Rebuilding my collection again....for the Third time

E95 John Cena

finishing up the reviews for my pickups from E95 is the man who has seen 20 years in the business so far, John Cena! this figure is based on John Cena's return to wwe at money in the bank 2021! this cena figure comes to us decked out in the classic john deere green and yellow colorscheme with the motto : "Respect. Earn it. Never Give Up." the headsculpt on this figure portrays john with a slightly longer, more stylish slicked back haircut. its a really jarring look, but knowing John has been existing outside of the wrestling world for a bit now its something we gotta get used to. the sculpt on the face looks great, it captures john with a soft half smile on his face. my figure has a slight botch to the truefx paint apps, his right eye has a paint line coming down from the eye. the rest of this john figure is the somewhat classic, but much improved John Cena Elite formula- john cena torso, double jointed defined arms and the jorts mold that comes to the upper knee. his wrist bands are the classic "u cant c me" in green on his right arm and "hustle loyalty respect" on the yellow bands on his left arm, "never give up" in the john deere color scheme on the band posted on his left bicep.
i compared this figure to my other most recent john cena figure which was the top picks figure. i think this is a great contrast not only in showing the evolution of the john cena character, but the body recipe that can be used to portray him throughout the years. there were times during his thuganomics or super cena run where he really bulked up and got big, but now he has certainly trimmed up a bunch. also the jean shorts and shoes mold. we ALL hate that below the knee and sneaker mold combination, the newer one atleast keeps the figures from falling over involuntarily.
all in all id say this is a cool figure to have in the collection to further the time line of johns character. it kinda sucks that he has become a novelty act in recent years, not really popping up to give us a taste of Big Match John anymore, but it will give us a much bigger appreciation for the contributions we were able to get from him when we could in the years to come.

Coming in today with a WHAT YOU GONNA DO?! WeDNeSdAY, BROTHERS!!!




Defining Moments Hulk Hogan


So, this was the start of Hulkamania running wild on the mattel line! This Hulk Hogan appears to be from the infamous wrestlemania 3 match against Andre the giant based on the information on the back of the box. this Hulkster comes to us draped in the iconic red and yellow hulkamania scheme starting with a yellow branded headband. the headband tucks into the sides of his hair, it fits on snugly on his head and the indents in the hair arent hugely noticeable when the bandana is out. the headsculpt on this figure is OKAY. this is all pre-truefx so they were working from reference photos or hand sculpts to get the likeness dialed up. hulk definitely looked a bit different in the face in his early years of working, so i can get where they were coming from with this sculpt, but it does miss the mark as far as really looking like hulk hogan. i kinda feel like the proportions all around are too small; his eyes are a little too close together, nose and moustache seem a bit too small. ive compared this figure to my most recent hulk hogan figure (E96), but i think comparing it to the ultimate edition hulk would provide a much better comparison as far as timeline. continuing down the figure, this hulkster was given a rubber rippable shirt and the actual hulk hogan torso! why do we keep getting the Sheamus torso then??! then this hulk sees the classic yellow trunks and boots with the red kneepads. for accessories this hulk was given a golden cross.
all in all this was actually a pretty great offering for the first ever hulk hogan elite figure in the line. as i understand this was the debut of this particular torso and they correctly used the brock sized arms on this figure to commemorate the 24" pythons. as we can see while comparing this figure against the newest hulk, the skintone is the normal peach color, and i think thats fine because i dont think that the headsculpt would look half as good if it was the classic hogan hotdog tan color. im glad that we've seen so many Hulksters in the line lately, people want to try and deny it or joke about it, but the hulkster will be moving merch into infinity, brother!

my city is hosting ice and snow sculpture competitions so my best friend and i went out to go check them out last night, the work was amazing! the dedication those artists have to their craft is so inspiring! it was 3° outside all night and they were out carving away masterpieces!




E23 Undertaker

coming in today with a figure that i was somehow able to score on ebay for $10 +shipping. i remember owning this figure back in the day in my old collection and it still holds up as a great figure today. the purple gloved undertaker has to be one of my favorite looks for the deadman. i have to subtract points right away for the massive, stupid molded rubber jacket that came with this figure. this undertaker also comes with a classic brimmed hat AND the infamous 'phantom' mask that taker was forced to wear after suffering an orbital injury to his eye. it is molded in a kindof putty grey color which is accurate, but the real mask also had some finer details like cracks or vein designs highlighted- they are molded into this mask just not painted. the headsculpt on this taker figure is GOOD. the headsculpt isnt truefx by any means but the likeness is there and they gave this undertaker some dark shading underneath his eyes which looks really cool. during this era taker was wearing a bunch of light makeup and dying his hair darker to contribute the appearance of the deadman, this figure seems to capture that quite well. im not entirely sure how accurate the tattoos on this figure are..i think during the early years of the purple gloves he wasnt quite all the way sleeved out but near the end of the purple glove era his arms were quite tatted up. this undertaker figure utilizes the early version of this era taker torso where the ripped sleeves werent molded on. i like the fact that they use cloth ties for all these era undertakers.
all in all this was an awesome addition to the undertaker timeline when it was first released. the legends 9 undertaker figure kinda blows this version out of the water with an upgraded headsculpt and interchangeable hands

