Wrestling MarketWatch: The Road Warriors

Longtime readers know that when it comes down to tag teams with face paint, I'm pretty biased. In fact with tag teams in general I'm beyond biased. I am a Demolition guy. Aside from paint and the era in which they came, I honestly never saw much similarities between Demolition and The Road Warriors. Are Sting and The Ultimate Warrior the same just because they both wore face paint in the '80s and '90s? Not at all. That being said, as much of a Demolition fan as I am, I have always been thoroughly entertained by the LOD, as well, and greatly respect what they did for the business.

As of press time we have just recently mourned the passing of Road Warrior Animal. It's time to look back on a small sampling of the merchandise created in the images of Animal, Hawk, and manager Paul Ellering. While a few items may have seen a slight inflation over their regular market value, I think that you'll notice relative stability seeing as that merchandise of "the boys" is usually in high demand regardless.

*For many fans their love affair with the team began with their first action figures. They, of course, came courtesy of Remco and the American Wrestling Association in 1985. Originally Hawk and Animal came sold in a two-pack. It was later expanded to a three-pack by including Paul Ellering. The trio has great accessories and are still the best figure representations of the early days of the Legion of Doom. Although Mattel has promised us that this will change next year, this is still the only released figure of Ellering. The figure was later re-released singly as part of the infamous "Mat Mania" line. The threesome is averaging $100 loose and complete, which isn't too far out of the ordinary for figures that many consider to be highlights of the series.

*Sticking with early LOD we've got what is probably their best remembered magazine cover appearance. The Pro Wrestling Illustrated issue from March 1984 was not only the "year end" issue for 1983, but also a true iconic moment for Hawk and Animal. The cover may proclaim them "Tag Team of the Year" but the combination of their unique look and the incredible photography (horror lighting, anyone?) made sure that no one would forget them even thirty-six years after hitting the newsstands. In what may be a record for the issue it recently sold for $70. This could be the one price listed in this entry that is higher solely from Animal's passing.

*The Road Warriors competed nearly everywhere, but many fond memories stem from their time with the NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions. The underrated memorabilia produced by JCP has long been celebrated in this blog and you may recall seeing many of those southern stars plastered on bandanas. The first one that I owned featured none other than Hawk and Animal. There are actually several designs featuring the tag team, but the one shown here has been selling for an average of $50. Considering how high these bandanas can go, it's actually a fair price.

*Even after Road Warrior Hawk's passing, Animal continued to venture in pro wrestling. He returned to the big time in the mid-2000's with another run in WWE. He still looked good and I was always pleased to see him continue to take part in the business. The company tried to utilize him in several different ways, though he was ultimately released in 2006. Several action figures were born out of this run as were trading cards and promotional photos. His solo promotional photo from this run, complete with the classic face paint and spiked shoulder pads, recently sold autographed for $20. 

*Ending as we started with action figures, we now look at what are probably their best remembered pair. In the ever popular Hasbro line The Legion of Doom was represented in what turned out to be the second and final series of tag team two-packs. The other set, The Nasty Boys, saw manufacturing problems thus causing Hasbro to send LOD-only cases to retailers early on. The Nasty Boys pack was the single Hasbro WWF item that I never saw at retail. Many other fans encountered the same issue. Due to this, many of the over-shipped LOD two packs sat on clearance. This has done nothing to hurt their value or take away from the fact that they are fun figures. You may recall that the Hasbro Hawk even made a cameo appearance at their WWE Hall of Fame induction. The pair of loose figures has been selling for an average of $90.

Hawk and Animal may be gone physically, but their influence will assuredly always be felt in the world of professional wrestling...and its merchandise. What else is there to say? What a rush!

Button, Button, Who's Got The Button?

I've known a few collectors of pinback buttons in my day. Why not? They're simple, usually fairly reasonably priced (or free if advertising something) and are all almost instant conversation pieces. Slap an eye-grabbing image on one and you're certain to get someones attention for your image or product. It goes without saying that images of professional wrestlers automatically lend themselves to buttons. Like trading cards, t-shirts, and action figures, it's just natural that these intimidating stars have their mugs plastered on everything. It's the name of the game on this blog.

