drnickriviera995
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Post by drnickriviera995 on Aug 11, 2018 7:54:08 GMT -5
Just curious, not sure if it's really stated anywhere. But, who can remember as kids when Series 1 first hit? Same for Series 2, 3 and 4. Later on I can remember plus they had semi release dates for a lot of them in WWF Magazine.
I think the first ones came out early 90 if I'm thinking right? Because I remember going to TRU expecting them to have the entire set, but disappointed to only see TONS of Jake, Brutus and Rude. I had enough money for a ring and 2 figs, so got Jake and Brutus.
Then I remember getting a ton of them (probably the rest -Andre which my parents didn't find until later on) for I think my birthday which would have been mid-April. For some reason I don't remember ever getting figures for Christmas, but usually birthday or Easter. Does that all add up the way I remember? Most new series hit late winter/early spring back then?
And then on the green cards. Were they out in late 94' or early 95'? I always thought they were Wave 1 of 95, but I guess most people recall them being a 4th wave for 94'.
Just curious to recall memories.
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Post by gentlemanjohnny on Aug 11, 2018 12:53:38 GMT -5
As a kid I didn't know anything about when figures were being released or even have an understanding of what a series of figures was. I remember getting my first hasbos. It was Christmas 1990. On Christmas eve i got to open up gifts from my uncle. I got the ring, The Big Boss Man, Ax and Smash- to this day the best gifts I've ever received. For some reason, I guess because I was so young - probably 1st grade, I didn't even know they existed. When I opened the presents i couldn't believe it. I had to wait till the next day for my father to put the ring together for me. I remember just looking over the picture on the front of the box and thinking it was the greatest thing i had ever seen, I wish I had kept that box! On the front of the box was Hulk Hogan, Macho, Warrior, and Rude- I wanted them all! I opened more presents on Christmas morning and I got Macho Man too. I had to wait forever to finally get Hulk Hogan because we could never find him at the store.
Sorry for going rogue and hijacking your thread with my Christmas memories. I just thought it was fun to talk about.
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jason1980s
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Post by jason1980s on Aug 11, 2018 13:52:40 GMT -5
I don't know the timing either but remember getting Jake and Hulk for Christmas 1990. At that point I knew they existed and wound up getting the other guys over the next few weeks. I wish I knew the time period because the Coliseum Video WrestleMania tape (which probably came out in May or June) had the commercial with Jesse so they had to have come out not too long after that. And if they really did come out in Christmas 1990, the second series would be coming out very shortly afterwards which would seem strange.
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RedDevil
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Post by RedDevil on Aug 11, 2018 17:54:02 GMT -5
Difficult to say with the early series from my memories, especially as I’m sure UK releases were well behind the US releases. I started watching with ‘This Tuesday in Texas’ after Survivor Series ‘91 and my mother bought me Hulk Hogan 2 that December, so the best I can say is that series 2 were out here by then but I’m sure they’ll have been out for a while before I got him. My rich friend who first showed me wrestling had masses of figures (and many rings) but I don’t remember if he had any when he showed me that first video (which was before Tuesday in Texas obviously) - he probably had loads even at that stage but I don’t remember. I remember my grandmother was visiting when I discovered Sgt Slaughter in Argos, which was probably in the first-half of 1992 I’d guess (I remember he was displayed on the shelf in store rather than in the Argos catalogue, and I was so shocked to see him I begged my grandmother to get him for me ). That would likely put Sgt in my first 15 figures, which seems a little early but not out of the question. If anyone in the UK has images from the old Argos catalogues then that might help place some UK releases. I bought Bret 1 at Argos as well, probably the same year. They issued new catalogues twice a year, so Bret might’ve been a second half ‘92 release. Undertaker 1 I got at Xmas, so that would fit. I remember Ric Flair and Repo Man being released as I got them one after the other over a weekend at two different stores, but I can’t pinpoint a date for them though. Also Earthquake and Typhoon I saw before that at the same store I would buy Ric Flair from, but again no date reference that I can remember. Usually I can remember childhood events in terms of whatever PPV was going on at the time, but strangely I have no reference to them in terms of figures. I guess because some of the guys on those shows weren’t out yet so I couldn’t play-out the matches around the PPVs - for example for WrestleMania VIII I had Jake definitely, but not Undertaker; I had Piper but not Bret; Hogan but not Sid, etc., but for SummerSlam I had both Warrior and Savage as well as Mr Perfect, but no memories of playing-out that around the Wembley show. I would’ve been running my own little fed rather mirroring that was going on at the time in the WWF. I remember more getting figures whilst on holiday, but those will not have been new releases - e.g. I got Million Dollar Man 1 in Florida at a K-Mart or something in March 1993, and I saw a Hacksaw during that trip as well but someone had stolen the 2x4 so I didn’t get him. I got a lot in Spain over a few visits (Macho King, Superfly, Andre, Akeem, Honky Tonk Man) but all were long after I got that first Hogan 2. I remember playing with Mr Perfect the day I got him outside a restaurant in a playground during a nice sunny day, so probably spring or early summer 1992, but maybe I found him the following year or something as I don’t really remember him in stores; I’m 80% sure I got him at TRU but that’s all I can think. I’ve been meaning to go through old childhood photos looking for any Hasbros in the background to help with my memories. I know I took a few photos of my MOC collection in summer 2000 when I packed that display away before moving-out of home, but I’ve not found those photos recently - if I ever get round to seeking them out then I should look for loose figures in photos as well.
