Post by Dabid on Feb 3, 2012 20:33:27 GMT -5
I reviewed the Cena/Rock Rumblers over on my blog today, and thought I'd share the review with you guys!
The biggest match in the history of Wrestlemania (or at least the one with the longest and slowest buildup ever) is upon us in just two months–John Cena vs. The Rock! The most popular wrestling superstar of today versus the most electrifying man of the 90′s WWE Attitude era! I’d be lying if I said I thought the match was actually going to be good. I’d be an even bigger liar if I pretended I wasn’t going to pay 50 bucks for Wrestlemania XXVIII to watch the match anyway. To commemorate this momentous event, Mattel has released a two-pack of The Rock and John Cena in their super-deformed “Rumblers” line of WWE wrestling figures! I couldn’t resist two of my all-time favorite wrestlers in this style, so I bought my first pack of “Rumblers” ever. Will I be buying more?
The Right:
Hasbro started the trend of lightly-articulated super-deformed licensed characters a few years back with their Star Wars Galactic Heroes line. The style grew to encompass Marvel, Transformers, G.I. Joe, DC Comics, and more over the years. Last year, WWE entered the ring (so to speak) and jointed the cool kids. I was a little skeptical over how well realistic athletes would translate into this style, but Mattel surprised me by excellently capturing the “feel” and “character” of John Cena and The Rock. I’ve seen some really terrible figures released in the Galactic Heroes-esque style over the last couple years, but these interpretations of John Cena and The Rock are just terrific. You can feel the pride and the ego of The Rock radiating from his little figurine, while the portrayal of snarky boyscout attitude of John Cena is just as effective from his figure.
The Rock is dressed in his 2011 “I Bring It” T-Shirt, which has been faithfully and authentically replicated by Mattel for this small-scale figure. The Brahma Bull tattoo is accurately painted on The Rock’s right shoulder, and that arm can be raised to recreate one of The Rock’s signature poses. The Rock comes holding a microphone, which I was shocked to find is actually removable! None of the Hasbro figures I had in this style had removable hand-held weapons, so it’s a real treat to see that Mattel engineered The Rock to do both the things he excels at: talking as well as putting boots to asses.
John Cena is sculpted in his iconic “You Can’t See Me” pose and is wearing his 2011 post-Wrestlemania red apparel. I was impressed to see the “You Can’t See Me” logo on his wristband, and also that his hand has a hole to hold The Rock’s microphone as well. I especially like John Cena’s exaggerated upper body, which is still characteristically John Cena despite the insane proportions.
John Cena and The Rock each have four points of articulation. The Rock is articulated with a swivel waist, swivel neck, and swivel arms. John Cena has a swivel waist, swivel neck, swivel left arm, and swivel right elbow. It doesn’t sound like very much–at all–but four points of articulation is actually very good for this style of action figure, as I have Transformers Robot Heroes and Superhero Squad figures in this style with just two points or sometimes even only one point of articulation! This certainly isn’t the level of articulation we’d get with Minimates or Mega Bloks figures, but it gives the figures some posing options and (for the most part–see below) gets the job done for making these figures fun to play with.
The Wrong:
I have one minor gripe with The Rock and one major complaint about John Cena. The Rock is completely missing his traditional Samoan arm tattoo on his left arm, which is totally inaccurate for the modern era Rock wearing the shirt that he is. I could overlook the missing tattoo as necessary for making the set cost out, except that these are 2″ action figures that cost $4 each and feature minimal paint and articulation. There’s really no excuse for a crucial visual characteristic of The Rock to be missing on this figure.
John Cena’s critical flaw is that only his left shoulder is articulated, whereas his only point of articulation on his right arm is at his elbow allowing him to do the “You Can’t See Me” motion and… absolutely nothing else. He can’t punch, clothesline, or anything else you can imagine with his right arm because his hand will be forever perpetually stuck taunting The Rock. People joke about John Cena the wrestler only having three moves (of doom!), but this toy can do even less than that.
I’d also like to bitch a little bit that these figures retail for a minimum of $7.99 in stores. I was okay with paying $4.99 for Galactic Heroes, I was lukewarm on spending $5.99 on Robot Heroes, and I stopped buying when Superhero Squad prices went up to $6.99. At $7.99 I will be very selective about what figures I purchase, as $4/figure is rather pricey for action figures in this size.
Overall: I was initially pretty dubious about Mattel’s ability to depict the personalities and defining characteristics of The Rock and John Cena in the “Rumblers” style, but my fears were for naught. These are great little figures and a lot more fun than many of the figures released Hasbro’s Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Star Wars lines. Four points of articulation proves to be plenty for The Rock to fight with, but not quite enough for John Cena to thrive (due to his sculpt). The paint applications are solid for figures in this scale, and the only issue I have with the deco is The Rock’s missing tattoo. This set falls short of earning an “A” because of a couple design choices I disagree with and a higher price than I’m comfortable with for this style of figure, but I will definitely be back to pick up more of my favorite athletes in this line when Mattel gets around to making Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and others as Rumblers.
