Where do you draw the line?

He has a new headsculpt? Is it the main one with the face paint? Because the screaming one looks like the one they used on the basic Warrior with the small warrior symbols on his cheek. If they were making a new Warrior sculpt, they really should have re-done the hair to match Warrior's pre-match hair style from WM6. I also agree that if they new that Warrior was going to win the vote, or even had a chance at winning, they should have made the yellow IC title exclusive to this figure to make it special. They could have still released the RR90 Warrior in that set since you really didn't see him with that belt during the PPV. And, the added head with missing face paint and the first elite Warrior with the cowboy style boots probably would have been enough.

Hasbro has it together. Not just with their figures, but also with their distribution and availability, which is something Mattel has yet to figure out 11 years into the line.

And I just don't see Hasbro making and repeating the many egregious errors we've seen in the last 11 years... terrible opening lineups for many new series, old men heads on their younger selves (Taker and HBK), inconsistency and inaccuracy with body types and parts, inaccurate gloves and boots, constant misfires on colors, complete inability to get hair color and texture correct, multiple failures to get a proper ring and different playsets out, and the list goes on.

I love you.

I know it's probably an unpopular opinion, but I'm not sure whether the figures were better before the True FX thing... if the printing is even slightly off, it can ruin the whole look. And a lot of the time, the figures look like they're wearing eye-liner or heavy make-up (...take a look at the Survivor Series Hogan for example). Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.

www.ringsidecollectibles.com/mattel-wwe-survivor-series-hulk-hogan-mmisc-766.html

Ehhh, honestly, I'm cool with it. As someone who took a long break from collecting from 2003 until 2016, even the stuff we are getting from Mattel now is leagues better than a lot of what I remember from the 90s. I don't see a whole lot of current WWE figures that I'd be ashamed to display. I still have 90s ToyBiz figures that I only display because there is literally no other alternative to those characters outside of POP Vinyl (which I despise on principle). There's a couple figures that have been awful, that Edge/Test Wrestlemania figure is stunningly bad unless you swap the head and the Basic FFH Bray is still the only one I can look at without getting disgusted, but for the most part, very few recently released figures infuriate me.

Have there been questionable choices? Yes, of course. But it's nothing that's offputting enough to stop me from collecting them.

As somebody who started collecting Hasbro lines within the last couple of years, I'm very impressed with the products they put out.  Like you said, coordination with retail, design, paint apps, metallic paints, washes, etc.  They're setting the bar in many ways, and the constant misfires from Mattel are laughable.  How can Funko have perfectly times/coordinated pre-releases on Target's website on a regular basis, but every single time Mattel has something there's a "miscommunication."  They've done it 5-6 times within the past couple of weeks alone.  Maybe it's fair to say the problem is in fact on Mattel's end...

That said, I don't totally buy into "grass is greener on the other side" thinking.  WWE is Mattel's premier licensed property after losing DC.  If Hasbro was even interested in WWE, they'd probably be 4th or 5th on the priority list for action figures, which means they probably aren't going to get the best designers, budget, retail prominence, etc.

But it is interesting that months keep sliding by and we've heard zip about a contract extension.  Yes, Bill and Steve are still planning for 2022 and beyond, but that's what any business does until they lose a contract/bid - if you don't and you do get the contract, you're screwed.  Not saying Mattel won't get the deal - they're the most logical fit, imo.  But this is dragging on far, far longer than any other renewal I can remember.

I too think Mattel has made the best wrestling figures we’ve seen so far and I’d say the best we’ll ever see. Hasbro may not be the white knight you guys think once you see how they operate. Talk about reusing molds, they are the kings. I’m a Marvel Legends collector, if you wanna talk making excuses to collectors, with Hasbro that’s all you get or they don’t answer you at all.

You guys have a dude right here on the forum that I genuinely feel listens to what we want better than any other collectors market there is. Just think back to Jakks Pacific, we’d get a 1996 Shawn Michaels with a 2005 head-sculpt and vice versa, and anytime somebody had entrance gear they came packed with a default black vest. Diesel was the same size as Rey Mysterio, and we’d get baffling paint jobs like purple gloves Undertaker with white boots. We’ve come a long way haha

Nothing is perfect, but Mattel is light years ahead of where we’ve been and just because somebody takes over a line and might do 1 thing better, they’ll probably screw up 3 other things you took for granted that Mattel was doing correctly. (hasbro doesn’t make figures to scale, and there is a big difference between not scaling it correctly and not trying to scale it at all). And Hasbro is the company that consistently sells us Power Rangers figures that are unpainted. King Sphinx, a $30 figure had an unpainted nose. White Dino Ranger, had an unpainted helmet…these were figure ruining. You think they’ll do the fine details on wrestling attires like Mattel does? Not a chance guys, you’ll regret that change.

IMO, my best Mattel figures are leaps and bounds ahead of my best Hasbro figs. Sculpted better, painted better, better accessories, and in scale to my other figures. I’m personally happy with Mattel, sure things could be better, but switching over to Hasbro will get rid of the current problems and present us with all new ones.

There will come a day where we all wish we had Mattel back. Don’t rush it.

I agree and appreciate that you recognize the “grass is not always greener” concept. It applies to so many aspects of life (especially jobs and relationships).

In this case, it’s a fair point and you may be right. That being said, I’ve seen enough blunders in our side of the yard that I’d be willing to take my chances.

I love you.

Every toy company recycles parts, otherwise they would be raising the prices more often.

I'm just happy Mattel's WWE line actually consistently produces and has stuff in stores unlike other competitor lines, which is usually a barren waste land.

Yeah, I'm not expecting it's the kind of info Steve is going to break on Instagram.  As two major, publicly traded companies, there will likely be a press release released before the ink is dry on a contract.  I think it's a mutually beneficial relationship where I can't see either being better off separating.  But it's business and money talks.