|
|
Post by mrhoss on Jun 25, 2012 9:50:40 GMT -5
Sadly I don't think the Jakks figure moved too quickly.
You might as well stick a Jakks head on a Hacksaw body, maybe change the boots, and paint some chest and back hair on it.
I'd definitely buy a Mattel but I doubt we'll see one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boy Wonder on Jun 25, 2012 10:14:04 GMT -5
He'd be no more boring than Arn, Tully, Bundy or Stone Cold Steve Austin. I know you're probably joking, but if not and you genuinely believe that ridiculous statement (I'm sure there are some idiots that do)... Come on. Bruno Sammartino as relevant to merchandise-buying wrestling fans as Stone Cold Steve Austin, the biggest star during wrestling's biggest merchandise boom? The comparisons with the other three are more accurate than the Austin one, but still not very accurate. Arn Anderson's still got some visibility in WWE, and even Tully Blanchard has the Hall of Fame thing now. And they're featured on several DVD collections. Bundy headlined a WrestleMania and wrestled the Undertaker at one. But those three are going to kill the line... A relic from the boring era would just stamp on the corpse. I wasn't joking, but the way you made it sound, he wouldn't be popular just because he had plain tights. Not saying that Austin isn't a much bigger star than him, just that in terms of visual appeal, they're the same. And people care as much about Sammartino as they would about Bundy, no one cares about either of those matches, and the HOF thing for Arn/Tully is moot. Being featured for a few minutes on a one night special that no one watches won't translate into increased figure sales. The only thing they have going for them over Sammartino is that they were associated with Ric Flair. |
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 3, 2024 17:10:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2012 10:39:54 GMT -5
I know I'm dreaming but I'd love to see a legends box set like they did for Rey, royal rumble and basic 1 only have elites, Sammartino,Haystacks, Backlund, bockwinkle, Graham, Buddy Rogers or something like that.
|
|
jtownwwefan
Mid-Carder
Joined on: May 25, 2012 23:08:00 GMT -5
Posts: 302
|
Post by jtownwwefan on Jun 25, 2012 12:27:39 GMT -5
I know I'm dreaming but I'd love to see a legends box set like they did for Rey, royal rumble and basic 1 only have elites, Sammartino,Haystacks, Backlund, bockwinkle, Graham, Buddy Rogers or something like that. That would be awesome! Throw in Ivan Putski, Mil Mascaras, Harley Race, Don Muraco, Ken Patera too! |
|
jtownwwefan
Mid-Carder
Joined on: May 25, 2012 23:08:00 GMT -5
Posts: 302
|
Post by jtownwwefan on Jun 25, 2012 12:30:57 GMT -5
Terrible idea for a toy. A really, really boring wrestler. Sold a ton of tickets back in the day, but has never had a WWE DVD out (and even if he did, zero of his matches have aged well and they all suck) so he doesn't have a genuine fan under fifty years old. And how many people over fifty collect wrestling dolls? A few, sure, but doubt it's enough to make this worthwhile. I agree it wouldn't be a fun "toy". How about as a collectible action figure... Like the McFarlane sports line... they do the legends, like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, etc. Not fun to play with, but fun to collect and display. |
|
Von Hooten
Main Eventer
The Innovator of Innovation
Joined on: Jan 23, 2012 13:13:14 GMT -5
Posts: 1,412
|
Post by Von Hooten on Jun 25, 2012 12:39:37 GMT -5
He'd be no more boring than Arn, Tully, Bundy or Stone Cold Steve Austin. Plus if he had the belt it'd give him something with a little more flair. If intricate designed attire was how wrestlers were graded, Max Moon would be a Hall of Famer. Lol wut? get your eyes checked..  Don't forget Glacier. |
|
|
|
Post by skribbel24 on Jun 25, 2012 12:43:18 GMT -5
We need Bruno with his WWWF championship!
