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Post by Stuart? on Apr 10, 2020 5:31:19 GMT -5
The earliest I can remember looking at the forum was in 08/09 to find pictures of new Classics. I didn't sign up until 2014 with this account, though I have a feeling I may have made an earlier account which I have since deleted but I can't remember if that was here or somewhere else.
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sub.stance
Jobber
Joined on: Aug 7, 2019 6:29:27 GMT -5
Posts: 5
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Post by sub.stance on Apr 10, 2020 5:57:51 GMT -5
Oh boy, well I think it was around 2006? I was a mod for a bit and then just deleted my account shortly after as I got out of figure collecting. Made this account recently as I got back into wrestling and missed the discussion/community.
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Apr 10, 2020 11:03:27 GMT -5
15 years. Signed up in 2005. Lurked for a long time before I actually started posting though. Was garrett for a long time before changing my name to HandsomeHollywood.
I remember doing trades and deals with OP in 2008.
I found this place through another outlaw forum that I joined in 03/04.
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The Shiniest Wizard
Main Eventer
Bored at work, entertain me.
Joined on: Jan 31, 2013 12:44:25 GMT -5
Posts: 1,483
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Post by The Shiniest Wizard on Apr 11, 2020 8:14:43 GMT -5
I remember browsing the boards quite a bit with my brother in around 2005 when Series 1 of the TNA iMPACT! figures were released. I didn't really become a regular until about 2006/7 with the height of the Pic Fed days. I watched Dyamez's WFCW(which I wish I was still able to view since it was the basis for my pic fed), Ring of Poison, R.A.W Adrenaline Rush AND SO MUCH MORE! Then I would browse around sporadically until around 2013 when I finally made an account. Even then, I was just a lurker mostly posting my pic fed then signing off. I lurked some more until I vanished after 2014. 2019 is where I started talking more and being on here daily basically. Now I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this site haha.
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Post by The-Rock on Apr 11, 2020 22:40:54 GMT -5
I'm... new. Like, really really new. But now I wonder why I never found this place ages ago. Or, at least a few years ago. I might have realized in 2017 that there was a difference in scale between Classic Superstars and Mattel before I dropped $275 on loose figures. I have some weird things from that binge, including a loose 1/300 Mick Foley that's in less than mint condition. It's probably the most valuable figure I own, and it's loose and played with. Who takes a 1/300 figure out of it's package to begin with? Let alone gives it to a child??? I mean, I just bought a 1/10000 Debra figure that I intend to let breathe, but at least that's coming in a trashed box and I'm just displaying it. And 1/10000 is nothing like 1/300. Just, wow. I apologize in advance if I take this response down a path that is more on-topic with figure boards. The difference in scale/style of figures is an interesting point that I recently pondered with respect to the switch from BCA's to TTL's then to R3's to RA's to DA's to Mattel. I remember thinking when TTL's were going to tack over BCA's how they were marketed as like the last of series, and to a 9 year-old kid that made them seem rare and desirable...where as in that few month period when jakks had the license but we already knew what mattel stuff was coming...buying RA's was a waste of money and even from a trading/selling perspective everyone was trying to dump everything. Heck, even months before that buying new RA's was seemed as kind of a bad idea (I remember buying the AD 37 Orton/HHH pack which was the first Orton to have sleeves, and at the time thinking I'd be selling the figure sooner rather than later). Anyways to get back on track, this website (because of it's ability to attract people in the know and serve as a medium for information, photos, toy fair pics, etc) really changed the way I collected figures...and to a greater degree cultivated my interest in wrestling. Growing up when you went to the store, if you wanted a Steve Austin...you bought the Steve Austin they had UNLESS there was one pictured on a back of a card that seemed more desirable. However, knowing what was in the pipeline and protos and seeing MOC pics changed collecting. A perfect example of this would be how Jakks purposely waited series after series to release a proper jean-shorts cena and bald, shirtless kane. had it not been for the wonder's of this place...I probably would've ended up with like 6 cena's until that perfect RA 11 one came out or 4 kane's until RA 7 (and then later PPv 7 Bad Blood) released. To a similar point, back in the 90s and 00s it wasn't cool for a person to collect, let alone play with, action figures once they were like 10 or older. Figures were always like my deep dark secret (whereas now no one would care because they make so many lines catered to adults). Back in 2000 I probably