Buttons were among the earliest in wrestling souvenirs. It was easy to put the name of a wrestler or even an image in a circular disc and sell it to the fan frenzied public. In the territories simple "gimmicks" like these could often be a license to print money. Who wouldn't want the image of Jerry "The King" Lawler or Dusty Rhodes slapped onto their backpack or purse? It wasn't just an attention grabber, it was a statement that you were a loyal supporter of your local or regional wrestling hero. And as it has been described time and time again, that hero was virtually a member of your family. Grandma probably thought so, anyway.

As wrestling progressed with marketing, so did the buttons. Big ones, small ones, square ones. The latter style came along in the late '80s as the WWF took a page from the merchandising practices of the movie studios. Disney, among other companies, often used square buttons to promote their latest home video releases. The WWF did this for their pay-per-view events of the era and these were often distributed through cable companies and video rental stores. The WWF also offered a variety of buttons through their merchandise catalogs ranging from pictures of the superstars to the memorable "I Love WWF" design.

Jimmy Hart's Outrageous Conduct record album had a tiny button to
promote it, and even Bobby "The Brain" Heenan has a WrestleMania VIII button. The latter was used to advertise the legendary manager's appearances on Indianapolis radio leading up to the big event held in 1992 at the Hoosier Dome. WCW got in on the act as well with several different buttons advertising Clash of the Champions events held at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Perhaps the most famous and iconic button in wrestling history came to us, absolutely free, in 1993. Free, that is, if you were lucky enough to hit a stop on Lex Luger's "Call To Action" Campaign. Following Luger's bodyslam of then-WWF Champion Yokozuna aboard the USS Intrepid on July 4th, 1993, the Narcissist-turned-All-American went cross country aboard a bus named "The Lex Express." Hitting numerous stops in the U.S. of A., the tour was designed to mold Luger into the next Hulk Hogan. Ultimately, he would not end up as your hero, but anyone who was watching at the time has great memories of the era.

The "buttoning" continues today! 2017 saw a new WrestleMania promotional button, and I'm sure many more are produced than we actually end up knowing about. Looking for an "in" to the world of wrestling memorabilia? Look no further than buttons! They can be very inexpensive and it's fun to figure out just what all has been produced. Intrigued by the idea? Go for it. You can do it. I have faith. All you have to do is...

The COLORful World Of 1991 WWF

In Christmases of my youth, I always looked forward to stocking stuffers. In my family, we always opened the stocking last. It was a place for small, inexpensive gifts, but often times those presents were the best of all. I can even remember coloring books being stuffed inside. No matter the content, I enjoyed coloring. I always found difficulty staying inside the lines, but it didn't matter. Even my very first piece of wrestling memorabilia was a coloring book, covering the wide world of Hulk Hogan's Rock n Wrestling cartoon.

In the past few months, I've come to enjoy the trend that is "adult coloring." It might actually be more accurate to say that I've rediscovered coloring in general, as my status as an adult is questioned even in my own mind. As far as the "adult coloring books" that are on the market, I just don't like them. The "artistic" design of the drawings to color leave very little room unless you're using a thin colored pencil. No sir. Give me broad designs with a lot of room for me to smash my Crayolas into a colorful crescendo.

Going back to kiddie coloring books got me to thinking of just how wrestling translated to the medium. Of course, there were the aforementioned Rock 'n Wrestling books, but I knew that there were more. Recently, I stumbled upon a completed Jimmy Hart page colored by someone online. The picture was familiar to me, and I suddenly remembered a line of WWF coloring books from 1991. Upon an eBay search, I discovered two things. First, I was fairly sure that I have an unused example with an Ultimate Warrior cover packed away somewhere. Second, I may not be the only one looking for these to satisfy their "adult coloring" urges. The asking prices were rather high, no doubt drummed up by recent interest. Nonetheless, I made an offer for a very reasonably priced example, and in my hands a few days later was the WWF Tag Team Superstars Coloring Book.

Hawk and Animal, in their classic first WWF promo shot, may grace the cover of this "tag team" book, but it's really a showcase for a lot of 1991 WWF talent. Heck, even Andre the Giant shows up here in his wrestling gear. What I found the coolest was that some of the managers were included. In addition to the exact Jimmy Hart page that I had seen online, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Mr. Fuji, and Sensational Queen Sherri are here, too, in an era when the non-wrestlers just weren't marketed like the in-ring WWF Superstars.

