LuisTX
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Joined on: May 19, 2009 14:02:30 GMT -5
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Post by LuisTX on Jan 6, 2019 13:31:29 GMT -5
I personally don't know what makes the WWE figures Hasbro made so special, but somehow, they are, and it seems the podcast Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins have now is making them even more special, and more valuable. My question is, will there be a time when Mattel's Retro figures will be looked at in the same way? Will it take Mattel no longer being the toy licensee for WWE action figures? Was the roster Hasbro had to work with at the time that much better? Are is the accessibility we have today to buy the Retro figures going to kill any value they could have in the future?
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Post by BROKEN on Jan 6, 2019 13:44:50 GMT -5
We will be buying Mattel’s forever
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Post by stc13 on Jan 6, 2019 14:08:30 GMT -5
Highly unlikely. The interest in Hasbros is driven by nostalgia. Kids who grew up playing with Hasbros are now reaching their early to mid 30's. They hit a point where they have more disposable income and look to recapture some aspects of their youth that maybe they didn't have or mom threw out.
The same thing has happened with TNMT, and a few years earlier with GI Joe and Transformers. Going back further it was metal and tin toys for the baby boom and pre-WWII generations. Give it a few years and Furbies will probably be popular.
The overlap with the Golden Era definitely helped, since Hogan was a household name and you had more mainstream exposure for the product (and way fewer media options). The retro figures are capitalizing on that nostalgia to sell toys. But longterm? No. In 20 years kids today probably won't have much nostalgia for physical toys at all - maybe Legos, which seem to be growing in popularity. But my guess is that video games will be the big nostalgia items.
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LuisTX
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Joined on: May 19, 2009 14:02:30 GMT -5
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Post by LuisTX on Jan 6, 2019 14:16:52 GMT -5
Highly unlikely. The interest in Hasbros is driven by nostalgia. Kids who grew up playing with Hasbros are now reaching their early to mid 30's. They hit a point where they have more disposable income and look to recapture some aspects of their youth that maybe they didn't have or mom threw out. The same thing has happened with TNMT, and a few years earlier with GI Joe and Transformers. Going back further it was metal and tin toys for the baby boom and pre-WWII generations. Give it a few years and Furbies will probably be popular. The overlap with the Golden Era definitely helped, since Hogan was a household name and you had more mainstream exposure for the product (and way fewer media options). The retro figures are capitalizing on that nostalgia to sell toys. But longterm? No. In 20 years kids today probably won't have much nostalgia for physical toys at all - maybe Legos, which seem to be growing in popularity. But my guess is that video games will be the big nostalgia items. I completely agree, but there are kids growing up today buying those Retro figures, too, I would imagine. So wouldn't you say the effect the Hasbro figures had for kids growing up in the 90s will translate for kids growing up today with the Retro figures, or you think there's way more for kids to get into today to find nostalgia in many years later to even remember the Retros of today? |
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Post by stc13 on Jan 6, 2019 14:37:55 GMT -5
Highly unlikely. The interest in Hasbros is driven by nostalgia. Kids who grew up playing with Hasbros are now reaching their early to mid 30's. They hit a point where they have more disposable income and look to recapture some aspects of their youth that maybe they didn't have or mom threw out. The same thing has happened with TNMT, and a few years earlier with GI Joe and Transformers. Going back further it was metal and tin toys for the baby boom and pre-WWII generations. Give it a few years and Furbies will probably be popular. The overlap with the Golden Era definitely helped, since Hogan was a household name and you had more mainstream exposure for the product (and way fewer media options). The retro figures are capitalizing on that nostalgia to sell toys. But longterm? No. In 20 years kids today probably won't have much nostalgia for physical toys at all - maybe Legos, which seem to be growing in popularity. But my guess is that video games will be the big nostalgia items. I completely agree, but there are kids growing up today buying those Retro figures, too, I would imagine. So wouldn't you say the effect the Hasbro figures had for kids growing up in the 90s will translate for kids growing up today with the Retro figures, or you think there's way more for kids to get into today to find nostalgia in many years later to even remember the Retros of today? I completely agree that kids are buying the retros. But for kids, basics and maybe Elites are *the* wrestling toy. Retros are just a secondary line, rather than the primary toy. There may be some kids with warm and fuzzies for them, but not enough to drive an entire collector market like Hasbros, GI Joe, etc. There are just so many more entertainment options today than for those of us who grew up in the 80's or 90's. And on top of that, there's now such a big portion of buyers (mainly adult collectors) who keep figures "mint" that packaged figures won't nearly as rare for modern toys. Part of the price of older figures is the rarity because the vast majority of figures were opened and played with, so finding a figure still on card is a rarity. I'm not saying there won't be buyers or collectors down the road. I just don't think they have anywhere near the same cultural impact and nostalgia that the original figures had. |
