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

Wrapping up our reviews for the Monday Night Wars Series 3 set today!!




Monday Night Wars Series 3
The Disciple

Coming in today following in Hogan’s Shadow is possibly the greatest BAF that mattel has ever done or will ever do-----The Disciple. There is still a part of me that does not believe that it was Brutus Beefcake under the beard but when youre nWo youre nWo for life. This figure comes to us with a brand new head sculpt; seeing the Disciple rocking some long blonde hair, a dark brown beard and a thin HOLLYWOOD headband. The figure was given some black sunglasses to wear and to be honest the figure looks great with or without them. The sculpting portrays the figure in a sort of neutral expression and it works for the character as he was just trying to look intimidating in the background anyways. This figure utilizes the lex luger BAF torso we saw in series 1 and some black fingerless gloves. I feel like this guy was given a new vest sculpt that looks and fits the figure great. It’s a black vest with golden studs on the front, fringes and laces on the sides, and a white nWo logo on the back center. Mattel went in on the detail of the crotch piece of this figure as they gave him a cool molded silver skull belt buckle and long silver chain. They sculpted the detail for both his leather belts and leather chap buckle. Mattel gave this figure the BAF slack style legs but with the magic of paint apps, the figure is wearing chaps that have some lightening bolts airbrushed on both legs, a 4 life logo on his right leg and a gnarly looking skull and scimitar design on his left leg. Finishing up this figure are some suited style shoes.
All in all as I mentioned this is the all time greatest mattel BAF of all time. Mattel put so much time and detail and purpose into this figure and im so grateful to have it in my collection. it seems like the MNW BAF products are mainly nWo but sheesh im nWo for life myself so bring them all on. The nWo was as Monday night war as it could get by definition so im personally glad mattel is paying so much attention to helping us fill out our nWo team roster.

WHO WON THIS WAR?
So, this was a sort of hard series to score but imma give this battle to WWF. Even though the new rvd figure had issues with the incorrect parts choice of the boots, it was a brand new RVD figure in a new singlet design. The Rock figure, although being a ‘re-release’ it did address and correct almost every issue the original figure had. Harlem Heat get updated truefx and articulation AND the chase treatment, but in my eyes they are just kinda repaints. Now if mattel decided to be cool and give us those singles run versions instead of tag team, that would have been a different story. I think for the purposes of this line, getting a Stevie Ray in nWo gear rather than Harlem Heat again would have been ace.

coming in today with a SUPER CENA Saturday 🦸‍♂️





Main Event 148
John Cena

Coming in today is the chase figure that everyone seemed to find hanging out on the pegs. Every local store I popped into had this one, I ordered a john from amazon and this figure showed up. I really wanted the invisible cena—it was a neat concept that I like mattel tossed out as Cena announced his retirement. Nevertheless, mattel has gotten a lot of mileage out of this look of cena as it saw multiple elite and basic figure releases in the past. With the new articulation and rebranding to main event, it seems everything is fair game for re-release as far as mattel is concerned. This john comes to us utilizing the new sculpted hat head; the hat is lime green and black with a purple and white ‘never give up’ logo front and center. Im honestly quite torn as far as the sculpted hat head is concerned; on one hand it looks great as the hat fits on the head way better and is scaled better and doesn’t look like a hard hat. On the other hand I really do enjoy the satisfaction of having a mini hat that I can take on and off the figure at leisure. It hearkens back to the early kane figures; I really liked the removable masks but they looked so bulky sitting on the figure. I know its loading the figure with accessories, but I hope each new cena, atleast ultimate, comes with a sculpted hat head and hat accessory still. The likeness to cena in the face sculpting is spot on, I can see earnest john’s likeness from every angle. Going down the figure, mattel gave john this interesting rubber shirt torso and I really kinda dig the idea and execution. For far too long we’ve been letting companies simply paint over a muscled body and call it a street gear guy but this time they sculpted the shirt over the body and its cool, I dig it. john did tend to wear his shirts…not skin tight so it comes across as accurate. the arms however simply have painted sleeves on muscles. The tshirt is lime green and features a big logo of john lifting, outlined by a large white and purple HLR / Respect backdrop. This figure was given the new sculpted wristbands; they are lime green the left has a ‘you cant stop me’ logo where the right features a ‘you cant see me’ logo. Mattel equipped john with a ‘you cant see me’ open right hand and an item holding left hand. Finishing up this figure are some dark blue jorts, sculpted black kneepads and black sneakers.
All in all I dig this john figure. The colors pop and ill be honest I grabbed a second one to equip my other John figures with the new sculpted wrist bands. Also, despite the older figures not being head swap compatible I now have a spare sculpted hat head for my elite cena to sport, too. I like the sculpted shirt concept and as ive mentioned before the basic or main event figures are perfect for street gear figures- You really don’t need a ton of poseability for street gear stuff.