WWE still releases coloring books, but aside from The Undertaker and Triple H, you aren't going to find many legends to color. Want to stylize the likes of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, and The Barbarian? Then you have to go old school. I truly believe in the well-touted relaxing effects of coloring as an adult. It can transport you to a much more comforting time in your life. Coloring the wrestling heroes and villains of my youth only accentuates that.

Coloring vintage wrestlers is a match made in Heaven for me. Since the wrestlers of the era had so many different outfits, not to mention color schemes, it leaves a lot of room for your own interpretations. Don't feel like you're above coloring...it's something that you have likely done since you were in the single digits. And keep that "Yellow-Orange" Crayola handy, it's perfect for the big boys of the era!

The 25th Anniversary of Hasbro WWF--Part 1

It seems like only yesterday that those memorable commercials starring Jesse "The Body" Ventura burst onto the scene.  All new WWF action figures, complete with "Real Wrestling Action," that were about half of the size of what fans were accustomed to.  Despite having a short, roughly five-year run, the Hasbro WWF line continues to soar in popularity to this day.  2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the line.  Here on the blog, all of January will be dedicated to the line. Each week, I'll be remembering five of my twenty-five favorite items to come from the Hasbro-WWF partnership.  It's going to be a month of plastic, springs, and toys that are "so close to the real thing, it's like bein' in the ring!"

*What a rush!  What better way to kick off the celebration than with Hawk and Animal, The Legion of Doom!  The boys had already seen an action figure release in the Remco AWA line, but this was the first set to feature the famous spiked shoulder pads.  Though the pads were molded on (a Hasbro trend), the figures remain a favorite of many.  The Hawk figure even made an appearance at the 2011 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, standing in for the late superstar.  Distribution on the pair varied greatly from area to area for a number of reasons, but the Road Warriors remain a favorite of most any Hasbro collector.

*Even late in the game, Hasbro was cranking out some impressive looking product.  Adam Bomb made his debut in the infamous final series that was released on green bordered card backs.  A ton of detail was put into the superstar from Three Mile Island, and the figure easily rivals the Adam Bomb Jakks Classic Superstars release over a decade later.  From the flowing hair to the goggles to the "nuclear" design of his gear, the Adam Bomb figure easily eclipses the life of the character itself.

*Hasbro had the WWF license at a perfect time.  The style of the figures worked impeccably with the wild and colorful characters that populated WWF rings of the time.  Papa Shango is a top example of this, with his hat, facepaint, tattoos, and "bone" necklace.  The antics of the voodoo priest were largely relegated to the opening matches once the figure saw release, but that didn't stop kids from continuing the crazy occurrences in the Hasbro ring.  Charles Wright would go on to portray several other memorable characters of the squared circle, but this Hasbro figure (and some black goo...) is a big reason why Papa Shango is so well remembered. 

*Another reason that Hasbro had such a great window of timing with the WWF license was by capturing some of the all-time greats on their way out.  He may have been in the midst of an ill-planned babyface turn, but Greg "The Hammer" Valentine saw a Hasbro figure released in 1992.  As a former Intercontinental and Tag Team champion, Valentine provided a memorable link to the LJN WWF line.  You could even team him with figures of his former tag team partners such as Brutus Beefcake or The Honky Tonk Man.

*Although the first series of the Hasbro line was filled with top stars, one name stands above the rest.  Andre the Giant may have been on his way out of the spotlight, but the decision to include him in the line is appreciated to this day.  Whether recreating his feud with Hulk Hogan or being able to create a dream collision with the likes of The Undertaker, Hasbro's representation of Andre ended up as a tribute to a man who is a cornerstone of an industry in which he is still beloved.

Happy New Year!  Be sure to return next week for more of the Hasbro silver celebration!

There are two types of wrestling fans...

...Demolition fans or Road Warrior fans. Personally, I've long been a Demolition guy, but I have to admit this is quite the cool piece.

This is the original NWA Road Warriors bandana put out by Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988. Some would argue that the lack of merchandising is part of what helped to put JCP out of business. The truth is, there were very few products offered by the promotion, therefore what is out there is coveted by collectors.

In addition to various programs and videotapes, some of which have been shown in previous entries of this blog, t-shirts, bandanas, and pennants of the promotions shows and stars were among the few items produced.

WHAT A RUSH!