perfectplex
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 16:54:52 GMT -5
Posts: 277
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Post by perfectplex on Jun 28, 2017 13:46:43 GMT -5
To give you all a little background information, I acquired these in 2014. Some of you may remember that these were on ebay with little to no context as far as what they actually were. If I recall, a lot of people claimed that they were knockoffs and quickly wrote them off. I chatted with the seller to see if I could get any sort of backstory as to how these came to be, but all I had to work off of was that he acquired them at a trade-show in the early 90s. To me, the quality looked wayyyy too professional for them to be customs and the artwork had signs of aging which lead me to believe that they were not recently made. I took a gamble and paid (at the time) a pretty large chunk of change for something that was basically a hunch. I even chatted with the original designer of the Tonka Wrestling Buddy line to see if she had any insight, but she was also in the dark as to how these came to be. Fast forward to 2017 and I stumble across this image on The Collectorate's site. I was floored... Not only did this promo image put these prototypes into context, but it solved every other mystery surrounding them. Apparently when Tonka was acquired by Hasbro, they also acquired all of the rights to previously produced artwork. This most likely got the wheels in motion for a sized down 7.5 inch line of Wrestling Buddies or "Body Slammers" as they were to be named. They also had a Bret Hart and Undertaker version in the works but this line was unfortunately scrapped before it ever got past the prototyping phase. The actual prototypes have a rubber ball sewn inside them, so I'm guessing this was supposed to be the "bounce" function that the advertisement mentions. You can tell that they took a few design liberties and updated the original Wrestling Buddy sketches, most noticeably on Warrior + Hogan (No title belts!). Bossman and Jake also have a strip of velcro attached to their backs, which I assume was used to position them during the promo shoot. Overall the hand painted details on these are amazing and I'm very glad I took the gamble on these a few years ago. They're some of my favorite pieces in my collection. Below are a few more detailed pics of the Slammers. Enjoy!
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Post by mikey1974 on Jun 28, 2017 13:53:46 GMT -5
Whoa! Never even heard of these before! Great find and great gets!
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juniordaddyo
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Apr 17, 2011 7:27:39 GMT -5
Posts: 400
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Post by juniordaddyo on Jun 28, 2017 14:40:46 GMT -5
Nice work. Never seen these before. Cool find, but think they look a bit 'odd'. Look like a knock off from Asia or something ha!
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Post by hulkjoegan on Jun 28, 2017 14:54:18 GMT -5
Nice, so cool
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undertaker131
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Feb 14, 2016 11:51:31 GMT -5
Posts: 391
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Post by undertaker131 on Jun 28, 2017 15:06:12 GMT -5
Cool never seen the ad before i think i remember those listed a while back
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Post by mcfclee on Jun 28, 2017 16:50:54 GMT -5
That's an awesome story, taking a gamble and it paying off years later. Very cool.
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jshasbrofan55
Jobber
Joined on: Apr 14, 2017 17:37:45 GMT -5
Posts: 26
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Post by jshasbrofan55 on Jun 28, 2017 17:02:23 GMT -5
Very cool! Never heard of these but what a cool story and find.
