The Anvil's Back! Yeah, Baby!

You've heard me say it before and I'm about to say it again. There are certain wrestlers who were seemingly designed to be action figures. They look like living cartoon characters to begin with and have the rough and tumble look that would translate well into what was traditionally deemed a "boys toy." While we now know that both boys and girls alike have hours of fun with wrestling figures, there still exists that particular style that makes you think, "What a perfect action figure that wrestler would make!" Jim Neidhart has it in spades.

My first figure of "The Anvil" was the one released by Hasbro in 1992. While many of us were hoping for a "Hart Foundation" version, this Neidhart is still the only one to reflect his days as part of "The New Foundation" with Owen Hart. The blue baggy pants with yellow trim were fun and colorful, though, and fit right in with the classic Hasbro flavor. Even at the time of release I appreciated the fact that they took the time to sculpt an entirely new torso for the figure. Hasbro became notorious for reusing parts, but The Anvil's unique physique was perfectly captured in that instance. Just describing it I'm feeling a retro review coming in the future, but let's get down to the figure at hand.

With the current WWE licensee of Mattel we're now on our third release for The Anvil, this being the first one posthumously. The figure is the latest joke, I mean, "Collector's Edition" release. These figures are not packed in every shipping case and are exclusive to an individual retailer. Basically this means that you likely won't find it and will have to bargain for it on eBay or another secondary market means. Luckily, I did run into Neidhart during a Target run for Clorox wipes and other items that have become essential in the current world climate, so here we are.

I'm not sure if I've touched upon the new packaging yet. I don't hate it, but I prefer the simple rectangular packaging that had been the norm for a few years. Manufacturers love switching up their product, so I knew the design that I preferred wouldn't last forever. The white and red color scheme is okay, but again, doesn't come close to the salad days of Mattel WWE boxing. The fact that we have hands floating in nearly every box isn't that appealing, either, but ultimately you should see what you're paying for.

The Anvil is nicely done. The design is based upon his later 1997-ish Hart Foundation days, complete with the jacket from that era. The laughing "yeah, baby!" head sculpt is new and I do see Neidhart there. With his trademark flattop and goatee it's hard to get him wrong, but this one is above average. On the flip side, all of the Mattel Anvil figures have been a tad too slim. The paunch should be a bit bigger. The hot pink and chest hair stand out as far as paint detail and some added design on the anvil on his top is a nice additional touch.

As mentioned above you get the jacket as well as sunglasses and extra hands. Seeing as that the elbow pads are removable, a cool little bonus would've been to include Davey Boy Smith's "Union Jack" elbow pad. The Anvil began wearing the gear following The British Bulldog's untimely death. It isn't something that really happened in WWE, but if the Virgil figure can include his convention table banner accessory then it means that nothing is off-limits.

As far as these limited "Collector's Edition" releases go, we've seen great (Kassius Ohno, Pat Patterson) and not so great (Paige, Sonya Deville). I'd say that The Anvil is somewhere in the middle with Gerald Brisco. It's a very nice figure and one that I'm happy to own, but I didn't feel the need to go out of my way for it once it was announced as being part of the dreadful "chase" system. This should have been a mainline release, but then again, they all should be. Let the limiting and demand come later from how well the figure is received.