happy Figure Friday y'all!

coming in with a flashback friday!!





Legends 4
George Steele

Ripping apart the turnbuckle is OL GREEN TONGUE, George THE ANIMAL Steele. My mercari guy sent me a message letting me know he was having a flash sale on a ton of his inventory. One of the figures that really caught my eye was this George Steele figure; ive never owned a George Steele figure!! This figure came to me loose but mint and im really liking it. George only has two elite figure releases and this one sees him come with a softgoods red collared black sweater and MINE. The sweater is made of quality material and it both looks and fits the figure great. The MINE accessory also looks great, all the sculpting is very detailed, and the paint apps stay true to the original doll. George comes to us with a trademark whacky Tongue out expression and the sculpting on the head and the paint apps to the face all look great on my figure; I can see George’s likeness from all angles and that green tongue stands out like a…. green tongue. George was given a thicc torso which is fitting given his natural physique. Mattel also paid attention by giving George thick patches of body hair as that was one of George’s famous characteristics. I remember jakks did a real hair version of his classic superstars figure. Going down the figure, George was given his signature black tights with red stripe going down the side and finishing up this figure are some tall red boots with white laces and soles.
All in all this is a Great George the animal figure, dare I say the definitive George the animal Steele elite figure?! I could see George being in line for an updated figure in the legends GH line someday, but Im glad we also got a Coliseum Collection figure to fill out that side of our collection.

Smackdown 25th Anniversary
John Cena

Crushing a rap in the parking lot today is the Dr of Thuganomics, John Cena. To be honest I was pretty excited for this figure-the Eddie figure is a pretty straightforward street fight figure but this John has some cool details. Mattel included two interchangeable heads for this figure; the first is an open mouthed, aggressive shouting head and the second is a subdued confident, smiling Cena sculpt. We have seen both of these headsculpts many times before and to be honest I prefer the open mouthed, shouting sculpt on this figure-It is very expressive and the likeness is still on point. Mattel included a black headband to go on this figure and it looks and fits the figure great; Its probably the same headband we saw come with the bobby Lashley figure. John came to this brawl repping our guy Chicago Bears #54 Brian Urlacher and as with most early Cena figures that came wearing sports gear, mattel had to generalize the design of the jersey to avoid getting in trouble. I just wish they had put SOME SORT of orange on the jersey to bring it a little closer to that Bears feeling, but it still gets the point across just fine. Underneath the jersey, mattel gave this john the heavyweight ripped torso which is par for the course for them; most of these early era johns get this torso and the modern ones seem to get the dedicated John Cena torso. No armbands or wristbands for this figure but as it was a street fight, john came to the fight wearing some white wristwraps and grey gloves. Finishing up this figure are some blue jeans with some dry brush detailing and some boots painted to look like Timbs.
All in all I honestly think this Cena is my favorite figure out of the pack. The screaming headsculpt looks great on this figure and makes it so much fun to pose. The headband was also a fine addition and it fits the figure perfectly. If I had any complaints, it would be that mattel flubbed and they should have given him the actual Timb boot mold they have available that was used on the Cryme Tyme figures, I have seen a few swaps to those boots and it makes the figure look 10x better. I would have also asked mattel to include a padlock chain accessory as I do believe he wore one for this match.

