Official Upcoming Mattel WWE Figure & Lineups Thread

Oh did he? That’s rad.

Anyone have any actual insight into the Legends contracts that WWE has?

I would be very curious to know what (on average) is in these contracts. I would think some of these old time guys have nothing else to lose and even if it is low financially, it is still better than nothing. Maybe I am naive, but I would think even a $10,000 contract would be a little benefit to a lot of these old timers, and WWE can certainly afford it. I would think that even if they do nothing else from these contracts besides making one figure from Mattel, that figure alone would earn back the $10,000 investment. They most likely would be able to kit-bash a figure together from existing parts, and would only need a new head sculpt.

Again, maybe I am not thinking it through, but it seems like it shouldn't be too hard to get some of these Legends signed. I mean, c'mon, we had a figure of the Goon, LOL.

I really want to build the SummerSlam Mr Perfect and will be grabbing Hogan and Zeus. Absolutely zero interest in Ziggler and Uso so if anyone wants those figs and I keep the Hennig parts, hit me up and maybe we can make a deal.

A lot of contracts became public domain somewhere around 2018.  I believe it was around the time the concussion lawsuit was filed.  There were a number of contracts - I remember Adam Bomb (who ultimately didn't sign the contract) and Orndorff were two examples I read.

Every one I saw was identical, but I'd imagine terms were different for big name stars.  The contracts paid a $10,000 advance in exchange for their global licensing rights.  Talent were paid a set percentage of WWE's royalties per unit sold with various payout percentages for different types of media (figures, games, cards, etc).  That would paid against the advance - meaning the talent wouldn't see any additional money until the amount generated exceeded the initial 10k.  Contracts were 5 years with a WWE option to extend it for a 6th.  There was also a flat appearance fee for things like Axxess or other WWE-sponsored appearances.  I did some rough math and I think the cut a wrestler would get on the average Elite figure would be shockingly low.  Something like $.25 per figure, based on data available for other toy lines, if I'm remembering correctly.

It was easy to see why wrestlers who were still active on the indies and sold a lot of their own merch would not sign.  I have no clue what the language looks like today.  Obviously a lot of legends have PWT stores in addition to their Legends deals, so there have probably been some changes on exclusivity.  But yeah, the direct cost to WWE is VERY minimal.  But most wrestlers probably also aren't bringing in a ton of revenue.  It's a safe bet some of the contracts are given to help out struggling wrestlers or based on family connections (Stevie Ray, anyone related to The Rock).  It's more to say to licensing partners "we have a slate of X superstars and Y legends that you'd have access to by paying for our license."  

I'm sure it's like anything else in corporate America.  The department has a set budget for the year, a target number of wrestlers to have under contract, and probably don't deviate much from that plan.

I mean jsut because they leave doesn’t mean they can’t be made.

Never say never lol

I don’t watch wrestling anymore so idk. But I know there’s some wrestlers with aew that still are made by Mattel, so who knows how that works. I honestly don’t think anybody knows .

Over the last few weeks, WWE Shop has been putting Legends Plaques up for sale on the website. While not a complete selection, it lets you know which legends are under a deal. This one was added today. Mattel should send all the figures they made to WWE Shop and let them sell them.

i’m going to voice my opinion on twitter to wwe shop about this and get it taken down