Yesterday morning, my local Walmart got in a new set of figures (Series 61 & more Then, Now & Forever Battle Packs). Not sure if it matters, but my local Walmart just opened about 2-3 months ago & had figures from older sets when it first opened. It then got in Series 61, Elite 40 (was lucky enough to grab Zayn from the box atop the shelf before they put the set on the pegs), Series 60 & now Series 61 once again. With this second shipment of Series 61, I noticed something different that I found to be a little odd. Everyone else in the set remained the same, but Neville was no longer carded with the NXT Brand, but rather with the Smackdown Brand. At this point, I searched online for information on this & only found a single Ebay listing from the UK for one of them & no other information anywhere.
This is why I come to you guys. I've been lurking around the forums for about a month or so & know that you guys have a vast knowledge of figures. Does anyone have any idea of the story behind these Series 61 Smackdown Variants for Neville? The Walmart had 2 & because I could not find anything on it (minus the Ebay listing), I picked them both up.
Here are pictures of their fronts & backs:
Anybody have any idea of how or why these came to be (I assume it was to have 3 RAW, 3 Smackdown, 2 NXT & 1 Divas)? Has anyone else seen any of these?
Oh ok, wasn't sure. I bet he was supposed to be a Smackdown card all along. His first figure was NXT, then this one is in his first attire after getting called up, so I bet he was originally supposed to be SDown and they messed up.
Guys, I just noticed something different about these two other than the card. They used a different face scan for the Smackdown carded Neville (looks like the Elite 42 scan to me).
Guys, I just noticed something different about these two other than the card. They used a different face scan for the Smackdown carded Neville (looks like the Elite 42 scan to me).
Guys, I just noticed something different about these two other than the card. They used a different face scan for the Smackdown carded Neville (looks like the Elite 42 scan to me).
The Series 61 NXT Carded Neville:
The Series 61 Smackdown Carded Neville:
Thats the same sculpt...
B52 and BAF Bearer had a different sculpt.
Looking back at it, you're correct. The goatee shape was tweaked a bit in this Smackdown Variant, though (made to look a little thinner) & the eyes seem to have possibly been changed to look a bit smaller.
...some of the package branding is all over the place - Basic 62 Roman Reigns on Smackdown(!), Basic 57 Ryback and 63 Del Rio on RAW cards - but their Elite figures on Smackdown...? I'm sure they just pick some of them out of a hat...