Introducing The 2021 Figure Of The Year...

Isn't it January 2020? As hard as it is to believe, as of press time we're hours away from January 2022. I don't have to list the reasons why time is flying faster than ever. Did we even have Christmas this year? If we did I think I missed it. On the bright side we did have another great year of wrestling figures and a wider variety than in decades. Mattel, Jazwares and all of the boutique companies have brought us a bevy of wrestlers of all shapes and sizes from the past, present and future. My wallet is already cringing at what 2022 will bring. Before we examine the power of the winner, let's check out my runners up.

My criteria is not only based on the figure itself, but also distribution. If there wasn't an easy way for collectors to get their hands on a particular figure, it won't be my Figure of the Year. For example, despite being one of my favorite Mattel WWE figures of all-time, their King Harley Race of several years ago would never have won the award. Had he been in a regularly distributed set I can't see anyone else having won that year. 

Coming close to winning two years in a row was The Ultimate Warrior. Another of my all-time favorite Mattel WWE figures was last the 2020 winner, WWE Legends Ultimate Warrior. That figure famously depicted him in his final WWE appearance just hours before his death. I still can't believe that we have the figure in our collections. Another great Warrior hit our collections this year, this time depicting his WWF return at WrestleMania XII in 1996. A Ringside Exclusive, the figure is still available thus certainly making it obtainable. The detail is absolutely amazing and the paint is second-to-none.

From Jazwares and All Elite Wrestling we have two runners up, both also seeing releases as Ringside Exclusives. The first is the TNT Champion Cody Rhodes. Handsomely packaged in a window box that doubles as a Double Or Nothing entrance stage, this was the first release of the AEW TNT Championship belt. Cody seems to be currently facing a backlash that has plagued more than one top star over the years. In a decade he will be talked about glowingly among most fans. Mark my words. Of course, it could all be an invention of the toxic Twitter twits in their basements.

The second AEW figure on my list is referee Aubrey Edwards. A truly pioneering figure, it's the first time that a female wrestling referee has been immortalized in plastic. The figure also looks like they simply shrunk Miss Edwards down to six inches. It's that spot on. I would've preferred that she had been released on her own as opposed to having to purchase an expensive "real scale" ring in order to get her, but I know that I'm not the only one who took the plunge. I also had the chance to talk about the figure with Miss Edwards shortly before its release. She couldn't hide her happiness.

The smaller "boutique" lines are just getting started and in my opinion we'll have a lot more of these figures showing up as runners up in 2022. My inclusion for 2021 is none other than The Blue Meanie. Perhaps the most "toyetic" wrestler ever, The Meanie has been very underrepresented over the years as far as action figures. He has two more coming in 2022 including a repaint of this one. This release not only captured Meanie but also that slightly cartoonish Hasbro style. Chella Toys is doing a great job with their Wrestling Megastars line and I do predict that they will ultimately end up as the most cherished of all of the "retro" styled figures.

Our winner? The Warlord. Yes, he was part of Mattel's "Collectors Series" program and an exclusive to Wal Mart, but there was ample time to order him from their website even if you never saw him in stores. I was blown away by the detail on him from the face paint to the tights to the entrance gear. Perhaps the only thing that could've made him better to me personally was had he been in the WWE Legends line. Of the packaging from the past several years (since Mattel dropped the rectangle boxes) the Legends colors and design appeal to me the most. Will we ever get The Barbarian from Mattel? Maybe. But this half of The Powers of Pain turned out a real champ.

We're now coming up on the third year where the blog has no longer been weekly. When I began the blog in 2009, and even further back in the '90s when I published my newsletter, very few people were writing about wrestling memorabilia. I hate to declare that the blog is antiquated, but I feel that blogging as a whole is going the way of physical print media. People want podcasts. I've been told by many that I should go the podcasting route. If I were to do so, wrestling memorabilia would not be the topic. It's overexposed. That being said the blog isn't going anywhere. I still have ideas that I would like to explore with more undoubtedly ready to pop up. For those of you who continue to read the blog, I truly appreciate you.

Move Over Dick, Earl & Danny...Aubrey's Entering The Ring

Let me start off by making a statement upfront: I hate "real scale" rings. I don't care what anyone says, they're all too big. They're cumbersome, hard to build and who has room to display them? None of them really seem durable to last long in a kid's hands, either. Sure, I would've taken care of mine, but remember those kids who would come over and slam the figures together as if that was how to properly wrestle? Yeah, these rings wouldn't last long with those brutes. Nevertheless I now own four. I've had various reasons to purchase them over the years and now in 2021 I've been given yet another reason: the first female wrestling referee figure.

A Ringside Collectibles Exclusive (it's printed right on the box so I don't see Amazon getting this thing), the ring is said to be the only way that we'll get a figure of AEW's Aubrey Edwards. For someone like me who just doesn't care for real scale rings it's quite an investment for one figure, but it isn't like I'm throwing the ring away or anything. I built it. I photographed it. It will likely now be disassembled and shoved in a closet. But what we're really here to highlight is Aubrey herself so let's start out with the positive of this playset.

I had a chance to briefly chat with Aubrey about the figure last month in New Jersey. You could tell that she was thrilled by it and she seems like someone who recognizes what a milestone that it is. The figure is spot on. From the scan to the body type, it even features a tattoo on her arm. Extra hands are included with the best being those counting "one" and "two." Aubrey had told me that it was going to include gloved hands for when blood spills. I would imagine that this was something that Jazwares told her and/or was included on the prototype as it didn't end up happening. It's a shame, but not a deal breaker.

The ring itself is nice looking. I will not dispute that. I'm just not a fan of the size of any scale ring from any company that's been released as of press time. Although it wasn't as frustrating to build as some in the past, it definitely tried my patience. I like the rubber turnbuckles and how they apply just as the real AEW pads do. Tag ropes are always a nice bonus and here they are. The steps are pedestrian but necessary. I've been a fan of the square AEW turnposts since day one and they're well-represented here. A negative is that the ring is themed to the pay-per-view event "Double Or Nothing." The first scale ring put out in the line was the basic AEW ring, but was not worth buying for the figure. It would be nice if Jazwares released a generic AEW ring accessory pack down the line, though I wouldn't bet on it. It serves them better to keep releasing more rings. The mat is fabric and that's yet another scale ring feature that I've never warmed up to.

I found a way to make room in my budget for this thing being a fan of the miniscule amount of referee figures that we've received since the 1980's. At a price point of over $100 it isn't for everyone and, at least at this point in time, not everyone is going to have Aubrey in their collection because of that. I can't imagine that the AEW line will end before she gets another figure but there isn't anything guaranteeing that. I will advise that the best action figure ring that I've encountered in years is the AEW version sold at retail. It's a bit bigger than the basic Mattel WWE rings and isn't quite "scale," but it's certainly a solid and unique looking ring. I've kept the stickers off of mine and in doing so it works with just about any era of wrestling figure.

Congratulations to Aubrey Edwards for breaking ground and in the process becoming a fantastic addition to the AEW figure line! Now, don't count me out...