GRADE: B
The biggest match in the history of Wrestlemania (or at least the one with the longest and slowest buildup ever) is upon us in just two months–John Cena vs. The Rock! The most popular wrestling superstar of today versus the most electrifying man of the 90′s WWE Attitude era! I’d be lying if I said I thought the match was actually going to be good. I’d be an even bigger liar if I pretended I wasn’t going to pay 50 bucks for Wrestlemania XXVIII to watch the match anyway. To commemorate this momentous event, Mattel has released a two-pack of The Rock and John Cena in their super-deformed “Rumblers” line of WWE wrestling figures! I couldn’t resist two of my all-time favorite wrestlers in this style, so I bought my first pack of “Rumblers” ever. Will I be buying more?
The Right:
Hasbro started the trend of lightly-articulated super-deformed licensed characters a few years back with their Star Wars Galactic Heroes line. The style grew to encompass Marvel, Transformers, G.I. Joe, DC Comics, and more over the years. Last year, WWE entered the ring (so to speak) and jointed the cool kids. I was a little skeptical over how well realistic athletes would translate into this style, but Mattel surprised me by excellently capturing the “feel” and “character” of John Cena and The Rock. I’ve seen some really terrible figures released in the Galactic Heroes-esque style over the last couple years, but these interpretations of John Cena and The Rock are just terrific. You can feel the pride and the ego of The Rock radiating from his little figurine, while the portrayal of snarky boyscout attitude of John Cena is just as effective from his figure.
The Rock is dressed in his 2011 “I Bring It” T-Shirt, which has been faithfully and authentically replicated by Mattel for this small-scale figure. The Brahma Bull tattoo is accurately painted on The Rock’s right shoulder, and that arm can be raised to recreate one of The Rock’s signature poses. The Rock comes holding a microphone, which I was shocked to find is actually removable! None of the Hasbro figures I had in this style had removable hand-held weapons, so it’s a real treat to see that Mattel engineered The Rock to do both the things he excels at: talking as well as putting boots to asses.
John Cena is sculpted in his iconic “You Can’t See Me” pose and is wearing his 2011 post-Wrestlemania red apparel. I was impressed to see the “You Can’t See Me” logo on his wristband, and also that his hand has a hole to hold The Rock’s microphone as well. I especially like John Cena’s exaggerated upper body, which is still characteristically John Cena despite the insane proportions.
John Cena and The Rock each have four points of articulation. The Rock is articulated with a swivel waist, swivel neck, and swivel arms. John Cena has a swivel waist, swivel neck, swivel left arm, and swivel right elbow. It doesn’t sound like very much–at all–but four points of articulation is actually very good for this style of action figure, as I have Transformers Robot Heroes and Superhero Squad figures in this style with just two points or sometimes even only one point of articulation! This certainly isn’t the level of articulation we’d get with Minimates or Mega Bloks figures, but it gives the figures some posing options and (for the most part–see below) gets the job done for making these figures fun to play with.
The Wrong:
I have one minor gripe with The Rock and one major complaint about John Cena. The Rock is completely missing his traditional Samoan arm tattoo on his left arm, which is totally inaccurate for the modern era Rock wearing the shirt that he is. I could overlook the missing tattoo as necessary for making the set cost out, except that these are 2″ action figures that cost $4 each and feature minimal paint and articulation. There’s really no excuse for a crucial visual characteristic of The Rock to be missing on this figure.
John Cena’s critical flaw is that only his left shoulder is articulated, whereas his only point of articulation on his right arm is at his elbow allowing him to do the “You Can’t See Me” motion and… absolutely nothing else. He can’t punch, clothesline, or anything else you can imagine with his right arm because his hand will be forever perpetually stuck taunting The Rock. People joke about John Cena the wrestler only having three moves (of doom!), but this toy can do even less than that.
I’d also like to bitch a little bit that these figures retail for a minimum of $7.99 in stores. I was okay with paying $4.99 for Galactic Heroes, I was lukewarm on spending $5.99 on Robot Heroes, and I stopped buying when Superhero Squad prices went up to $6.99. At $7.99 I will be very selective about what figures I purchase, as $4/figure is rather pricey for action figures in this size.
Overall: I was initially pretty dubious about Mattel’s ability to depict the personalities and defining characteristics of The Rock and John Cena in the “Rumblers” style, but my fears were for naught. These are great little figures and a lot more fun than many of the figures released Hasbro’s Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Star Wars lines. Four points of articulation proves to be plenty for The Rock to fight with, but not quite enough for John Cena to thrive (due to his sculpt). The paint applications are solid for figures in this scale, and the only issue I have with the deco is The Rock’s missing tattoo. This set falls short of earning an “A” because of a couple design choices I disagree with and a higher price than I’m comfortable with for this style of figure, but I will definitely be back to pick up more of my favorite athletes in this line when Mattel gets around to making Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and others as Rumblers.
GRADE: B
