An Extreme Backdrop For Your Wrestling Fun

We've all been doing what it takes to get ourselves through a very challenging and unique time in our world. Many of us have escaped to our hobbies, and if you're reading this you likely share the same hobby with the rest of us. That means you may collect wrestling figures and you may very well open those plastic superstars and "let them breathe," as it were. Once you do that, you may even set up your own situations for display or photography in what we call a diorama.

A company called Extreme Sets makes cardboard backdrops for such action figure dioramas of all genres. I had long admired their work from afar both on their own site and from fan submissions on social media. I'd never heard anything bad about the company, though there truly weren't too many reviews out there, just inclusion of their product in the ever-growing hobby known as action figure photography.

With the timing of needing to find different avenues of enjoyment, I decided to treat myself with not one but two of the Extreme Sets Arena Pop-Up 3.0 dioramas. Per the site, two complete one arena. The dioramas are not cheap by any means, nor is the shipping. Like many websites in this trying time, the company did offer a percentage off in a special sale. I knew these things were big, but I didn't know just how big...

The picture that you see isn't even both sets as big as they can be, it's simply as much as could fit on my dining room table. Even not fully displayed, you can see that these things are huge.

The sets come packaged in a window box. Mine came in individual shipping sleeves in one gigantic shipping box. With one you get a "half" arena backdrop, three ringside audience boxes (two large and one small), and upper arena "VIP boxes." What you see here in the pictures is largely a combination of two.

I believe the audience element has been greatly expanded upon for Extreme Sets third shot at a wrestling arena diorama. The "audience members" are fun and don't  "repeat" very much. You could easily place a photo of yourself or whoever you'd like as an alternative, and the crowd signs are intentionally left blank. It's weird to see someone in the audience catching Andre the Giant with a camera phone, but I'm not nitpicking. If you were doing serious photography you could easily switch the audience members around so that a more "modern" fan wasn't as visible. The ringsiders are contained in boxes that resemble the modern day retaining walls, though in some of these photos you'll see guardrails added.

I won't say that these were easy to assemble, though I'm notoriously impatient with such things. The cardboard and printing is very high quality. It's obvious that this is why the prices are high. It's also a niche item mainly for adults. While I would've had a world of fun of these as a kid, I tended to take care of my things. I'm not sure that they're sturdy enough to last for some children. I do know that my parents wouldn't have liked how much room these take up. Unless you have devoted space for a permanent display, you need somewhere to store these.

My biggest gripe comes from the "VIP boxes" that attach near the top. While they stayed in place at first, eventually they began to come loose and also cause the lower portions to bend somewhat. This was not long after assembly. I contacted the company regarding the situation and heard nothing back. I wasn't looking for a refund or anything of the sort, but some kind of acknowledgment would've been nice. I'll reiterate: these things were not cheap to purchase.

Are they a heckuva lot of fun? Yes. If you can lose yourself in wrestling figure set-ups, you'll get absolutely immersed with your rings surrounded by these. They work with any size ring as you can see with the accompanying photography and I've seen other photographs with added stages, lighting, etc. The possibilities are truly endless. Do I regret my purchase? No, though I may have only ordered one had I realized how big they were. That being said, a complete action figure arena is a sight to behold. Can you imagine these when were kids?

I won't directly link to the site as this review was paid for by one person: me. A quick Google search of the company name will find you instant links. The company has also offered wrestling backdrops on a smaller scale such as backstage areas, but those seem to be out of production. Do your homework, consider your space, and remember that, if my experience is any indication, once you make your purchase you are on your own. But as long as you have fun...