The Greatest Hits Of The Legends

Four true blue wrestling legends on Thanksgiving? Sounds like a winning Survivor Series team to me! Instead of once again talking about the past glories of wrestling on Thanksgiving night, I thought it’d be fun to look back at four Mattel WWE Legends figures that are suddenly new again. It’s the Mattel WWE Legends Greatest Hits series. Exclusive to your favorite bullseyed retailer, the set started hitting stores earlier this month. And what about that phantom fifth figure? He’s still on the back! Grab some bread, Dukes mayo and either white or dark meat. It’s time for your first turkey sandwich of the night and a look at some toys!

While the initial Mattel WWE Greatest Hits line has already had several legends included, a retailer exclusive subset has now been introduced and is dedicated solely to the stars of yesteryear. The Greatest Hits concept itself brings previously released figures back to the line, almost always with some sort of upgrade. For the first set of Legends we’ve got The Ultimate Warrior, The Honky Tonk Man, Terry Funk and The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. The four are packaged in the Legends box design that we’re all quite familiar with. It will also likely be the last set to be in this particular box design as the next regular Legends set release is already known to be coming in brand new packaging. This set has been arriving to the stores in a “sidekick” (those cardboard displays that hang at the end of an aisle) featuring the same art as the individual boxes.

These four figures were originally released before three major design changes in the Mattel line: “True FX” facial scans, extra elbow jointing and removable hands. If you already have the four it’s up to you if picking up the new versions are worth the upgrade. Interestingly, Bruno Sammartino is still shown on the back of the box. The Living Legend was originally scheduled as the fifth figure in the series but was ultimately moved to a main line release in the Elite Series 110. Seeing as that this figure was, arguably, the best of the series, it may not be such a bad move. Bruno has only ever had one release in the Mattel line and that was a decade ago. This figure will seemingly have a greatly updated face thanks to the new technology and, for the first time as a figure anywhere, Bruno will be released in green trunks. It should be noted that while he remains on the packaging for this series, he was omitted from the store display art.

One of these figures is brand new to me, personally, and that would be Davey Boy Smith. This was the very first figure of the British Bulldog released by Mattel over a decade ago and, at the time, I simply wasn’t sold on the changeover from Jakks. I was basically buying figures such as Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage who Jakks hadn’t made or previously released characters with all-new looks from Mattel such as short-haired SummerSlam ’90 Rick Rude. For whatever reason, short-haired Hart Foundation Davey didn’t make my cut back then. Now he does. I’ll say that he isn’t quite bulky enough and maybe that put me off of the original release. We all remember how big Davey was at the time, albeit with tragic consequences. Still, I’m glad to finally get the figure and the soft goods Hart Foundation vest is great.

The Ultimate Warrior is always a favorite and a hot seller. This look has been done several times but the Elite version here was first available in a Flashback series that I reviewed here on the blog so many years ago. Included are the Macho King’s “breakaway” scepter (the plastic-y Royal Rumble ’91 version that was used to cost the Warrior the title while he was wearing this attire) and the WWF “winged eagle” championship belt on the never-before-released pinkish-purple strap. The inclusion of a “new” belt should cause this figure to be popular alone. While I have tons of fists from other figures, as I’m sure you do as well, I really feel a set should’ve been included here. The Warrior’s fists were always flying.

The Honky Tonk Man in his blue jumpsuit was a welcomed addition to this set by many. Not only is it an iconic look, but the original release has deteriorated in the eyes of many. This blue jumpsuit with The Honky Tonk Man caricature was originally included in the Retrofest line a few years ago which is best remembered for being packaged in cool arcade game cabinet-styled boxes. What the line is infamous for is that the blue jumpsuit has faded to a light purple for many collectors. Hopefully a different dye/material/whatever was used to prevent this for this re-release. The face is sort of neutral here and I wouldn’t say that it really looks EXACTLY like ol’ HTM, but it’s not someone completely different, either.

For a few reasons, the star of this set for me is The Funker. We may have just lost him, but we all knew that he’d live on. This version of Funk relives his reign as ECW Champion. The face looks pretty much identical to the original but it’s two other features that I enjoy. The first is the inclusion of taped fists. You know you’ve seen countless photos of The Funker posing with those legendary and lethal taped fists. The other feature, which is included with all of these figures, is that the head is removable. Because of this you can take one of the heads from the Terry Funk figure out of The Coliseum Collection and attach it to this body. While the tights are a tad more colorful here, this “mix” is very close to an ’89-era Funk look. I can feel the figure photography already.

