Sandman under a deal?

Here's what we know: here are names that have been in Panini sets over the past year who have either a) had Mattel figures released/previewed, or b) have not yet had a figure.

Figure released/shown:
Terry Gordy
Teddy Long
Steiners
Bruno Sammartino
Torrie Wilson
Eric Bischoff
D'Lo Brown
Ken Shamrock
Virgil

Have cards but no figures shown recently
Afa
Sika
Tito Santana
Johnny Rodz
Al Snow
Tom Pritchard
Blue Meanie
Terri Runnels
Nasty Boys
Sandman
Stan Hansen
Stevie Richards
Haku
Juventud Guerrera
Rockin Robin
Steve Blackman
Dory Funk Jr
Spike Dudley
Lenani Kai
Nova
William Regal
Fit Finley
Tony Atlas
Ivan Putski
Eve Torres
Ivory

Have hard cards, are reported to be signed to a Legends deal:
Headbangers
Bubba Ray Dudley

I think the best way to look at this list is the names who are MOST LIKELY to appear in the Mattel line. Some could be signed only to Panini. Some could be signed to WWE and never get a figure (Normal Smiley, Johnny Rodz). But based on recent history, there's a pretty good chance we'll see a lot of these names over the next 2-3 years in figure form. Remember that the lead time on a wrestling figure is much longer than a trading card. Steve has said they already have their lineups mapped out years in advance.

Apologies in advance - this is gonna be wordy.  TLDR - Panini could have a financial incentive to do individual deals, where Mattel doesn't.

Doing direct Legends deals through WWE is beneficial to WWE and to the licensees (2k, Panini, Mattel, etc).  WWE pays a small advance paid against a % of merch revenue out of WWE's cut.  But they can offer licensees a large roster of current and nostalgia wrestlers.  For the licensee, they have a set roster and don't have to spend extra money on talent.  That means they keep more profit.  And for WWE, it's economy of scale - they ultimately end up making more, because they can offer the same slate of talent to all licenses, driving higher revenue splits.

Make no mistake about it - if Mattel executives thought they'd make more money being able to sign wrestlers directly, it would have been a point of negotiation in the last contract extension.  This model maxes profit for Mattel and WWE.  That's what they care about.  They don't care about whether we get Crush or Glacier toys.

For Panini, the calculus is a little different.  For Mattel, the cost difference to make Roman Reigns or Terry Gordy (in terms of direct cost - obviously there is deco, sculpting, etc).  Autographed cards are a big part of the card industry, and what wrestlers/athletes are paid to sign (physical cards or sticker sheets that are then affixed to the card) spans a wide range.  When I left the industry, the average autograph for a low-mid name athlete was being paid somewhere around $3/signature.  A guy like Derek Jeter or Ken Griffey Jr commanded somewhere around $150/per.  Many card products guarantee X autographs or "hit" cards per box.  So companies usually need a large roster of low cost signatures, rounded out by a handful of mid and top-top names.  Otherwise collectors opening boxes would have a higher probability of getting duplicate autographs in the same box or frequent repeats in a case.  

At least in the sports products, autograph rates are negotiated between the company and the athlete's agent.  For low end talent, that "negotiation" is basically "we'll pay you X dollars to sign Y items" and it's basically take it or leave it.  I can't say if wrestling works the same.

Wrestlers are on the road far more than most athletes, so I assume it's harder to get the same volume of current star autographs.  And many wrestlers under Legends deals are deceased.  So it would make sense that Panini would negotiate the ability to sign additional talent (or stipulate that WWE sign additional talent).  Almost all the names I listed off earlier (basically except for Blackman) were included in recent autograph sets.

Maybe Panini is doing direct deals.  But even if they are...out of the hundreds and hundreds of wrestlers (check out some of the Leaf wrestling sets) who could sign...Rockin Robin and Nova seem like some REALLY REALLY weird deep cut choices.  Yes, the company wants cheap signatures.  But you also want cheap signatures that your consumer will be satisfied with.  If the reaction is "this is worthless garbage," they're not doing to drop $100+ on another box of cards.   

Ah yes the Chella Toys ultimate Sabu that has been on the preorder line for over a year with 0 update

I hope it's for Mania itself. Have Theory or some jobber be in the ring and talk sh*t about Philly and have the OGs take turns beating him up

This is exactly what I said about this exact thing in the sdcc thread with everyone named with current deals.



see this is what I don't get what is Mattel or even bill thinking of holding off on these names for if it's true because each one has been constantly asked for multiple times and not only that can have multiple use for many different figures
And still sell great at retail if done the right way into the Legends the main elite top and ppv lines

Al snow Avatar /Shinobi chase 97/98 attire / leaf Cassidy chase 00/01 black/blue pants chase

Tom Pritchard multiple different looks

Terri Alexandria York Marlena pms raw 02 interviewer

Blue meanie ecw attitude era and bluedust

Stevie Richards ecw/wcw chase attitude era debut Rtc raw 02/03 05/06 ecw return

Stan Hansen one and done possible Legends chase

Sandman ecw raw 97 wcw hak wwe 05/06 ecw return

Juv ecw wcw unmasked wwe 05/06 ecw return

Haku islander king meng early/late wcw attitude era return

Dorry funk one and done Legends chase

Rockin robin one and done Legends chase or possible 2 pack with kai

Leilani kai one and done possible 2 pack with robin

Spike Dudley ecw wwe debut 02/03 wwe cruiserweight tite run ecw return

Nova ecw early/late chase Simon dean chase bwo return

Headbangers multiple different attires plus flying nuns beaver cleavage and chaz singles and lo down run

Tony atlas one and done Legends chase

Steve Blackman a few looks could be done

Ivan putski one and done Legends chase

Ivory wwe 99 debut Rtc late attitude era run and ruthless era

Bubba ray ecw wwe 99 debut blue camo white/grey camo red camo 02/03 raw solo run smackdown 04/05 Dudleys ecw return

Great Khali one and done 06 Legends elite

Finley early/late wcw and wwe debut

Johnny rodz one and done Legends chase

This is almost as bad as them having the rights to inoki hugh Morris public enemy and bill just straight refusing to not making them years ago

Other than that Every single name I have found multiple uses for Mattel

I believe they reported it based on personally knowing people who had signed the deals. I'm the only one here who has pointed it out, and that's based on hearing what they said, so they're certainly not repeating anything that was said here...

nobody cares about Zack “Jobber” Ryder or his cronies.

Someone find Perry Saturn he needs money last I heard.

I didn’t realize this. We need 2 versions of Corino