Wrapping up the reviews of the Smackdown 25th Anniversary 4 pack today with a TELL ME YOU DIDNT JUST SAY THAT Tuesday!!




Smackdown 25th Anniversary
Booker T

Getting dragged through the aisles of the market today is the Booker T. Poor Booker had to endure having stone cold prepare a 316 course meal on top of him as if he was a granite countertop. This Booker comes to us with a brand new headsculpt and it appears to capture Booker in a wet state(?) as it looks like his hair is flattened out and laying wet. The sculpting does look great and the likeness to Booker can be seen from all the angles—it captures booker in a sort of neutral expression. Book was doing some shopping in the store wearing a black softgoods ‘Tell me you didn’t just say that’ shirt. finishing up this figure are some black jeans and boots.
All in all this is a pretty straightforward streetgear booker t. it really doesn’t bring anything new or groundbreaking to the table. I cant say that im a huge fan of the headsculpt as I mentioned it reads to me like his hair is wet and that is a very specific look for the figure as it really cant be used for much else other than him looking like someone poured something on his head.





WAS THE 4 PACK WORTH IT?
I was able to score this pack on target.com for like $50? To be honest I personally don’t think that 4 wrestling street gear figures are worth $80 in a box set. Ill give them credit in that they all have interchangeable hands and softgoods accessories but the demand for these particular moments has got to be fairly low on the list. They could have been broken up into two separate packs with a few more accessories for each and I would have greeted that idea with better reception. All of the figures are fairly ‘mid’, IMO the Cena to me is the gem of the pack as it is so unique and far from his usual look. The eddie is cool but hindered by a strange headsculpt, the stone cold is missing details on his shirt and the booker also has a strange headsculpt to my eye. IMO, the cheaper the better for this pack as far as collectors are concerned.

Legends Greatest Hits Series 2
King Booker

ALLL HAILLLL KING BOOOKAHHHHHHHH! Gonna be honest and say that I truthfully wasn’t a huge fan of the king bookah character. It got to be a little annoying for me but it was a great way for Booker to extend the life of his career and do something a bit different for awhile. I had never owned the King Booker Figure, I had seen it on the secondary market and it was often priced a little too high for my interest level. This figure comes to us garbed out in his royal gear, this Bookah comes to the ring wearing his crown, cape and carrying a red and gold scepter. All of the accessories look great, the corwn and scepter have great sculpting detail—the cape is what it is. I absolutely hate the molded rubber crap, especially something this large but if youre displaying the figure the sculpt and paint detail look good enough. Under the gear, booker comes with a headsculpt representative of the King; he is clean shaven and has long thin dreads. The sculpt details capture his likeness great, however the dreads kinda hover in place due to them sitting up on the cape in the packaging. Also the head on my figure is very loose and I can literally pull it off the figure with little to no force at all. Going down the figure they gave booker the heavyweight ripped torso which they tend to give these era booker, I don’t REALLY agree with it, book had that body shape but not really the definition like that; remember they usually give this torso to guys like Warrior, Batista, Triple H. Book has some white hand wraps, white trunks with gold crest logon on the front and gold crown logo on the back. Finishing up this figure are some legsleeve style kneepads and some white boots with black strap closure and Booker T logo on the front.
All in all, if we’re ticking off the boxes, this figure qualifies as a great figure. The headsculpt looks good, included accessories are appropriate and aplenty, the body recipe is on point and the attire looks great. The new perks of interchangeable hands and double jointed arms are sweet bonuses that elevate this figure to a higher level. Whether you were a fan or not of King Booker, you must testify that it’s a great figure and looks great among the rest of the Ruthless Aggression era roster.

Happy figure friday yall!!




