#WhereIsDixie? Right Here On The Blog!

It all started with the legendary LJN WWF figures.  They not only gave us rubber representations of the top wrestlers of the era, but also managers, referees, commentators, and even...pets!  Any child worth his or her salt knew that to have successful wrestling matches at playtime, you needed these key non-wrestler figures to accentuate the action.  Thanks to LJN, collectors today almost expect non-wrestler figures to be released in subsequent lines.  Unfortunately, the toy companies usually don't believe that these figures will sell and tend to shy away from producing them.  Jakks has been rather committed to bringing non-wrestler figures to collectors, and their latest effort is no different.  Forget managers, refs, and announcers...how about a president?

Complete with her own Twitter hashtag of "#WhereIsDixie," the newest Jakks exclusive figure is that of TNA President Dixie Carter.  The past few years have been hit or miss as far as frequency of releases for Jakks regarding their TNA line.  While many great figures have been shown and promised from the manufacturer, it seemed for awhile that the line was dead in the water.  Releases were few and far between.  One of the bright points was the release of a new Knockout figure in nearly every series.  Figures of Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Daffney, and Madison Rayne were all produced with impressive likenesses for all.  How does the President herself match up?

Immediately upon first viewing the figure, the packaging is striking.  It's an all new and very grand design that is somewhat similar to the Jakks TNA Legends of the Ring figure packaging.  The window bubble is a perfect place for an autograph, but we'll get to that in a bit.

The Dixie figure utilizes the standard Knockout figure body.  While not an in-ring competitor herself, Dixie is fit thus making the body an agreeable choice.  Although this and all of the current Jakks TNA figure bodies have the "torso joint" that I so often lament, I've always been fine with it on the Knockout body.  Thanks to the soft goods clothes on this figure, we don't even see it.  The clothes are a really nice touch and necessary since the standard Knockout body was used.  Dixie is clad in an all new "glittery" top and "leather" skirt.  She's all business with a feminine touch.

The facial likeness is dead on, perfectly capturing the classic Dixie smile.  My only qualm is that she does not have a hand that is able to hold a microphone accessory.  Though the figure does not include a microphone, it's always been my belief that non-wrestler figures should be able to hold an accessory.  She can wave to the crowd, punch another Knockout, or break up a fight, but at least she'll be smiling the whole time.  Dixie's hair is sculpted in a style that we've seen Dixie wear many times.  Through all of that Impact Wrestling action, she won't have to worry about having a single hair out of place.

TNA has done an entire commercial campaign around this figure and rightly so.  It's nicely designed, packaged, and presented.  I've been extremely pleased with all of the Knockout figures thus far and Dixie hits the top of the list.  She's not the only new Knockout on the block, though.  After being in the business for over a decade and being one of the original shining lights of the TNA Knockouts division, Gail Kim has finally been immortalized in figure form.  She is part of Jakks regular TNA offerings and will be joined by the debut figure of Brooke Tessmacher this summer.

The Dixie Carter figure is available exclusively through TNA's online store and will most likely be available at select live events as well.  Online you also have the choice of purchasing a version personally signed by Dixie Carter.  The figures are signed in silver which, as I mentioned above, look very nice signed on the plastic bubble.  Although Dixie occasionally appears at the Fan InterAction events held on pay-per-view weekends, I wouldn't pass up this opportunity if signed figures are your thing.  It's a nice authentic signature and you don't have to worry about lugging around a packaged figure.

This is yet another Knockout figure that I have to give my highest recommendation.  Seeing as that it is indeed a "non-wrestler" figure, it gets even more points with me.  When a company like Jakks puts forth a quality effort like this, everyone wins.  Dixie seems thrilled with having a figure and rightly so.  In meeting and corresponding with her several times, she has always been an extremely friendly and accommodating individual and also one that I believe has been underrated as of yet for her contributions to the company that she strives to grow.  She is a hands-on business woman, and one that you can now have in the palm of your hands thanks to Jakks!