This is a solid set. It would have been even better with Bruno, but at least we are eventually getting him. I predict good sales, too, as it’s hitting just as the holiday buying season is kicking in. That’s not to say that these guys will evade clearance completely, but you just don’t know. Grandma Mabel Bertha Ethel remembers these names and is sure that her grandson, Hunter Axel Liam, is going to want these under his tree. It’s also hard to say if stores will be getting shipments beyond what comes included in the sidekick display. Whatever the case may be, it’s a nice lineup to kick off the Legends Greatest Hits. Now go! Get outta here! Grab another sandwich or make your first leftover plate. Why not fire up a classic Survivor Series? To make it simple for you, I’ll suggest 1989. You know you want to hear Vince yelling the names.

“Gobble, gobble.”—Gorilla Monsoon

WWF '80s Cover Boys (& Girl)

What were you doing a decade ago this week? If you were a reader of this blog back then, and I hope that you were, you may have been reading about Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It was ten years ago here on the blog that I chose my five favorite covers of everyone’s favorite then-33 year old (now 43!) wrestling magazine. A magazine that’s slightly less aged yet just as classic is the official WWF Magazine. I can proudly say that I’ve long chronicled the history of the now defunct publication, even garnering the attention of WWE itself. No matter what their official take is, the first in-house publication was the WWWF Wrestling Action Magazine. All five issues have been displayed and discussed here on the blog and probably will be again. The two issues of WWF Victory Magazine from 1984 are what WWE considers to be their first and those two editions certainly hold a value similar to that of the earlier Wrestling Action titles. No matter how you look it at, the publication that eventually became WWF Magazine in its longest incarnation was bound for success. I’m sure you have some favorite issues and often that’s determined by the cover. So just as I did with PWI ten years ago, here are my top five favorite covers from the 1980s… 

*Who personified the ‘80s wrestling boom better than Hulk Hogan and Wendi Richter? Certainly had the latter stayed with the company longer she would be even better remembered, but don’t discount the impact of Miss Richter. Managed by Cyndi Lauper, Wendi Richter was a household name around the time of the first WrestleMania. Her cover appearance on the October/November 1984 WWF Magazine, teamed with The Hulkster himself, reflects just how popular women’s wrestling had grown. Was it the first women’s wrestling revolution? It absolutely was. Nearly forty years later and we’re actually able to recreate this cover in action figure form. Hmm… 

*He’s cool, he’s cocky and he’s bad. You know he’s The Honky Tonk Man and in September 1987 he proudly displayed his newly-won Intercontinental Championship on the cover of the WWF Magazine. This isn’t just a nice cover, it’s a striking cover. Between Honky’s expression, the hair and of course that legendary championship belt (complete with the beloved red WWF logo), this photo is a work of art in my opinion. This is the type of photo that would be featured if some hoity toity magazine were doing a fluff article on pro wrestling. Instead it’s here in a magazine for wrestling fans as opposed to putting down wrestling fans. 

*I’m a Christmas guy. There have been several great Christmas wrestling magazine covers over the years but the one that makes my list is the December 1984/January 1985 WWF Magazine featuring Sgt. Slaughter. The Rowdy Roddy Piper cover of a year later comes ever so close, but something about the Christmas card-quality of the Slaughter design just wins out for me. It’s also interesting to think that Slaughter was gone from the company by the time that the cover date came around with his last recorded match being in early December. I miss when holidays were celebrated more publicly like this. 

*Flying up to March 1989 we’ve got a purely 1980’s cover featuring my all-time favorite tag team, Demolition. It may also be notable that three of my five favorite covers shown here feature championship belts in addition to the stars that held them. Demolition was in the midst of their first of three WWF Tag Team Championship reigns and were undoubtedly the hottest tag team going. I respect The Road Warriors, but Demolition carved out a legacy all their own. In addition to being able to have great, entertaining matches with any style of team, the boys also didn’t overstay their welcome. Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow are also two of the nicest guys in the business. Let’s just say that with Demolition the best part of the match wasn’t limited to their ring entrance. 

*The early years of the magazine certainly produced a lot of memorable covers. October/November 1985 featured an absolutely dramatic scene with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. Though the exciting superstar had torn through the NWA over the years, Steamboat was still relatively new to the WWF and “The Dragon” persona. Evoking thoughts of Bruce Lee was always a goal during Steamboat’s time in the WWF and that is certainly evident here. Though he would get a few program covers, including a very memorable one featuring the Intercontinental Championship belt, this would prove to be his only solo appearance. 

