How would you have handled the Legends Line?

My favorite line from WWE Mattel is now online only. It was good while it lasted. I have bought a total of five figures from that line and you never know, I might eventually snag my hands on a couple more if I run into them. What I want to know is, business wise, what would you had done?


I am not talking about personal taste either. I mean of course personally I wish they had Vader Time and SS 1992 Bulldog (I will keep on bringing this up until they make one) along with figures of Razor and Sycho Sid. However, from a business standpoint, what would you had done differently? Here is what I would have done:


#1 Never released the Hall of Fame Edition. Or, if they wanted it so bad, just come out with that in the first place. What sense does it make to make two of the exact same figure just by placing a Hall of Fame edition as the change? Sure some obsessive collectors may go for it but I was not anticipating it.

#2 Made figures of more recognizable names. In my book, there is no reason why when the Legends line was in retail stores that they couldn't have made Andre and sold him earlier on. One of the biggest legends of all time is now an online exclusive while I could have imagined he would've been a hit.

Since it seems like children seem to be the target audience (Unfortunately not legends collectors like myself ) they should have made more recognizable names. Bret and Shawn had been two very common figures recently. Imagine if they had made those two earlier.

There is no reason, in my opinion, why they couldn't had let The Rockers hit retail. The Bushwackers? No thank you. The Rockers? Yeah baby!

What about Legends Booker T or Jerry Lawler? Both of them are legends, popular commentators and something I am sure kids would have liked.

Or the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. We got him in Entrance Greats (which I proudly display on my shelf) but never legends. I would think since he makes an appearance every now and then, usually to do with his son, it might have made sense to have given him a Mattel Legend Treatment.

#3 Current Legends. A lot of times with Jakks they made Classic Superstars with active wrestlers. John Cena and Randy Orton I cannot stand but they are legends and future Hall of Famers in their own right. The same goes with Rey Mysterio, Undertaker and HHH. What if Mattel could have given Mysterio a Legend treatment? Or what about an earlier Undertaker like his initial Deadman gimmick or ABA? Of course maybe DX (first time around) HHH or Blue Blood Hunter Hearst Hemsley might have worked too. I can imagine maybe kids would have bought that.


#4 The names of the legends. I am a die hard. I know who almost every one of these legends were/are. I bought Texas Tornado, Mr. Perfect, Savage, Martel and Bigelow. I know/knew who all of these are/were. But do they? Sure maybe Perfect and Savage but I can imagine the casuals might have thought different.

I think back to ten years ago today when I was a kid and I knew Savage, Perfect (Hennig) and Bam Bam but that was because I watched WCW. You could have asked me who Martel, Tornado, Demolition, Orndoff, Terry Funk, Vader, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat were and I would have looked at you in a funny way. Now of course, I get it because I am 20. Back then though, eh.

Even now then, I had never heard of Akeem until I saw his figure at TRU. I think if you were going to release Akeem, THAT would have been the good time for Bossman. I definitely plan on buying Elite Bossman and now I want to see if I can get my hands on an Akeem. The only point being for the Twin Towers. I can't imagine Akeem selling well on his own. However, if you had Bossman on that same line, sales might have improved a little bit with the Twin Towers. Yes I knew who Bossman was back then but I wasn't aware of his original gimmick. Only with what I saw in the Attitude Era.

Also, why was there the need for two Kerry Von Erich's? You couldn't had made a Texas Tornado and maybe done a figure of one of Kerry or Kevin's brothers? Maybe his father Fritz? With the Warrior, it made sense in my opinion because of his colorful, marketable outfit. I would expect these children to know Warrior (Not that I expect that many) before I would expect them to know Kerry Von Erich, with due respect to him and may he rest in peace.

Then the scrapped Legends 7 Line. Ok, DDP I think of as a WCW Legend and not a WWE legend. I like DDP but I don't know if I would classify him a WWE. Then again Arn and Tully were NWA wrestlers and I would be interested in them.

Stone Cold having a "What?" shirt on with blue jeans? Eh, I think this would had been a better job for Ralph's in my book. Perhaps they could had gotten more creative and made The Ringmaster.

Unfortunately when I heard Magnum T.A. was going to be a legend, I went "Who?" I had never heard of him before; and I have heard of a great deal of the wrestlers Pre-Attitude Era. I think he was in the 1970s and 1980s. If they had made wrestlers like say Don Muraco, Ken Patera and let's say, an AWA wrestler like Gagne or Bockwinkel, I would know exactly who they were talking about but I can't see that many children wanting a figure of Vern Gagne or Nick Bockwinkel, let alone Magnum T.A.

#5 The clothes. We have covered this. The only things that stopped me from buying Slaughter, Steamboat and Funk were their outfits. I think Camo Slaughter when I think of him. Not what we got. I can imagine maybe others felt the same way.

There is no telling how the legends line would have done with my suggested changes. I am not saying I would have liked to have seen every single thing on what I would have done. However from a business standpoint I think it would have made more sense.