Big Action, Little Wrestlers

Collectors have long enjoyed figures in a variety of scales. Recently, it seems that smaller is better. Fans enjoy when they can take their favorite character to work and place it on their desk, perhaps set it in their car, or even just throw it in a bag to have wherever they go. The world-famous Funko Pop! vinyl figures, which have taken on just about every license that you can possibly think of, definitely helped in this latest trend. While there are WWE figures under the Pop! banner, with figures of the Young Bucks soon to join, it's even smaller Funko figures that we'll be looking at here, along with a rogue band of grapplers who fit right alongside.

Funko's WWE Mystery Minis combine the mini-figure craze with the trend of selling toys in the "blind box" fashion, meaning that you aren't sure which figure you will receive upon purchase. Although still caricatures, the Mystery Minis look a bit more realistic than the slightly larger Pop! figures. Two series have been released featuring Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, John Cena, Randy Savage, The Bella Twins, Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Ultimate Warrior, Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter, Kevin Nash, Razor Ramon, Daniel Bryan, The Rock, Ted DiBiase, Bret Hart, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Goldust, The Undertaker, George "The Animal" Steele, Daniel Bryan, The Iron Sheik, Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin, Seth Rollins, Sting, Roman Reigns, and Randy Orton.

The figures are one solid hunk of plastic permanently posed in a signature look. Some of the likenesses are perfect (Piper, Goldust) while others could use work (The Undertaker) and a few have curious choices for design such as Nash (wearing tights) or Hogan and Savage (a mishmash of eras). Regardless, these little guys are fun to collect. A few that were featured in promotional materials, such as Mick Foley, thus far remain unreleased.

Meanwhile, the folks at Pro Wrestling Tees/Pro Wrestling Crate have come up with an "independent" alternative. Utilizing talent that is not signed to WWE, the "Micro Brawlers" line was born. Packaged in baggies with cardboard headers, talent from around the world and a couple of different eras have been included in this ever-expanding line. Already featured are CM Punk, Big Van Vader, Kenny Omega, Colt Cabana, The Young Bucks, Taz, Cody Rhodes, Joey Ryan, Marty Scurll, and Penta el Zero M.

You can tell at first glance that the Micro Brawlers borrow heavily in their cartoonish design from the Mystery Minis. Just look at the heads of the figures right down to their wrestling boots. The figures are very close in scale, however the Brawlers are somewhat thinner. The Mystery Minis are hard plastic, while the Micro Brawlers are an almost bendable rubbery material. While the Brawlers may not be as heavy as the Minis, you still just have to love them. The fact that a small company can produce cool little figures such as these is very impressive. In the same vein, it's interesting that some WWE licensed photos are being used on a few of the packaging headers.

Is it a battle? No way. It's two separate figure utilizing a similar design. The Brawlers are being marketed to their own audience online, while the Minis are targeting the vast WWE Universe. The Brawlers continue to add new stars, while nothing new has been heard on the Mini horizon in quite some time. Ultimately who wins? Those of us who realize that all of these brilliant diminutive wrestling figures compliment each other and combine to form a miniature world of wrestling crossing several eras.

It's a big deal!

Business Is About To Pick Up...At Toys "R" Us

Mattel's "Build-A-Figure" program has been one of my favorite aspects of their WWE line for the past two and a half years.  It's enabled collectors to obtain figures of non-wrestlers that Mattel (often foolishly) feels will not sell packed on their own.  Michael Cole, Ricardo Rodriguez, John Laurinaitis, Teddy Long, Paul Heyman, and commentator/General Manager Booker T are all figures that have seen their debut this way.  In short, a series of four previously released figures (with new attire and accessories) are sold exclusively through Toys "R" Us.  Each of the figures represents the way that the wrestler appeared at a specific pay-per-view event.  The figures also each include separate pieces of the "Build-A-Figure," thus a collector must buy all four of the wrestlers to complete the fifth.

The latest "Build-A-Figure" is none other than "Good 'ol J.R." himself, Jim Ross.  The four figures required to build J.R. are "Elite" versions of CM Punk, Curtis Axel, Randy Orton, and Alberto Del Rio.  Although I've long wished that the figures in these sets were new characters, I've also outlined why they aren't.  It would be against Mattel's better interests to place a never before released character, who sell well all by themselves, in a "gimmick" series where buying all four figures is required regardless.  That being said, it would be nice to see some new faces among the BAF bunch.  This is the third appearances for both Punk and Del Rio in the BAF program.  While I'm fairly positive that we won't see anymore of those two in future sets, it might be fun to see some Divas or tag team members show up.

