Post by WWECollector on Jan 3, 2013 17:08:46 GMT -5
To close out 2012, an awesome year for collecting Mattels and my first year of collecting full sets (darn that numbering system and the compulsive collector in me) I decided to share some photos I did on the year's Basics, Elites, & Battle Packs.
First off, let me say what I don't have pictured (for some reason I never included these despite having them):
-Full Set of K-Mart Tribute to The Troops
-Full Sets of TRU Build Backstage Interview Area & Announce Table
-Signature Series (Big Show, John Cena, Kane, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, The Miz)
-Full Set of Best of 2012 Basics
The Basics (Numbered):
This was probably the hardest to complete of the 3, simply because there were so many and the wave # inconsistency at retail (22 was the last Basic wave I completed from 2012, because it started to show up around me after 23 & Best of 2012). For me personally, some of the hardest individual figures to get a hold of were (in release order):
-B13 Vickie Guerrero
-B16 Ultimate Warrior
-B18 Kelly Kelly
I think my favorite Basic Wave from 2012 is 18 aka Raw Supershow. I just thought it was an overall solid wave where I was excited for every figure (yes even Camo Cena at the time) and some personal bias as I have 2 from that wave autographed (CM Punk & Sin Cara)
Also, it is worth noting that a vast majority of my Basics were bought online (very few over retail price) which says a lot about tracking them down in stores.
The Elites (All):
For some reason, I managed to squeeze every Elite in this picture (Waves & Exclusives - KMart, RSC, TRU) probably because there are less of these compared to Basics.
The Elites that were the hardest for me to get were (by series):
-E13 Cody Rhodes
-E15 Yokozuna
-E16 Kevin Nash
-TRU Bret Hart
Elites were pretty easy for me to track down at retail what I couldn't get online (after stores got over their obsessions with restocking E12 & E13 constantly). I really hope they never do another Diesel/Kevin Nash thing ever again UNLESS both are packed in the same assortment. I only ever saw Nash once, and it was when I got him.
Negativity aside, my favorite wave of Elites was 17, mainly because I wanted that Zack Ryder with the Internet Title in the worst way. I liked Cena & Kofi's attires represented from that time as well. Mankind and Kelly were awesome figures as well. At this point I could care less about Sheamus because of how frequently he is popping up in the line now and how each figure isn't too much different from the last (hard to believe at one point he was sought after and scarcely made).
The Battle Packs (All):
2012 was the first and last year I collected full Battle Pack waves simply because the hobby as a whole is expensive and Battle Packs tend to include more repeat figures than any other part of the line. (I got to cut somewhere).
Only two really proved to be difficult to find:
-David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty
-Mark Henry & Trent Barreta (Ironically, I see this all of the time now)
The Orton/Ryan & Cena/Rock Battle Packs killed distribution in my area (in my opinion, much worse than E12 Orton did to Elites). Stores had tons of cases of Battle Packs 14 & 15, and for every batch put out, the two Battle Packs mentioned above lingered and clogged the shelves for months. It didn't help that TRU wanted $30 for Cena/Rock either.
I don't really have a favorite wave of Battle Packs, but my personal favorites from the year were The Bellas (personal bias since I met them and got it signed) and Ryder/Ziggler since it commemorated the feud between my top two favorite Superstars.
*Side Note: I hope we see more Legends vs. Superstars Battle Packs (a la Macho/Punk) because I thought it was a neat concept and I half expected at least 1 or 2 more during the year (prior to the line up reveals).
So that's my long story and pictures regarding collecting Mattel's in 2012. I'm still going this year (Basics for sure, Elites if I can still afford it too) but am making cuts with Battle Packs to try and save some money for a change.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
First off, let me say what I don't have pictured (for some reason I never included these despite having them):
-Full Set of K-Mart Tribute to The Troops
-Full Sets of TRU Build Backstage Interview Area & Announce Table
-Signature Series (Big Show, John Cena, Kane, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, The Miz)
-Full Set of Best of 2012 Basics
The Basics (Numbered):
This was probably the hardest to complete of the 3, simply because there were so many and the wave # inconsistency at retail (22 was the last Basic wave I completed from 2012, because it started to show up around me after 23 & Best of 2012). For me personally, some of the hardest individual figures to get a hold of were (in release order):
-B13 Vickie Guerrero
-B16 Ultimate Warrior
-B18 Kelly Kelly
I think my favorite Basic Wave from 2012 is 18 aka Raw Supershow. I just thought it was an overall solid wave where I was excited for every figure (yes even Camo Cena at the time) and some personal bias as I have 2 from that wave autographed (CM Punk & Sin Cara)
Also, it is worth noting that a vast majority of my Basics were bought online (very few over retail price) which says a lot about tracking them down in stores.
The Elites (All):
For some reason, I managed to squeeze every Elite in this picture (Waves & Exclusives - KMart, RSC, TRU) probably because there are less of these compared to Basics.
The Elites that were the hardest for me to get were (by series):
-E13 Cody Rhodes
-E15 Yokozuna
-E16 Kevin Nash
-TRU Bret Hart
Elites were pretty easy for me to track down at retail what I couldn't get online (after stores got over their obsessions with restocking E12 & E13 constantly). I really hope they never do another Diesel/Kevin Nash thing ever again UNLESS both are packed in the same assortment. I only ever saw Nash once, and it was when I got him.
Negativity aside, my favorite wave of Elites was 17, mainly because I wanted that Zack Ryder with the Internet Title in the worst way. I liked Cena & Kofi's attires represented from that time as well. Mankind and Kelly were awesome figures as well. At this point I could care less about Sheamus because of how frequently he is popping up in the line now and how each figure isn't too much different from the last (hard to believe at one point he was sought after and scarcely made).
The Battle Packs (All):
2012 was the first and last year I collected full Battle Pack waves simply because the hobby as a whole is expensive and Battle Packs tend to include more repeat figures than any other part of the line. (I got to cut somewhere).
Only two really proved to be difficult to find:
-David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty
-Mark Henry & Trent Barreta (Ironically, I see this all of the time now)
The Orton/Ryan & Cena/Rock Battle Packs killed distribution in my area (in my opinion, much worse than E12 Orton did to Elites). Stores had tons of cases of Battle Packs 14 & 15, and for every batch put out, the two Battle Packs mentioned above lingered and clogged the shelves for months. It didn't help that TRU wanted $30 for Cena/Rock either.
I don't really have a favorite wave of Battle Packs, but my personal favorites from the year were The Bellas (personal bias since I met them and got it signed) and Ryder/Ziggler since it commemorated the feud between my top two favorite Superstars.
*Side Note: I hope we see more Legends vs. Superstars Battle Packs (a la Macho/Punk) because I thought it was a neat concept and I half expected at least 1 or 2 more during the year (prior to the line up reveals).
So that's my long story and pictures regarding collecting Mattel's in 2012. I'm still going this year (Basics for sure, Elites if I can still afford it too) but am making cuts with Battle Packs to try and save some money for a change.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
