@Chair.Shot
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WF 10+ Year Member
Joined on: Jan 31, 2012 4:38:24 GMT -5
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Post by @Chair.Shot on Apr 24, 2019 10:33:50 GMT -5
This line was slightly before my time but I have always been tempted to collect them. As someone who just moved into their old stomping grounds of Minnesota, I’m weakening more than ever.
For those who do or did collect: what are your memories of getting the figures? What stores carried them, did you mostly receive them as gifts, did they sell them at shows? What items have you had the hardest time obtaining? Is the market much harder to collect now (like WWF Hasbro) compared to years past?
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FUSamBaker
Main Eventer
Biggest crush on Sami Zayn.
Joined on: Sept 6, 2005 19:25:20 GMT -5
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Post by FUSamBaker on Apr 24, 2019 13:47:16 GMT -5
I was born quite some time after these gems were made. However I grabbed a few from eBay and from local stores. I actually had the ring and cage for awhile til I sold them 😭. The only AWA figures I have left are Precious and Gagne.
I may grab another Precious one day. Mine is showing her age. The hips have cracked over time, the gloves and “glitter” have oxidized something terrible. The gloves are like a bronzer green and so is the glitter on her arms. Surprisingly the head is in superb condition.
These were actually cool figures for the day and age. I mean, they moved were as LJNs didn’t. Actually they moved more than Hasbros! It’s crazy it took WWE an entire 10 years to actually catch up with the articulation of the AWA Remco line!
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China Claus
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I can feeel your sensitivity
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Post by China Claus on Apr 24, 2019 13:58:46 GMT -5
I have a picture of me at about 8-9 months old, happily chewing on the Ric Flair Remco's head. That was circa 1987, and as it is, my earliest memory was being mesmerized by Ultimate Warrior on the TV while trick or treating at a relatives house on Halloween when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. My first wrestling figures that I got and cherished were OSFTM Hogan and the WWF Bend Em Diesel.
Obviously, Remco's were before my time, but I found a few at yard sales and flea markets in the mid-90's.
They were pretty much ahead of their time articulation wise, as the alternative at the time was the LJN line, so Remco had a much better playability factor that we wouldn't see til Hasbro's.
It's always cool seeing a carded Remco nowadays especially.
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Post by CM Poor on Apr 24, 2019 14:18:14 GMT -5
I've often looked into these, but there are only two (Scott Hall and Baron von Raschke) that I want, and I don't want to drop a lot on them, so it's nothing that is of utmost urgency to me.
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@Chair.Shot
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WF 10+ Year Member
Joined on: Jan 31, 2012 4:38:24 GMT -5
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Post by @Chair.Shot on Apr 24, 2019 14:28:08 GMT -5
That has been my general feeling towards them, SYE. Once I finished collecting Hasbros, I felt a bit of a void. That need to hunt was still there! Unfortunately, the items that interest me most also cost the most: Ring/Cage playset, Shawn, Marty, and Buddy Rose. Those both attract me to want to start a collection and at the same time prevent me from getting into it.
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Post by theaxehennig on Apr 24, 2019 15:41:45 GMT -5
There was a local Jamesway that sold these just before WCW Galoobs hit (1990ish). They only had a few in the clearance aisle and their cards were best to death. I remember Precious and Ric Flair with purple trunks. I remember they were fascinating when I was a kid and I remember the price being reasonable.
My dad received a box of hand-me-down toys from a client, and in the box was a set of Road Warriors, with dog collars and the tag belts (which looked more like the NWA world belt). I loved those Road Warrior figs.
If you do go the route of collecting them, check places like Facebook Marketplace, Mercari and Ebluejay. I’ve seen good deals on there. Good luck!
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Post by Nivro™ on Apr 24, 2019 17:27:29 GMT -5
I bought a decent size lot that had some of them in it. I dont really have any desire to collect them so Ive been cleaning them up the best I can to resell.
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marklud
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Post by marklud on Apr 24, 2019 18:53:31 GMT -5
A bit before my time, but as a "try to collect everything" wrestling collector I'm antsy to grab some of these someday. Unfortunately it looks like the price point is going to make that pretty difficult at the moment.