Although Ross is one of the stronger "fifth figures," this is one of the weaker sets of wrestlers.  Aside from a tweak of the tights or facial hair, every Orton figure is nearly the same.  Punk has a different head/facial design than the last time that he popped up in BAF, but his accessories, a megaphone and "fan" signs, aren't that exciting.  A cloth shirt or hoodie would have worked much better here.  Del Rio might be the best of the bunch with the World Heavyweight Championship and a black monogrammed scarf.  This is Curtis Axel's only "Elite" figure so far, but it comes across as rather bland.  The white-strapped Intercontinental Championship that he is packaged with has already made an appearance in the BAF line.  I would've rather seen Ryback in one of his many colorful singlets in place of Orton, especially.

Ross himself is a very nice figure, and one of the best figures to be collected as a BAF yet.  The pieces are very hidden within the packaging, possibly to avoid another "Al Snow scandal" from 1999.  As the story goes, a busybody mother happened upon an Al Snow figure while shopping in a Wal-Mart.  Snow came packaged with "Head," his female mannequin head sidekick, and the woman mistook it for a disembodied woman's head.  She created a stir that caused an unnecessary recall on the figure.  Going back to Ross, this figure not only has a head, but a trademark black resistol hat to go with it.  The facial likeness is perfect, and while I would have preferred a completely up-to-date J.R. with goatee, I have no complaints.  His "OU" lapel pin honoring J.R.'s beloved Sooners from The University of Oklahoma is even here as a great added detail.  There is an upcoming "announcer" Jerry Lawler figure coming soon that will make a perfect compliment to Ross. 

While you can never be certain, this is likely to be the only Mattel figure of Ross for some time.  The figures required to build Ross aren't the best we've seen, but if you want the fifth you absolutely have to purchase them all.  As of now, it seems that Axel is short packed.  This also happened with the Bret Hart figure from the first BAF set that featured Michael Cole.  Whether or not this will be rectified in the future is anyone's guess.  These figures are usually the "bread and butter" of the WWE holiday buying seasons at Toys "R" Us.  Closer to that time, cases of the BAF sets are often stacked to the ceiling.  An upcoming BAF series featuring "Basic" figures and a "fifth figure" of Paul Bearer has already hit overseas.  These two sets could very well be in the Christmas season WWE toy strategy for "The World's Biggest Toy Store" this year.

In any event, if you want J.R. in your Mattel WWE Universe, the time to pick up these figures is now.  Despite what is announced at press conferences and on WWE broadcasts, I doubt anyone truly buys Michael Cole as "The Voice of WWE."  After being off of WWE telecasts regularly for years and officially out of the company for a few months, Ross is still thought of when a WWE call comes to mind.  J.R. seems to be happy in his current ventures where he is once again successful, but even the biggest WrestleMania moments seem just a tad less important with the voices that WWE currently forces on their Universe.

Boomer Sooner!

A Mattel Flashback To The Unspoiled Days Of CM Punk

Long before the pink and starred "Macho Man" tribute tights, I often thought of CM Punk as a sort of modern day Randy Savage.  Punk marches to his own beat, captivated the wrestling business both in and out of the ring, and did memorable business with wrestling's "superhero" of the era.  Savage did all of that, too.  The other thing that both share could be described either as a steadfast hold on ones beliefs or as a hard streak of stubbornness.  Many point to that trait as the reason why Savage never returned to the spotlight to enjoy the accolades that so many of his legendary peers did.  Will Punk follow suit?

As of yet, CM Punk has not fully been scraped from the consciousness of wrestling fans.  His merchandise is said to still be sold at WWE events.  Items sold at retail will take even longer to disappear, as Mattel is still releasing figures of Punk that were planned long in advance.  One of these just began to hit collectors hands in the past few days.  An online retailer exclusive, the newest CM Punk figure in Mattel's Elite line is a Flashback entry.

The figure is a look back to Punk's reign as ECW Champion.  This was not the original incarnation of ECW, but rather its revival as a WWE brand.  For the various men that held the championship during this era, Punk was probably the closest to what Paul Heyman envisioned an ECW wrestler to be.  Even then, Heyman was a "CM Punk Guy" and there is little doubt that Punk would have been a standout in the original Extreme Championship Wrestling.