Legends Greatest Hits Series 2
TugBoat

TOOT TOOT! IN COMES THE BIG TUGGER! I think ive said this before but as WWE seem to be in the Renaissance era, Mattel is in the re-release era; everyone is fair game for an updated figure! This figure comes to us with a white little sailor cap for entrance gear, it looks and fits the figure great. Tugboat comes to us with two interchangeable headsculpts, one in the signature TOOT, whistling expression and the other is the head we saw come on the Typhoon figure for a heel Tugboat look. both headsculpts look great and hold a near photorealistic level of likeness to Tugger. Going down the figure, Tug is wearing a red and white striped nautical tank top, white pants with a red stripe on the legs and white shoes. I am kindof racking my brain at the moment but I kinda feel like all of the body sculpts on this figure are unique; I cant think of any other figure that utilizes this tank top torso or the larger suited crotch piece or legs.
All in all it was cool to see Tugboat re-released in the line with new interchangeable heads, hands and updated double jointed arms. I don’t really know that there were a ton of folks who were waiting for mattel to drop a new Tugboat figure, but for all of us who missed out on the original figure its cool to get the chance to own it with modern amenities.

Coming in today with a Shinsuke Sunday




Elite 96
King Shinsuke Nakamura

Being played in by Rick Boogs today is KING Shinsuke Nakamura! 🎸👑 I was able to score this figure MOC on ebay in a beat up box for $15 shipped which was a steal. In those scenarios I always calculate shipping to cost like $10 for an MOC figure so I practically paid $5 for this figure. STONKS. This figure comes to us portraying Shinsuke in his crisp white gear after he defeated King Corbin for the crown. That being said this King comes to the ring with his crown, the sculpt detail looks really good on the crown and it looks and fits the figure great. The head sculpt on this figure is one that we’ve seen before, it captures Shinsuke in a confident, smiling expression with his mouth guard in place and the likeness is completely on point. This King Shinsuke comes to the ring wearing a white jacket with stylized sleeves for entrance gear and it’s a really high quality material. Mattel added detailing for the gold buttons on the chest closure; the entire jacket looks and fits the figure great. Mattel gave this figure the ‘shinsuke’ torso and interchangeable hands that include his signature pose. Finishing this figure up are some baggy white pants and white kickpad shoes.
All in all I actually really like this King Shinsuke figure. The white gear is really crisp and the figure looks great with the crown on. The included interchangeable hands make this figure really fun to pose around.

continuing the reviews with a tie dye tuesday



Three Faces of Foley
Dude Love

OWWWW HAVE MERCYYY! Coming in today is the lover not the fighter, Dude Love. Gotta be honest out of all the faces of Foley, Dude Love is probably my least favorite. I was more of a Catus Jack, Brown suit mankind fan but yin needs yang I get it. This figure however is a very good upgraded release of the previous Dude figure. This figure comes to us with an updated headsculpt and some goodies for entrance gear. This Duder was given a tie dye headband and black round sunglasses for entrance gear—both look and fit the figure great. Underneath the gear we get a jolly, love spreading Mick Foley sculpt portraying him in an open mouthed, jovial, shouting, OWWWWWWW expression and the truefx paint apps bring the headsculpt to a pretty realistic interpretation. Just like cactus Jack, this Mick was given a softgoods top; this time a trademark blue tie dye dude love shirt. Body recipe is the same as the cactus figure; he seems wide enough just not thicc enough. Mattel added the ‘LOVE’ and heart paint design on his upper left arm. Finishing up this figure are dude love’s signature blue tights with red ‘Dude’ on the left leg and ‘Love’ on the right and his tall white boots. For accessories we get an interchangeable tie dye mandible claw hand
All in all this figure is definitely an improvement over the previous Dude Love figure. The truefx, double jointed arms, and interchangeable hands/heads are a massive game changer to the older figures we had in the line. Dude may be my least favorite face of foley but mattel still did a good job on this figure and he is worth having in the collection to fill out that attitude era roster!