1993 radio show claim that R&B Greg hit stores & more...
Sept 29, 2017 23:29:39 GMT -5
Glorydaysofwrestling, drnickriviera995, and 2 more like this
Post by bix on Sept 29, 2017 23:29:39 GMT -5
Hi all, been a while since I posted here, but the various recent discoveries as well as something I found made me want to head over.
Anyway, every Thursday, the Pro Wrestling Torch website posts old episodes of John Arezzi's "Pro Wrestling Spotlight" radio show for VIP subscribers. Recently, they've been posting shows from 1993 (they jump around a bit based on when they locate the tapes) and several weeks ago, they posted the 2/27/93 episode. This one features Larry from L&S Comics, a Merrick, NY-based sponsor that carried lots of wrestling merchandise, calling in to do a report on figure values and give notes from the Toy Fair. This is the same store that was featured in WWF Magazine around the same time frame. If you have a Torch sub, this is the episode: vip.pwtorch.com/2017/08/24/vip-audio-824-retro-radio-pwspotlight-195-02271993-larry-of-ls-comics-57-min/
It's an interesting time capsule from when the wrestling figure collector market was only first developing. Most of the information tracks with things we already know, but there are a few bits that jump out, either as different from what we normally here or as details I don't recall hearing elsewhere (though some may have popped up here and I missed them):
* Hasbro had no plans for the WWF line to be for collectors initially, but that changed as time went on. It's implied that the interest in the short-packed Andre & Akeem (Akeem apparently at 2 per case) figures changed how they saw the line.
* The big one: In talking about Rhythm & Blues, after explaining that the tag set wasn't released, but Honky Tonk Man was as a singles, albeit as a late addition: "Now, the Greg Valentine, I don't even know what cases they came from. But from what I'm to understand from Hasbro, there's only approximately 1,000 to 1,500 produced. They snuck out. They were not originally supposed to be released, but they put them on the single board, released them, and if you find a Greg Valentine in the Rhythm & Blues outfit [...] that figure's probably a $100 piece. At minimum! It's an ultra rare figure that nobody has ever seen. I believe we've seen one of them, I think it was two years ago at the convention, somebody had one piece of it, and it was selling at a very high price at that point. That is absolutely one of the rarer pieces I've ever seen."
* The Legion of Doom were underproduced because of how the series two tag teams sold. They were packed equally at 4 apiece in cases of 12, but Demolition, as by far the coolest figures in the case, would sell out quickly while customers eschewed The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. So retailers didn't re-order the tag team cases because they were all, in the stores' eyes, the same item under the same inventory number and they had plenty left to sell. Then LOD were shipped as Demolition replacements, with The Nasty Boys coming later as LOD replacements. Eventually, because retailers had been upset with the arrangement, The Nasty boys were shipped in cases that JUST had The Nasty Boys. I'm not sure about the rest, but the last part is clearly true because The Nasty Boys were being sold at house shows where no other figures were available.
* The idea for 1993, with the "Undertake 'Em All!" ad etc, was for a new series to come out every 12 weeks. Hasbro reps would often give conflicting information about release dates, though.
* Galoob dropping American WCW figures after only one series was a result of Turner Home Entertainment being exceedingly difficult to deal with and expensive to license properties from for American rights, but a non-U.S. international deal was feasible, hence series 2.
* The other kind of big one: In 1993, Galoob was set to do another production run of the existing 18 figures, plus a Summer release with new versions of The Freebirds, Ole Anderson in his referee outfit from 1992 and Barry Windham in a striped shirt(
).
Now, L&S Comics had a mixed reputation among some people because their dubbed videotapes weren't always the best picture quality, but they were also the primary source for information on figures in wrestling news circles back then and I don't recall anything being said that was too off-base. So the information here, mainly Re: Greg and Galoob, is...interesting. But with the multiple Greg prototypes surfacing, even if they don't really have anything to do with the idea of a limited amount hitting stores, I figured this radio segment would be an interesting topic to examine.
Thoughts?
Anyway, every Thursday, the Pro Wrestling Torch website posts old episodes of John Arezzi's "Pro Wrestling Spotlight" radio show for VIP subscribers. Recently, they've been posting shows from 1993 (they jump around a bit based on when they locate the tapes) and several weeks ago, they posted the 2/27/93 episode. This one features Larry from L&S Comics, a Merrick, NY-based sponsor that carried lots of wrestling merchandise, calling in to do a report on figure values and give notes from the Toy Fair. This is the same store that was featured in WWF Magazine around the same time frame. If you have a Torch sub, this is the episode: vip.pwtorch.com/2017/08/24/vip-audio-824-retro-radio-pwspotlight-195-02271993-larry-of-ls-comics-57-min/
It's an interesting time capsule from when the wrestling figure collector market was only first developing. Most of the information tracks with things we already know, but there are a few bits that jump out, either as different from what we normally here or as details I don't recall hearing elsewhere (though some may have popped up here and I missed them):
* Hasbro had no plans for the WWF line to be for collectors initially, but that changed as time went on. It's implied that the interest in the short-packed Andre & Akeem (Akeem apparently at 2 per case) figures changed how they saw the line.
* The big one: In talking about Rhythm & Blues, after explaining that the tag set wasn't released, but Honky Tonk Man was as a singles, albeit as a late addition: "Now, the Greg Valentine, I don't even know what cases they came from. But from what I'm to understand from Hasbro, there's only approximately 1,000 to 1,500 produced. They snuck out. They were not originally supposed to be released, but they put them on the single board, released them, and if you find a Greg Valentine in the Rhythm & Blues outfit [...] that figure's probably a $100 piece. At minimum! It's an ultra rare figure that nobody has ever seen. I believe we've seen one of them, I think it was two years ago at the convention, somebody had one piece of it, and it was selling at a very high price at that point. That is absolutely one of the rarer pieces I've ever seen."
* The Legion of Doom were underproduced because of how the series two tag teams sold. They were packed equally at 4 apiece in cases of 12, but Demolition, as by far the coolest figures in the case, would sell out quickly while customers eschewed The Rockers and The Bushwhackers. So retailers didn't re-order the tag team cases because they were all, in the stores' eyes, the same item under the same inventory number and they had plenty left to sell. Then LOD were shipped as Demolition replacements, with The Nasty Boys coming later as LOD replacements. Eventually, because retailers had been upset with the arrangement, The Nasty boys were shipped in cases that JUST had The Nasty Boys. I'm not sure about the rest, but the last part is clearly true because The Nasty Boys were being sold at house shows where no other figures were available.
* The idea for 1993, with the "Undertake 'Em All!" ad etc, was for a new series to come out every 12 weeks. Hasbro reps would often give conflicting information about release dates, though.
* Galoob dropping American WCW figures after only one series was a result of Turner Home Entertainment being exceedingly difficult to deal with and expensive to license properties from for American rights, but a non-U.S. international deal was feasible, hence series 2.
* The other kind of big one: In 1993, Galoob was set to do another production run of the existing 18 figures, plus a Summer release with new versions of The Freebirds, Ole Anderson in his referee outfit from 1992 and Barry Windham in a striped shirt(
).Now, L&S Comics had a mixed reputation among some people because their dubbed videotapes weren't always the best picture quality, but they were also the primary source for information on figures in wrestling news circles back then and I don't recall anything being said that was too off-base. So the information here, mainly Re: Greg and Galoob, is...interesting. But with the multiple Greg prototypes surfacing, even if they don't really have anything to do with the idea of a limited amount hitting stores, I figured this radio segment would be an interesting topic to examine.
Thoughts?
