Wrestling MarketWatch: Bring Home All The Action!

LJN Wrestling Superstars. Still, in my opinion, the most recognizable wrestling figure line ever made. Everyone remembers "those big rubber wrestlers." If you were a kid of any age in the '80s, you knew someone who had a few even if you owned none yourself. You remember that Hulk was the ultimate hero, Andre had varying lengths of hair, and King Kong Bundy really hurt. Really. That was one hefty hunk of rubber. It's no wonder that so many are falling off of the card when you stumble upon one that's even partly attached.

Carded examples of these figures are less often remembered. As kids we wanted to play with these guys. While many kids, such as myself, kept the packaging to look at over and over again, in general we just ripped these superstars wide open. Today we're looking at the other end of collecting LJN. It's a look at the ones that remained on the card over three decades later. We'll also quote some of the recent auction prices for five of the more memorable characters, for better or worse. As always, prices quoted are for unsigned examples.

*No chance in Hell? Years before Vince McMahon became the top heel in the company, the swaggering chairman was simply a bright-blazered television announcer. The LJN figure of "Vince McMann" (so proclaimed the sticker) reflects that era perfectly with the impeccably-tailored and coiffed Mr. McMahon in a perfect pitchman's pose. Fun fact: I remember around twenty-five years ago when Figures Inc. (now known as Figures Toy Company) acquired a warehouse find of Vince LJN's and sold them for the modest price of $25 each. Most recently this figure sold at auction for an additional four-hundred dollars at $425. I wish I'd ordered more.

*One man who loves being an LJN figure is Ted Arcidi. Mr. Arcidi's figure is one that often became "the jobber" among kids playing with their figures seeing that his WWF run was short and unmemorable, despite competing in the famous WrestleMania 2 Battle Royal, The Big Event, and having a few O-Pee-Chee trading cards. Nonetheless, when Arcidi signed my LJN figure of himself several years ago he couldn't have been more pleased. He even asked if I would text him the picture of us holding it. I more than happily obliged. The strongman recently sold for $142 at auction, though there was significant wear to the card.

*An early favorite in the line was Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Although The Steamer isn't quite as colorful as some of the other Wrestling Superstars figures, the pose is unbeatable. In another fun fact connected to the LJN line, Ricky and then-wife Bonnie actually collected the line while on the road with the WWF. They sold their collection in the early 2000's to help aid son Richie in his hobby of car racing. I'm proud to say that both the carded Miss Elizabeth and Dynamite Kid figures in my own collection were originally owned by the Steamboat family. Ricky's own figure recently sold for $400.

*Three of my five all-time favorite wrestlers are represented in the LJN line. Rowdy Roddy Piper is one of them. Another is our fifth and final segment in this entry. The third is right here and is also undeniable royalty. "The King" Harley Race is a beautiful looking figure and, to me, seems to have been designed with both his "King" and "pre-King" looks combined. His jacket is made to look like the cape that he wore in real-life, but also resembles the jacket that he used in the WWF before winning the King of the Ring tournament. I'm not the only one who loves this figure seeing as that it recently sold for $675.

*As with any good WWF spectacle of the 1980's we're ending with The Hulkster. There were three different Hulk Hogan figures in the Wrestling Superstars line. This newly sculpted "shirted" version was also the first to be released on a fabled "black card." While this figure is designated as a "Collector's Edition," the black coloring would later be revived for the final series in 1989, aptly named "Wrestling Superstars ''89." Though we all love the original Hogan LJN, this later version does a much better job capturing a classic dynamic pose of The Hulkster. He recently sold for an equally dynamic price of $1,251.

It's a good time to sell most wrestling figures, not just LJN's. Perhaps due to all of the gloom in the world at the moment, people want toys and are paying top dollar. It's somehow comforting to know that even with all of the advancements in action figures since the days of LJN, the Wrestling Superstars are still bringing home all the action, just as the commercial said.