would've stopped buying them had I not seen the Rules of The Ring and Double Slam 4 and 5 and House of Pain prototypes...continuing to buy figures seemed necessary after seeing real scan versions of ABA Taker, Dudleys, Tazz, Hardys, Jericho, The Rock, HHH, etc. That same kind of rush happened in 2001 when we saw all the guys who came out in Rulers of The Ring 3, TTL 10, and a bunch of non-wrestler figures (The McMahon 4-pack, King/JR/Hebner, etc). However, the ultimate proto/toyfair reveal had to be in 2002: For the last 9-10 months we hadn't really gotten any new figures of wrestlers besides William Regal and Justin Credible (who wasn't even WWF by the time ROTR 4 came out). On top of that, it was tough for a while because all the TTL figures were of just WWF guys...so your entire collection was pretty much just faces...except for stone cold...and if you were lucky enough to own Tazz, the dudleys, and Raven figures (all of which were very hard to come by...especially the dudleys). But then this website posted toyfair pictures of UCF 1 (Booker T, RVD, Flair, Lance Storm, Hurricane, tajiri) and all 3 nWo guys (who had literally debuted maybe 2 weeks before the pics)...and I had keep collecting. This was also unparalleled for the time because we were getting 2 series where every figure was the first Jakks release of the wrestler...which had never been done since the first BCA series [At least for TTL's - ROTR 1 had Edge who was a repaint with a real scan head, ROTR 2 had a repaint big bossman with a real scan head...and Too Cool had been in a TRU boxed set, ROTR 3 had a repaint Stephanie and Eddie Guerrero had been in a finishing moves set]...not to mention Chris Benoit, Rikishi, APA, Steve Blackman (who I think was already out of WWF when he came out), and Stephanie McMahon were the only non-repaint wrestlers we got from Summer 2000 until Summer 2001.
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Post by ~ Cymru ~ on Apr 11, 2020 22:43:44 GMT -5
11 years I've been here. I had another account that I forgot the login details for when I got a new computer or laptop many years ago. I would say I've been around for about 14 years in total, I found the place while looking for custom figures as I was just starting out myself, it's very sad to see the state of the customs board compared to back then.
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Post by The-Rock on Apr 11, 2020 23:04:06 GMT -5
since 2002. I was 12. 29 now. seeing the forums throughout the times was fun. monthly mods, multi page huge fights, the Canada board being very busy with a strong community. when I was younger on this forum I met a few people from it in real life and went to wrestling shows and music concerts with them. those were really fun times. those guys are all long gone now. probably the coolest thing about the site is the ability to realize how much you’ve changed in time. going back years and seeing posts can make you really remember your old headspace and how you perceived things. it’s been a fun ride. I only ever met up with one guy to do some trades in person. In hindsight it was a terrible idea for a 16-year old kid to meet a dude in his 20's in at toys-r-us parking lot...but we had corresponded online for probably a year or 2 at that point. I also had a failed attempt (IE other guy didn't have the money) to sell a PPV chair to a friend of that big fat guy from here who was borderline stalking Edge and was universally disliked on here. I'm sure those guys are still here. Other than that, back in the AOL/AIM days I definitely talked to my WF friends just as much as my real life friends. I was big time into the Classifieds (I was the Mod at one point and an elite trader), and I can only imagine how much that has changed now that e-commerce is much more advanced because you can text/send videos/take pictures of stuff instantly, verify sellers/buyers, etc.. I remember not even having PayPal until 2007...and how you used to have to send checks/money orders to people...and sometimes it would get lost. Also, it wasn't common place until like 2008 or so for people to actually take pictures of what they were selling. That's crazy to me to think now that you had to take someone's word that they actually owned the figure and it was in good shape. I remember when I was mod how we had an issue with a guy who I think worked for RSC or something and was selling stuff he had access to but didn't actually possess...and he got way in over his head and wasn't able to fulfill orders then turned to the dark side and became the dreaded "bad trader" (I remember we implemented that tag of doom on people's profiles). I haven't looked at any of my older posts, but when I think about wrestling and figures I kind of can't logically wrap my head around it...like I knew it was fake but I still liked it and took it seriously...and took the action figures like wayyyy too seriously.. it wasn't enough to just have Edge...I'd need to get an edge that was nearly identical to the one I already owned BUT he had a slightly more accurate sized torso? Or like I needed this jericho because his headscan seemed to capture his likeness just a little bit more?
