WWE Retro - General Discussion

Wow, I'm surprised they're still up. I hope it's a matter of them producing more this round after seeing how fast the first bundle sold.

I think, despite the shortcomings of the quality to detail and stuff, I was still way more excited for this than the last set. Mid 80's guys wasn't something I was asking for and didn't even bother being around for launch, checked in that night to see they were gone and didn't really care either way, think I may have ordered if they were still up, but not 100% sure.

I did end up buying the first set yesterday on ebay though out of FOMO, but the Hart Foundation I needed multiple sets of. I wish they would have molded the singlets and got Bret's shades correct, and a new mold for Neidhart would have been ideal, but at least it's the guys and time period I wanted. Packaging is blah too, but it's been that way since the line came out years ago and I don't see it changing. I'm not into them for value or investment, so I just get custom card backs on ebay and reseal anyway.

I do hope these live up to Mattel's hopes for sales, but I hope they listen to collectors and put more effort into some new molds and maybe improving card art even if it means a slightly higher price point for future sets.

Agreed, it's a nice touch, but it's a secondary concern when it comes to actually getting figures that I want.  I think part of the problem for a lot of people is they started the line by doing some really nice molding jobs on figures like Roman Reigns and Kane, but as the line progressed that level of quality did drop a bit.

It's a weak set and it seems to be selling that way. I don't think Mattel made more. I think whoever said people are only buying one this time around hit the nail on the head. Collectors are getting their one set to keep an already existing collection intact. Volkoff and Jimmy Hart would be the weakest member of any other four figure set, but they're both in this one together.

I still don't believe we should really be getting LJN era looks in these Retro lineups. Hasbros were a 90s toy. I think these should stay comfortably between 89-99. Do Vader, do 91-92 Heenan, do OG DX, do a 95 Bulldog, do Mabel, just stay within the parameters of the demographic.

Despite my dislike for this set, which I still bought, hopefully these are gone by the end of the week. It only takes one bad one to screw this whole thing up for us. King looks amazing, the NWO rules, while the execution isn't perfect on the lost wave, the idea of that one rules. So we just need to safely get by this set.

I think it's a couple of things.  Most importantly, I think Mattel slightly hamstrung themselves by releasing these right after they just announced retro figures that (almost) everybody is way more excited about.  Whether it's the nWo, the lost Hasbro wave or Jerry Lawler, almost everybody is more excited about something from the SDCC reveals than they are for this series.  Some may have been turned off by the haphazard release of Series 11/Wave 1 and then there's the figures themselves. I think there would be a bigger buzz for Jimmy Hart if we didn't just get Mean Gene.  There's the nitpicks with the Hart Foundation, and there's nothing really exciting about Volkoff beyond having another tag team with Sheik.  

Fair points, many that I didn't think about myself. Had they released this set immediately after WrestleMania when the hype was the highest then maybe it would've had a bit more momentum like you say; perhaps similar will happen to the other sets that have been announced in July but won't appear until January or quarter 2; though I don't think there will be any major reveals before WrestleMania time to deflect from the upcoming sets the way things have happened here, but there's the danger that the hype will just naturally die-down.

Good point also on the timing of Jimmy Hart. Maybe like suggested by someone here if they'd changed an arm or something then it might've looked better following Mean Gene, but I'm still excited by it - I think it looks great. Maybe if the 'lost' wave had come between the first set and this one then folks might've been more excited by it; I don't know.

But the situation with the Harts is just so strange - if they are going for 1990 Hart Foundation, then why are the cards of them from two or three years before? Or if they were going for 1988 or something then why use the heart-outline outfits and give Bret longer hair like he had in the early 90s? If they wanted to do a Harts set to match when they were managed by Jimmy then it seems like they would've gone with a different look.

My first thought for a fourth if they were doing a Hart Foundation managed by Jimmy Hart set was Danny Davies in referee gear, since we obviously need a referee in the Hasbro line. But if he's no longer available then I like your suggestion of Honky, though I don't really hate that Volkoff is here, he just doesn't fit properly.

But I don't get what they are doing with the cards at all - they have the WWE photo archive, so why are they doing drawings/filters/whatever to make them look ancient? I understand these are Retro, but the Hasbros had photos so the switch doesn't make sense to me. Do it for the Legends line, that's fine but here you're paying homage to a past line that didn't do this. Mattel already went with in-ring photos rather than promo photos that Hasbro preferred to use (not always of course) so finding an real photo of Volkoff in ring gear without the USSR visible would surely be better than to draw him in an outfit where that's clearly been removed?

Agreed that the Hart Foundation is a weird amalgamation of looks, die-hard fans are gonna notice that and the Hart Foundation have a lot of die-hard fans, but all in all I still like the figures in a vacuum.  Don't get the computer generated images either, as a loose collector it doesn't affect my personal enjoyment of the figures, but it seems like a pretty needless change unless someone would care to educate me to the contrary.  

Jimmy Hart's arm does look stranger and stranger the longer you stare at it, but all in all I like the figure too.  I just think that could have been a figure that really drove sales for the line had it been the first manager/non-wrestler.  I'm glad to hear there's support for a Honky Tonk retro. Honky is one of the Hasbro's I have, but as we've all kinda established that Hasbro's and Retros don't look perfect together it feels like a Honky will be needed on the shelf next to R&B Greg.  Outside of him working well in the lost Hasbro's set, R&B is an awkward figure to have as a one-off on the shelf.

I’d honestly love to see Lawler, Jarrett call me crazy but the sultan and issac Yankhem

Good call on Danny Davis. Honky Tonk Man in red tights would rule. 

I definitely see your point, but for me personally, the best part of the new retro figures is getting Hasbro-style figures of those who didn't yet have them.

I'm actually really excited for people like Orton and Volkoff, because they fit the era, but were missing in the original line.