Wrestling MarketWatch: Bring Home All The Action!

LJN Wrestling Superstars. Still, in my opinion, the most recognizable wrestling figure line ever made. Everyone remembers "those big rubber wrestlers." If you were a kid of any age in the '80s, you knew someone who had a few even if you owned none yourself. You remember that Hulk was the ultimate hero, Andre had varying lengths of hair, and King Kong Bundy really hurt. Really. That was one hefty hunk of rubber. It's no wonder that so many are falling off of the card when you stumble upon one that's even partly attached.

Carded examples of these figures are less often remembered. As kids we wanted to play with these guys. While many kids, such as myself, kept the packaging to look at over and over again, in general we just ripped these superstars wide open. Today we're looking at the other end of collecting LJN. It's a look at the ones that remained on the card over three decades later. We'll also quote some of the recent auction prices for five of the more memorable characters, for better or worse. As always, prices quoted are for unsigned examples.

*No chance in Hell? Years before Vince McMahon became the top heel in the company, the swaggering chairman was simply a bright-blazered television announcer. The LJN figure of "Vince McMann" (so proclaimed the sticker) reflects that era perfectly with the impeccably-tailored and coiffed Mr. McMahon in a perfect pitchman's pose. Fun fact: I remember around twenty-five years ago when Figures Inc. (now known as Figures Toy Company) acquired a warehouse find of Vince LJN's and sold them for the modest price of $25 each. Most recently this figure sold at auction for an additional four-hundred dollars at $425. I wish I'd ordered more.

*One man who loves being an LJN figure is Ted Arcidi. Mr. Arcidi's figure is one that often became "the jobber" among kids playing with their figures seeing that his WWF run was short and unmemorable, despite competing in the famous WrestleMania 2 Battle Royal, The Big Event, and having a few O-Pee-Chee trading cards. Nonetheless, when Arcidi signed my LJN figure of himself several years ago he couldn't have been more pleased. He even asked if I would text him the picture of us holding it. I more than happily obliged. The strongman recently sold for $142 at auction, though there was significant wear to the card.

*An early favorite in the line was Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Although The Steamer isn't quite as colorful as some of the other Wrestling Superstars figures, the pose is unbeatable. In another fun fact connected to the LJN line, Ricky and then-wife Bonnie actually collected the line while on the road with the WWF. They sold their collection in the early 2000's to help aid son Richie in his hobby of car racing. I'm proud to say that both the carded Miss Elizabeth and Dynamite Kid figures in my own collection were originally owned by the Steamboat family. Ricky's own figure recently sold for $400.

*Three of my five all-time favorite wrestlers are represented in the LJN line. Rowdy Roddy Piper is one of them. Another is our fifth and final segment in this entry. The third is right here and is also undeniable royalty. "The King" Harley Race is a beautiful looking figure and, to me, seems to have been designed with both his "King" and "pre-King" looks combined. His jacket is made to look like the cape that he wore in real-life, but also resembles the jacket that he used in the WWF before winning the King of the Ring tournament. I'm not the only one who loves this figure seeing as that it recently sold for $675.

*As with any good WWF spectacle of the 1980's we're ending with The Hulkster. There were three different Hulk Hogan figures in the Wrestling Superstars line. This newly sculpted "shirted" version was also the first to be released on a fabled "black card." While this figure is designated as a "Collector's Edition," the black coloring would later be revived for the final series in 1989, aptly named "Wrestling Superstars ''89." Though we all love the original Hogan LJN, this later version does a much better job capturing a classic dynamic pose of The Hulkster. He recently sold for an equally dynamic price of $1,251.

It's a good time to sell most wrestling figures, not just LJN's. Perhaps due to all of the gloom in the world at the moment, people want toys and are paying top dollar. It's somehow comforting to know that even with all of the advancements in action figures since the days of LJN, the Wrestling Superstars are still bringing home all the action, just as the commercial said.

"That Guy Actually Had A Figure?"

Hogan. Austin. Cena. The Rock. The Undertaker. All-time greats. All-time favorite action figures to many collectors young and old. If you walked into any toy store during the primes of the aforementioned stars, you would be sure to find several different versions of each clogging the shelves.