AJ Styles

Today we're gonna be reviewing the PHENOMENAL one as he comes to us geared out in his attire from Survivor Series 2020 where he led the RAW team to a complete victory during the event. it was cool getting an AJ Styles decked out in all red and black, i was looking at his past elite figure releases and there are a ton of Blue AJ figures out there already. this AJ comes with a red rubber RAW tshirt for entrance gear. the headsculpt on the AJ is Great! the likeness is uncanny, i cant quite remember but i think this is the same headsculpt that we saw on his WM38 vince BAF figure. this AJ comes with interchangeable red gloved hands in the iconic P1 hand pose, a red P1 armband on his left arm and a black elbow pad with a red RAW logo in his right arm. going down the figure, this AJ is wearing black tights with the red P1 logo proudly displayed on his right leg and the RAW team logo on his left leg. finishing out this figure are black and red kickpads displaying 'Phenomenal' on the right foot and '1' on his left.
all in all this is a pretty straightforward AJ figure 🤷🏻‍♂️ the headsculpt looks great, its cool to see a black and red gear AJ, however i feel like him being decked out in RAW branding would limit fantasy booking opportunities as it ties him to this kindof event specifically lmao. i guess my only other possible complaint is that i do feel like the black and red attire doesnt feel special or really pop among the rest of the figures in the line, but given the fact that most AJ figures have come out in blue hues this does feel unique enough among AJ figures specifically.

its been awhile 😅 ive made a bunch of really big, really great life changes lately and things are going great!!!

coming in today with the final installment of the Rick Rude Survivor Series wave



Ultimate Warrior

the final figure of the wave comes sprinting to the ring all the way from Survivor Series 1990; its the Ultimate Warrior!! i think that this Warrior figure has become my new #1 favorite Warrior figure in my collection at the moment. the headsculpt is the old Hall of Champions sculpt that sees his hair slicked back and a yelling, shouting expression. i really like this headsculpt, it captures that high energy that the Warrior was constantly radiating. as noted, this figure is from Survivor Series 1990 where he assembled a team known as THE WARRIORS - recruiting the Road Warriors and Texas Tornado in an absolute powerhouse move. that being said this figure is accurate to his attire worn during the event, he is seen wearing some silver and black facepaint with a light layer of metallic gold on top. moving down the figure, this warrior has black, white and red articulated arm tassels and white and purple wristbands featuring little orange warrior logos. this warrior is sporting white trunks with multicolored warrior logos sprinkled throughout and "The Only Survivor" in black cursive script on the back. warrior's kneepads match his trunks and he has florescent yellow, green and orange articulated tassels hanging off. finishing up this Survivor series Warrior figure are some clean looking silver boots and boot tassels.
All in all as i mentioned this is now probably my favorite warrior figure that i own. i really like the color presented in his attire and the headsculpt is exuding so much energy this figure is so much fun to pose around. although this was in a BAF wave, i wouldve really liked to see a white strap winged eagle championship to go along with this warrior.


BAF RANKING

so, i honestly felt like this BAF wave was really weak. the drew figure was a re-release with softgoods but wrong attire color, the AJ figure was not so exciting as he is just wearing Team Raw gear, the becky figure- to me - was so freaking bland, and the ultimate warrior was the only gem of the set. i honestly rank this wave 1/4 on desirability.

4. Becky Lynch - i rank this figure last because it was a re-used headsculpt, the upper torso was just all red and the only unique thing about the figure was the new kneepads.

3. Drew Mcintyre - this figure is a straight re-release of the old elite drew with double jointed arms and a softgoods jacket. although the softgoods jacket is high quality, drew wore black trunks during the Survivor series event, not white.

2. AJ Styles - although im not too thrilled about the team RAW gear, this is a pretty standard AJ figure in ring gear and i guess i dont have any further complaints about the figure.

1. Ultimate Warrior - Warrior was easily the best figure in the wave. the headsculpt comes from a rare figure, the attire looks amazing and the figure is super fun to pose around.




