jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by jason1980s on Jan 30, 2021 12:01:47 GMT -5
I live about 20 minutes from "Millford Mill Road" where the Wrestling Ring company used to be. As a teen I wished I could have just drove by and seen what it looked like but as an adult I have never done so but still interested in this company.
Wrestling Ring was a company that sold various 1980s wrestling merchandise but it may be best known to us for selling late 1980s LJNs. As a kid I always thought the 1988 and 89 series' were being sold exclusive by WR (I thought a division of LJN) since I never saw them anywhere-not even flea markets.
Did anyone buy from them? I guess it's your basic mail order process but any particular memories?
Also, it's obvious the images for the 1989 ad with "Haku does not come with crown as illustrated" was taken from an LJN ad at some point. Was it from a 1989 LJN catalog? Or were these images sent solely to Wrestling Ring? It seems odd since I've never seen a 1989 catalog with the LJNs. It's obvious LJN was done by that point but I would love to know the backstory as to how this company became like the sole seller of these to U.S. people.
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Deleted
Joined on: Nov 29, 2024 14:47:10 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2021 12:07:04 GMT -5
My only memory of them was getting the Survivor Series 1989 program as a kid (so like...1994-1995) and having my mom call the number to see if they still had Warrior, Warlord and Haku and I think the number was either disconnected or they answered with the name of whatever the business had become and we found out that they in fact did not have Warrior, Warlord and Haku.
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Post by Grenouille on Jan 30, 2021 12:25:05 GMT -5
Not 100%, but I’m pretty sure my Christmas 1990 receiving of Haku and Big Boss Man come because of me pestering my parents with the advertisement in the back of wrestling magazines. Little did I know how rare and sought after the black cards were. Come spring 1991 we traveled to visit family in Quebec and visited a mall with a toy store. This place was having a huge liquidation of LJN products. You name it, it was on this massive wall with blue card singles, black cards, tag teams, rings, and cage accessories. Me being 6, settled on Jake Roberts and Ted DiBiase. Me now thinks about the thousands of future dollars that were on those shelves.
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ozz
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 1, 2011 16:37:04 GMT -5
Posts: 1,397
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Post by ozz on Jan 30, 2021 13:20:13 GMT -5
I live about 20 minutes from "Millford Mill Road" where the Wrestling Ring company used to be. As a teen I wished I could have just drove by and seen what it looked like but as an adult I have never done so but still interested in this company. Wrestling Ring was a company that sold various 1980s wrestling merchandise but it may be best known to us for selling late 1980s LJNs. As a kid I always thought the 1988 and 89 series' were being sold exclusive by WR (I thought a division of LJN) since I never saw them anywhere-not even flea markets. Did anyone buy from them? I guess it's your basic mail order process but any particular memories? Also, it's obvious the images for the 1989 ad with "Haku does not come with crown as illustrated" was taken from an LJN ad at some point. Was it from a 1989 LJN catalog? Or were these images sent solely to Wrestling Ring? It seems odd since I've never seen a 1989 catalog with the LJNs. It's obvious LJN was done by that point but I would love to know the backstory as to how this company became like the sole seller of these to U.S. people. Those ads came from PWI magazines, I believe, or at least one of the comparable mags of the time. I had it way back when and read all of those. I never did order from them due to the costs, but I did have order forms filled out which I held onto forever along w/the magazine itself. I don't recall any other high-profile magazines having ads for them, so they were by default the big player. |
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michaelc
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Mar 23, 2016 1:27:41 GMT -5
Posts: 110 
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Post by michaelc on Feb 5, 2021 20:27:51 GMT -5
From Bam Bam Bigelow's profile pp.166-167 from the LJN Wrestling Superstars Book www.ljnwrestlingsuperstarsbook.com
This is Bobby Head's collector story (there's one story for each figure release). And the said photo lives in the legacy section of the book. (a lot of other Wrestling Ring info as well!!!!!)
"I was a big WWF fan as a kid and had a lot of LJNs. But by the time Series 5 came around it was not easy to find them at all. One the greatest days of my life occurred in late ‘88. I was home sick from school, and this just happened to coincide with a package arriving from the ‘Wrestling Ring’ mailaway store. I couldn’t wait to open it up to see my new Bam Bam Bigelow figure. I had ordered him for $14.99 (which was a lot of money for a kid) through the ad in a wrestling magazine!