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drnickriviera995
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Post by drnickriviera995 on Aug 12, 2018 1:03:06 GMT -5
Great responses, love hearing stories about the figures from back in the day!
After my experiences with S1 in my original post, I found my first S2 figs in 91', again can't remember when exactly it was. That was at Laneco and I found Duggan, Dusty, Piper and Warrior! Later found MDM and Hogan at TRU and can't remember where I got Rockers and Bushwackers, either TRU or Kiddie City. Got HTM a little later at Kmart. Distribution seems so bizzar looking back. That Kmart had an entire peg full of HTM and don't remember others lol. Last ones I couldn't find for what seemed forever were Snuka, Macho Kind and Demoliton. Finally bought them, I remember vividly, was last day of school in 91' so took a TRU trip right after school. So S2 must have been out for a while by late Spring 91'.
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Post by hbkjason on Aug 12, 2018 3:56:57 GMT -5
I grew up in Scotland and can 100 percent say that I had series 1 before Christmas of 1990...... exactly when in 1990 I could not give you a definitive answer, but I know for a fact I had them before that Christmas. I went to Spain on vacation in October of 1990 and I remember taking my WWF figures with me and it was in Spain that I got Andre The Giant.
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Post by whossideareyouon on Aug 12, 2018 4:16:54 GMT -5
This is from UK Index catalogue, Spring/Summer 92:
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hoganvspiper
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Post by hoganvspiper on Aug 12, 2018 14:54:02 GMT -5
If memory serves, they came out spring/summer 1990. I remember finding series 1 at Toys R Us in the Indianapolis area. A short time later, the Ultimate Warrior and Ted Dibiase appeared at separate Toys R Us locations in the city to sign autographs. The Ultimate Warrior had recently won the WWF Championship. I still have the autographed photos somewhere.
I recall slight variations on the backer cards for series 1. The Big Boss Man, for example, had black tape over lines in his biography that reflected him being a heel. He had recently turned face and apparently Hasbro was already trying to keep the info accurate. I recall something similar on another character or two, but I can't recall now. Is that noted in the collecting market? I haven't collected Hasbro's since I sold my collection a few years after they came out.
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RedDevil
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Post by RedDevil on Aug 12, 2018 19:31:52 GMT -5
If memory serves, they came out spring/summer 1990. I remember finding series 1 at Toys R Us in the Indianapolis area. A short time later, the Ultimate Warrior and Ted Dibiase appeared at separate Toys R Us locations in the city to sign autographs. The Ultimate Warrior had recently won the WWF Championship. I still have the autographed photos somewhere. I recall slight variations on the backer cards for series 1. The Big Boss Man, for example, had black tape over lines in his biography that reflected him being a heel. He had recently turned face and apparently Hasbro was already trying to keep the info accurate. I recall something similar on another character or two, but I can't recall now. Is that noted in the collecting market? I haven't collected Hasbro's since I sold my collection a few years after they came out. There are some variations in the bio cards on the first series - I think the Twin Towers had references to the team in the earliest releases that were later changed, and the Warrior was first identified as the Intercontinenal champion whilst later cards had his WM6 title win there instead. Also the Hogan figure was later re-released on a series 3 card I think as well, maybe some others as well - I’m sure others know more about this.
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Post by MKSavage on Aug 12, 2018 20:16:48 GMT -5
If memory serves, they came out spring/summer 1990. I remember finding series 1 at Toys R Us in the Indianapolis area. A short time later, the Ultimate Warrior and Ted Dibiase appeared at separate Toys R Us locations in the city to sign autographs. The Ultimate Warrior had recently won the WWF Championship. I still have the autographed photos somewhere. I recall slight variations on the backer cards for series 1. The Big Boss Man, for example, had black tape over lines in his biography that reflected him being a heel. He had recently turned face and apparently Hasbro was already trying to keep the info accurate. I recall something similar on another character or two, but I can't recall now. Is that noted in the collecting market? I haven't collected Hasbro's since I sold my collection a few years after they came out. There are some variations in the bio cards on the first series - I think the Twin Towers had references to the team in the earliest releases that were later changed, and the Warrior was first identified as the Intercontinenal champion whilst later cards had his WM6 title win there instead. Also the Hogan figure was later re-released on a series 3 card I think as well, maybe some others as well - I’m sure others know more about this. Correct, on Boss Man and Akeem's early bio cards it said "a member of the tag team Twin Towers" and Warrior's said "is the WWF Intercontinental Champion". Later versions of Boss Man and Akeem's cards did have the part about the Twin Towers and Warrior's said "Won the WWF Title at WrestleMania 6". Also, the earliest series 1 cards had a lighter blue color and at the top said ages 5 and up, where as later versions of series 1 (and all other series') said 4 and up.
