“Psst, Finkel, that’s King HAKU, pal…”

Sure, over the past decade or so the wrestling world has become enamored with Haku and the stories surrounding him both in and out of the ring. But how many of you, like myself, have been a Haku guy for a lot longer than that? I’m betting a good many of you. No matter where he was or what they were calling him, the man variously known under such names as King Tonga, Haku and even Meng was someone you always wanted to see on the card. That being said, he’s been grossly under represented as far as action figures! You’ve seen his LJN here on the blog and I’m sure that his two Classic Superstars figures have popped up as well. Now, thanks to one of the boutique companies, we get to see him in “Hasbro” style as he always should have been. How does it measure up to the Tongan nightmare himself? Let’s take a look.

This one was a long time coming. A lot if it, I imagine, was due to the original company, Chella Toys, apparently getting out of the business. Though the name is kept on the card back here, that was said to be symbolic. The company will be known as Epic Toys going forward. I steer clear of all of that type of drama, so don’t ask. I imagine that there are plenty of sources where you can find out what happened there. My concern was if the pre-orders, which had been paid for a year prior, would be fulfilled. They obviously were so no complaints there. My other further comment on the company itself is that it does cause concern about the financial liabilities of these boutique companies. They are fast to take the money but what if something happens in the meantime, as did here? With the long waits between pre-ordering and the figures arriving on your doorstep a lot of the financial institutions won’t be helping out if something goes wrong. It’s a major “red flag” as the kids like to say.

I will say that of the boutique retro/Hasbro styled figures that I’ve encountered, this company gets the card backs the closest. I think that we could even toss Mattel in there and Chella/Epic would still win. The thickness and feel of the cardboard is spot on. They do as well as they can with the logos (obviously there’s no WWF here) but all of the fonts, borders and even the drawings on the back fit right in. The bubbles on these throw me a bit, though I’m guessing that’s done to ensure that they won’t fall off. Even without a “Real Wrestling Action” I’d prefer a “mock” description on the back as opposed to a photo of the figure, but that’s still better than another outfit that needlessly puts the design schematics of the figure on the back, touting that they’re designed by someone who had a hand in creating the Hasbro line. If it looks like a Hasbro I really don’t care who designed the thing.

Like Mattel and every other current “retro” figure the photo of the wrestler on the card back is a rendering based on a real photo. I’d imagine that this is done due to the original photo rights. I can’t be objective on whether or not the crown on Haku’s head looks “off” or not. I’m too familiar with the original photo and it dates past his time as “King,” at least in the WWF. To this day he is still billed as “King Haku” in some areas including Japan. For me it looks like it shouldn’t be there, but again, after thirty years of seeing the real photo I can’t really say if it’s out of place or if it’s just me. I will say that there are plenty of photos of Haku actually wearing the crown that could have been used, but I’m sure that there are reasons that this was done instead.

As with all of the current licensed retro figures aside from Mattel’s lineup, there are no “Real Wrestling Actions.” I’ve been ok with that and I continue to be. Even Mattel’s soon-to-be-ended Masters of the Universe line featuring fairly direct re-releases of the vintage figures are produced sans most of their original actions. Again, as long as the figures appear as they are supposed to that’s what matters. Here you are getting King Haku and his crown. I appreciate that the crown is removable. I wouldn’t say that it fits snugly, but it fits…”nicely.” Most of all it looks great when on. When a retro figure has a non-removable head accessory I do understand it as that’s how most of the original Hasbro figures were handled, but I will always prefer removable when given the choice.

Overall this is a nice figure. The likeness is good and not TOO modern to ultimately look unretro, a problem that a lot of the retro boutiques are facing. The arms are posed well for some good Haku-esque stances and the figure stands well. While it fits in, size wise, with Hasbro figures and retros alike, I feel that he’s just a tad not thick enough. I’m thinking that he should be as bulky as the Hacksaw Jim Duggan Hasbro figures. Remember, nine times out of ten the Hasbro sculpts were a bit exaggerated. We needed some of that here. It could also use a bit more shine. The Blue Meanie figure from Chella had a great Hasbro shine. Haku is a tad on the dull side, though there is a bit of shine. I will say that the figure shows a decent shine in my accompanying photography, so the bit of dullness must only be in-hand.

I pre-ordered two of these since Haku is a favorite of mine and I’m hoping to get one signed. Do I regret it? Not one bit. It’s a perfectly acceptable entry to anyone’s Hasbro/retro collection, especially of a star who has been so under produced as an action figure.  Is it perfect? No, but I think we’ve said that for all Hasbro-esque figures including those from Mattel. I like it enough that if it was redone with flowery tights for a later Haku I’d probably pick one of those up, too. I don’t know if King Haku will be available post-pre-order, but if it is I don’t imagine that it will last long. Most of these boutique figures have proven to be hit or miss as far as availability once completed.

Man, do we ever need a Bobby Heenan retro figure…

Introducing The 2021 Figure Of The Year...

