An Epic Flashback To Hasbro Glory

Recently on the vlog I’ve taken a look at some new retro wrestling figure releases. I’ve been very pleased with a lot of the product that we’ve been hit with but I felt that at least one set deserved an extra bit of detail that I can give in a traditional blog review. That set ended up being one that’s full of extra bits of details itself – Epic Toys Wrestling Megastars Series 4. Formerly Chella Toys (don’t ask me the history…I don’t tune in for the drama, I just know that it cleared up), Epic has positioned itself as one of the top boutique retro figure manufacturers with a combination of quality product and dedication to getting product out without making boatloads of promises. How many others could take lessons there?

The fourth series of Wrestling Megastars brings us a much improved version of a legend from the original Hasbro line, two stars who wouldn’t have been in that line and one who by all rights SHOULD have been in that line. In order I’m speaking of Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Dr. Death Steve Williams and The Barbarian. All four are packaged in, what I first seemed as such over twenty years ago, “collector friendly packaging.” As it was explained back in the day, “collector friendly packaging” means that you can open the figure up, remove it and then replace it with no one being the wiser. No seals, stickers, horrendous clear plastic bands or anything else. It causes some controversy among collectors as to what is truly “mint” and what isn’t, but we’re not here to discuss it. My only rule is that if it has some sort of seal, even ever so small (as a few of the Mattel WWE Retro releases have), I won’t get the one that I’ve opened autographed. For figures like these, where removing the figures and replacing them causes no harm, I actually prefer to slide out the card back and just get that signed. Personal preference.

Looking at each figure individually we’ll start with The Nature Boy. If I had to pick “worst Hasbro WWF figure” I don’t think I could pick anyone but Naitch. From the use of the Rick Rude body to the awful head (when I initially saw the “Undertake ‘Em All” ad I actually thought Flair was Dino Bravo) it was easily Hasbro’s worst “effort” of the line. I think I may have “worked” him a handful of times before I went back to the great Galoob figure. Have things finally been made right? In a nice touch by Epic this figure is actually based upon his WWF run, specifically his 1991 Royal Albert Hall match against Tito Santana. A great one to seek out or watch again.

Decked out in a soft goods green robe and green trunks, Naitch is stylin’ and profilin’. Even if we wouldn’t have seen elbow movement like this in a Hasbro, everything else about the sculpt matches up. I’m mixed on so much soft goods being used in retros since Hasbro did it so sparingly but something about this robe looks like it could’ve been done back then. I think it’s actually the gold trim. I can see this figure hanging in a store in the early ‘90s and that’s the effect we want.

Next up is Steve Williams. The good doctor is also decked out in a soft goods robe and is completely covered in red and white throughout the figure as he often was. The sculpt here is even a bit “softer” than Flair and it’s right in line with Hasbro. Of course he was nowhere near the WWF in that era but we’ve long since passed just getting then-current WWF talent in this scale. A retro Terry Gordy would go absolutely amazing next to Doc.

Another who didn’t have much of a chance to be a Hasbro (they were being planned during his brief stint as The Widowmaker) but did have a great Galoob is Barry Windham. “The Lone Wolf” was one of my favorite Galoob figures and definitely one of my most used back then. He had a great pose and I can honestly see a lot of that influencing the figure here. Once again the sculpt is on point for Hasbro authenticity. I’m still undecided on how I feel about the soft goods vest and the extra “claw” hand. Hasbro definitely would’ve sculpted the vest on or left it out completely. The torso sculpt is actually so good and Hasbro-esque that if I were ever to display the figure I may not even keep the vest on. Swappable hands have never been a favorite of mine with the few retro figures that have had it but I do understand the inclusion. It’s a feature of modern figures that’s been integrated.

Last but certainly not least we have The Barbarian. It’s baffling that it’s never even been rumored that Hasbro had him in the works back then. He’s a toy…he has fur and antlers…he’s a barbarian! Epic knocked it out of the park with their Powers of Pain version and this singles effort is no different. Some are calling this “Figure of the Year.” It’s absolutely amazing that this look has never before been done as a figure. The embarrassment put out by Jakks that was completely devoid of accessories and detail does NOT count. I will say that the detail here is a bit more than Hasbro would’ve done but how can it not be excused? We’ve wanted this look as a toy for thirty-five years. Barbs has come home to The Heenan Family.

It's a great set. Any or all of these would be right at home in any retro collection. My ultimate retro “test” is if you placed the figure in question among a smattering of original Hasbro releases and showed them off to someone without a clue as to who made what. If the new figure blends right in it’s obviously good to go. I think Flair, taking all factors mentioned in his individual review into consideration, would pass best. Windham would be second if the casual observer was less savvy on real world wrestling time lines. As far as modern retro wrestling figures go there isn’t a loser in the bunch.

As mentioned earlier I’ve done some quick reviews of some other recent retro releases on the vlog so be sure to check them out here.That platform has admittedly become my focus these days but I appreciate any and all who still come here to the blog for the occasional read. It keeps me going in all forms of coverage any time that I hear someone say that they’ve enjoyed any of my content. As always…thank you! And as I also always like to think, the best is yet to come!

Revisiting The Danger Zone...

After years and years of collecting this stuff, it's come to an interesting head. Nowadays, it's the more bizarre and wacky the better as far as items that I like to add to my collection. Seeing as how bizarre and wacky wrestling can get at times, it's no surprise that many items exist that reflect those words. That's probably why many of the items that were put out by Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980's really appeal to me. JCP loved producing shirts and bandanas but didn't always seem to understand their target demographic. That's where the 1988 Danger Zone Calendar comes into the picture.

Many remember the classic commercial that played at the beginning of the Turner Home Video wrestling cassette releases as well as on television. Starrcade and Great American Bash videos, complete with Jim Cornette's famous scaffold bump, were pushed to no end. In addition to those event tapes, a compilation known as The Danger Zone was offered. As an extra bonus, fans were given a special 1988 Danger Zone swimsuit calendar with their order. The sizzling shot of a bikini-clad Missy Hyatt on the cover may have drawn in many male fans, but the inside probably made very few bedroom walls.

You see, aside from Missy Hyatt and Precious, the swimsuit calendar was filled with the male stars of NWA Wrestling. This favored many female and maybe even some male fans, but the majority of NWA viewers were probably less than pleased. In all honesty, the calendar is well-produced and rivaled any calendar that the WWF released at the time as far as quality. It's full-sized, has a fantastic glossy cover, and even promotes the aforementioned Turner Home Video releases on the back. It's just...full of gents.

Looking at it from another angle, it does reflect the large amount of talent that filled the company at the time, shortly after Crockett's buyout of the Universal Wrestling Federation. One wonders why some other female talent who either had been or were affiliated with Jim Crockett Promotions at the time weren't contacted to be part of it. Certainly the male-to-female ratio could have been evened up a bit with a little bit of Dark Journey or Misty Blue Simmes. Why it ended up the way that it did was anyone's guess. Perhaps they were just looking to offer "something for everyone."

Nevertheless, female fans of Shane Douglas, The New Breed, "Sweet" Stan Lane, Michael P.S. Hayes, "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert, "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin, Terry Taylor, Barry Windham, Mike Rotundo, Sting, and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams had to be satisfied. Those looking for Animal, Hawk, Arn Anderson, and JJ Dillion were disappointed. It's just one of those things. In fact, it's one of those bizarre and wacky things in the world of wrestling memorabilia that I wouldn't change for the world...aside for maybe a shot of Baby Doll and the envelope.

The Four Horsemen Ride Into Mattel's WWE Hall Of Fame

The Mattel-Target relationship has popped up here on the blog more than once recently, but that's because it's brought us some great product so far. The best Mattel WWE store exclusives, as far as I'm concerned, have been from the Hall of Fame line. Of course, I'm a bit biased towards the legends to begin with, but you can't deny that Mattel's renewed interest in the old school stars is getting better and better. Target seems to be all in, complete with an endcap display in many stores. This special spot has included the individual Hall of Fame figures, the classic "blue bar" cage set, as well some modern day releases. The "Rolls Royce" of the lineup, however, features the greatest supergroup in wrestling history, The Four Horsemen.

Since this is the version of the Horsemen inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, included in the set are Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Barry Windham. We simply aren't going to see a J.J. Dillon figure in a WWE lineup. Despite being inducted with the group, it was just a month ago that I heard the famous "Dillon was on Vince's 'not-to-be-made' list" rumor straight from the legendary manager's mouth. Unless another company picks up his rights, we aren't getting a J.J. Nonetheless, Mattel likes to focus on wrestlers and not managers, so here we are.

The box is, to put it simply, large. There won't be many in-store shenanigans as far as dishonest folk ripping these things open, as these boxes are sealed tight. You pretty much have to destroy one side of the box to get it open, so once you've let these guys out, they're out for good. The Hall of Fame 2012 backdrop is big and, with a little support added underneath, could be used as a display stage. The back of the box features the standard Mattel artists renderings of familiar photos of the four. The Flair photo used is from the mid '90s when "The Nature Boy" looked nothing like the figure included. Windham's image is from his brief 1989 WWF stint as "The Widowmaker."

As with the other Hall of Fame figures, each one is in the Mattel Elite style with extra articulation. The torso used for Flair is the same that was recently used for the Tito Santana and Hulk Hogan Hall of Fame figures. It still doesn't work for Hogan, but it's very believable for "Naitch." Clad in a black and red combo, Flair fits in very well with the rest of the lineup. This isn't the first Flair from Mattel, but it definitely holds up to other "classic" figures of "The Nature Boy" from other companies throughout the years. The facial likeness and "flow" of the famous long locks couldn't get any better.

This is the second Mattel release for "The Enforcer," and it very much reminds me of one of my all-time favorite figures, the Galoob WCW Arn Anderson. The body is just about right and the facial likeness carries the intensity of the rough grappler. Anderson is clad in red and white (just like the Galoob) with the famous "Double A" monogram on his tights. If I had any issue with the figure, it would be that the legs seem just a big too long and thin for Arn, but it's not a huge deal and might just be in my head.

It's hard to believe that we've gotten five Tully Blanchard figures in the past decade after a career completely devoid of them, but we have. This is the second Blanchard from Mattel, as he and Arn were both part of the final incarnation of the WWE Legends line. Those figures included the classic WWF Tag Team Championship belts, were clad in black, and soared in price following their "sell out" from the Mattel Collectors website. Thanks to Target you can pick up both Tully and Arn as well as the belts (now packaged with Yokozuna) for much more reasonable pricing. The Mattel Tully likeness reminds me of his WWF days while the Jakks effort looks more like his younger territorial days. Both are spot-on and I'm glad that Blanchard has received several great figures at this point.

Finally, we get to "The Lone Wolf" himself, Barry Windham. This is the figure from the set that is likely to be most in demand in the future, as I don't see Mattel likely producing him again. Despite being one of the greatest in-ring performers of the 1980's, this is likely the one and only shot. Again, this figure reminds me very much of the Galoob WCW release from 1990. It also reminds me of his stint as "The Widowmaker" that I mentioned above. BW's red and black cowboy boots look really cool, and Windham is the only one in the set to include entrance gear. The vest is removable and was not present when we saw the prototype. Opinions will differ, but Windham is the star of the set in my book.

This is an interesting set for many reasons. Scalpers scooped this up when early shipments hit Target. They likely won't be making more than a few bucks, if that, on each as the sets hit more and more stores. For whatever reason, my set even rang up $5 less than the advertised price at $44.99. I would imagine that sales will dictate whether or not we see more sets like this.

Will the sets sell well? It's four Elite figures with one accessory whereas most Elite figures are usually sold between $20-$22 each. In that sense, it's a good deal. What kept me from purchasing another one to get autographed down the line was the fact that only Windham is in entrance gear. While I love the figures, a set of the Horsemen with Flair in a robe and Arn and Tully in jackets would've been much more visually appealing in the box. If collectors want Windham or an affordable (and superior) release of The Brainbusters, picking the set up is a no-brainer...terrible wrestling pun not intended.

Wrestling MarketWatch: The Great American Bash

Hot dogs, apple pie, and The Great American Bash. It was wrestling's answer to that old time summer baseball game, complete with fireworks display. Instead of wooden bats hitting baseballs, the cracking came from bones and skulls being bashed. In place of the colorful and vibrant pyro, the "oohs" and "aahhs" emanated from fans in awe of Ric Flair, The Rock N' Roll Express, and Magnum T.A. And batting cages? Steel cages or maybe even War Games were far more impressive. The brainchild of the late, great, Dusty Rhodes, The Great American Bash went from tour, to pay-per-view, and was even the one NWA/WCW event that was revived by WWE.

With so many great memories comes some great memorabilia. As is always the case in Wrestling MarketWatch, we'll take a look at several of those items and their recent selling prices on the secondary market. Prices listed are for unsigned examples.

*Where better to start than the creator of the Bash, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. There were several NWA-licensed collector cup sets over the years, but one from a chain called Fast Fare were actually branded with The Great American Bash logo. Listed on the cups are tour stops in Atlanta, Washington  D.C., Charlotte, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Greensboro, Chicago, and Dallas. The Dusty cup features artists renderings of two familiar pictures of "The Dream" as well as a facsimile signature. This cup recently sold at auction for $15.

*The final Bash under the WCW banner took place in 2000. Although the event took place in Baltimore, Maryland and included past Bash names such as Ric Flair, Sting, and The Steiner Brothers, it otherwise did not resemble the Bashes of old. The show is available on WWE Network, but that has not hurt the high price of this rarer WCW VHS release. The cover features Sting and Vampiro (who battled in a "Human Torch Match") set to a mix of horrific and patriotic colors. An example of the tape recently sold for $75.

*Also in the realm of VHS collecting is the tape of what many consider to be the worst wrestling pay-per-view event of all-time. 1991 was a transitional period for WCW, especially with the then-recent loss of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair to the World Wrestling Federation. The 1991 Great American Bash greatly suffered from this down period. As any wrestling collector will tell, quality never equals demand. This tape, featuring Lex Luger and Barry Windham on the cover in a great shot, is another that has always been highly desired and remains so despite other ways to view the show these days and it ultimately being a poor event. Recently the VHS sold for $77.

*Many of the early Great American Bash events had some great programs. The gritty wrestling product of Jim Crockett Promotions perfectly transitioned to the printed page. The programs were chock full of action shots, many featuring bloody battles between the stars of the NWA. The 1987 and 1988 Bash programs featured a flag motif on the cover. I prefer the former, as it also features the stars of War Games, but both are equally collectible. The 1988 version recently sold for $25.

*Thanks to the WWF producing their own magazine, Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications often gave more press to Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980's. Most issues from the decade can be had for around $10 each, but the December 1985 issue of PWI has always been a bit more in-demand and thus often sells for a higher price. The cover story is a great montage of the action of the 1985 Great American Bash tour. Many fans seem to favorably remember this particular issue from their childhood, and looking at it leaves no question as to why. A copy of this issue also recently sold for $25.

WWE eventually quit using the Bash as an annual pay-per-view event but the name has resurfaced as a special episode of Smackdown in the last few years. With WWE looking to have more Network exclusive events, it wouldn't be the worst idea to revive the Bash yet again, especially in remembrance of "The American Dream." If just one classic, hard fought match is held on the show, you can bet that there will be yet another "Million Dollar Smile" in Heaven.

The Hall of Fame-Bound Horsemen

Around this time of year there is always plenty to discuss in the world of wrestling. Who will show up in the Royal Rumble? Who will headline WrestleMania? Who will enter the WWE Hall of Fame?

As I've said many times before, I enjoy the WWE Hall of Fame for what it is. It's an extremely political yearly tribute to stars from the past. If you take it as such you may just enjoy it. For the most part, those who are in it tend to brag about it. Even some who are not in it would love to be. Sure, it's a payday and a small reunion with some old co-workers. For the fans, it's a chance to see those stars on the grandest stage of all one more time.

Although we will discuss selected other 2012 WWE Hall of Fame inductees in the weeks to come, the announcement of the induction of The Four Horsemen is more than worthy of its own entry.

While overly justified, the announcement seemed to "break all the rules" in the minds of fans. A group being inducted? Which version of the Horsemen? Ric Flair inducted twice? Isn't Ric Flair under contact to TNA?

Certainly tag teams and families have been previously inducted, but the induction of a group is a totally different ballgame. The Horsemen had quite a few different members in the span of about a decade. The original lineup included Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson, and JJ Dillon as manager. Perhaps the most remembered and celebrated roster was actually the third which included Barry Windham (who had replaced Lex Luger who had in turn replaced Ole).

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that the Windham version is the one most likely to be celebrated by WWE. Even before airing their video package which highlighted this incarnation, most fans know that Ole Anderson wants nothing to do with WWE and WWE most likely wants nothing to do with Ole Anderson.

Anderson is, in my opinion, a very misunderstood man. People who are opinionated often get a bad rap. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're bad people. It simply means that they have strong opinions and are unable to waver on them. Ole Anderson is very opinionated and censors himself for no one. That's simply the way he is. Bruno Sammartino is similar in many respects but has a beloved hero aura about him that brings out his endearing side. Believe it or not, Ole does have an endearing side. He just doesn't choose to show it and would probably rather be thought of as the "grumpy old man."

As much as an oversight as it is for WWE not to mention Ole, even if he is overlooked by his Horsemen partners at the ceremony, it's not going to be the end of the world for him. Aside from having a ring, WWE is about as far away from Ole's idea of wrestling as one could get. On the flip side of the coin, there's a much better chance that the members of the "WWE Universe" are going to know who Barry Windham is. We've learned in the past that if WWE feels that their "Universe" doesn't know who someone is and there's no financial stake in teaching them, that person simply isn't going to be presented no matter the role. This is the factual reason as to why William Shatner inducted Jerry Lawler rather than The King's choice of Memphis announcing legend Lance Russell.

As for who WILL be present for the ceremony, Arn Anderson, Blanchard, and Dillon seem to be a lock. Windham is still recovering from health problems suffered last fall although not enough is known on his present condition to even speculate about an appearance. The true question marks in this category all lie with "The Nature Boy" himself.

When cornered by a fan at a recent autograph signing, Flair claimed that he would indeed be accepting the induction on stage at the ceremony. Assuming that he is still under contract with TNA would make this a landmark event. Although Flair was in the audience at the 2011 ceremony, WWE was very careful to catch him on camera as little as possible.

Certainly his TNA run has done him no favors regarding personal financial issues. Whether or not being back with WWE would change that or even be possible remains to be seen. One way or another it seems that we will be seeing Ric Flair involved in the world of professional wrestling until the day he dies.

Inducting the Horsemen is ultimately a landmark event. It pleases old school fans while re-introducing a concept that all fans, new and old, should be aware of. Fans of newer entities such as the nWo and DX need to know where the roots for such "super groups" were planted. This also opens up a floodgate of new ideas for the WWE Hall of Fame. Just when WWE seems to be tricking itself by inducting stars within a year of their retirement, the company finds a way to RE-INDUCT stars such as Flair and others in the future like Shawn Michaels (DX) and Bret Hart (The Hart Foundation). As much as the company is criticized for bad decisions (most of the time rightly so), they do seem to have a think tank with its target being the almighty dollar.