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LuisTX
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Joined on: May 19, 2009 14:02:30 GMT -5
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Post by LuisTX on Jan 6, 2019 14:40:16 GMT -5
I completely agree, but there are kids growing up today buying those Retro figures, too, I would imagine. So wouldn't you say the effect the Hasbro figures had for kids growing up in the 90s will translate for kids growing up today with the Retro figures, or you think there's way more for kids to get into today to find nostalgia in many years later to even remember the Retros of today? I completely agree that kids are buying the retros. But for kids, basics and maybe Elites are *the* wrestling toy. Retros are just a secondary line, rather than the primary toy. There may be some kids with warm and fuzzies for them, but not enough to drive an entire collector market like Hasbros, GI Joe, etc. There are just so many more entertainment options today than for those of us who grew up in the 80's or 90's. And on top of that, there's now such a big portion of buyers (mainly adult collectors) who keep figures "mint" that packaged figures won't nearly as rare for modern toys. Part of the price of older figures is the rarity because the vast majority of figures were opened and played with, so finding a figure still on card is a rarity. I'm not saying there won't be buyers or collectors down the road. I just don't think they have anywhere near the same cultural impact and nostalgia that the original figures had. So what you're saying is, there's no point in going back and buying up all the current Retro figures and putting them in RSC's defender cases hoping to see their value increase greatly years later? |
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Post by 💯ULTIMATE💯 on Jan 6, 2019 14:52:58 GMT -5
Nope!
The reason why the hasbros are so sought after is for various reasons...
Main reason being nostalgia, They’re now in adult collections which the collectors owned as children
Another reason is because there were only a handful of waves/series which make them easier to complete (aside from the price)
Also, I believe they were the first movable WWF figures and on top of that they had “action moves”
These Mattel retros don’t have the same feel or look in my opinion. The hasbros looked like something out of a comic book and these retros look like they just took the heads off their regular line and slapped them on a tiny body.
I only got the warrior just because I collect Warrior figures and MIGHT get the flair. Other than that I don’t see myself getting into them and I don’t see them getting as popular and highly wanted in the future like hasbros are now. Who knows, I might be wrong but that’s my opinion.
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LuisTX
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Joined on: May 19, 2009 14:02:30 GMT -5
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Post by LuisTX on Jan 6, 2019 15:16:46 GMT -5
Nope! The reason why the hasbros are so sought after is for various reasons... Main reason being nostalgia, They’re now in adult collections which the collectors owned as children Another reason is because there were only a handful of waves/series which make them easier to complete (aside from the price) Also, I believe they were the first movable WWF figures and on top of that they had “action moves” These Mattel retros don’t have the same feel or look in my opinion. The hasbros looked like something out of a comic book and these retros look like they just took the heads off their regular line and slapped them on a tiny body. I only got the warrior just because I collect Warrior figures and MIGHT get the flair. Other than that I don’t see myself getting into them and I don’t see them getting as popular and highly wanted in the future like hasbros are now. Who knows, I might be wrong but that’s my opinion. I'm also not a fan of them at all. I was never a fan of the Hasbro figures. I'm much more of a fan of what Mattel does with their figures today. I was just wondering if it would be a good investment to start collecting all the Mattel Retros right now before it's too late, but it sounds like that won't be necessary. |
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PVA
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Too hot to handle and too cold to hold
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Post by PVA on Jan 6, 2019 15:17:04 GMT -5
Short answer: no
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Post by Crossfit Jesus on Jan 6, 2019 15:19:59 GMT -5
Naw
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Post by Thought Collector on Jan 6, 2019 15:25:05 GMT -5
I love the Retro line and love having them in my collection. But nothing will replace or be as great as the original Hasbro figures. They have the magic in them from actually being from our youth. Someone could make a replica of the bat you used in little league to win the big championship game, but it's not the same as having the actual bat sitting in your garage or attic that you held. I think the Retro line will be looked at the same as the Willy Wonka remake from Tim Burton compared to the original movie. The Burton one can still make people smile but in no way will the majority take it over the classic original and all the great memories. As far as what makes the Hasbro line so special-It's really hard to explain if you didn't grow up collecting and playing with them and creating your own little federation. You have to watch Toy Story 3 I guess with the final scene of Andy with Woody. I mean to a lot of other people on the surface it just would look like a silly looking little old cowboy doll.
