just too sweet!

NWO for life!

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Brian Pillman

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Brian Pillman

Mattel WWE Then Now Forever basics (Wal-mart)

It's the battle of the Hollywood Blondes!  Just kidding...still waiting on that Mattel tag team 2-pack.  Here we have the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin with a set of gold knee braces and "smoking skull" belt. 

 Nice accessories for a basic figure ($10 and less articulation than the $20 Elite figures), as most basics get zilch.  I know the origin of the custom "smoking skull belt" but I'm having a hard time remembering when he had the gold braces and for how long.  Anyway, cool figure, even with the lack of Elite articulation.  I even like this head scan better than the Hall of Fame Target exclusive one I have.  The only gripe I have here is that the belt would look better with the shiny, vac-metal plastic.  That is the only time you will ever hear me say that about a toy...I hate vac-metal on my Transformers!

Next up, Flyin' Brian Pillman!  No, it's Loose Cannon Brian Pillman!  The tights on this figure are from his brief time with the 4 Horsemen in WCW.  He comes with a crutch accessory, which I assume has something to do with the ankle injury sustained from the car accident he had right before coming over to the WWE.  He was still in the action while laid up, feuding with his former WCW tag team partner Stunning Steve Austin...er...Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Which brings me to much-needed-but-lacking accessory:

Oh, yeah!  Now that's pure Attitude era there!  Stone Cold coming to Pillman's house, Pillman threatening to shoot him, a scuffle, shots fired, camera goes to black...pretty extreme stuff for the time.  Weird and exciting, but still just an angle, folks.  I know it's a big departure from seeing Ultimate Warrior run around and do the same 3 moves over and over, but calm down.

This figure came in a 2-pack with Dean Ambrose as a "loose canon" themed set.  I've seen Dean Ambrose wrestle, but have not been all that impressed or excited.  The set was a $20 Wal-mart exclusive, but I got it for $5 after Christmas clearance.  

Sorry, Dean...you're just a cheap accessory/bonus here.  Get in the bucket of misfit toys!

WWE Mystery Minis

WWE MYSTERY MINIS

FUNKO

Yep, I fell for another "blind box" line.  Sort of.  I mean, these figures come in a case of twelve that are all packed the same way.  And somebody online is always kind enough to share the packing order to save you the headache of searching for your favorite Superstar and ending up with Roman Reigns over and over again. (BOOOOOOOO!)  Also, someone had already opened all the boxes when I found this crop. These are a little under six bucks at Wal-mart.  Not bad for sturdy, cute little caricatures.  They stand at an average of 3 inches high.

Bret "the Hitman" Hart is the most colorful of this second wave.  (So much black throughout.)  There are some nice details on his tank top and tights.  Also, pretty rad that his shades are translucent plastic, and they actually painted his eyes back there.

It's strange that they went with a more classic Dusty Rhodes over his yellow polka dot look he had during his time in the WWF.  A missed opportunity to bring some color to this series.  I would also take this variation, but I'm sure that's off the table.

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted Debiase at least has the Million Dollar Championship belt over his shoulder to brighten things up.  The black suit might be his standard, but there are other choices that would have been better here.

I guess if you gotta go with "Crow" Sting, the only real color variation would be Wolfpac Sting.  No thanks.  I'm gonna hold out for multiple Surfer Stings!  Oh well...at least the paint on the face and scorpions is crisp and clear.

I've seen Wave 2 on shelves at most Walmarts now, with remnants of Wave 1 scattered here and there. There are supposed to be a couple of exclusive minis in assortments at Target, but I have not been able to find these in my area yet.  They're holding Razor Ramon, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jake the Snake ransom at my most hated of chain stores?!  Ugh...character exclusives...

Sting, Lex Luger, and Macho Man

WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 Three-pack

Sting, Lex Luger, Macho Man

Mattel WWE elite - Then, Now, Forever (Wal-mart Exclusive)

July 7th, 1996 - These WCW superstars were set to face off against the Outsiders (WWE turncoats, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) and a mystery sixth man at pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach.  The reveal of the sixth man would set up story-lines for years to come.  Am I allowed to mention his name?  To be safe, let's just call him "Hulk H."  No, that's too obvious...let's say "H. Hogan."  Anyway, Mr. America (spoiler! Doh!) turned heel and the NWO (New World Order) was born.  That nugget of information is what makes this 3-pack noteworthy in the history of wrestling, but not as exciting as it could have be had it been released as a 6-pack with the Outsiders and Suburban Commando.

This is the first release of this look for the Stinger.  It was kind of short lived, between surfer-blonde Sting growing his hair out to become Crow Sting.  Anyway, its a new head scan, and it looks pretty good.  There have been some complaints out there that his head is a lil over-sized and that he has no neck.  Still, the eyes and paint are great.  The painted rainbow scorpion on his pants is great, too!

Another new head sculpt for Lex Luger.  All pony-tailed and smug looking!  The only strange thing is the face paint.  While it is accurate to the match, it was a one-time thing.  Some sort of team solidarity with Sting as the leader?  No worries.  I'm sure that this head will be used again sans paint very soon.  Mattel: "Don't like it?  Well, here...buy it again!  And again and again!"  Also, the boots should be white to be accurate..."Buy it again when we make a running production change!"

Oooooh yeah!  He's back in the blog again!  Another Macho Man for the ever-growing collection.  Like Luger, the face paint look is lost as a fleeting moment in time but still looks great.  I just wish that he had picked a more colorful bandanna to go with the rest of the outfit.  It is the sole accessory in this set.

Another Wal-mart exclusive, this may be a hard one to find in the wild.  However, since it is a very match-specific theme, it may be an easy one to pass on for even hardcore wrestling fans.  Price might also be a deciding factor.  It retails for $49.99, which is ten dollars cheaper than buying three separate elite-articulated figures.  On one hand,  it only has the one accessory.  On the other...it's a new Macho Man.  Sold!