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VintageFigs1
Main Eventer
Joined on: Oct 12, 2003 17:20:53 GMT -5
Posts: 3,510
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Post by VintageFigs1 on Jun 28, 2017 17:08:34 GMT -5
So sick
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Post by ARUN on Jun 28, 2017 18:58:22 GMT -5
First the macho man prototype now this. What a week to be a figure collector. Awesome
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Boon
Main Eventer
Joined on: Nov 21, 2011 8:09:33 GMT -5
Posts: 1,409
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Post by Boon on Jun 28, 2017 19:17:04 GMT -5
To give you all a little background information, I acquired these in 2014. Some of you may remember that these were on ebay with little to no context as far as what they actually were. If I recall, a lot of people claimed that they were knockoffs and quickly wrote them off. I chatted with the seller to see if I could get any sort of backstory as to how these came to be, but all I had to work off of was that he acquired them at a trade-show in the early 90s. To me, the quality looked wayyyy too professional for them to be customs and the artwork had signs of aging which lead me to believe that they were not recently made. I took a gamble and paid (at the time) a pretty large chunk of change for something that was basically a hunch. I even chatted with the original designer of the Tonka Wrestling Buddy line to see if she had any insight, but she was also in the dark as to how these came to be. Fast forward to 2017 and I stumble across this image on The Collectorate's site. I was floored... Not only did this promo image put these prototypes into context, but it solved every other mystery surrounding them. Apparently when Tonka was acquired by Hasbro, they also acquired all of the rights to previously produced artwork. This most likely got the wheels in motion for a sized down 7.5 inch line of Wrestling Buddies or "Body Slammers" as they were to be named. They also had a Bret Hart and Undertaker version in the works but this line was unfortunately scrapped before it ever got past the prototyping phase. The actual prototypes have a rubber ball sewn inside them, so I'm guessing this was supposed to be the "bounce" function that the advertisement mentions. You can tell that they took a few design liberties and updated the original Wrestling Buddy sketches, most noticeably on Warrior + Hogan (No title belts!). Bossman and Jake also have a strip of velcro attached to their backs, which I assume was used to position them during the promo shoot. Overall the hand painted details on these are amazing and I'm very glad I took the gamble on these a few years ago. They're some of my favorite pieces in my collection. Below are a few more detailed pics of the Slammers. Enjoy! I'll give you your first Like for these These are sick and great back story too. glad the proof surfaced for you.
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ozz
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 1, 2011 16:37:04 GMT -5
Posts: 1,394
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Post by ozz on Jun 28, 2017 21:00:36 GMT -5
Holy hell, is that cool! What wonderful pieces to have, something most didn't know even existed, and the full set at that! Thanks for sharing.
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sps
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Apr 26, 2017 14:44:43 GMT -5
Posts: 71
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Post by sps on Jun 28, 2017 21:57:15 GMT -5
Awesome stuff and great story behind it, thanks for sharing and congrats on finding that info to clear up the background of these. I really like that Warrior.
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Deleted
Joined on: Apr 25, 2024 7:11:03 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 23:44:10 GMT -5
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
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kev85hasbro
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 10, 2011 14:08:47 GMT -5
Posts: 1,102
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Post by kev85hasbro on Jun 28, 2017 23:54:37 GMT -5
That's brilliant. Thing now is for me, I'm thinking of what other wrestling guys they could have made. Doink would be insane. Thanks for sharing great pieces
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robbutler01
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 10, 2013 15:10:27 GMT -5
Posts: 1,267
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Post by robbutler01 on Jun 29, 2017 5:04:48 GMT -5
Love these. Another awesome find. Thanks for posting
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Post by blu3blazer on Jun 30, 2017 10:17:57 GMT -5
Very cool! Wish they would have made the protos for Bret and Undertaker too.
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
Posts: 2,311
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Post by jason1980s on Jun 30, 2017 16:36:11 GMT -5
I wonder why they never made it past the prototype phase? Although, I guess Hasbro may have learned with the minis that fans wanted the original 4 inch real wrestling action figures. Hopefully with not putting these out, they put more attention on the 4 inch line.
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Post by fzmadness on Jul 2, 2017 13:37:33 GMT -5
These are awesome. Thanks for posting.
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ICHIBAN 一番
Main Eventer
✮SINCE 1977✮
Joined on: Feb 16, 2008 10:49:27 GMT -5
Posts: 4,001
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Post by ICHIBAN 一番 on Jul 3, 2017 1:07:20 GMT -5
Really like these, congratulations dude.
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Post by THEPERFECTFIGURECOLLECTION on Jul 3, 2017 2:34:22 GMT -5
crap, I definitely woulda had those. I had all the stuffed wrestling buddies except for LOD as a kid
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