Of course these figures are going to dominate the rest of your collection, but just like in the real-life world of wrestling, it takes other guys to make the stars. Which figures are going to look up at your bedroom lights while Dusty dances and Flair struts?

It's the lesser stars that have always intrigued me the most both in-ring and in the world of memorabilia. Some fans just don't realize that a lot of collectors want figures of nearly anyone who's ever appeared in a wrestling ring. When those fans see a particularly "quirky" figure either in a collection or on a store shelf, the familiar sentence always rings out...

"That guy actually had a figure?"

This entry is my own personal list of the five figures most likely to produce such a reaction. These five are based on my own opinion and reactions I've personally seen to some of them. Prepare to be SHOCKed...

The Shockmaster

He came. He saw. He fell. Tugboat in a glitter-filled Stormtrooper helmet. One of WCW's best ideas? No. But certainly a character that would make one wonder how it got onto television, much less got an action figure.

The truth is that the action figure is part of the Jakks WWE Classic Superstars line and was produced for two reasons. The first reason is because the character, due to the various mishaps surrounding it, WAS memorable. The second is because Jakks already had the rights to create the various faces of Fred Ottman into action figures. While Tugboat still remains unmade as an action figure (aside from being one of the goalie figures in the 1991 Remco WWF Table Hockey), we will always have Typhoon and the one and only Shockmaster to relive our memories of "Uncle Fred."

Dick Woehrle

Figures of the wrestlers themselves are great, but who can put on a show without managers, announcers, and referees? While Remco produced a few different referee figures for their AWA line, their Dick Woehrle figure may be the best referee figure of any line. While the other referees in the AWA line featured repainted heads from other Remco action figure lines, the Dick Woehrle head sculpt is amazingly lifelike. While the figure does include the famous "ripped" body type used on many of the AWA figures, it does not take away from the only figure of the man who seemingly wore the stripes in every wrestling territory. While other referees were released later on, perhaps the only figure to come close was the Jakks release of Earl Hebner nearly two decades later.

Ted Arcidi

This is the figure that not only posed the question above, but made kids ask "Who IS this guy?" The truth of the matter is that Ted Arcidi had a very brief run in the WWF. Aside from an appearance in the WrestleMania 2 Battle Royal, Arcidi had very few other memorable moments. This, coupled with the long time it took for figures to be produced in that era, meant that most children didn't have a clue who Ted Arcidi was by the time that the LJN figure was available in stores. The red singlet and somewhat goofy facial expression ensured that this figure would become the "jobber" in WWF household action nationwide. Arcidi has since become an actor appearing in such films as "The Town" and "The Fighter," but his biggest claim to immortality will probably always be as the least known LJN WWF figure in the line.

Zeus

Tiny Lister is a very nice guy and a good actor. If you've seen anything from "The Dark Knight" to "Friday" to episodes of "Matlock" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," you've seen Tiny Lister. He just wasn't a very good wrestler. His stint as Zeus was rather unremarkable despite the hype, and we can all be thankful that a rumored Hogan-Zeus main event at WrestleMania VI ultimately did not happen.

Similarly to The Shockmaster, Zeus was immortalized in the WWE Classic Superstars line for nostalgia purposes. Had the run of Zeus not taken place just as the WWF was switching from LJN to Hasbro for their toy license, we may very well have seen a vintage Zeus figure released as well.

Tiny Lister continues to have a steady career as a menacing character actor. Former WWF star Robert "Kurrgan" Maillet seems to be following in the same footsteps by becoming Hollywood's go-to brute. Will we ever see Zeus and Kurrgan do battle on the big screen? I know I'm not the only one who'd love to see it.

Outback Jack

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport! Yes, it's Outback Jack. He had videos hyping his debut. He had magazine articles. He had trading cards. And yes, he had an LJN figure. He simply didn't have much ability in the ring. He did help us understand the lingo on the menu at "The Outback" and satisfied any fantasies anyone may have had about Crocodile Dundee crossing over into the world of wrestling. Honestly, we were better off sticking with Bill Dundee.

Did I leave anyone out? A figure that you cannot believe was produced? Maybe it's one that you've seen in a previous entry. Let us know here or on the Facebook Fanpage!