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I'd take one pre-jail comeback. Blonde hair and managed by Heenan.

Updated with the entire LJN to Mattel equivalents!

UPDATED 6/13/18 - All new pics!

I've been a collector of wrestling figures all of my life. Having grown up in the 80's, I have great memories of when LJN debuted the first line of WWF figures.

Andre The Giant, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Hulk Hogan, The Iron Sheik, and Big John Studd. In 1984, these five personalities would launch what would become a successful line of wrestling figures that defined many of our childhoods.

34 years later, Mattel is blowing the roof of what was once made out of a simple rubber cast. The attention to detail, the accessories, the belts, and the articulation have all gone way beyond what we used to know. 

I decided to undertake a labor of love today and and fully update this post by showing every LJN to Mattel equivalent. Going through this today reminded me of how great the attention to detail is from Mattel, and how wonderful these original LJN figures were. Except for the painted on skin figures.

I also chose to only compare them to one Mattel figure. For example, in the case of the Ultimate Warrior, there's so many Mattel's to choose from, so I opted to only compare each LJN to one Mattel.

Lastly, some might feel that Sgt. Slaughter deserves to be in this line-up. I don't own the figure, so I couldn't do it. Technically, it wasn't an LJN figure as it made by Hasbro as a mail-away. Many collectors feel he's still part of the LJN line.

Personally, I loved doing this and seeing these figures side-by-side. Not only did I get to relive my youth, but it made me really appreciate how hard Mattel has worked to deliver some amazing figures, that caters to not only kids, but collectors of all kinds.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane. Then and now . . .


The Hulkster brother!



LJN later made two updated shirted versions of Hogan. The Red shirt pictured below and a white shirt one.



The 8th wonder of the world Andre The Giant.



I never owned the black singlet LJN figure, so this short hair Andre in blue trunks will have to do.



I love that we finally got a Big John Studd to feud with our face Andre.



I know, we all wanted barefoot Snuka. But we at least we got a Snuka and some people have made great barefoot versions of him using Kevin VonErich.



The Iron Sheik never fails to entertain.



Besides Nikolai Volkoff singing his national anthem before matches, any old school fans remember his version of Cara Mia on The Wrestling Album?



"Rowdy" Roddy Piper. He came to kick ass and chew bubble gum . . .



I'm surprised LJN didn't sculpt a cast on Cowboy Bob Orton. Looking back, LJN put him in the perfect pose to deliver a certain finisher "out of nowhere . . ."



One of my favorite childhood memories was "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff's cage match with Hogan on SNME. Both of their feet hitting the ground at the same time. Loved that feud.



Don't go messin' with a country boy. Mattel did a great job on this Hillbilly Jim. Love the cloth overalls.



One of my favorite LJN figures. This LJN King Kong Bundy is heavy! You can hurt someone with it.



Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. My all-time favorite wrestler. Really looking forward to the elite WM3 Steamboat we've been hearing rumbles about.



I had to picture Macho Man with Elizabeth. Because there's no way Randy would let her out of his sight back then.



Another One Bites The Dust. I loved the Junk Yard Dog, although I still don't know what it means to "Grab Them Cakes".



I would love a Brutus Beefcake figure before he was the barber rocking his huge mane of hair.



I've bought every Jake figure. Trust me.



As cool as it is to have a Warlord figure, my dream would be a Mattel version of the Powers of Pain. Anyone else need to see them in their collection?



I had to picture the Mattel Honky Tonk Man with the IC title. I had no idea when he won it from Steamboat that he would be the greatest IC champ of all time. The jumpsuit is from Jakks because I always remember him in the blue instead of red. And damn that painted on skin! I hated when LJN would mold the entrance gear onto figures and paint their skin.



Before he was Mr. McMahon LJN had him as Vince "McMann"



At least Mattel gave us the bones to make any generic ref we want.



Rick Rude's new music on the WWE Network is atrocious. So is everyone else's that they've redone. You're erasing my childhood WWE!!



The Mattel Mean Gene figure is the same height as the LJN!



I know it's not the same, but I had to put One Man Gang and Akeem together. Come on Mattel, any chance of a One Man Gang? Please! Akeem was quite the character.



Hard time with Big Boss Man.



I love that we got a Bruno.



Oh how I hated when LJN painted on skin. Just awful. I still hate when it's done.



Anyone else think the LJN Bam Bam face sculpt looks more like Mad Dog Vachon? I honestly think someone used him as a reference for Bam Bam.



Thank you Mattel for giving us a Heenan in his jacket!



I once asked Ax and Smash why we only got one LJN figure of Demolition. They said it was because they each signed individual contracts at different times. So Smash's never came out and LJN just made Ax.



I know this doesn't count. But I'm happy to have a custom Muraco in my collection. Easy to do with a Bruno body, Jakks Muraco head, and some knee pads. I made the shirt. I'd still love for Mattel to make a Muraco before he was "The Rock"



I want the British Bulldogs as a Mattel two-pack. With Matilda.



I know this shelf-warmed when it came out, but it's a great figure of Funk! I love that LJN gave us the branding iron accessory that fit in his hand.



I was so excited when a Tito figure was announced from Mattel. So sad to see it shelf warm. I fear we'll never get a Strike Force Martel because of it.



Speaking of . . . yes I am a model.



The only complete tag-team we've gotten from Mattel that was also released by LJN.