I’ve still got a photo of me from that day, not looking particularly unwell at all, wrestling Bam Bam against Savage in the LJN ring! What times!
Bobby Head, Fort Atkinson, WI |
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drawingheat
Jobber
Joined on: May 9, 2015 19:51:15 GMT -5
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Post by drawingheat on Feb 5, 2021 21:52:36 GMT -5
I was lucky enough to visit the wrestling ring store when they had a location in Ocean City, Maryland. I was too young to remember much but before they had the actual store my dad said that the owner had set up shop in a stairwell of a boardwalk hotel and had rows of LJNs stacked on the steps. I know I got my Terry Funk from that store. The branding iron never made it home with me. I lost it at the hotel. Basically all of my LJNs from wave 4 onward came from the mail order forms.
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VinMan
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 7, 2002 20:09:36 GMT -5
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Post by VinMan on Feb 8, 2021 20:13:43 GMT -5
Towards the latter stages of the LJN figures, they were getting harder and harder to find here in L.A. A lot of new releases would not show up at Toy's R us or other stores. The Wrestling Ring ad was in a bunch of the magazines and I would fill out the order form and my dad would mail in a check and then I had to wait four to six weeks or something like that for a package to arrive. First ones I got from them were Koko B. Ware, Bret Hart, and Jim Neidhart. From then on until the last ones released that's pretty much where I obtained the figures from. It's funny because in stores the figures were around $6.99 or $7.99. Wrestling Ring wanted $16.99 for the 1989 series which seemed like highway robbery at the time. My dad was hesitant to pay that price, but ultimately I did get most of them. We would call the company sometimes too asking if they knew what figures were being made and they mentioned the Islanders, both members, but obviously only Haku ended up being released. I am still sad that the advertised figures from that series like Smash, Brother Love, Bad News, Barbarian, Bushwhackers never saw the light of day.
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by jason1980s on Feb 8, 2021 23:54:44 GMT -5
Did the company had a contract with LJN or how did they have so much stock of the 1988 and 1989 guys? If these were so hard for fans to find otherwise, how did WR become like one of the sole dealers for these.
Also, if anyone has a picture of a small drawing ad in a 1988 or 89 Apter mag with Don Muraco and John Studd and the ring drawing I would like to see a picture of it. It had a list of a few other figures available. I had the magazine but wound up selling all my magazines recently and didn't get time to find it.
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ozz
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 1, 2011 16:37:04 GMT -5
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Post by ozz on Feb 9, 2021 1:00:13 GMT -5
Did the company had a contract with LJN or how did they have so much stock of the 1988 and 1989 guys? If these were so hard for fans to find otherwise, how did WR become like one of the sole dealers for these. Also, if anyone has a picture of a small drawing ad in a 1988 or 89 Apter mag with Don Muraco and John Studd and the ring drawing I would like to see a picture of it. It had a list of a few other figures available. I had the magazine but wound up selling all my magazines recently and didn't get time to find it. *I* suspect so. Zero evidence besides some facts and likelihood though, but I also feel this way about the Winston Toys company which did the erasers/school supplies and is otherwise shrouded in mystery. With WWF HQ'd in CT, the tri-state area was ripe for merchandising collaborations to come about. With Winston, a small-scale oddball outfit. With The Wrestling Ring, it seemed they really came about during the time of the final 2-3 series when sales were down compared to the first few. Seems logical that keeping distribution funneled (or mostly so) into a single distributor would benefit WWF cost-wise. Just a hunch as I have no clue, but I can't recall seeing any ads from The Wrestling Ring prior to the famous ads which were dated late '80s. Anyone have memories of them in 85-86? Seems they were '87-onward. |
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by jason1980s on Feb 9, 2021 22:04:06 GMT -5
I always thought the 1988 and 89 series were mail away only as I only ever saw pictures of these LJNs in the WR ads. They weren't on any card backs and I never saw them anywhere like flea markets until the late 1990s. Are the WR pictures from an LJN catalog I wonder? If not, where did the images come from? The 1989 ads with Warlord and Haku (does not come with crown) etc...are obviously LJN images based on the backgrounds but I've never seen those pictures other than the WR ad. If you "ozz" do not know then I don't know anyone else who would.