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Post by The-Rock on Apr 11, 2020 23:23:25 GMT -5
11 years I've been here. I had another account that I forgot the login details for when I got a new computer or laptop many years ago. I would say I've been around for about 14 years in total, I found the place while looking for custom figures as I was just starting out myself, it's very sad to see the state of the customs board compared to back then. I used to be mesmerized by the guys who could make really good customs back in 2000-2002. If my memory serves me correctly there was a guy named like HX2BK or something like that (he was on AFR...and here eventually) who had these absolutely incredible RVD, Angle, HBK, etc customs...and printouts for t shirts/stage stuff, etc. In the early goings I'd try to make my own customs using just 1 figure I had duplicates of/didn't want, and it never turned out even remotely well. In hindsight it mostly had to do with the fact I was like 11...and I was just totally using the wrong parts. I got pretty good at customizing by the time I was 16 and figured out how to change parts and what materials to use. I see that the newer mattel figures come with different hands and heads and what not and that blows my mind because it's like Mattel is breaking the 4th wall.I also think it's nuts how mattel makes pretty much everyone on the roster, I can't imagine in 2002 having the opportunity to buy Lesnar, Cena, Orton, WGTT, Batista, etc...all before they even debuted on the main roster...
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Post by shanieomaniac on Apr 12, 2020 3:22:29 GMT -5
I'm... new. Like, really really new. But now I wonder why I never found this place ages ago. Or, at least a few years ago. I might have realized in 2017 that there was a difference in scale between Classic Superstars and Mattel before I dropped $275 on loose figures. I have some weird things from that binge, including a loose 1/300 Mick Foley that's in less than mint condition. It's probably the most valuable figure I own, and it's loose and played with. Who takes a 1/300 figure out of it's package to begin with? Let alone gives it to a child??? I mean, I just bought a 1/10000 Debra figure that I intend to let breathe, but at least that's coming in a trashed box and I'm just displaying it. And 1/10000 is nothing like 1/300. Just, wow. I apologize in advance if I take this response down a path that is more on-topic with figure boards. The difference in scale/style of figures is an interesting point that I recently pondered with respect to the switch from BCA's to TTL's then to R3's to RA's to DA's to Mattel. I remember thinking when TTL's were going to tack over BCA's how they were marketed as like the last of series, and to a 9 year-old kid that made them seem rare and desirable...where as in that few month period when jakks had the license but we already knew what mattel stuff was coming...buying RA's was a waste of money and even from a trading/selling perspective everyone was trying to dump everything. Heck, even months before that buying new RA's was seemed as kind of a bad idea (I remember buying the AD 37 Orton/HHH pack which was the first Orton to have sleeves, and at the time thinking I'd be selling the figure sooner rather than later). Anyways to get back on track, this website (because of it's ability to attract people in the know and serve as a medium for information, photos, toy fair pics, etc) really changed the way I collected figures...and to a greater degree cultivated my interest in wrestling. Growing up when you went to the store, if you wanted a Steve Austin...you bought the Steve Austin they had UNLESS there was one pictured on a back of a card that seemed more desirable. However, knowing what was in the pipeline and protos and seeing MOC pics changed collecting. A perfect example of this would be how Jakks purposely waited series after series to release a proper jean-shorts cena and bald, shirtless kane. had it not been for the wonder's of this place...I probably would've ended up with like 6 cena's until that perfect RA 11 one came out or 4 kane's until RA 7 (and then later PPv 7 Bad Blood) released. To a similar point, back in the 90s and 00s it wasn't cool for a person to collect, let alone play with, action figures once they were like 10 or older. Figures were always like my deep dark secret (whereas now no one would care because they make so many lines catered to adults). Back in 2000 I probably would've stopped buying them had I not seen the Rules of The Ring and Double Slam 4 and 5 and House of Pain prototypes...continuing to buy figures