The Case Fit For A King...aka...How Mattel Blundered One Of Their Best Figure Efforts

A little over two years ago the first pictures surfaced of the third Wal Mart exclusive Elite Flashback series. Included were Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and King Harley Race. Together the five would include parts to build Shawn Michaels in his brown suit and cowboy hat from his short sting as commissioner. I greatly anticipated the set seeing as that Race is one of my top five favorite wrestlers, not to mention that this was his first inclusion into the Mattel line.

Before the set was released (and I use that term loosely), it became apparent that Harley would be "short packed." There's no excuse for this, no matter how the company wants to spin it, but nonetheless there would one figure of "The King" per case, with two of Steamboat and Roberts. The least exciting figure of the lot, Steve Austin, would have three figures per case. Credit where credit is due, Austin is a fundamental name when looking at the history of the company and I'm sure his eight thousandth (loose sarcasm) figure would sell well, but there's no reason for "short packing" in a set where most are going to "collect them all" regardless in order to create the "Build-A-Figure."

That Fall the set began hitting Wal Mart stores. It also became apparent that all of the figures were hot. Why not? It was a solid lineup, there was a "Build-A-Figure" involved, and the packaging was great as it had been with the previous Elite Flashback releases. But once stores received their initial shipment, the figures stopped. Where were they? Prices were skyrocketing on the secondary market, especially for the "crown jewel" of the set, Harley Race.

Smoke screen and double talk are concepts that have never been foreign to action figure collectors. Name any brand and manufacturer from the past and you're sure to hear excuses and stories as to why certain things happened to make this figure limited, that one delayed, or this item never to be released at all. Jakks "Chinese New Year," anyone? This set, with all of its controversy, has been no different. Did the company lose the rights to one of the characters? It hardly seems like that would cause them to pull completed product. Or was it a "trial run" for their absolutely lovely and collector-friendly "Collector's Edition" nonsense that has been plaguing the line since shortly after this set was released and magically disappeared?

Whatever the situation may be, a Canadian release of the figures has surfaced as well. Whoever got their hands on these is certainly feeling their own stimulus right now thanks to collectors such as myself who want this set, but such is free enterprise.

Upon opening a case you can see why so many Steamboat's and Race's ended up with the "switchblade slice" often found on figures in stores. There are also a few small differences. The Canadian releases omit any mention of the name "Shawn Michaels." Yes, the pieces of the "Build-A-Figure" are still there as are pictures of the pieces on the packaging, but the name and any worded acknowledgement are gone. This would lend credence to the theory that Mattel lost the rights to one of the characters in the set, but HBK figures have been produced since. A small blurb on the back of each package that mentioned a moment in the career of the respective wrestler is also gone. That seems to have been replaced by legal wording in multiple languages. On the Race, Steamboat, and Austin figures there is also a choking hazard/legal sticker added to the front which can be removed.

The figures themselves remain the same. Next week, we'll take a look at the five figures themselves and if they're worth the price you'll likely have to pay to add them to your collection.