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TheWholeFnShow
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Go Eagles!
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Post by TheWholeFnShow on Jan 6, 2019 15:41:24 GMT -5
I think it's the nostalgia thing. The 30 year + are the ones who are loving this line. I really can't see anyone who didn't grow up in the nineties wanting these though. There seems to be enough demand to keep the line going at least.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 15:51:27 GMT -5
No, never
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Post by BadGirlRyleigh on Jan 6, 2019 16:13:38 GMT -5
Hasbros aren’t that special. The only reason they’re held in such high regard is childhood nostalgia and because they started in the Golden Era
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2019 16:16:22 GMT -5
Hasbros aren’t that special. The only reason they’re held in such high regard is childhood nostalgia and because they started in the Golden Era lol childhood nostalgia is possibly the definition of special |
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marklud
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Post by marklud on Jan 6, 2019 16:28:01 GMT -5
Yeah, it's all about the nostalgia with the original Hasbros. I grew up a Hasbro kid -- at the time, those were the state of the art wrestling figures whereas today the technology has grown by leaps and bounds with elites, etc. Those of us from that time played with those figures religiously ... at the time to get so many different characters from such an amazing era was revolutionary. The faces and art were so ahead of their time. Again, compared to figures today they can't compare with accuracy but it's 25 years later.
Like a lot of other folks on here I was obsessed with Hasbros as a kid. That rush of seeing new ones in the store, the 3 for $10 deals at KB, finding the rare red and green card figs at Hills ... it was a different time. Now you can buy any figure on RSC. Hasbros were just so darn cool at the time. If you weren't collecting then it's probably one of those things you can't understand but I'm guessing some feel that way when they began collecting, whether it's BCAs or Mattels or whatever.
Mattel's retros are a nice love letter to the Hasbro line but in no way will they become as collectible as the originals. The equivalent would be to stock up on the best Mattels now and wait 25 years for these current-day Mattels to become "retro," not to stock up on Mattel retros.
Also I was talking with a friend about this the other day and I have to agree with what Zack and Curt have said on their pod, that Mattel has kinda dropped the ball with character selection with the Retros. It's all over the place. The Attitude Era Series 2 figs were amazing. But there's random current and retro guys in there and no consistent theme. I'd love to see a lump sum of all current guys or all retro guys or all attitude era guys ... it would be way more easier/fun to get into that way. I was obsessed with Hasbros like I said but I don't really care about the Mattel retros at the moment, which seems crazy for a guy like me but is definitely the case.
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Post by BadGirlRyleigh on Jan 6, 2019 16:43:51 GMT -5
They should definitely be released in themed waves. I thought the second series all being Attitude Era guys plus Crow Sting was really cool.
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TheRockers
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Post by TheRockers on Jan 6, 2019 18:35:10 GMT -5
The retro line is already showing signs of having a long term cult following. They are popular, there is variants, hasbro fans are buying them and now there is a whole new generation of wrestling fans getting them.
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drnickriviera995
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Post by drnickriviera995 on Jan 6, 2019 20:17:20 GMT -5
I don't see them being valuable long term. At first I sorta thought some of the waves that skipped retail would go up in price, but now they seem to be showing up at discounters. So they must have been made in decent enough numbers, just sat in warehouses for months due to the poor distribution.
I love the Hasbros because I grew up playing with them and have always obsessed about them. The retros have potential to be a nice supplement to the Hasbro set, but so far the really good ones are few and far between. I really like the purple Taker, Austin and the WCW guys. And am happy to see Goldust and Diesel coming, but otherwise not much has gotten me excited so far.
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Keck Collects
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Post by Keck Collects on Jan 6, 2019 20:56:51 GMT -5
New Day and Savage will have value until they show up somewhere main stream.
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