seemed necessary after seeing real scan versions of ABA Taker, Dudleys, Tazz, Hardys, Jericho, The Rock, HHH, etc. That same kind of rush happened in 2001 when we saw all the guys who came out in Rulers of The Ring 3, TTL 10, and a bunch of non-wrestler figures (The McMahon 4-pack, King/JR/Hebner, etc). However, the ultimate proto/toyfair reveal had to be in 2002: For the last 9-10 months we hadn't really gotten any new figures of wrestlers besides William Regal and Justin Credible (who wasn't even WWF by the time ROTR 4 came out). On top of that, it was tough for a while because all the TTL figures were of just WWF guys...so your entire collection was pretty much just faces...except for stone cold...and if you were lucky enough to own Tazz, the dudleys, and Raven figures (all of which were very hard to come by...especially the dudleys). But then this website posted toyfair pictures of UCF 1 (Booker T, RVD, Flair, Lance Storm, Hurricane, tajiri) and all 3 nWo guys (who had literally debuted maybe 2 weeks before the pics)...and I had keep collecting. This was also unparalleled for the time because we were getting 2 series where every figure was the first Jakks release of the wrestler...which had never been done since the first BCA series [At least for TTL's - ROTR 1 had Edge who was a repaint with a real scan head, ROTR 2 had a repaint big bossman with a real scan head...and Too Cool had been in a TRU boxed set, ROTR 3 had a repaint Stephanie and Eddie Guerrero had been in a finishing moves set]...not to mention Chris Benoit, Rikishi, APA, Steve Blackman (who I think was already out of WWF when he came out), and Stephanie McMahon were the only non-repaint wrestlers we got from Summer 2000 until Summer 2001. Wow! Talk about an info dump! Great read. I will say this much. I have no problems with Jakks figures, as long as they have a good headsculpt. The BCA's were fine, the cartoony nature of them made them bearable. But those early TTL figures? There were some horror shows in there. Once they switched over to scanning technology it got better, to some extent. Quality varied from figure to figure, of course. But yeah, there are several characters from that time period of 1996-2000 that only had either BCAs or early TTLs that I dream of getting Mattels of. Jacqueline and Terri are two of them. I'd also gladly take a Debra, despite being reasonably happy with the Toyfare one I just got. I really wish I had found this place sooner though. When was this board founded? I wonder if it was before or after I quit watching...
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Post by rKoNomad316 on Apr 12, 2020 10:17:03 GMT -5
I think I discovered this forum in 2014 or 2015, but didn’t sign up unit 2017.
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Deleted
Joined on: May 14, 2024 22:05:42 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2020 11:47:10 GMT -5
I was very active on the original boards with my Jakks. Stopped collecting 07-08. Berzerker and Adam Bomb were my last Classics. Got a new job and disappeared for years. I didn't even walk down figure isles or turn on a Raw during that period. Target had a huge HOF elite sale in '16 so I bought a few for display, then a few more. Then went back and bought all the ones I missed. I've checked out the forums at least once a day since '16. Boards would be better if certain people didn't treat each post like they were cutting a promo looking for heat. Or the mods didn't partake in police state tactics.
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Post by CM Poor on Apr 12, 2020 16:50:08 GMT -5
18 years. I've been here longer than I'd been alive when I first registered an account. I also hope Jack Specific makes good on his promise to tell the long form story of the AFR to WF move, because I recently found Matt Pearson and his epilogue is (at least to me, personally) hilarious.
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Post by Jack Specific on Apr 12, 2020 17:34:33 GMT -5
18 years. I've been here longer than I'd been alive when I first registered an account. I also hope Jack Specific makes good on his promise to tell the long form story of the AFR to WF move, because I recently found Matt Pearson and his epilogue is (at least to me, personally) hilarious. I will one of these days but just a short version. Just been super busy lately.
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Post by Grumpyoldman on Apr 12, 2020 18:57:17 GMT -5
15 years this May. My first post was asking if anyone knew the story behind the 123 Kid not having eyebrows on his Hasbro card. Except I kept putting it in the wrong forum.