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Post by Fighter Hayabusa on Aug 13, 2018 7:59:03 GMT -5
I know by the time series 2 came out I must’ve been too cool for toys. I bought all of series 1 and still have them to this day. Didn’t buy any from any other series after that.
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drnickriviera995
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Post by drnickriviera995 on Aug 15, 2018 6:24:40 GMT -5
Here's another one. When did Ultimate Warrior #3 show up in the U.S.? For me, never saw him until Series 4 had been out for a while. Him and Bossman #2 seemed to show up around the same time. I remember Warrior and a lot of him, along with the new Bossman had appeared alongside new cases of Series 4 in later 92'.
I always assumed he never hit in the U.S. until after he came back at WM8. If he hadn't come back, could we assume Warrior #3 would have been the only figure besides mailaways to not have been released on English cards?
If at all really. I know he's more common on non-English cards, but so is pretty much all of S3. I wonder if he was released on all cards later in 92' or if he had been available overseas before he came back to the company. Maybe the figure would have never seen release like R&B Valentine, proto HBK and Mega Maniacs Brutus?
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juniordaddyo
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Post by juniordaddyo on Aug 15, 2018 7:46:04 GMT -5
This is from UK Index catalogue, Spring/Summer 92: WOW, I remember this catalogue and the Argos one too! The range was never that big though in the catalogue
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tibbo
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Post by tibbo on Aug 15, 2018 10:47:34 GMT -5
Their first appearance in Argos was the 1991 Autumn/Winter catalogue, so it is fairly safe to say that they weren't released over here in 1990...
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RedDevil
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Post by RedDevil on Aug 15, 2018 11:32:29 GMT -5
Their first appearance in Argos was the 1991 Autumn/Winter catalogue, so it is fairly safe to say that they weren't released over here in 1990... OMG apart from the Bart dress-up stuff, I had everything else on that page - and still do
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Post by jsmells on Aug 18, 2018 20:02:51 GMT -5
I remember not knowing about them until wave 2 because my mom bought me the hugging Hogan and I carried that thing everywhere. I remember the card back too obsessing over the others I didn't have. Then a friend of mine had Warrior 1 and Macho 1 and I was like "THESE AREN'T ON THE BACK WHOA!"
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TheRockers
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Post by TheRockers on Aug 22, 2018 5:36:39 GMT -5
They came out spring or summer 1990. I first found series 1 at Hills. The only reason I know they came out in summer time was because we went to Hills to get stuff for a family cookout. Me and my brother were in total shock when we saw brand new wrestling figures. Its strange but I have vivid memories of getting almost each series. growing up in the late 80's/early 90's wrestling was such a huge part of my life and collecting Hasbros was basically magical. Every kid in the neighborhood was collecting them.
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drnickriviera995
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Post by drnickriviera995 on Aug 22, 2018 8:07:13 GMT -5
They came out spring or summer 1990. I first found series 1 at Hills. The only reason I know they came out in summer time was because we went to Hills to get stuff for a family cookout. Me and my brother were in total shock when we saw brand new wrestling figures. Its strange but I have vivid memories of getting almost each series. growing up in the late 80's/early 90's wrestling was such a huge part of my life and collecting Hasbros was basically magical. Every kid in the neighborhood was collecting them. It's not strange, love the story. I remember vividly too where I got each figures. If I got some as gifts and which ones. Which ones I saw in a store and didn't have the cash to get at the moment. Wrestling was my like back then lol.
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kev85hasbro
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Post by kev85hasbro on Aug 22, 2018 10:03:31 GMT -5
They came out spring or summer 1990. I first found series 1 at Hills. The only reason I know they came out in summer time was because we went to Hills to get stuff for a family cookout. Me and my brother were in total shock when we saw brand new wrestling figures. Its strange but I have vivid memories of getting almost each series. growing up in the late 80's/early 90's wrestling was such a huge part of my life and collecting Hasbros was basically magical. Every kid in the neighborhood was collecting them. It's not strange, love the story. I remember vividly too where I got each figures. If I got some as gifts and which ones. Which ones I saw in a store and didn't have the cash to get at the moment. Wrestling was my like back then lol. They’re more than wrestling figures. They’re a part of our lives and we connect with some fabulous like minded people
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Post by Thought Collector on Aug 22, 2018 21:10:26 GMT -5
This is from UK Index catalogue, Spring/Summer 92: WOW, I remember this catalogue and the Argos one too! The range was never that big though in the catalogue WCW Galoob were really awesome. I love the early Monster In My Pocket sets, I was obsessed with collecting them as a kid lol. I still have some of those boxed sets pictured and a lot of loose ones.
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