The Ultimate Duggan?

We're less than one month away from the most patriotic day on the American calendar, the Fourth of July. As a wrestling fan that likely makes you think of hot dogs, the Great American Bash, apple pie, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. A beyond larger-than-life character the likes of which will never be duplicated, Duggan is another one of those great '80s wrestling names that is remembered even by non-fans. It doesn't hurt that when you meet him, you quickly figure out that he's a heckuva nice guy, too.

Hacksaw is back in action figure collections worldwide, now for the third time thanks to Mattel. I will make the statement that Duggan is one of the more under-produced wrestling legends as far as action figures go, especially for someone with such high name recognition. Off the top of my head, the Duggan figure count totals to eight, with LJN, Hasbro, Star Toys (Mexico), Jakks, and Mattel as the manufacturers. Today we're looking at the eighth figure in the count, but one that actually covers three eras of Duggan.

The Gamestop exclusive RetroFest line brings us the latest Duggan, joining the likes of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Shawn Michaels, The Honky Tonk Man, and Ric Flair already in the series. The packaging is designed to resemble a vintage arcade cabinet, most notably that of the WWF WrestleFest game. It's a fun and unique change, though it does partially hide some of the figure itself. Removing the figure can be a bit of a challenge, too.

The figure itself is based on Hacksaw's 1993 attire. He began wearing the singlet after returning from injury at the hands of Yokozuna and dropped it upon his jump to WCW. His second and final figure in the Hasbro WWF line is the only other time that the attire has appeared in toy form. The head sculpt is completely different from the two previous Mattel Duggan figures, this time featuring a goofy, but accurate, "tongue out" look. The U.S. flag knee pads are also accurate and really add to the design, as does the flag design on the back of the singlet.

The true highlight for me are the accessories that lend themselves to two other versions of Hacksaw. Included are the ubiquitous 2x4 and flag, but the real gems are the removable t-shirt and crown. The crown is from his 1989 run as "King Duggan" and the t-shirt is a meticulous reproduction of the one offered in the merchandise catalog and at events circa 1988. With the shirt on the first Mattel Duggan release and the crown on the second, you can have a complete Duggan "fashion show." Move over Ken, Hacksaw's here. The flag and 2x4 seem to be the same as the original Mattel release of Duggan nearly a decade ago.

This is easily my favorite release in the RetroFest series thus far. It's been a wide range of disappointments (Michaels) and victories (Savage) but between the unique design of the figure and the variety of accessories, ol' Hacksaw is a winner. As always, I do advise to try and find these figures at lower than the somewhat steep initial $25 price tag. That being said, this is the one that I would probably say to go for at full price...

Tough Guy!!!