As a whole, this figure has a lot of red and black.  The handsome current Elite figure packaging is red with a large era-correct Punk portrait.  The window is filled, as it should be, with a variety of accessories.  Included here are an ECW microphone, rubber shirt, and the first Mattel release of the ECW Championship belt.  A lot of detail was put into the belt as well as the strap and I would not be surprised to see it show up again in a future release.

The attire is red and black which was one of his more frequently used color combinations.  Jakks figures from the time were produced in a similar design.  The shirt is the familiar skeleton design that he wore on many occasions.  Mattel has a fixation on rubber shirts, likely due to cost. I'd much rather see fabric shirts, but it does properly fit onto the figure with some patience.

From the tattoos (the Pepsi and Cobra logos are not present) to the tights, there is a very nice amount of detail here.  "DRUG FREE" is spelled out on the fingers and there's even black nail polish.  Everything that the angsty and angry wrestling fan could want.  The face isn't quite as spot on as the Jakks representations were, but it's very very good.  There's no doubt that this is Punk.

Online exclusives can be very hit-or-miss sales-wise.  Some will sell quickly and become sought after while others will languish for years as $11.99 Arbor Day specials.  I fully expect this to be the former due to the recent interest in Punk, the accessories, and the fact that it really is a nice figure, in and out of the packaging.

Going back to the beginning and the question of 2014: will that Savage-level of stubbornness keep Punk away from the ring forever?  As a thirteen-year fan of CM Punk I can honestly say that I do not know and I do not care.  Punk walked away from the business for a variety of speculated reasons.  The chants of his name at events absolutely boggle my mind. At first, the chants were likely due to confusion as to why he left and an attempt to copy the Daniel Bryan uproar.  The Bryan situation was a case of fans trying to get what they wanted from a company.  On the other hand, if Punk isn't there, the WWE can't present him.  Continual chants do nothing but interrupt other stars who are trying to entertain and further feed the ego of someone who would likely deny having one.

The most recent word is that Punk is tired of handling the fame and fortune.  Looking in from the outside, it's easy for any of us to be disgusted by that thought and think that we would easily exchange those problems with our own.  Allow me to be the first to volunteer.

I've previously chronicled in this blog that I've followed Punk since 2001.  I don't care for the "even then, I knew he was something special" cliche, but in this case it's true. You could also tell, even then, that his lifestyle wasn't always conducive with that of a professional wrestler.  If you look into that mindset through the attitude he displays, you have to wonder if he hates that idea of money and success so much that he has begun to despise himself.  Once again, I'll take both the money and success off of his hands if that's the case.

Before we get too dramatic and I feel the need to call noted wrestling psychologist Dr. Sydney M. Basil for his opinion, I will simply say that Punk has given us a lot to enjoy.  An absolutely fantastic career where, if it is indeed over, we never had to see a drop in quality.  That's something that we can all be satisfied with.

From The Musty Yellowed Pages--WrestleMania XXIV Program

With just a few days remaining as of press time until WrestleMania XXX, I thought it would be in the spirit of "getting into the Mania mood" to take a look back at one of the twenty-nine previous events.  One of the first entries here on the blog covered the collectability of WrestleMania programs.  At that time, the WrestleMania XXIV program was the "newest" available (with XXV debuting a few weeks later), and back then I did not even own it.  I never could have imagined where the copy that did end up with me would emanate from.

Of the WrestleMania's of the past decade, XXIV is my second favorite.  It was my favorite of the era until my obvious bias and undying love of WrestleMania XXIX came about.  It was outdoors, it had the dramatic lighting effect that only Mother Nature can pull off, and it had several "WrestleMania moments" that have been shown time and time again.  Most of all, it had the "WrestleMania feel," something that not every show under the banner has been able to pull off.

Near the front of the program are pages dedicated to the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2008.  WWE has taken several different directions regarding programs for WrestleMania and the Hall of Fame ceremony itself.  2008 marked the final year in which a smaller, more elegant, Hall of Fame program was produced.  In 2009, a standalone Hall of Fame program of the same size as the WrestleMania programs was available.  From 2010-on, the programs were merged into one and sold the entire weekend at Axxess, the Hall of Fame, and WrestleMania.

The particular copy shown here was acquired from the daughter and son-in-law of Gordon Solie, Pam and Robert Allyn.  The Allyn's were present at the event to honor the late "Dean of Wrestling Broadcasters" who was inducted into the Hall of Fame that year along with Eddie Graham, Jack and Jerry Brisco, Rocky Johnson, Peter Maivia, Mae Young, and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.  The Hall took on a decidedly Floridian flavor that year, especially considering the inclusion of Graham and Solie.

Like most of the WrestleMania events of the past ten years, the title matches are actually rather forgettable.  This is due to several factors, one of which is that all of the main eventers of the time had constantly battled on pay-per-view, tv, and house shows many times before they did so on the "grandest stage of them all."  Gone were the days of true dream matches like Hogan-Warrior that were built with the slightest of pre-Mania contact.  Could these days be returning?  With more weekly content than ever it will be difficult, but at least the stories are somewhat leaning in that direction.

Another reason that the Mania title matches of this era don't quite measure up is that fans simply weren't behind the main eventers of the time as they once had been.  In a fact that's been discussed to death, WrestleMania (and WWE shows in general) began to sell solely on the brand name factor alone rather than the drawing power of select stars.  Although I have speculated that we may going back in the opposite direction with stars like Daniel Bryan, The Shield, The Wyatt Family, and even the Rhodes and Uso families, the remnants of the past "era of disinterest" is still very evident with the backlash on names like Randy Orton and Batista.

WrestleMania XXIV gets past the damning title matches with a strong undercard and some very memorable special attraction matches.  From a mainstream standpoint, it didn't get any bigger than boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather going up against The Big Show.  Show, at the time just returning to WWE, may come out on the losing end of many of his Mania matches, but his performances are second-to-none.  Carrying a non-wrestler to an entertaining and believable match can in no way be easy, but Show did it here.  Seeing as that Mayweather is still a top grossing star and did very well in his WrestleMania appearance, it would not surprise me to see the company work with him again somewhere down the pike.

Perhaps even more memorable was the match between Flair and Shawn Michaels.  Going in, most fans realized that Flair would be losing this match, which in turn would trigger his retirement.  I can tell you from watching the show live with a mixed group of casual and regular wrestling fans, it didn't matter to anyone.  Two of the all-time greats told a story that could captivate fans on any level.  Although it didn't turn out to be Flair's final match altogether, it will ultimately be his final WWE match.

Aside from a hot opener billed as a "Belfast Brawl" between Fit Finlay and JBL, a then-WrestleMania traditional Money In The Bank match was another big highlight.  Looking back it's interesting to see what happened to the seven men involved.  The winner, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho have had many WWE highlights since, but MVP, Ken Kennedy, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, and John Morrison all but fell into the same vacuum that other WWE mid-carders of the era did.  Sure, several have gone on to careers in TNA and Japan, but there is something about the mid-carders of the post-Attitude Era that leaves a fan wondering.  Many of them had so much talent, but they just never seemed to catch on.  Whether it was a residue effect of the aforementioned problem of no one single talent really setting the company on fire at the time or their own individual career moves and choices, we'll never really know.

This WrestleMania program is unlike many of the others in that it includes a poster highlighting the Show-Mayweather match as well as the two title matches.  This "bonus" is reminiscent of an old style wrestling event poster and helps give the title matches a bit more "oomph," although it is telling that the boxer vs wrestler match overshadows everything else.  The inclusion of a poster is very hit or miss with pay-per-view programs (several in the '94-'95 era had them as does Survivor Series 2011), so it's always a nice little extra.

In the back, we get one-page WrestleMania "capsules" profiling the previous twenty-three events.  These were a staple for several years of the large Mania programs, with one added each year.  One huge mistake somehow went unnoticed for several years with the WrestleMania III page listing and showing WrestleMania 2 celebrities Rick Schroeder, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Elvira.  A small oversight to some, but after appearing a few years in a row, it started to become the first thing that I would turn to find.

Mania programs rarely disappoint, even if the corresponding show does.  With XXIV we had a winning show and a nice program to boot that, while not the rarest, isn't the easiest to find in the collection.  Of any niche wrestling collectors that I hear from the most, it's definitely WrestleMania program collectors.  After all, "The Greatest Sports Entertainment Extravaganza of All-Time" should have the greatest memorabilia of all-time.  What will the thirtieth edition bring us?  Time will tell.  "Laissez les bon temps rouler" may be this years tagline, but I think that the thousands of fans in the Superdome will more likely be chanting, "Sainte merde!"

