The BCA Line

Does anyone have knowledge of how the Superstar Series 1 came to be and how those six were chosen?

Using that loose sort of timeline, it speaks to an impressive bit of planning on their part, assuming intention and a foreknowledge of when these things would debut/drop. If you grab the closest major (non-IYH) PPV to the prototype reveal at Toy Fair, all six names are featured super prominently in comparison to the sort of mish-mash booking typical of the time leading up to that point. Undertaker, Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, and Goldust all featured in title matches that night, the former two competing for the World title and the latter two trading off the Intercontinental. Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble that night, and he did so by eliminating Diesel to claim victory.

If you fancy those three matches the "marquee" of the night (and looking at the undercard in the context of the time, why wouldn't you), that's just stellar marketing right there.

I don't know how true it is but i've also heard before back then that when the line first started that the 1-2-3 kid mable Hakushi and Duke The Dumpster Droese was supposed to have figures made of them in the first few series but they was scrapped and that's why we got the shawn and bret repaints and re-releases in the beginning and that the one's we got in series 2 of them actually was scheduled to be exclusive to the survivor series boxset only along with warrior

Absolutely. Those were six prominent names in 1995-96 WWF. I don't think Jakks could have done any better with their selections. It's one of the many reasons why people still talk about that series to this day.


There's no reason Dean Douglas couldn't have been featured in Superstars Series 1 had WWF/Jakks wanted to make it happen. Like you said, his character was on TV the most in the latter half of 1995, and there wasn't a better time for consideration than within those six months. I don't know how much merchandise Douglas had at the time leading up to his release, but I'd wager a guess that he was not a priority for them. By the fall of 1995, WWF had big plans for Goldust, Vader, and Ahmed Johnson; if two of those three didn't make the cut in the first series, I doubt Douglas would have fared much better.


It's possible, depending on how far back Jakks was planning the first series. Just like any toy line, placeholder names can be thrown out there without any actual work being done on them. Proposed lineups are subject to change and all of that, but I don't know how much stock I'd put into Shawn and Bret being last minute replacements. Those two and Undertaker were always going to get preference over the rest of the roster because they sold well and were cheaper to produce with existing molds; the extra tooling that would be required of Mabel or Droese wouldn't be worth it. The Jakks line may never have survived if it was boggled down in the early days with that much mid-card talent rotting on the pegs.

Ryder will never have my Alien Wrestling Federation figures

zappa2510

Great work! I like the simple, clean look of the paint pens. There's a lot of potential in using the Retro heads on BCA figure bodies. I look forward to seeing more from you, whenever you've got any new updates to share.

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Check out this custom BCA Crash Holly figure from Instagram user therealworldchampion:



Also, sign me up for these BCA figure conversions of Slammers Series 2 Brian Pillman and Patriot:

No, we didn't get those. Kane was the exception from that series, although it still took Jakks the better part of a year to release a non-Slammers Kane in one-sleeve attire.


Yep. Same ol' Taka. It would have been great if there were regular versions made similar to those custom figures, but I think the product changing as much as it did between mid-'97 and early '99 prevented that from happening.

the patriot was in a feud with bret hart for a bit. i'd say he was deserving of a figure

I think he warranted a figure (certainly more than Dr. Death ). Del Wilkes/The Patriot was brought in at the perfect time to defend the USA against Bret Hart and The Hart Foundation. He wasn't the perfect foil by any means — as this was the dawning of a new era led by anti-heroes such as Austin and DX — but he did have credibility in the wrestling industry, and an impressive physique to boot. His run didn't last very long due to the triceps injury, but he made a couple PPV appearances and worked some of the very best talent WWF had to offer in a span of roughly four months.

Here's a look back at an early glimpse of the Slammers Series 2 Patriot figure on display at Toy Fair 1998: