The Greatest Boxer Or The Greatest Referee?

Hard to believe that it’s already the tail end of summer. Nice for someone like me who doesn’t care for the heat, though the ease of not having to worry about coats and things nor weather prohibiting travel is always nice. With the end of the season always comes the San Diego Comic Con exclusive to many of our doorsteps. This year it seems that more of these are being delivered as something changed with the availability. As far as my beliefs go, that’s a good thing. Nevertheless, Mattel once again created a SDCC WWE exclusive to thrill not only wrestling fans but also the masses. The name? Muhammad Ali.

Ali had several tie-ins with wrestling over the years. He was said to have been a fan growing up and attributed his “promo style” to Gorgeous George. It was later contested that he was likely confusing the household name of George with who he was really watching – the similarly able-mouthed Fred Blassie. He would end up working with Blassie in his first foray into wrestling in 1976 when he fought Antonio Inoki in a “Boxer vs Wrestler” match. While the match was considered less than spectacular both in athletics and money-drawing power, it is well-remembered. In the ‘80s Ali was a special enforcer during the main event of the first WrestleMania and became involved in a Mid-South Wrestling match featuring Jake Roberts. Later, Ali would make a brief appearance or two with WCW.

For their SDCC exclusive Mattel has brought us a two-pack representing Ali’s first two ventures into wrestling. His iconic boxing look, patterned after the Inoki match, is one while the other is in is referee gear from WrestleMania. The figures are “Ultimate Editions” and come in the same type of elaborate packaging that Mattel has brought us with The Coliseum Collection and other exclusives. An outer box houses a very striking inner “hinged” box featuring a mock WWF Magazine cover on one side (The Referee) and a mock boxing publication (The Boxer) on the other. When opened (held closed by a magnet) you see both figures displayed behind plastic adorned with Inoki (unnamed) and Hulk Hogan, respectively. It’s a stunning display though a bit much for openers.

Packaged below “The Boxer” is a box full of accessories. You get a plethora of additional hands, two extra heads and Ali’s terry cloth robe. While the variety of hands is great, it’s curious that the set of “gripping” hands is repeated. Would you really want to display those on both figures at the same time? The larger grip hands, included with many figures over the years, should have been included for completely accurate “raising the victor’s arm” poses. Yeah, you can do it with the completely open hand, but it isn’t quite the same. Also one of the heads is completely repeated. I can understand that a bit more if you want a neutral facial expression on both figures at the same time. The “two-count” hand is the most pivotal piece here for me as it seems like Ali was flashing the peace sign a lot in his day.

The figures themselves are great. You won’t be sorry if you add them to your collection. I don’t know that we needed a referee in the “Ultimate” style, but it does help to resemble Ali’s body shape. They got “The Boxer” version down pat, too. You not only have three other “boxing” figures for him to tangle with (Rowdy Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton and Mr. T) but you can slide the boxing gloves onto many of the other figures that now have removable hands. I already have an idea for some figure photography there. Also in that realm I can see “The Referee” figure making it into shots as a generic classic ref. It’s all about smoke and mirrors.

As mentioned above, this one was not hard to get. In fact it’s still available as of press time. Why is that? It can only be that Mattel realized that making enough for collectors to buy directly from THEM is the way to do it and not to let secondary market scalpers get all the money. It will sell out eventually and will rise in price a bit, I’m sure. There will always be a market for Ali from all angles. I’d say that these two will also be the “definitive” Ali releases. Just like when Mattel grabbed the license for Mr. T, there’s already another Ali on the way in the form of a Retro figure. While I feel it’s unnecessary, I’m sure that I’ll enjoy it in-hand. Anyone can also see them milking the license as much as they can. Suited Ali? Could happen. How about his look when he jumped into the ring to confront Gorilla Monsoon? I’m sure the company has it all thought out. Again, I can’t see us getting standard sized boxing and referee versions outside of this set. 

Another cross-genre SDCC release from Mattel and WWE. I could definitely see Mike Tyson fitting that mold. And boy could they get their money’s worth out of that one. Boxer. Referee. Degenerate? But that’s not who I want. I want Mona Flambé. I just wanna have fun…