Topps Carries Their WWE Run Into 2014

 After the "Glory" of last week, Topps and their WWE product get some equal time under the bright lights of the blog.  Putting out an average of two sets a year, Topps has had ups and downs with their WWE card series.  Reuse of photos, little variation in design, and a feeling that the company has gotten complacent at times with their WWE product hasn't always helped propel the cards to the tops of collectors lists.  Looking at the box where not much more than the color has been changed doesn't bode well, but let's take a look inside.

WWE 2014 is the first trading card offering of the year from Topps.  A 110-card base set is accompanied by several subsets, base card parallels, and, of course, tons of hits.  From autographs to relics to new championship plate cards, there are tons of hits to hunt for as is usually the case.  The autograph list is rather unremarkable this time around, with Shawn Michaels and John Cena probably being the most desirable.

Opening a hobby box ensures two hits.  Guaranteed are one event-worn relic and one card from one of four categories: autograph, Diva kiss card, championship plate card, or mat relic.  The mat relic cards are the least desirable of these.  They're long overdone in the wrestling trading card world, but are the easiest to produce.  The mat was changed in between each match at WrestleMania 29.  I saw "cleanliness" as a reason given as to why it was done.  I guess the WWE Superstars are allowed to perform dirty at every other show.  The WrestleMania 29 mat relic cards from the previous Topps set is proof positive.

I was lucky enough to pull one of the new championship plate cards.  One of thirty different stars or teams are featured, along with three inset plates of the current representation of the championship that the wrestler(s) held.  With the recent controversy surrounding the "Straight Edge Superstar," there may have been no better plate to pull than that of CM Punk's.  The plates are more than just gold etched foil.  They're what you might see a medallion produced from, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of these cards in the future.

The 110-card base set is full of just about every current WWE superstar that you can think of.  In fact, I think that just a bit too many members of the roster were included.  Jim Ross is said to have written the card backs, and even Good 'Ol J.R. seemed to struggle to think of a few sentences for a number of these stars.  The world really did not need yet another Curt Hawkins or Rosa Mendes card.  The final fifteen cards of the set are Legends, and it's nice to see names like Larry Zbyszko, Diamond Dallas Page, and the Honky Tonk Man in the set.

My favorite subset is made up of twenty cards dedicated to the young talent of NXT.  Names already familiar to the WWE Universe such as Emma, Alexander Rusev, and Adrian Neville (especially after his showing on WWE Network's NXT ArRival) are included as are future names such as Bayley, Konnor O'Brien, and Mojo Rawley.  Interestingly enough, Xavier Woods, who has been on the main WWE roster for a few months now, is featured in the NXT subset while Bo Dallas is in the base WWE set.  Dallas has not been seen outside of NXT since the 2013 Royal Rumble.

Other subsets include WWE Champions, Greatest Contenders, and Greatest Championship Matches.  These cards feature some great shots of past and present superstars and events, including another new Bruno Sammartino card.  In fact, this set struck a special place in my heart with several generations of Pittsburgh wrestling included.  In addition to the aforementioned Zbyszko and Sammartino cards, a Bragging Rights 2009 card (the final pay-per-view held in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena) and a rookie card of NXT star Corey Graves (Pittsburgh's Sterling James Keenan) are also here to represent the Steel City.

Overall, I'm pleased with this set.  You could have skipped every set since WWE Heritage 2012 (my all-time favorite Topps set) and not missed much.  A nice design (the same as that of Topps 2014 sports sets), some new rookies, and Legends new to the Topps collection are definite highlights.  I was even able to complete a 110-card base set from one single hobby box.  That being said, I'd have preferred another non-gloss set this time around, but there's time for that.  A Chrome version of this set is coming in June, which is my least favorite type of card, but that means that there will be at least one more set of product coming in 2014.  WWE Heritage 2014?  Based off of the 1987 Topps WWF design?  Let's do it.

Oh yeah, each hobby box does include two hits.  What was my other hit?  Well.  No "Glory" days here, that's for sure...

WrestleMania XXIX: The Figures

 If you're a fan of Mattel's WWE product or even just slightly interested, the next two months here on the blog will be a real treat for you.  A surge of items are already hitting shelves, many of which just happen to find their release during the holiday shopping season.  The figures here today are, for the most part, being released in conjunction with the hysteria.  Although Mattel releases exclusive WWE items for several retailers, Toys "R" Us often has the most interesting of the bunch.

