My Five Favorite Micro Brawlers

No matter where you look, stylized mini figures are all the rage. It may have started with the never-ending Funko Pop! line, but it's branched out into just about every kind of pocket-sized figure that you can imagine. Wrestling, as popular as it is, has it's share of varieties, but our focus at the present are the Micro Brawlers. The line, created by Pro Wrestling Tees, has taken a plethora of independent stars, legends, and foreign stars and combined them to form quite the stable of micro stars. Of all of the names that have appeared so far in the line, here are my top five picks.

When you're talking wrestlers made to become a toy, you're literally screaming the name "The Blue Meanie." Just seeing his first action figure in recent years, Meanie has become one of the more recent entries to the Micro Brawlers line-up. Clad in his bWo shirt, the Meanie is posed doing exactly what he should be doing, The Meanie Dance! Meanie also fits in perfectly with the line, qualifying as both an indy wrestling star and a legend of both ECW and WWE.

As far as characters go, there's never been a crazier one than Papa Shango. I have no idea how a Papa Shango figure outside of the WWE banner is legally allowed to be made (complete with a WWE picture on the header card), but here we are. If Shango is allowed to be made, does that mean that other Charles Wright characters, such as The Godfather, are fair game as well? Time will tell, but Papa Shango was certainly the perfect one to start with.

Someone seeing his first introduction into the U.S wrestling figure market is Kazuchika Okada. The current IWGP Champion has taken the country by storm and can easily be cited as a big part of New Japan Pro Wrestling's banner success here in the states. His trademark pose and colorful entrance gear make this an irresistible figure to add to your Micro Brawlers lineup. "The Rainmaker" is also slated to be one of the first figures in the upcoming NJPW action figure line to be released stateside.

Announcers rarely see too many figures, but Jim Ross isn't just any announcer. Good Ol' JR is the first broadcaster to break into the Micro Brawlers line and hopefully will not be the last. Can you imagine a Micro Brawler Jerry Lawler to stand at his side? I'm not saying that it will happen, but it's certainly not a bad idea. With his recent resurgence in popularity, a Tony Schiavone Micro Brawler would be pretty damn cool, too. Nonetheless, JR may actually be my favorite of all of the Micro Brawlers thus far. Unexpected and unique, grab this Sooner while you can.

In a bittersweet entry to the line in 2019, we received a Micro Brawler of King Kong Bundy the same year as his untimely passing. While Bundy has had many figures over the past 34 years, this is the first Bundy to be posed demanding his infamous "five count." Bundy was another character who was made to be an action figure, just by looks alone. No one has any idea if this will be the final figure of Bundy, but it's certainly one that you'll want to add to your lineup.

It's fun to pick and choose who you want. There are many names that I'm unfamiliar with, mainly independent stars, who I choose to pass on. That only leaves more room on the shelf for the absolute home runs like the five shown above.

Now the question, as asked many times in wrestling before, has got to be: "Who's next?"

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!