Last year at this time I was sworn to secrecy, but thanks to a member of the 2011 class I knew exactly who all was going to be inducted. Although I don't have such information this year (and if I did...), I'm still hoping for another team to be announced. If they are, we'll be celebrating right here in the next few weeks. They certainly deserve it. After all, pain and destruction is their middle name.

The Cure For A Hangover (II)? Classic WWF Cards!

It's very hard to believe that December 2011 is upon us. It seems like only yesterday that spring was in bloom and summer was on the horizon. That would be just about the time that "The Hangover II" was hitting theaters and funny bones alike.

The comedy blockbuster, which is set to hit DVD and Blu-Ray this coming Tuesday, caught the eyes of wrestling fans and collectors the world over. In the opening moments of the film viewers delve into the bedroom of arguably the film series' most popular character, Alan (portrayed by Zach Galifianakis). Despite the scene probably clocking in under five minutes, the prop department went to great lengths (and expense) to illustrate Alan's love of '80s WWF wrestling. Not only does his room include shelves featuring nearly the entire LJN WWF action figure line (including the Hasbro-released LJN-sized Sgt. Slaughter) but the walls are adorned with posters of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Hillbilly Jim, and Mr. Perfect among others. The interesting thing about these posters is that they are not commercially released posters but are instead extremely large blowups of cards from the 1990 WWF trading card series produced by Classic.

It's interesting to speculate just why these cards were blown up instead of using existing posters. While I'm no expert in the field of photo development, it seems that the price of enlarging these small cards would far outweigh the price of obtaining a few posters. Similarly, it's surprising that the prop department even obtained the rarer figures from the WWF LJN line rather than just using the more common (and remembered) earlier characters.

As far as the Classic WWF cards, movie prop use or not, the series can be considered rather iconic. The set is a beautiful time capsule of 1989 WWF featuring a wide variety of names from main eventers such as Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Dusty Rhodes, and Rick Rude to lower card talent like Brooklyn Brawler, Red Rooster, and Barry Horowitz. Even managers, announcers, and officials found their way into the set.

The card set is not at all rare and was mass produced to be released several different ways. Cards were released in packs (packs often contained the same cards in the same order), boxed complete sets, and as a complete set packaged with a blue album and five exclusive purple border cards.

While the set was released and dated 1990, the photos reflect the 1989 roster as mentioned above. There is a rare earlier version of the set dated 1989 that includes cards of the Twin Towers (Akeem & Big Boss Man) together as a team. Many of the same photos were used on another 1989 card set released exclusively in New Zealand from a company called Market Scene Limited. These cards feature pink, blue, and purple backgrounds behind the wrestlers.

The Classic Company released another set later in 1990 featuring action shots from the first six WrestleMania events. These cards are very similar in style, production, and release. A complete set was released with this series as well, with the album being red instead of blue.

Most of these cards will likely never be worth much monetarily but are easily obtained and would make a great gift for any fan of '80s and '90s wrestling. The cards are also fun to get signed, especially the sharp studio shots.

Who knew that the set would be immortalized on celluloid over twenty years after their original release? Classic indeed!

****"From The Musty, Yellowed Pages..."****

WOW Magazine, December 1999, Page 131

It looks like Bryan Danielson, aka Daniel Bryan, may finally be getting his shot at the top of the ladder. Although his fans have been calling him "the best wrestler in the world" for years now, to the mainstream wrestling fan it isn't until a star reaches the top of the WWE that one can make that claim.

With his star brighter than ever, it's worth checking out one of Danielson's earliest appearances in wrestling media. Going back twelve years, World of Wrestling (WOW) Magazine did a multi-page story on Shawn Michaels in his first retirement. Pictures of his home life with wife Rebecca (Nitro Girl Whisper) as well as shots at his wrestling school were included.

One group shot of his students and trainers stands out above the rest. Sharp-eyed fans will spot the late Lance Cade as well as Brian "Spanky" Kendrick. To the left of Kendrick, almost obscured by his fellow pupils, is the future Daniel Bryan at age 18. Who else can you name in the photo?