Though I never intended to get them all, I've become quite a fan of Mattel's Build-A-Figure collections.  Always exclusive to Toys "R" Us, so far we have seen Michael Cole, Ricardo Rodriguez, John Laurinaitis, and Teddy Long released in this manner.  The concept is simple: a set of four figures is released each containing portions of a fifth figure.  When all four figures are opened, you are able to build the fifth.  The fifth figures have, so far, been stars who were non-wrestling personalities in the company.  These are usually characters that Mattel feels will not sell well on their own, although a Rodriguez single release figure is forthcoming.

This holiday season we are treated to two Build-A-Figure sets released simultaneously.  Both sets are completely made up of superstars in the attires that they wore at WrestleMania XXIX.  Booker T, dressed as either GM or Hall of Famer (take your pick) is included in a series of Basic figures while Paul Heyman is in an Elite collection.  The Elite figures are, as usual, at a higher price point and include more accessories.  Seeing as that these figures do include the Build-A-Figure pieces, they are priced higher than their normal Basic and Elite counterparts.  Thankfully, many Toys "R" Us stores received these figures as a "Buy 1 Get 1 40% Off" sale was occurring.  That, coupled with my well-documented love of WrestleMania XXIX, I couldn't find a reason to pass the sets up.

It should be said that many collectors are sometimes less than happy with the figures chosen to be in these sets.  Obviously a new character isn't going to be debuted among the four figures needed to build the fifth (Fandango would've been ideal here), as the selling point is already in the Build-A-Figure.  Personally, I refrain from buying any figure repaints (and sometimes even figures that Jakks produced en masse) so that when these sets are released I'm not totally disappointed in the lineups.

Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, The Rock, and The Undertaker are in the Basic set that builds Booker T.  I've always been a fan of figures wearing their countries colors, so this is actually a welcome Del Rio repaint.  There also have not been too many releases of The Undertaker with his mohawk.  His WrestleMania attire complete with "RIP PB" (Paul Bearer) design is a nice touch.  These figures do not include accessories other than the pieces of Booker.

Can you dig it?  Booker T is impressive.  He's accurately a taller figure and seems to have the same legs as the Laurinaitis figure.  Booker's glasses seem a bit "cloudy" in the lenses but are removable.  They fit nice and snug into his hair.  Perhaps the only thing missing is a hand in his trademark "Five Time" pose, but nonetheless this figure is ready to perform a Spinaroonie...perhaps next to the Hall of Fame podium that is included with the upcoming Bruno Sammartino figure.

The Paul Heyman set gets a few extra points because of the Elite accessories included.  Although it was previously included with an Elite figure of The Rock, this set features the new WWE Championship Belt with John Cena.  It's a very nice accessory and perfectly compliments the metallic-painted WWE Tag Team Championship Belts that are included with Daniel Bryan.  It's interesting that the "Heyman guys" of the set are both the best and the worst.  Punk is rather bland but does include a perfect replica of the urn.  Lesnar is the sleeper of all of these.  I'm not the biggest Lesnar fan and was originally disappointed that I would have to purchase another (a Basic Lesnar was in the Teddy Long Build-A-Figure set), but upon closer examination it became my favorite among these sets.  The amazingly detailed and lifelike figure includes Lesnar's skull cap and the steel ring steps that became almost the third star of his match against Triple H at WrestleMania.  These steps fit onto the various rings that Mattel has released and even have the side "handles" used by the stars in brawls.

Heyman scores a few less points with me than Booker, but not too much.  It's a great figure of the "Walrus" complete with "mad scientist" scowl and ever-receding hairline.  A microphone would've been a fun accessory considering that the figures hand could hold one and it's the item that allows him to be one of the main reasons to watch Monday Night Raw.  In the spirit of WrestleMania, the urn can be positioned in Heyman's arms.  It should be noted that, like Rodriguez, Heyman will also be released outside of the Build-A-Figure series in the future.

