Jeremy Padawer Reveals 1/3 Employee Warrior America CS Fig!

I’ve honestly never cared for the look of RA/Classics. I wasn’t collecting when they were out, but have never liked the exaggerated bodies. While some complain that the standard Mattel crusierweight torso is too small, I prefer the all around more proportioned figures than the chunkiness of RA/DA.

Bone Crunchers and R3 were great. I know people love that classics have the same packaging and some like wrestling figures to be “larger than life” I don’t. I don’t see a way to really improve the wwe elite/ultimate or Marvel Legend type body. Even Jazwares is doing something very similar.

Nah I definitely would not have cared about boots or torsos choices. I meant more so attention to detail like accessories. For example, the first ultimo Dragon Figure not having the cape/shoulder piece bugged me a lot as a kid. And RA 2 Jamie Noble having a white vest instead of a flannel.

I still get where you’re coming from though. I remember being 7 or 8 and being content with out dated/poor condition TTL and BCA figures that my brother didn’t want. I still played with them for hours.

That scan...horrifying. The inclusion of Warrior in CS Series 1 was nothing short of a coup, but damn this scan did not age well and even back then it was hard on the eyes. Surprised Warrior approved it. And I don't recall many other scans except the mullety one. I do love Jakks's body types though. Much more "larger than life" than Mattel's anemic torsos and limbs. These guys train and eat their entire lives, only to be immortalized with twig-like proportions by Mattel. Jakks FTW on molds, sometimes scans too but not here lol

True. I would the same tbh..

RA and BCA were the best Jakks lines.

Very cool figure, always loved the classic superstars line. I can't wait to see what Jeremy has in store for the AEW line. Gonna be fun.

No definitely 2003 standards. And sometimes I feel that’s generous

Incredible, I wish I had one!!!

Three of them are, but one of them is from his 2K14 video game ad.

I think you're being too biased and nostalgic.

Yes they were decent figures.... for maybe 3 years. Their lack of adaption and evolving killed them, and they only have themselves to blame.

Look at Marvel Toys/Toybiz TNA figures. They had more articulation, unique sculpts, more detail, decent headscans and evolved past the action features to the point in 2007 they had done away with all "squeeze the legs" action features. The line was fresh, appealing and exciting. It was just a shame they couldn't sustain the sales and Marvel canned the toy making.

Jakks had chances to evolve with new unique bodies. They had a chance to make Deluxe Aggression similar to Mattel Elites, where they would be the correct scale and plenty of unique bodies. But they didn't, and shot themselves in the foot because they wanted to have a whole new line that they thought consumers would support separate from RA.

Their reluctance to adapt made these figures not as revered as they could have been. Here are some fundamental problems:

- The plastic was great, until 2008 when they became very shiny and softer
- The arms would easily become loose because of the cheap internal mechanisms
- The skimping out on details, whether because of budget or on purpose to get people to buy a more complete, accurate figure later on
- Wrong parts choices (wrong torsos, arms too large for eg Scotty 2 Hotty CS or Evan Bourne)
- Same scale for everyone not the Undertaker, Big Show or Andre. Literally Kane would be the same height as Triple H and Rey Mysterio not far behind
- Legs were too chunky, making it difficult to do powerbombs or hurricanranas. Literally could have had a gap to them like TTLs did, but for some reason nope, they made everyone have thunder thighs
- Occasional laced boots rather than kickpads

The only things they had in their favour:

- Fresh new sculpts for 2003 which were revolutionary, and again occasionally in 2006 (ripped cruiserweight, ripped super heavyweight), then the flabby Regal/Flair torso, 2008 Rey Mysterio accurate shape (but not size)
- Incredible headscans (even if too large after 2007, we could sometimes forgive for the amazing details)
- CS being a well done, well revered line even if with lots of hiccups
- More articulation than previous lines
- Great distribution across the world (because WWE was still a strong brand)
- Awesome pricepoint
- The VAST roster of different wrestlers they made. But was it any better than Mattel year-to-year?
- The fun factor in playing with them (which is the same for all wrestling figures past 1996)


But all in all, the negatives outweigh the positives. Your opinion is strongly based in nostalgia, being younger and not having any alternatives. Take that out, be objective and they became too outdated.

Mattel on the other hand may have flaws, but you cannot criticise them for lots of the same reasons. Their elite figures may have pretty much the same sculpts since 2010, but they didn't need to adapt and evolve as much. The issues Jakks had, they fixed. Their articulation is on par with Marvel Legends figures, a toyline that is well-received by collectors and exactly what the grand majority of them wanted it to be.

The Jakks release schedule as you say, and the exclusives were top notch. But they are no better than Mattel, so as a comparison it would have to come down to the parts used, and the accuracy. And Mattel prove you can have all that. Jakks had the right parts for a lot of their figures, and they chose to not do so.

Look at the Wrestlemania 17 era Undertaker and Triple H - HHH had his 2006 beard look, upside down logo and Undertaker had his 2008 black hair look.

I could find many more examples of this. So no, I'm not going to give them a pass for stuff like this, when they were blatantly lazy and cut corners.

I know us collectors are not the centre of the universe, but we are an important chunk of it, and for Jakks to omit simple things, not listen to us and constantly mess up, it does leave a bitter taste in our mouths.

Look at Mattel - they've found ways to harmoniously to a good extent cater to both the younger fans and the older collectors. Give me one good reason why Jakks couldn't do that.

I look back fondly of my memories as a kid and the joy I had finding Jakks RA in stores and playing with them. But I grew up and realised their flaws and had to be realistic with my choices and my money. There's a time and place for nostalgia, but sometimes you also have to be realistic about the past and it was not all that perfect....