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Post by fattic on Apr 13, 2020 14:29:36 GMT -5
August will be 17 years, good lord that's scary.
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acura143
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 29, 2007 13:25:43 GMT -5
Posts: 3,373
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Post by acura143 on Apr 14, 2020 11:04:15 GMT -5
Technically 13 years now but probably longer since i was just lurking but finally decided to create an account and been off and on ever since. I haven't posted in a while and probably been 3 years since i've been on this board. Now with what is going on, i have much more free time to browse since i've been working from home most of the days.
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Post by Tim of thee on Apr 14, 2020 23:40:09 GMT -5
Since day 1
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Post by TurboEddie on Apr 15, 2020 1:01:15 GMT -5
15 years. I’m 31, so that’s nearly half my life.
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Post by The-Rock on Apr 15, 2020 18:32:18 GMT -5
18 years. I've been here longer than I'd been alive when I first registered an account. I also hope Jack Specific makes good on his promise to tell the long form story of the AFR to WF move, because I recently found Matt Pearson and his epilogue is (at least to me, personally) hilarious. Gosh, there's a name that's a blast from the past. I think it was him, if not it was another admin at AFR who wrote this absurdly detailed story about finding Rulers of The Ring 3 back in 2001...only for it ultimately to have been authored for the sole person to tell members that "no pics, no proof" applied to finding new figures and not to believe everything you read on the forum. As I alluded to in one of my posts from above, it's crazy how technology evolved (even from 2001 to 2004 or so as it pertains to taking pictures) and affected figure collecting. While I was never still collecting by the time stores (target, walmart, etc) started to have searchable local inventory online (or where you could buy it and then just pick it up)...I remember having to call up stores to see if they had something, and of course you were always skeptical that it actually was the figure you were looking for...which really sucked if you convinced your parents to take you to the store and it wasn't what you thought. This was especially a problem in 2001 when the same guys were in multiple series together (e.g. Austin, Undertaker, The Rock, HHH, X-pac, Jericho, Angle...then eventually Rikishi, Benoit, Hardys). I got duped by so many store employees in 2001 as to whether they had TTL 10, ROTR 3, and Rebellion 3 in stores because of the Sunday Night Heat packaging. This also reminded me of how awful it was when KB Toys was the first or only store to get a figure...it was $7.99 or 8.99 for a TTL...which were $4.99 at target and $5.99 at TRU. I remember how deflating it was to have to pick which three guys from ROTR 3 I wanted and needed the most because the $25-27 (which got my like the entire series except for stephanie) anywhere else.
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Post by The-Rock on Apr 15, 2020 19:05:13 GMT -5
I apologize in advance if I take this response down a path that is more on-topic with figure boards. The difference in scale/style of figures is an interesting point that I recently pondered with respect to the switch from BCA's to TTL's then to R3's to RA's to DA's to Mattel. I remember thinking when TTL's were going to tack over BCA's how they were marketed as like the last of series, and to a 9 year-old kid that made them seem rare and desirable...where as in that few month period when jakks had the license but we already knew what mattel stuff was coming...buying RA's was a waste of money and even from a trading/selling perspective everyone was trying to dump everything. Heck, even months before that buying new RA's was seemed as kind of a bad idea (I remember buying the AD 37 Orton/HHH pack which was the first Orton to have sleeves, and at the time thinking I'd be selling the figure sooner rather than later). Anyways to get back on track, this website (because of it's ability to attract people in the know and serve as a medium for information, photos, toy fair pics, etc) really changed the way I collected figures...and to a greater degree cultivated my interest in wrestling. Growing up when you went to the store, if you wanted a Steve Austin...you bought the Steve Austin they had UNLESS there was one pictured on a back of a card that seemed more desirable. However, knowing what was in the pipeline and protos and seeing MOC pics changed collecting. A perfect example of this would be how Jakks purposely waited series after series to release a proper jean-shorts cena and bald, shirtless kane. had it not been for the wonder's of this place...I probably would've ended up with like 6 cena's until that perfect RA 11 one