Rick Rude

it was really cool to finally get a suited Rick Rude figure. the release of this figure allows us to pose Rick with both our DX Army figures and nWo figures as he was the only man to ever appear on RAW and Nitro on the same night.

E25 Seth Rollins

the Architect of the Shield, Seth Rollins comes to us with an angry, scowling headsculpt and his signature black and blonde hair tied into a tactical bun. the head doesnt really portray rollins that well, IMO, i think it might just be the factory paint job on it. Seth wore a unique styled vest compared to Roman and Dean; his vest really only covered his chest and a little of his torso, unfortunately on this elite mattel molded his shirt along with the gear, so the articulation also suffers and it makes the figure look a little bulky. beyond that, seth is wearing his signature black gloves and the same black tactical pants like his shield brothers.

all in all these early elite shield members are still cool figures and they captured the members pretty well. i do remember having these figures back in the day and i head swapped them with some basic figures that came out later and they looked way better.

Kurt Angle Shield RSE

continuing into shield sunday we have the honorary Shield member, Kurt Angle! from what im gathering from multiple sources, this was both a figure and a storyline that no one wanted to happen 🤣 this Kurt Angle comes to us with his classic elite headsculpt; it looks great but in a way ruins the figure. the headsculpt captures Kurt's likeness but the smiling, "happy to be here" expression doesnt really fit the vibe of the shield. this Kurt figure is essentially the exact same formula as the E26 Roman figure; the vest is the same and the body formula appears to also be the same. looking at pictures of Kurt in the Shield Gear, the vest mold mattel used does look correct; the pockets seems to be similar enough. Kurt was wearing black hand wraps for this match and mattel was able to capture the detail on them as he had a layer of grey showing beneath the black. the rest of this Kurt figure is completely generic shield figure as he has the same black tactical pants and boots the rest of the members are wearing.
all in all this Kurt figure could definitely be PASSED on. i bought this figure for a base for a custom character, but as far as uniqueness and importance in history, not sure many people will label this one as a hidden gem or must have.

E31 Vader

ITS TIME! ITS TIME! FOR A VADER REVIEW!!

Coming in today is the baby bull himself, BIG VAN VADER. this was Vader's second elite figure release following his legends figure with the white cape. this figure is essentially just a re-paint of that figure depicting Vader this time in his wwf era Vader Time gear. the headsculpt on this figure is good, it definitely provides a likeness to Big Van Vader. i do like the removable mask; back in the day mattel was doing alot with removable headgear, however seeing the newest Vader figure wearing a sculpted mask i think swappable heads would have made this figure much more appealing. the head and mask are the same as the original legends figure. this figure features a unique torso just for Vader, it works great for him-once again its the same torso and hand choices as his og legends figure. included for accessories this time was his iconic 'Mastadon' entrance mask. i remember back in the day i did own the original vader figure and the jakks mastadon head actually fit pretty good. i do like mattel's offering much more though. it is molded in glossy black plastic and it fits the figure great! i can align Vader's eyes in the openings without struggling too much.
all in all this is still a great figure for the collection. it was Vader's first appearance in the main elite line and it was a great attire and brought the entrance gear to the line as well. i will say though, that the newest royal rumble Vader figure improves on this character and attire greatly. this figure did not yet have the Vader Time hands, Truefx, and swappable head technology but for the time of its release it still holds up as a great figure.

Happy Superstar Saturday!!

today we're continuing the reviews of the figures i bought from E96...



E96 Ilja Dragonuv

Coming in today is the man who defeated Walter for the nXt UK championship, Ilja Dragonuv! this is Ilja's first elite figure and to be honest, its a really good figure. the headsculpt presents Ilja giving a wide-eyed smiling headsculpt. it does look a little weird proportionally, but looking at reference pictures of Ilja he does have a large forehead and the slicked back hairstyle accentuates that look. this figure also shows Ilja wearing his contact lenses; the eyes and facial expression really make him look like an insomniac--this figure looks like he has been awake for a month straight but for the most part the likeness to Ilja is there. the body recipe of this figure is great, he was given the shredded torso and 'shooter' look with the red trunks and short boots. the back of his tights have his "UN-BE-SEIG-BARI" logo. for accessories, he was given a softgoods entrance robe, which looks and fits the figure great, the nXt UK championship and a few interchangeable hands.
all in all, this is a great figure- the headsculpt isnt perfect but Ilja has a unique look that i could see being hard to capture in figure form. the body recipe is on point and the included accessories are all accurate. i dont see this figure being a must have for the collection, but it is a great figure nonetheless.