Isn't it January 2020? As hard as it is to believe, as of press time we're hours away from January 2022. I don't have to list the reasons why time is flying faster than ever. Did we even have Christmas this year? If we did I think I missed it. On the bright side we did have another great year of wrestling figures and a wider variety than in decades. Mattel, Jazwares and all of the boutique companies have brought us a bevy of wrestlers of all shapes and sizes from the past, present and future. My wallet is already cringing at what 2022 will bring. Before we examine the power of the winner, let's check out my runners up.

My criteria is not only based on the figure itself, but also distribution. If there wasn't an easy way for collectors to get their hands on a particular figure, it won't be my Figure of the Year. For example, despite being one of my favorite Mattel WWE figures of all-time, their King Harley Race of several years ago would never have won the award. Had he been in a regularly distributed set I can't see anyone else having won that year. 

Coming close to winning two years in a row was The Ultimate Warrior. Another of my all-time favorite Mattel WWE figures was last the 2020 winner, WWE Legends Ultimate Warrior. That figure famously depicted him in his final WWE appearance just hours before his death. I still can't believe that we have the figure in our collections. Another great Warrior hit our collections this year, this time depicting his WWF return at WrestleMania XII in 1996. A Ringside Exclusive, the figure is still available thus certainly making it obtainable. The detail is absolutely amazing and the paint is second-to-none.

From Jazwares and All Elite Wrestling we have two runners up, both also seeing releases as Ringside Exclusives. The first is the TNT Champion Cody Rhodes. Handsomely packaged in a window box that doubles as a Double Or Nothing entrance stage, this was the first release of the AEW TNT Championship belt. Cody seems to be currently facing a backlash that has plagued more than one top star over the years. In a decade he will be talked about glowingly among most fans. Mark my words. Of course, it could all be an invention of the toxic Twitter twits in their basements.

The second AEW figure on my list is referee Aubrey Edwards. A truly pioneering figure, it's the first time that a female wrestling referee has been immortalized in plastic. The figure also looks like they simply shrunk Miss Edwards down to six inches. It's that spot on. I would've preferred that she had been released on her own as opposed to having to purchase an expensive "real scale" ring in order to get her, but I know that I'm not the only one who took the plunge. I also had the chance to talk about the figure with Miss Edwards shortly before its release. She couldn't hide her happiness.

The smaller "boutique" lines are just getting started and in my opinion we'll have a lot more of these figures showing up as runners up in 2022. My inclusion for 2021 is none other than The Blue Meanie. Perhaps the most "toyetic" wrestler ever, The Meanie has been very underrepresented over the years as far as action figures. He has two more coming in 2022 including a repaint of this one. This release not only captured Meanie but also that slightly cartoonish Hasbro style. Chella Toys is doing a great job with their Wrestling Megastars line and I do predict that they will ultimately end up as the most cherished of all of the "retro" styled figures.

Our winner? The Warlord. Yes, he was part of Mattel's "Collectors Series" program and an exclusive to Wal Mart, but there was ample time to order him from their website even if you never saw him in stores. I was blown away by the detail on him from the face paint to the tights to the entrance gear. Perhaps the only thing that could've made him better to me personally was had he been in the WWE Legends line. Of the packaging from the past several years (since Mattel dropped the rectangle boxes) the Legends colors and design appeal to me the most. Will we ever get The Barbarian from Mattel? Maybe. But this half of The Powers of Pain turned out a real champ.

We're now coming up on the third year where the blog has no longer been weekly. When I began the blog in 2009, and even further back in the '90s when I published my newsletter, very few people were writing about wrestling memorabilia. I hate to declare that the blog is antiquated, but I feel that blogging as a whole is going the way of physical print media. People want podcasts. I've been told by many that I should go the podcasting route. If I were to do so, wrestling memorabilia would not be the topic. It's overexposed. That being said the blog isn't going anywhere. I still have ideas that I would like to explore with more undoubtedly ready to pop up. For those of you who continue to read the blog, I truly appreciate you.

Bull Naka-naka-naka-nakano

Don't even lie to me. You've had that in your head for twenty-seven years just like I have. Thanks, Macho Man. You've also wanted this action figure for that amount of time or perhaps even longer if you're a longtime devotee of Japanese women's wrestling or joshi. Hasbro ignored female wrestlers (and basically anyone in the WWF at the time other than male wrestlers) and Bull has never been part of any domestic legends series. Although there were some toys released in Japan that didn't truly fit into any actual figure series, thanks to Chella Toys we finally have Bull Nakano as part of their "Wrestling Megastars" line.

You may recall my review of The Blue Meanie from this line earlier in the year. Each figure is a tribute to the aforementioned Hasbro WWF line and thus far has been much truer to that series than the Mattel WWE Retro figures were just a few years ago. As you can tell by a line featuring both The Meanie and The Bull, there are seemingly no rules as to who all can be included. Between Nick Aldis and Hayabusa already being produced and with such names as The Dynamite Kid, The bWo and British legends "Big Daddy" Shirley Crabtree and Giant Haystacks on the way, it's quite the mix.