Well, that was certainly a bit of a “who’s who” of ‘80s WWF talent. I guess in another decade we’ll go with a different magazine. The Wrestler? Wrestling Revue? Championship Wrestling Magazine from Memphis? For the latter we’d only have six issues to pick the five from so it certainly wouldn’t be too difficult. In the meantime, keep flipping those pages of the past!

Topps WWE Heritage 2016 Turns Back The Clock To 1986

Could my favorite style of wrestling trading cards finally be getting a steady yearly release? It's been roughly ten months since the last time we visited the Topps WWE Heritage series which saw release in November 2015. That set was nice, but it didn't knock my socks off. Any Heritage set is great in my book with the classic cardboard/no gloss style, but the 2015 edition didn't manage to crack my top three. Here in 2016 we've received another Heritage set, but will it be a collection worthy of the best (2012) or will it sort of fizzle like many of the non-Heritage WWE card releases do?

As usual with Heritage, I cracked open a hobby box. As with most Topps WWE releases, a hobby box guarantees two "hits" (autographs, relics, etc.) and, in recent years, has almost always yielded a complete base card set. The design of the box remains very similar to 2015, changing in color from blue to yellow. The bright colors work well for these retro sets. Once again a mixture of current and past WWE Superstars adorn the box, with no real surprises as far as names included. The packs themselves feature The Rock, John Cena, and Andre the Giant.

The base card design this year is based off the 1986 Topps Baseball collection. I owned that full set as a kid, probably still do, and I remember it being a favorite. In place of the MLB team names we get Superstar, Legend, or NXT. Some of the autograph cards have "Diva," as well, in what will likely be the last time that we see that designation. The photo selections are good, although I noticed at least one change from the sales sheets. A "Macho King" Randy Savage card was planned and for whatever reason we got a rather ordinary "Macho Man" card instead. A change to "Macho King" would've been something different, but I'm sure something got in the way to cause the switch.

As usual we get several subsets including "Record Breaker," "WCW/nWo All Star," and "Turn Back The Clock." The latter features inset reprints of older cards. In addition to cards from Topps 1985 and 1987 WWF sets, foreign releases are included as well. It should be noted that the original WWF block logos are switched to the WWE block logo on the reprints. These "Turn Back The Clock" cards are based on a baseball subset that I also had, and enjoyed, in my youth. The "WCW/nWo All Star" cards feature some great, rarely used photos from the WCW archive. There is also a subset featuring The Rock that are not actual Heritage cards. If you remember my review of Heritage 2015, you already know my feelings on these and thus they are not shown here.

My autograph "hit" from this set was a Brie Bella on-card autograph. I'm very glad that the on-card autographs have returned for Heritage. Ever since Topps started integrating the on-card autos into their sets, I've quite frankly been spoiled. I was very disappointed when, upon opening a box of Topps WWE 2016, the autograph card was once again a stick-on. While the autograph pulls in Heritage 2016 are sharp, I can't say the same thing for the relics. I pulled a Bray Wyatt Survivor Series mat relic that is, to be perfectly honest, boring. While relics are definitely overdone at this point, things can be done to make them more appealing. That is not the case here.

As usual, my focus is the 110-card base set. For most card reviews, the base set is what I base my final opinion on. Opening the hobby box, I once again received all 110 base cards. It's a solid lineup featuring plenty of current favorites and a healthy dose of past greats. For collectors like myself who enjoy getting the base cards signed, it's becoming more and more a reminder each year of just how many legends we've lost. As new sets get released, there are less legends around to sign. This set does feature more recent alumni/legends such as Rikishi, Road Dogg, and Tatanka, but the point is still driven home. Regulars like Harley Race and Nikolai Volkoff among others were left out. I understand why, but it's a tad disappointing when easily obtainable signers such as those greats aren't included.

My verdict? I love the designs. The lineup and some of the photos left me a bit underwhelmed, but this set definitely scores higher with me than 2015. The cards all have that vintage feel, where as some of the subsets last year were an odd mix of retro and current material. It's nice to see that we've now gotten two Heritage sets in consecutive years. In my opinion there is no reason that it should be less than annual. As I suggested last year, a 30th anniversary of the Topps 1987 WWF/WrestleMania III set would be a great idea for 2017. The American-themed border was a simple yet amazing design that we see a glimpse of this year in the "Turn Back The Clock" subset. They could even do a WrestleMania subset with an image from all 32 events. Come on Topps, I give my geniusin' away for free here!

