[RETRO] Grapplers & Gimmicks by Hasttel Toy

My Bulldogs are due to arrive today. That's pretty impressive considering I only ordered them a day or so ago. Good job, Rock and Roll Collectables.

My 1992 Bulldog and wife are set to arrive today, and considering I only ordered them 8 months ago... Still quicker than a ZST order.

I’m definitely interested in the image rights debate and would love to know the ins and outs but it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever know the full detail, also don’t know how others like Zombie and Kenick would have that information.

It is however very odd that people get so up in their feelings about it - I’m sure Mitch and whoever else have covered themselves appropriately, if not then that’s on them. Anything that gets more collector items into hands of people that want them and prevents the monopoly of Mattel who can’t produce some of the names we all want is only a good thing, so we should want them to succeed.

Zombie and Kanik are in the same business, producing the same type of product and working with the same pool of talent. They too are looking to make figures of many of the same characters. As such, they would have already looked into some of these names and know that some of them can’t legally be made because of previously existing contracts.

That’s how they’d have insight into the legality of some of what Mitch is doing.

I remember listening to one of Bruce Prichard's podcasts a while ago and he talked about licensing. The licenses do run out and the WWF/E has to re-up them. Prichard said sometimes Vince didn't think they were worth the money and would let the ownership lapse. When that would happen, the wrestler - or anyone else - could purchase/own the license. Not sure how true this is, but I thought I read a while back that Bryan Clarke does own the IP for Adam Bomb (name, looks, etc.) Either he purchased it outright from Vince to get ownership or the WWE didn't re-up the license which allowed him to purchase it and own it. 

I would definitely love to know more about this topic, as it is a big part of figure collecting. Who owns what, and what specifically can and cannot be made. 

I found these (images below) on twitter. Apparently, the artist put these in for the Owen Hart Foundation to make, but they didn't choose them. Not sure if they just decided to go with a different company. Or if they're not allowed to make WWF Owen Hart attires because the WWF still owns the rights, or because the family doesn't want to make them for personal reasons. Shame though, as these would have been incredible. 

Weren’t epic accused of producing the Bobby Heenan illegally before?

Somebody was ranting about Top Rope doing the PN News Galoob prototype figure, and I honestly thought that it was a completely absurd argument to make.

If these things are being made illegally, then time will tell and things will unfold. Until then, I'm happy to have these figures in my collection and really don't care one way or another unless the talent themselves or their families are being ripped off.

If a corporation as large as the WWE is being ripped off, then I couldn't give two flying s.

Steering this thread back on track a little…

My Grapplers and Gimmicks collection is growing faster than anyone else’s but all companies are causing my collection to expand rapidly. Right now I am cleaning up my office/toy room and trying to decide how to display my collection. Out of curiosity, do you guys mix everything together or does each company get its own dedicated space?