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Post by figurecollector on Apr 24, 2019 20:28:02 GMT -5
There were some around when we were buying LJN's for our son, but we only got the Road Warriors and Ellering since when you hit one with an LJN fist the top half would move to face the rear. They were also considerably smaller than LJN's. I still like them and have 10 - 15.
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Post by Ruby Fusion on Apr 25, 2019 3:31:14 GMT -5
Well, I didn't know the AWA figures existed until 1998; when I first saw them on a site called AFACT. My first thought was: how could LJNs sell, when these existed?
Anyway, even in 1998 these Remco AWA figs were kind of expensive. It must've been 2000 when I finally owned loose Remco AWA figs: The Fabulous Ones.
As a Marty Jannetty fan, I desperately needed his figure! So I even settled for a Jannetty with repro-shirt in 2001. That year I also ended up with two 12-pack Mini-Mashers, so in 2001 I owned all Marty Jannetty figures in existance. In 2012 I bought a Jannetty with original shirt and sold the one with repro-shirt.
Now in 2019 I own:
Loose
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Larry Zbyszko
Ric Flair
Jumpin' Jim Brunzel
The Fabulous Ones
The Road Warriors
Paul Ellering
Marty Jannetty (minus the shades)
referee Dick Woehrle
MOC
---
12-Pack Mini Mashers
Thumbsters: Gagne vs Hawk
Flair vs Zbyszko
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Boon
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Post by Boon on Apr 25, 2019 6:10:12 GMT -5
I've often looked into these, but there are only two (Scott Hall and Baron von Raschke) that I want, and I don't want to drop a lot on them, so it's nothing that is of utmost urgency to me. Weirdly enough I only own 2, would love more, but to expensive to find here in the UK, these 2 cost me around £10 total Hennig and Hall  |
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robbutler01
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Post by robbutler01 on Apr 25, 2019 7:07:44 GMT -5
I like these but like others have said they are hard to get in the uk. I managed to get a Ric Flair with robe and belt on ebay for about £15 inc postage so happy with that.
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FUSamBaker
Main Eventer
Biggest crush on Sami Zayn.
Joined on: Sept 6, 2005 19:25:20 GMT -5
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Post by FUSamBaker on Apr 25, 2019 14:52:14 GMT -5
Well, I didn't know the AWA figures existed until 1998; when I first saw them on a site called AFACT. My first thought was: how could LJNs sell, when these existed? Anyway, even in 1998 these Remco AWA figs were kind of expensive. It must've been 2000 when I finally owned loose Remco AWA figs: The Fabulous Ones. As a Marty Jannetty fan, I desperately needed his figure! So I even settled for a Jannetty with repro-shirt in 2001. That year I also ended up with two 12-pack Mini-Mashers, so in 2001 I owned all Marty Jannetty figures in existance. In 2012 I bought a Jannetty with original shirt and sold the one with repro-shirt. Now in 2019 I own: Loose ----- Larry Zbyszko Ric Flair Jumpin' Jim Brunzel The Fabulous Ones The Road Warriors Paul Ellering Marty Jannetty (minus the shades) referee Dick Woehrle MOC --- 12-Pack Mini Mashers Thumbsters: Gagne vs Hawk Flair vs Zbyszko Dedicated fan right there! I’m meeting Janetty in July for the Ohio Toy and Comic Show! I’m so excited. I don’t think I owned any rare AWA figures. I’m still regretting selling the ring, cage and 20 plus figures. Oddly enough, it ended right back at the same store I bought it. |
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Post by Nivro™ on Apr 25, 2019 19:56:23 GMT -5
Well, I didn't know the AWA figures existed until 1998; when I first saw them on a site called AFACT. My first thought was: how could LJNs sell, when these existed? Anyway, even in 1998 these Remco AWA figs were kind of expensive. It must've been 2000 when I finally owned loose Remco AWA figs: The Fabulous Ones. As a Marty Jannetty fan, I desperately needed his figure! So I even settled for a Jannetty with repro-shirt in 2001. That year I also ended up with two 12-pack Mini-Mashers, so in 2001 I owned all Marty Jannetty figures in existance. In 2012 I bought a Jannetty with original shirt and sold the one with repro-shirt. Now in 2019 I own: Loose ----- Larry Zbyszko Ric Flair Jumpin' Jim Brunzel The Fabulous Ones The Road Warriors Paul Ellering Marty Jannetty (minus the shades) referee Dick Woehrle MOC --- 12-Pack Mini Mashers Thumbsters: Gagne vs Hawk Flair vs Zbyszko Dedicated fan right there! I’m meeting Janetty in July for the Ohio Toy and Comic Show! I’m so excited. I don’t think I owned any rare AWA figures. I’m still regretting selling the ring, cage and 20 plus figures. Oddly enough, it ended right back at the same store I bought it. Marty is really nice and surprisingly very appreciative of his fans....but Ill tell you you're gonna be surprised at just how tiny he is. He's listed at 5'11'' but Im betting hes closer to 5'8'' |