The 25th Anniversary of Hasbro WWF--Part 5

What a month it's been!  Twenty-five of my favorite Hasbro products in honor of the 25th anniversary of the line.  Like any list, it's all objective! Fans are always getting riled up over WWE "Top" lists, but it's all a matter of opinion.  The various incarnations of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart didn't make my list, but Andre the Giant and Greg Valentine may not have made yours.  As a kid, you may have buried Demolition or Razor Ramon in your Hasbro rings while they reigned supreme in mine.  Everyone has their favorites, and from 1990 to 1994, Hasbro gave all of us a lot to choose from!

*My list was in no real particular order, but if I was forced to pick a favorite, it may very well be the Doinkster. Hasbro went above and beyond with the Clown, complete with newly sculpted parts and, best of all, real rooted hair.  This is definitely a "heel " Doink the Clown, based on his well-remembered early days as portrayed by the late Matt Borne.  It was always cool when the announcers would tout what a great technical wrestler Doink was despite his clownish appearance.  It added another layer to the already sinister character.  For the record, Matt Borne is the Doink pictured on the cardback.  I'm thankful that I was able to have one signed before his untimely death.

*Another item that disappeared from shelves as quickly as it arrived was the Royal Rumble mini-ring.  The three mini-figure four-packs were plentiful in the Summer of 1992.  Unfortunately for those who missed out, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Ted DiBiase were among those that were available only with the ring.  For whatever reason the ring only seemed to ship once and wasn't available very long thus leaving the figure packs to rot on shelves for years.  Retail disinterest was the likely culprit, but had the ring been released at the same time as the figures it may have been a different story.

*Cool, cocky, bad, and another great figure from Hasbro.  Honky had long passed his days as one of the top heels in the WWF, but his figure was still planned and released.  He wouldn't have been the same without his trademark guitar which, coupled with his "Real Wrestling Action," came crashing down on many other wrestlers.  Even with other figures of Honky from LJN, Jakks, and Mattel, the Hasbro is probably still my favorite.  It even has the jumpsuit belt that other manufacturers "forgot."

*Bam Bam Bigelow always came across as a perfect action figure. Flames, tattoos, and a whole bunch of "mean."  I found the figure on the day of the 1994 Royal Rumble.  Much to my surprise, Bigelow ended up having a singles match that night as he took the place of Ludvig Borga in a bout against Tatanka. Bigelow and Tatanka, both graduates of Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory, were always well-matched opponents. Though he never quite made it as far as he should have, Bam Bam had his moments and, in my mind, is a great future WWE Hall of Fame candidate.

*Speaking of those who should be in the WWE Hall of Fame brings us to
my favorite tag team of all-time, Demolition.  I still remember being so conflicted about how to purchase Smash.  His single figure was fairly plentiful along with Ax, but the same Smash also came in a tag team set with Crush and their pre-match masks.  The two-pack became difficult to find, so for awhile Ax had to fend for himself in my Hasbro ring. Perhaps just a lonely Masked Superstar?  Eventually, thanks to a lone Demolition set at my local Service Merchandise store, the trio was united and took on the LOD, The Bushwhackers, Doom, The Horsemen, and The Steiner Brothers (thanks to Galoob for the last three).  I even remember an epic singles struggle over the Intercontinental Championship between Smash and Marty Jannetty that mysteriously ended when Hasbro released a sneaky fellow known as Repo Man.

Twenty-five items for twenty-five years.  A revival of the Hasbro style would be a no-brainer.  It would couple the secondary "action feature" lines that are made to appeal to kids with figures that older collectors would snap up in an instant.  Why hasn't it happened?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Maybe the manufacturers just want to "leave the memories alone..."

30 Years of "Those Big, Rubber Wrestlers"

You see might see the description in a badly listed eBay auction or even used during a nostalgic wrestling conversation.  They were the WWF Wrestling Superstars by LJN, but to many, they were "those big, rubber wrestlers."  It would have been very hard to be a wrestling fan and not encounter those "big, rubber" wrestling figures at some point in the past thirty years.  They depicted Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff and dozens of other WWF Superstars in a larger-than-life way that has never quite been duplicated.  They've shown up in film, on television, and in print.  They aren't action figures in the traditional sense, yet to not include them in the genre would be blasphemy.  You, your neighbor, your cousin, and your classmates had at least one, and even with paint and rubber wear all of these years later, it's still a relic to be cherished.