|
|
|
|
Post by kinkornkarn on Jun 25, 2012 13:49:19 GMT -5
I was curious so I did a search for a Bruno Sammartino custom Mattel figure, but instead I found a bunch of different sources stating that Bruno already sign a contract with Mattel! What's the hold up?! He's a pretty basic figure on plain trunks. The only thing I can think of is the fact that none of the bodies they had available really worked well for him and MAYBE (hopefully) they're making a WWWF title to go with him. But I think that new Ezekiel Jackson torso should look pretty nifty on Mr. Sammartino and hopefully he'll be coming sooner rather than later. could be wrong, but i dont think mattel feels there is a market for him. hes a wayy back guy and todays fans GENERALLY lose interest in guys who wrestled in the 60s and 70s. i think only hardcore fans would appreciate that figure and that might be a losing scenario for mattels bottom line. just a guess. |
|
hitman1072
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jun 9, 2005 1:43:07 GMT -5
Posts: 1,495
|
Post by hitman1072 on Jun 25, 2012 14:02:33 GMT -5
It's because MDT only makes the legends they wanted to see. That's why the line failed. We have yet to get a legends HBK or Undertaker. And if they would make Bruno it would be in some obscure attire that no one would really care for. Wrong. The line failed almost entirely because there isn't a big enough collector base to support a 6 inch Legends/Classic wrestling line at retail, in the current economic climate. UT & HBK were both featured in Entrance Greats & Defining Moments, and both of those lines died as well. Please do not tell me UT & HBK's figures flew off the shelves. Their figures sat for quite a while. |
|
|
|
Post by Bandalero on Jun 25, 2012 14:29:29 GMT -5
It's because MDT only makes the legends they wanted to see. That's why the line failed. We have yet to get a legends HBK or Undertaker. And if they would make Bruno it would be in some obscure attire that no one would really care for. Wrong. The line failed almost entirely because there isn't a big enough collector base to support a 6 inch Legends/Classic wrestling line at retail, in the current economic climate. UT & HBK were both featured in Entrance Greats & Defining Moments, and both of those lines died as well. Please do not tell me UT & HBK's figures flew off the shelves. Their figures sat for quite a while. We've had this debate over and over and over again. And while there is some merit to your claims as to why the line failed, let's keep in mind some basic business 101 tactics: 1. They had a strategy going in to produce figures in attires never done before by the previous company. It was a risky move that didn't produce a good enough ROI and left us with Snuka in tights (a figure Bill admits to disliking). Instead of rethinking their strategy the next best thing was to take wild shots in the dark with multiple lines hoping one will "stick" 2. Entrance Greats and Defining Moments pretty much cannibalized each other. If you've only go so much budget to work with for each series in each line what are the product differentiators? Ones' basic, ones' elite, one comes with a crappy costly music stand - clearly these are not big enough differentiators. 3. Distribution - that's been beaten to death so no point in reiterating. If it's true and boss Bill is making Legends/Flashbacks based on wrestlers he liked instead of listening to the 5% of the community Legends should be targeted too, then I'm not sure how it will succeed. People want circa '96 HBK and Undertaker, people want red LOD. But hey, Flashbacks so far are looking great so who knows. |
|
|
|
Post by BCizzle on Jun 25, 2012 15:01:11 GMT -5
I think they should use the Yokozuna body for Bruno. Well, it's not like it would be any more inaccurate than the Zeke body, right?
|
|
|
|
Post by mrhoss on Jun 25, 2012 15:09:19 GMT -5
It's because MDT only makes the legends they wanted to see. That's why the line failed. We have yet to get a legends HBK or Undertaker. And if they would make Bruno it would be in some obscure attire that no one would really care for. |
|
|
|
Post by East Coast on Jun 25, 2012 15:26:17 GMT -5
i cant imagine they would put this out. I'm an old fart and I've only seen 1 or 2 Sammartino matches.