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Post by Ruby Fusion on Apr 26, 2019 1:01:58 GMT -5
Dedicated fan right there! I’m meeting Janetty in July for the Ohio Toy and Comic Show! I’m so excited. I don’t think I owned any rare AWA figures. I’m still regretting selling the ring, cage and 20 plus figures. Oddly enough, it ended right back at the same store I bought it. Marty is really nice and surprisingly very appreciative of his fans....but Ill tell you you're gonna be surprised at just how tiny he is. He's listed at 5'11'' but Im betting hes closer to 5'8'' Well, Shawn Michaels ain't 6'1" either... |
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GoldenHulk
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Post by GoldenHulk on Apr 26, 2019 6:00:33 GMT -5
AWA Remco is my long time collecting project. I had them when I was a little kid and they took a beating. Now I'm trying to build a collection of loose, near mint, and complete figures and it's a slow process. These were great because of the articulation, but also because they came in two packs, meaning you could get two figures for usually less than the price of one LJN. K-Mart was the go-to for these and most Remco figures in general. I also recall seeing them in Family Dollar, Venture (80s- 90s national chain), and various local shops that were still a thing before the box stores killed most of them in the 90s.
I've just this week finally managed to score a perfect condition set of High Flyers, which anyone who knows these knows is TOUGH. If you're not picky about getting all the cloth goods and accessories, the first wave AWA figures are pretty easy to find. The "commons" aren't super expensive either (Martel, Baron, Zbyszko, Road Warriors, Flair). Everyone who is interested in these knows about the tail end single carded Mat Mania series, so you know those are the wallet killers of the set.
There are a lot of variants in this set too, if someone is into chasing everything. Gagne Raiders with different camo patterns, Greg with alternate head, Martel with alternate head (repurposed High Flyer Brunzell head), Precious with or without "sparkles" on the arms and legs, Colon in red or orange outfit, "fat" or muscular variants (Garvin, Long Riders, Gordy), etc, etc
Mattel figures are cool, Hasbro has its fans, LJN are iconic, but Remco are really what keeps me hunting these days.
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cwf84
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Post by cwf84 on Apr 26, 2019 10:45:02 GMT -5
I can remember seeing some of them at a Woolworth's around 1990/1991. I was familiar with both Ric Flair and Larry Zbyszko, but couldn't understand why Flair would be packaged with Zbyszko instead of someone like Arn Anderson. I thought they were WCW toys. It wasn't until years later that I learned more about the series.
I posted a photo of some prototypes on here a couple of years ago. I can no longer find the photo. It originally showed up on Instagram. Precious had a different look and Paul Ellering was wearing a suit. There's also a video of the toys that was shown during a AWA show that showed a different version of Stan Hansen,
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cwf84
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Post by cwf84 on Apr 26, 2019 10:48:27 GMT -5
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FUSamBaker
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Biggest crush on Sami Zayn.
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Post by FUSamBaker on Apr 26, 2019 11:00:04 GMT -5
I’d rather have that Precious |
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jason1980s
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Post by jason1980s on Apr 26, 2019 14:06:49 GMT -5
That Paul Ellering is pretty darn cool, too.
AWAs were definitely way ahead of the time not just with the articulation but with the authentic clothing as well.
To the best of my knowledge it wouldn't be until 1993 and 1994 with a few Hasbro figures and afterwards it was quite a while until Jakks did real clothing.
The AWA ring was pretty awesome and in scale compared to the figures and looks just like a real ring. I don't think any toy company has made a ring made of real wood and especially not cloth apron.
For anyone meeting Marty Jannetty, if you are a really big fan and want to spend more time with him he would most certainly take you up on dinner (more specifically drinks) after the autograph show.
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I dont know good luck 