The LJN WWF figure line began in 1984.  While it was not the first wrestling figure line (that distinction falls to a series produced by Popy in Japan), it was the first in America, beating out Remco's AWA collection by months.  Some, including a few of the wrestlers themselves, refer to the products as dolls.  There will never be a definitive answer to the old "It's not a doll, it's an action figure" argument, but these replica wrestlers weren't playing dress-up, they were seeing action in and out of the ring.

What I most love about the LJN line was the inclusion of non-wrestler figures.  Sure, it's amazing to be able to have dream matches like Hulk Hogan against Bruno Sammartino and Ricky Steamboat versus Dynamite Kid, but figures of managers, announcers, and referees only add to the depth of play.  It's no wonder that so many loose examples these days have so much paint wear; these wrestlers WRESTLED!

"Twist Em, Turn Em" was one of LJN's selling point catchphrases for the line, and it was true.  While the figures were not articulated, with the exception of a few pointlessly posed examples (Paul Orndorff, Rick Rude) the design of the toys made them extremely playable.  The Hulkster could slam any other figure while Randy Savage was perfectly poised for a patented flying elbow drop.  God-like figures for God-like superstars.

The figures had a pumped-up look which was very lifelike for the wrestlers of the day.  Unlike today when bulging muscles look out of place on wrestling figures, the wrestlers themselves didn't look like the guy down the street.  There was much more individuality, which in turn made many more stars stand out.

Like companies today, LJN wasn't satisfied with just one standard line.  Attempts to branch out were made, but none lasted as long as the 8-inch original figures.  A lower cost line of Bendies were introduced about a year into the life of the license.  Wires inside of these smaller figures helped hold their poses.  Aside from the wrestlers, a ring/cage and two managers were produced, but the line did not sustain.  Prototype pictures of further releases have surfaced since, proving that LJN had high hopes.

In 1987, a half dozen figures were released as Stretch Wrestlers.  These figures were a takeoff on the decades-old Stretch Armstrong figure concept, where a cornstarch mix inside of a pliable "skin" allows the figure to be stretched into all kinds of contortions.  Sadly, the design of all of these kinds of figures does not lend itself to good condition over time.  Many that remain are in poor condition or are too brittle to really even touch.

Thirty years.  While much of the paint and shine of these figures is gone, the memories remain.  I can still recall going into the.long gone but beloved Hills Department Store and seeing the large LJN merchandising footprint in the toy aisles.  Stretch Wrestlers stacked to the ceiling.  Individual figures like Hillbilly Jim, Miss Elizabeth, and Mean Gene Okerlund (or "the farmer," "the girl," and "the announcer" as I naively named them) filling the pegs.  The feeling that this unusual yet compelling sport was at the height of its popularity, and that the characters produced from it were genuine celebrities.  Household names forever immortalized as "those big, rubber wrestlers."

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...

Ringside With CM Punk, Sin Cara, & Ungrateful A.J.

 I am a wrestling fan.  No matter the ups and downs of the business, I'm fairly sure that I always will be.  In that fandom, I'd like to think that I'm one of the more respectful fans.  I've come to realize that I'm seen that way by the industry's stars that I've met through both those encounters and my written word.  Even when I've had a less than favorable experience (a rare occurrence), I tend to overlook it publicly and rather keep it as an anecdote to tell at the right time.  Those encounters do not show up here, although I feel it may be time to break the rules a bit.

This past Saturday the annual Ringside Fest was held in New York City.  With CM Punk, Sin Cara, and A.J. Lee on the bill, it made for a nice weekend trip to The Big Apple.  Reviews and feedback of this event are always positive and seeing as that it was a paid event and not simply an "appearance" piqued my interest.  In recent years, "appearances" of WWE contracted stars are usually events that I avoid.  Overcrowding, poor-crowd control, and limits on what exactly a fan will get out of it (i.e. autographs, photo ops) usually keep me away.

Seeing as this was an event that you paid to attend, you are to get exactly what you paid for.  I believe everyone did, as I heard no complaints at the event nor have I seen any in the little feedback that I've come across on the internet since.  Crowd control got a bit out of hand near the middle of the event, but that can happen at any appearance and was ultimately remedied.