I miss the days of managers like "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart. The 80's had so many stables headed by colorful managers. They were able to cover the weaknesses of guys who had poor mic skills. I wish they'd bring them back.



I've lost track of how many Mattel Warriors that have been released. But LJN is responsible for the first Warrior figure ever made.



Hoooooooooooooo!!!! Hacksaw Jim Duggan was a "tough guy"!



George "The Animal" Steele. Known for his body hair and green tongue. 



Kamala always had great figures. Such a cool character that I loved to have tag with "Adorable" Adrian Adonis as "Beauty and the Beast"



So who's left? If Mattel were able to complete to entire LJN line this is who would be left. We already know we're getting King Harley Race (Thank you Mattel!) but I'll leave him in here for now until he's released. And we came so close to having Koko! Maybe one day we will.



I'd love to have every one of these figures as a Mattel release. imagine a Hercules Hernandez with removable chest piece and bracers, a One Man Gang with a real denim vest, or even Slick! More than anything, I think an "Adorable" Adrian Adonis would make a great addition to any collection!

Any chance Fuji is on his way? If we got Lou, who would he go with? Just the Wild Samoans?

For those who may not be familiar with who is pictured:

King Harley Race
Koko B. Ware
The Killer Bees - Jumpin' Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair
S.D. "Special Delivery" Jones (two LJN versions pictured)
The Dynamite Kid
"Adorable" Adrian Adonis
Hercules Hernandez
Billy Jack Haynes
Ted Arcidi
Ken Patera
Corporal Kirchner
Haku (LJN is one half of "The Islanders")
Jesse "The Body" Ventura
Magnificent Muraco
Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
Outback Jack
One Man Gang
Luscious Johnny V.
Slick
Classy Freddie Blassie
Capt. Lou Albano
Mr. Fuji

I hope you old school fans enjoyed this trip down memory lane! And for those who didn't grow up in this era, I hope you enjoyed taking a look back at the colorful characters from the 80s!

Normally, a sticker is correcting a printing or editing issue.

Over the past few weeks I've seen a few comments about how to find the value of a figure. As collectors, we all want to know what a fair price is and if we're trading or selling, we all want a fair deal.

I thought I'd take the time to post this general tip about how to find the approximate value of a figure. I know as collectors we all make up different age groups and experiences, so I'm hoping this can help anyone new to the game, or getting more involved. Now, I'm aware that value is relative. What's worth spending $40 dollars on to one person, is a rip off to someone else. So, again this is just a guide to get a starting point so you know what's within a fair price range.

In my opinion, the best way to get a general value right away is to go to eBay and do a search for what ever you're looking for. For this example, we'll use a Mattel Elite Tyson Kidd.

When you get your search results, look to the right of the search bar and click the "Advanced" link:



On the next screen go down to "Search Including" and check off "Sold listings"



"Completed listings" will give you all listings that have ended, whether or not they have sold. But since we're going for an actual value that people pay for it, check off "Sold listings". Then, hit the blue "search" button on the same page (just above it) and this will then bring up a new thread showing you all the figures that have sold. They'll tell you how much they were sold for, on what day, and if it was free shipping or not.

This is where you can start to get an idea of value. In the case of the Elite Tyson Kidd, there are about three different ways to figure out the value:

#1 is a loose Elite Tyson Kidd with no shirt.
#2 is a loose Elite Tyson Kidd with a shirt.
#3 is a MOC Tyson Kidd.

Pay close attention to the condition of the figures in the pictures and note any nicks, scratches, wear and tear, etc . . . try to find figures that are in line with the value you're trying to determine. And, be sure to compare pics of MOC figures with loose ones to spot if any alterations have been made, like head swaps or missing pads.

From here I recommended finding the last four sold listings in each of the above categories to determine the value. You'll take the four sold amounts and figure out the average cost based on those sales.

If you don't know how to figure out an average it's simple: Add up all the numbers (in this case four numbers), then divide that sum by how many you've added up (again in this case it's four different sales) and that will give you the average sold value.

So let's look at the three types of Elite Tyson Kidd sales and see their average value:

#1 Loose Elite Tyson Kidd with no shirt

$32.00 - 1/17
$47.00 - 12/30
$41.22 - 12/3
$31.99 - 11/25

Average cost = $38.05

#2 Loose Elite Tyson Kidd with a shirt

$39.00 - 1/9
$41.89 - 12/26
$40.00 - 12/15
$40.00 - 12/2

Average cost = $40.22

#3 MOC Tyson Kidd (I only found two listings so we'll average the two sales)

$108.49 - 1/10
$66.00 - 11/22

Average cost = $87.25

With his information, you're in a great position to make an offer on a trade, buy a figure, or list one for sale yourself.

I hope this helps some of you!

I was never a fan of Evan Bourne. I didn't hate him, but I didn't love him either. I only got his Elite 15 figure to go along with Kofi and have Air Boom.

I'm so glad I got it though! The Elite 15 Bourne figure is great!

Curious how many people are planning an Andre head swap now.

Thanks. I'm like you, I don't have every figure produced, but I do have all the ones I want (minus Matt Hardy for now). Nice to give my wallet a break!

Exactly. Trying to find this last Hardy figure is frustrating but fun. You never know what day you're going to score. Today my wife even said, "You know you love the hunt!", and it's true . . . I do.