came out or 4 kane's until RA 7 (and then later PPv 7 Bad Blood) released. To a similar point, back in the 90s and 00s it wasn't cool for a person to collect, let alone play with, action figures once they were like 10 or older. Figures were always like my deep dark secret (whereas now no one would care because they make so many lines catered to adults). Back in 2000 I probably would've stopped buying them had I not seen the Rules of The Ring and Double Slam 4 and 5 and House of Pain prototypes...continuing to buy figures seemed necessary after seeing real scan versions of ABA Taker, Dudleys, Tazz, Hardys, Jericho, The Rock, HHH, etc. That same kind of rush happened in 2001 when we saw all the guys who came out in Rulers of The Ring 3, TTL 10, and a bunch of non-wrestler figures (The McMahon 4-pack, King/JR/Hebner, etc). However, the ultimate proto/toyfair reveal had to be in 2002: For the last 9-10 months we hadn't really gotten any new figures of wrestlers besides William Regal and Justin Credible (who wasn't even WWF by the time ROTR 4 came out). On top of that, it was tough for a while because all the TTL figures were of just WWF guys...so your entire collection was pretty much just faces...except for stone cold...and if you were lucky enough to own Tazz, the dudleys, and Raven figures (all of which were very hard to come by...especially the dudleys). But then this website posted toyfair pictures of UCF 1 (Booker T, RVD, Flair, Lance Storm, Hurricane, tajiri) and all 3 nWo guys (who had literally debuted maybe 2 weeks before the pics)...and I had keep collecting. This was also unparalleled for the time because we were getting 2 series where every figure was the first Jakks release of the wrestler...which had never been done since the first BCA series [At least for TTL's - ROTR 1 had Edge who was a repaint with a real scan head, ROTR 2 had a repaint big bossman with a real scan head...and Too Cool had been in a TRU boxed set, ROTR 3 had a repaint Stephanie and Eddie Guerrero had been in a finishing moves set]...not to mention Chris Benoit, Rikishi, APA, Steve Blackman (who I think was already out of WWF when he came out), and Stephanie McMahon were the only non-repaint wrestlers we got from Summer 2000 until Summer 2001. Wow! Talk about an info dump! Great read. I will say this much. I have no problems with Jakks figures, as long as they have a good headsculpt. The BCA's were fine, the cartoony nature of them made them bearable. But those early TTL figures? There were some horror shows in there. Once they switched over to scanning technology it got better, to some extent. Quality varied from figure to figure, of course. But yeah, there are several characters from that time period of 1996-2000 that only had either BCAs or early TTLs that I dream of getting Mattels of. Jacqueline and Terri are two of them. I'd also gladly take a Debra, despite being reasonably happy with the Toyfare one I just got. I really wish I had found this place sooner though. When was this board founded? I wonder if it was before or after I quit watching... It was founded in late 2001. But ya even at the time, the early TTL's were just awful..lot of attires and t shirts were like made up. To the same point, back then (and before then) wrestling figures were just kind of produced so they could have toys of the wrestlers...it wasn't what ear what it has been since Mattel took over (where WWE consciously became a PG product and makes decisions with their show that are focused on selling toys). Similarly, by 2005 or so we were getting at least a new RA, AD, and Classic series once month...whereas in 99 and 00 stuff was released essentially quarterly to coincide with the big PPVs or the holidays. I'd say WrestleMania XV was probably Jakks biggest production at the time, then Summerslam 99. In 2000 and 2001 the main productions were for the holidays and WrestleMania, 2002 summer and the holidays, and 2003 was kind of sporadic. To keep it on topic, the existence of WF kind of kept the sanity around collecting...provided a place to do trades for figures you missed out on and had no chance of getting in stores, gave you an idea of when to expect things in stores and which stores to check, etc. Excluding the obvious absurd series like maximum sweat and things of that nature, Jakks did pretty well as a whole. The only real "misstep" was retiring TTL's in favor of R3's, and then ultimately switching gears less than a year later to RA's. R3's were a little a head of their time and somewhat similar to mattel...but ultimately floundered because they were too thin and they made specialized parts that weren't really reusable...and just kept making the same 10-12 wrestlers. In hindsight it's pretty clear that Jakks thought their best way to increase sales was to follow what had been done with BCA's and TTL's, by forcing consumers to rebuy all the core wrestlers everyone already had 2-3 of in TTL form.
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