Any veteran of autograph collecting knows that no matter how they plan on getting the items signed, they have those items planned out well in advance.  You have your items ready to go and ready to be signed.  Often collectors will go back and forth for weeks over the decision of just what to get signed.  For a star like Punk you have a multitude of items from which to choose.  For someone like A.J., it's a bit more cut and dry.  The WWE's resident "crazy chick" (a PG-Rated version of a ring rat character) has about three trading cards and a few official photos.  Her action figure is not yet released, although, along with Vickie Guerrero and Eve Torres, she recently graced the cover of Inside Wrestling.  This was to join my collection of many other signed covers from the Stanley Weston family of wrestling magazines.

Approaching A.J., the ticket taker informed me that Miss Lee would not sign the magazine.  I did a bit of respectful protesting, but even A.J. herself chimed in that she could not sign it, and could only sign "official WWE items."  She was kind enough, but friendliness means nil when scribbling two tiny letters on a piece of paper is the issue at hand.  A Ringside Fest staff member made a really nice gesture by bringing me, at no charge, one of the official 8x10 glossy licensed Photo File photos to use as my signed item.  These were being sold at the event, and I wasn't asked to pay for it at this point.  A Top Loader protector was even included.

While I did get what I had paid for, nowhere was it ever said that certain items would not be autographed.  At a free signing, this type of behavior can be tolerated.  When an item is of questionable taste, this can also be excused.  But the star in question's first magazine cover?  The same type of cover signed just an hour later by one of the industry's biggest stars?  I can't say that it tainted the event nor a day in an amazing city, but it was just a bit troubling.

Is this behavior that someone in the company told her to follow?  It must not apply to the champion or various other stars under contact who have signed similar items over the years.  Does she understand that the Weston publications often use WWE-licensed photos nowadays?  For someone who claims to be a lifelong fan of the business, she certainly doesn't seem to understand that a magazine cover is an extremely high honor.  One of the same magazines that someone she claims to have looked up to, Miss Elizabeth, often graced herself.

I'm not spiteful.  I'm not mad.  I just hope to get a point across.  Miss Lee may or may not ever see this.  Based upon her actions, she probably would not even care.  My point is that just as I am respectful as a fan of the business that I love, Miss Lee needs to learn to be respectful to the business that's currently putting food on her table...although...she could use an extra sandwich or two.

Ringside Fest was not just a place for photo ops and autographs, but a showcase for the Mattel WWE toy line as well.  Mattel representatives were on hand to show off current and upcoming product and answer questions.  They were also very patient with the throngs of young fans who wanted to touch and play with everything on display.

New figures of current stars such as Ryback, Brock Lesnar, Brodus Clay, and others were on display as were figures of legends like Jerry Lawler, Shawn Michaels, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage.  The two highlights for myself and many others were prototypes of the upcoming Miss Elizabeth and Honky Tonk Man figures.  Although I still dread the in-store searches for Elizabeth, it is a beautifully done figure of someone who never saw as much merchandise as was deserved.

The Honky Tonk Man figure did not yet have a jumpsuit but is clad in red tights.  I particularly appreciate the fact that the hair is sculpted to be a bit messed up in the front as if he is in the middle of a match or one of the legendary five-hour television tapings of the era.  Hopefully a guitar will be added to the jumpsuit.  Many fans are hoping for a red jumpsuit as it is one of the few that Jakks did not produce with their figures of HTM.

Miss Elizabeth marks the last legend who has not been overdone that we will see in figure form.  By inserting the legends into their Elite line, going forward we are only likely to see characters that are known by both diehard and casual fans.  The days of seeing figures of largely territorial stars are dead.  While the Mattel product is well-produced and usually visually impressive, it's not going to sustain the interest of fans that Jakks brought to the table with their Classic Superstars.  A sad but true reality, for sure.

A WrestleMania XXVIII version of The Undertaker was shown and is already hitting Toys "R" Us stores in purple "20-0" packaging.  Wal Mart will see their own exclusives with a line of current stars clad in t-shirts painted directly onto the figures.  Ryback will be hitting the shelves first (well...first as in not as Skip Sheffield) in a pack with Jinder Mahal, and Lesnar will have both basic and elite figures.

The Mattel license continues to roll on.  If distribution issues were addressed concerning fans who don't want Royal Rumbles full of John Cena, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio, I think the line would really be on the right track.  With figures now in four or five series, I predict that Sin Cara will soon join the shelfwarming regulars. And if you ever felt that your area alone was stuffed with endless Cena's, I can assure you that even the "crossroads of the world," Times Square, is feeling your pain as well.  All Cena, All The Time...