|
|
|
|
Post by Boy Wonder on Jun 25, 2012 16:47:50 GMT -5
He'd be no more boring than Arn, Tully, Bundy or Stone Cold Steve Austin. Plus if he had the belt it'd give him something with a little more flair. If intricate designed attire was how wrestlers were graded, Max Moon would be a Hall of Famer. Don't forget Glacier. Hey, I love Glacier, so I don't have an issue there ;D I believe I also suggested a series of 2 packs featuring champs from past and present, using current popular guys to bolster the sale of older guys. Punk/Sammartino, Cena/Backlund, Mysterio/Rogers. Considering how well the All-Stars sets sold I don't get why they haven't done more like them. Another thing to consider is the very limited new tooling involved with these guys. Plain trunks, existing parts (minus the heads), no crazy paint jobs or accessories needed. |
|
|
|
Post by JC Motors on Jun 25, 2012 17:17:58 GMT -5
I'd buy him
|
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 3, 2024 17:10:08 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2012 18:01:14 GMT -5
It's because MDT only makes the legends they wanted to see. That's why the line failed. We have yet to get a legends HBK or Undertaker. And if they would make Bruno it would be in some obscure attire that no one would really care for. Wrong. The line failed almost entirely because there isn't a big enough collector base to support a 6 inch Legends/Classic wrestling line at retail, in the current economic climate. UT & HBK were both featured in Entrance Greats & Defining Moments, and both of those lines died as well. Please do not tell me UT & HBK's figures flew off the shelves. Their figures sat for quite a while. You'd be able to say that if Legends were readily available in All Stores and then stil flopped , Lots of people didnt even know about legends till Legends 4 came out here because we didnt get 1, 2 or 3 in Walmart and only got series 2 in TRU here. In fact all of canada only got Legends 2 and 4 So how can you say there wasn't a market when the line flopped before distribution got figures in every store? Theres even Large problems in The States finding them. And Character Selelction definetly Matters.... You might as well be saying L.O.D wouldnt sell any better than Piper and Orndorff. HBK And Undertaker in D.M werent even in their Most Classic Attires, And At $10 more Than Legends. So Many people here on WFIGS were complaining about Legends Prices and these people were hardcore collectors. Add another $10 for a Jacket or a Pair of wings and Its almost impossible to sell regardless who it is at retail. The Whole DM Line flopped and there isnt a star who could save it. Altho If HBK And Undertaker were in The Legends line they would have sold better than flops like Brian Pillman or Guys Like Hillbilly Jim who havent been on TV in Decades At the end of the Day Legends flopped for Many Reasons and you cant just pinpoint one of them. |
|
|
|
Post by Nivro™ on Jun 25, 2012 20:57:41 GMT -5
Wrong. The line failed almost entirely because there isn't a big enough collector base to support a 6 inch Legends/Classic wrestling line at retail, in the current economic climate. UT & HBK were both featured in Entrance Greats & Defining Moments, and both of those lines died as well. Please do not tell me UT & HBK's figures flew off the shelves. Their figures sat for quite a while. So how can you say there wasn't a market when the line flopped before distribution got figures in every store? Theres even Large problems in The States finding them. And Character Selelction definetly Matters.... You might as well be saying L.O.D wouldnt sell any better than Piper and Orndorff. HBK And Undertaker in D.M werent even in their Most Classic Attires, And At $10 more Than Legends. So Many people here on WFIGS were complaining about Legends Prices and these people were hardcore collectors. Add another $10 for a Jacket or a Pair of wings and Its almost impossible to sell regardless who it is at retail. The Whole DM Line flopped and there isnt a star who could save it. Altho If HBK And Undertaker were in The Legends line they would have sold better than flops like Brian Pillman or Guys Like Hillbilly Jim who havent been on TV in Decades At the end of the Day Legends flopped for Many Reasons and you cant just pinpoint one of them. That was more of a Canadian thing wasnt it? It seem that most people down here could easily find Legends figures. I live in a fairly small town in the south and the only figures I couldnt find in Retail were the Road Warriors. |
|
|
|
Post by Chewdeezy on Jun 25, 2012 21:08:24 GMT -5
A lot of people forget that WWE didn't let Mattel put HBK and Undertaker in Legends because they want the general audience to stick to their current looks so the only way to get them was through Entrance Greats and Defining Moments which bombed either way even if it was packed will people we wanted to see. Entrance Greats were gloried Basics and Defining Moments were too expensive for the causal consumer.
The WWE Legends Line were supposed to be comprised of obscure Legends with an occasional favorites sprinkled in between waves but the market just ain't there. Flashbacks are successful because they are releasing popular wrestlers and limiting it to 1 per case.
Jakks CS line was one of the best and I knew from the start Mattel isn't going to top that just because there aren't enough collectors out there to buy it. The only way Legends would have survived was to limit the runs and that doesn't make money for Mattel and in their eyes, it's a failure.
I hope to God Legends survive next year on Matty since I've bought 2 of each figure to try to support the line but I don't think it's enough.
|
|