There's also what could be described as an "unofficial official" bonus figure to this set.  Many who purchased these series were treated to the Toys "R" Us holiday exclusive Elite Triple H figure for free.  Though it can be purchased separately, this figure is free to consumers who spent over $30 on Mattel WWE items.  Seeing as that the figure is also based upon WrestleMania XXIX, it fits right in with the ten other figures shown here.  It is one of the very first figures of Helmsley to feature his new shorter hair style, and includes a cloth t-shirt and the same sturdy sledgehammer that was packaged with last year's exclusive of The Undertaker.  Jakks was never able to produce a proper looking sledge hammer thanks to the company using very bendable plastic on the accessory.  Mattel gets it right, and it looks perfect when placed into the hands of "The Game."

The Build-A-Figure collection continues to grow.  Although I'm not particularly happy that Rodriguez and Heyman will now be placed into regular lines, I doubt that we'll ever see Cole, Long, and Laurinaitis redone.  Recent announcements from Mattel suggest that we will be seeing Build-A-Figures of both Paul Bearer and Jim Ross.  Both will be welcome additions to the lineup.  My beloved WrestleMania XXIX will also live on in 2014, as my most long-awaited figure of the year, Zeb Colter, will be released under that banner in an upcoming WrestleMania Heritage series.  Welcome to a "Very Mattel Holiday Season!"

CM Punk--Best In The Blu-Ray Player

One thing that many WWE DVD and Blu-Ray collectors have learned is that patience is a virtue.  A money-saving virtue, at that.  While there's no shame in purchasing the newest videos on release day, it's become apparent in the past few years that if you wait, you'll be saving some money.  Whether it's on WWE's own online shop or the discount bin at Wal Mart, it seems as if many of these releases are showing up at a lower price faster than ever.  When one of the discounted items just happens to be a release that you were prepared to pay full price for, it sweetens the pot even more.  That's exactly why I finally decided to take on the "Best in the World."

For "WrestleMania Season," Wal Mart stores have devoted a section of their DVD/Blu-Ray section to WWE product.  The display is topped with newly packaged DVDs of WrestleMania's 1 thru 15.  The many issues with those re-releases have been chronicled elsewhere, but the true gems in the promotion are positioned below.  The crown jewel?  "CM Punk--Best In The World."  A two-disc Blu-Ray that was just released last year for only $13?  Who could pass it up?

It's no secret that I'm a CM Punk fan.  Thanks to a local promotion frequently booking him in his early days, I sat ringside for some of the greatest matches I've ever witnessed live including Punk vs Eddy Guerrero, Punk vs Chris Hero, and several versions of Punk vs Christopher Daniels.  You always here people say that they "knew" that men such as Shawn Michaels or Steve Austin would be huge stars one day after seeing them early in their careers.  I always felt that was a little bull and a lot of hindsight.  After being exposed to CM Punk matches for about six months, I suddenly realized that the "gut" feeling can be very real.

Friends of mine who had seen the documentary on this release informed me that it was just like reliving those early days of Punk's career.  As surreal as it was to see Punk in a WWE ring for the first time or his first action figure, it's just as amazing to see that early indy footage show up on a WWE-produced documentary.  Comments from those with him in the early years help bring those decade-old stories to life and explain a side of professional wrestling that many of the "WWE Universe" crowd are probably very unfamiliar with.

While Punk's rise through the indies is interesting, the documentaries strongest point is how candid and truthful it was permitted to be regarding the infamous "backstage politics" in WWE.  To hear many tell it, no one persevered through that struggle better than CM Punk.  Though a few of his gripes seem more egotistical than anything (especially dismay over reporting to WWE's then-developmental territory, OVW), Punk did seem to struggle extraordinarily from his WWE debut to where he is today.  For someone of his immense talent, his ascension to the top was obviously hit by roadblock after roadblock.  "Best In The World" does a great job providing both sides to that story.

Many of the best features and stories filmed exclusively for this release actually show up on the second disc as special features.  Some are informative while others are purely an entertaining look at the life of one of the company's most popular stars.  No matter if you agree or disagree, you will learn exactly how Punk feels about almost everything.  Despite disagreeing with almost 99% of Punk's ideology, I found that it's almost impossible not to respect him.  Anyone who respects The Ultimate Warrior, as you'll learn in the special features, has to have something going on up there!

Of course a plethora of matches are included as well, beginning with a match from OVW and ending in the middle of last year.  Perhaps the only gripe I have with the release is here.  At least a couple of matches from Punk's early days should be included here.  Clips are shown through the documentary, and I'm sure many fans who've never seen them would be thrilled.