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ozz
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 1, 2011 16:37:04 GMT -5
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Post by ozz on Feb 10, 2021 15:36:44 GMT -5
I always thought the 1988 and 89 series were mail away only as I only ever saw pictures of these LJNs in the WR ads. They weren't on any card backs and I never saw them anywhere like flea markets until the late 1990s. Are the WR pictures from an LJN catalog I wonder? If not, where did the images come from? The 1989 ads with Warlord and Haku (does not come with crown) etc...are obviously LJN images based on the backgrounds but I've never seen those pictures other than the WR ad. If you "ozz" do not know then I don't know anyone else who would. PWI/Pro Wresting Illustrated and possibly other magazines of the time. I had the 2 famous LJN ads in mags as a kid, but not the one that had the hand-drawn '89 series figures. Not certain where that came from but I think it was also those types of magazines. |
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GoldenHulk
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 8, 2004 8:43:19 GMT -5
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Post by GoldenHulk on Feb 12, 2021 3:16:36 GMT -5
The Wrestling Ring was definitely the sole retailer for the "black card" series figures in the United States. The ads were all in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated family of magazines (PWI, The Wrestler, Inside Wrestling, etc). I believe the hand drawn ad was at the end when they weren't paying for the back cover anymore and switched to the full page b/w inside the magazine. This was right before they got out of the wrestling merch business and became a Nintendo game seller.
Anyway, my mother ordered so many figures from them and if you think shipping has taken a long time the past 6-8 months for some of us, you should have been a little kid in 1989. You sent a check by mail, it took a month to clear the bank, then they sent the figures. The entire process was every bit of 6-8 weeks every time. IF things went smoothly. They were even taking orders for all of those cancelled figures at the end. We sent in the check for Brother Love, Bad News, and the Bushwhackers and were devastated weeks later when the check was returned with a letter stating these had been cancelled and the line was finished. And MAN, I wish someone would have kept that letter because it would be great nostalgia now. But who knew?
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michaelc
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Joined on: Mar 23, 2016 1:27:41 GMT -5
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Post by michaelc on Feb 27, 2021 21:04:03 GMT -5
Fantastic memories GoldenHulk and you are the first Ive come across that actually ordered all the 'unreleased' figures. I think I had a story from one guy who ordered the Brother Love.
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michaelc
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Joined on: Mar 23, 2016 1:27:41 GMT -5
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Post by michaelc on Feb 27, 2021 21:09:59 GMT -5
I talked about the demise of LJN (MCA Universal) in the Series 5 Lowdown section in the LJN Wrestling Superstars Book link and how their contract wasn't renewed after 4 years (2nd half of 1988) and how they cleared remaining stock at bargain prices. Grand Toys (referred to as the LJN of the North) naturally took over using their established Canadian distribution network. There are reports of a smattering of Black Cards available in the US in small retailers in the North East and border areas (presumably they had existing deals with Grand Toys). Of course the Wrestling Ring handled 99%+ of US distribution, both LJN and Grand Toys used a model whereby stock was shipped directly from China and Hong Kong to the seller without the need for maintaining wholesale distribution centre.
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michaelc
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Joined on: Mar 23, 2016 1:27:41 GMT -5
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Post by michaelc on Feb 27, 2021 21:16:17 GMT -5
Of course a large shipment of Black Cards landed in New Zealand in the final months of 1989 through the NZ distributor Funmaker. New Zealand had missed out on Series 1-4 but did start getting Series 5 and some remaining stock of Series 4 throughout later 1988 into 1989, (and again presumably) a lot of that would have come from Grand Toys clearing the stock they inherited in the buyout. US finally got their chances at hunting Black Cards at retail through the Toy Liquidators chain in 1990 and 1991, as well as through other closeout sellers. Commonly the figures were $7.99 in 1990 and then down to $3.99 in 1991, so you can see how 'cheaply' excess stock was cleared at. |
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Feb 27, 2021 21:19:21 GMT -5
The Wrestling Ring kept chugging along and even ran an ad in the WWF magazine in 1990 (inside front cover I think). But they had diversified well beyond the Wrestling Superstars figures. It was sued by the WWF (for unpaid monies) in mid 1991 and failed for bankruptcy soon after!
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