For being such a walking action figure as he was in life, Bam Bam Bigelow hasn't been immortalized in plastic near as much as he probably should've been. We've received one LJN, one Hasbro, two Toy Biz, one Jakks and now three Mattel figures. For a wrestler who looked like a beastly fireball with a career that spanned roughly two decades, the figure count is a bit underwhelming. It's also a bit surprising that not one of his figures reflects the outfit that he wore in what was easily his highest profile match.
Mattel's WWE Legends Series 11 brings us Bam Bam in an outfit that we've seen once before as a figure but with a particular accessory that we have not. The series also includes Scott Hall, Big John Studd and Randy "Cream of the Crop" Savage. The packaging has remained consistent since the line returned and, according to those within Mattel, is not scheduled to change despite a new style soon to debut in the main line. With this particular color scheme, the shape has grown on me. The Legends line continues to be exclusive to Target and was the first wave not to be offered for pre-order. More on that later.
The Bammer is clad in his gray flame outfit worn most famously in WCW and ECW. The latter is what is being represented here due to the inclusion of a never-before released accessory: the ECW Television Championship. Bigelow also includes three individual sets of hands which are unique to the figure due to painted tape on the fingers. This gray costume was only seen once before in figure form thanks to Toy Biz in the late '90s. While Mattel easily could have reused the facial sculpt used in their previous two Bigelow releases, they instead chose to create an all-new one. I like both and I do feel that this one represents Bam Bam from later in his career as this figure is designed to do.
As there is a "chase" variant of one character in each WWE Legends wave (this time it's The Macho Man), I'm actually sort of surprised that it wasn't Bam Bam this time. The chase figure is a paint app variation of one of the figures while retaining the same sculpt and accessories. Seeing as the design of this gray costume with the "triple B" logo debuted with orange flames in 1995, the chase could've been that design. It wouldn't have hurt the value of the company's original release of that Bam Bam from over a decade ago as that figure had the original Mattel Bigelow head sculpt as well as his '95 entrance gear.
I'm still surprised that we've never seen "purple flame" Bam Bam done as a figure. It's the outfit that he wore from 1993 to 1995 as well as in his famous match against Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI. Seeing as that it seems that Mattel's well is running dry as far as a wide variety of legends available to make, we could see the design pop up sooner than later. I'm all for it.
I'm also all for this figure. In addition to being a great likeness with a brand new accessory, it's proven to be easy to obtain. It has remained in stock on Target's website and many stores have received the figure in abundance. That being said, don't sleep on it. If you want it and see it available you already know to grab it. I will also add that this is a perfect candidate for "Figure of the Year." As I've made clear before, my qualifications include the figure being reasonably easy to obtain for a wide margin of collectors. This "Beast From The East" ticks all of those boxes. With WWE Legends 12 beginning to trickle into stores, grab the master of the flames before you get burnt.
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