$13?  You can't go wrong.  For $13 it's worth it for the 2011 Money In The Bank Punk-Cena main event in high definition alone.  Heck, at full price you really couldn't go wrong here.  This is the best WWE release in a long, long time.  The brutal honestly that WWE allowed in the documentary cements that.

Is Punk's biggest moment yet to come?  Is he taking "The Streak" this Sunday?  If you're not already partcipating in our social media expansions to the blog, what are you waiting for?  Although we have a nice view of our Twitter feed on the side of this page, why not follow us @JWsWrestlingMem?  Even better, "Like" our Facebook Fanpage for a live look at so much of the excitement that will be going on in the New York/New Jersey area this weekend!  Whether you're joining us in The Big Apple or watching from your living room, enjoy WrestleMania XXIX!

Globes, Eagles, & Spinners...The WWE Championship Belt

I'm with the wrestling fans, those that have made it into the industry and outsiders, who feel that the endless conflicts in the ring should ultimately revolve around one thing: becoming the champion.  Certainly many other issues arise from month-to-month and year-to-year in the wrestling world, but a wrestler's main goal should be to one day become the best at what he does.  Whether it's the championship of a company or the often controversy "World" champion claim, capturing that title should, in theory, signify the best.  Therefore, the championship should look as spectacular as anything ever seen inside of a wrestling ring.

Should the belt be small or should it be large?  Should the design declare the name of the company of which the belt represents or should it simply be the "World" championship?  These are the arguments that fans of championship belts and wrestling in general have debated for years now.

Being a collector of belts only dates back about a decade.  While every wrestling fan has salivated at the thought of holding one of the many beautiful belts in wrestling's history, it has only been about ten years since affordable replicas have been available to the public.  Plenty of toy representations were produced before that, but none truly captured what it would be like to actually hold the dreams of every wrestler.  Since then, replicas of belts from a variety of wrestling companies past and present have been produced.

Of course, a "true" belt fan will tell you that the only true way to enjoy a championship belt in your own collection is to have one produced from the same men who create the belts used on television.  These belts cost thousands of dollars and take anywhere from months to years to be produced.  Seeing many of these creations in person, if one has the money to invest it is truly the way to go.  For the rest of us, the mass produced replica belts are an enjoyable alternative that still wow most any fan who comes in contact with them.

WWE has wasted no time in marketing a replica of the newest design of the WWE Championship.  Literally minutes after being unveiled on television, a replica of the championship was made available at around $450.  Some are already bashing the championship without even giving it a shot.  To begin with, the design is worlds better than the belt that has to be considered the worst of all-time, the "spinner" WWE Championship.  That particular belt hit two negative chords with me.  Aside from being ridiculous as a whole, in my opinion a championship design should never be customized for a particular champion.  Novelty belts such as Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Belt not included, a "sanctioned" company championship should not represent any individual champion in design.  While The Rock's Brahma Bull logo does appear on the side plates of the new belt, it appears that these side plates will change depending on the champion thus creating an interesting update to the "nameplate" design seen on so many belts of the past.

The new WWE Championship is flashy yet proudly announces the simple message firmly emblazoned on the front: "WWE Champion."  While it's a shame that the longest reigning and most memorable champion in recent years, CM Punk, did not have this belt for his historic reign, holding the "spinner" belt actually helped his character's cause.  The garish nature and almost universally hated design was a prime example of something that CM Punk would in fact stand against.  There's no doubt that Punk will be adding this new belt to his career record somewhere down the line.

The WWE's other major championship, their World Heavyweight Championship, carries a design largely unchanged since 1985.  The core of this belt is based on one of Ric Flair's NWA Championship designs and one that is among the all-time favorites of many fans, myself included.  "Big Gold," as it is lovingly referred to, reflected the class, glitz, and glamor of Flair's character while proudly proclaiming itself as the symbol of being the "World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion."  This design has remained as WWE's World Heavyweight Championship for over a decade now.  I've long dreaded the day when it will be replaced, as seeing so many of today's stars wear this classic looking belt around their waist is a great honor to the past.

Fans can finally rejoice, the spinner belt is history!  A new design is set to be with us for the long haul.  While many of us hoped for a return to something along the lines of the famed "winged eagle" or "undisputed" championships, I feel that the new kid on the block represents exactly what WWE is, a company providing entertainment that will (hopefully) never fully leave their true roots: professional wrestling.