One thing that I love about this line is the packaging. The card stock is on point with Hasbro and even without any semblance of a WWF/WWE logo in sight, it's still closer to the originals than anything Mattel did. This isn't a bash Mattel fest. There were some great figures in that line. They simply failed a lot more than they should have and it's both amazing and refreshing that these smaller companies are getting it right.

The thing that is very noticeable even while the figure is carded is that Bull is rather small. The official explanation is that the women wrestlers are smaller. It's not a deal breaker for me, but seeing as that Hasbro's were never really about scale, I'd have her preferred her to be a bit bigger. We'll see how this progresses as the line goes on as the second female figure has already been announced in the form of Luna Vachon. While Luna already has two figures, she's one that I would've gone absolutely bonkers for in the original Hasbro line. She deserved to be there with Bam Bam Bigelow and will finally take her rightful place.

Bull is designed in the image of the Hasbro "suplex mechanism" figures that included such names as Mr. Perfect, Crush and Adam Bomb. The Wrestling Megastars do not have the mechanisms, but as far as I'm concerned they aren't exactly missed, either. This was a feature designed to attract children to the line. While many of us are children who never grew up, I can honestly say that even back then I rarely utilized the "Real Wrestling Action." That's why we kids never had an issue integrating the non-moveable Galoob WCW figures right in with the WWF Hasbros.

The likeness is good and her gear is perfectly captured. I would say that the skin tone is a tad too dark, but she still looks good. The face is just the balance needed between realism and a slight cartoonish flare. This is something that has to be difficult to do, as many of the other Hasbro tribute lines just can't seem to capture it.

At the price point that they are sold at, these retro lines aren't for everyone. If you are a fan of the Hasbro line and wish to extend your collection, this is a great opportunity to do so. My advice is to do as I do and pick and choose which ones you want. That way you have the exact collection that appeals to you. There are names coming from Chella as well as the other companies making similar figures that I simply would never want in my collection, so why would I buy them? It should be noted that another Bull is also coming from Junk Shop Dog in their line continuing the Popy Japanese figures of the early '80s. I know I won't be able to resist that one, either, so expect her to show up here just as their excellent Bruiser Brody figure did.

The Bull is running wild!

You can't wipe out this Blue Meanie!

It's nearly limitless as to who we may receive in figure form in the future. Aside from two names in particular, literally anyone who has stepped foot into a wrestling ring now has a shot at plastic immortality thanks to what I like to call "boutique" manufacturers. These are small outfits who are legally obtaining the rights to produce stars of the ring in figure form. As I discussed a few months back in my review of the Bruiser Brody figure by Junkshopdog, it's all about what you like and what you decide to include in your own collection. While I expect to see more from Junkshopdog (Terry Funk, The Road Warriors, Dynamite Kid AND Bull Nakano) on this blog in the coming months, for this entry we're shifting gears to a group known as Chella Toys. Based in the U.K., Chella Toys has been making waves with a line called Wrestling Megastars that attempts to continue the beloved Hasbro WWF line.

Chella Toys began with a figure of NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. While figures of indy star Ethan Page, Dynamite Kid, Hayabusa and Bull Nakano (who would've thought we'd get two figures of the joshi legend?) are upcoming, the second release stars none other than The Blue Meanie. Following this blog for over a decade as I'm sure you have, you know that I feel Meanie has been very underrepresented in the action figure world. Despite being a living cartoon character Meanie did not receive a figure in either his ECW or WWF runs. This was probably due to timing. Several years ago he finally saw a plastic representation in the Figures Toy Company Legends of Professional Wrestling line, but that one suffered greatly in quality. In the mean(ie)time, The Blue Guy did join the Micro Brawlers mini-figure lineup.

I think we've finally gotten the Meanie that we all deserved. Shouldn't the most beloved cartoony wrestler join the ranks of the most beloved cartoony wrestling figure line? In a word, yes! He's here and he's dancing. The Meanie comes packaged with "Josh Shernoff." I've guested on podcasts but I generally don't listen to them. From what I understand, seeing as that Meanie's shirt is from his "Mind of the Meanie" podcast, Shernoff is his co-host. The inclusion has divided a lot of fans. For me, it took away the burden of wanting a second set to get signed since I just really wouldn't want a podcast host to sign anything. I'm sure he's a great guy and is thrilled to have a figure. It's not a bad figure and comes with a very cool removable "Mind of the Meanie" microphone accessory.

The main event here is Meanie. How great is this little guy? The pose, the facial expression, the short shorts. This is what we've all wanted for a couple of decades. The folks at Chella Toys obviously have a great grasp on what made the Hasbro WWF line as popular as it is even today. It captures the spirit in a way that many of the Mattel retro figures quite honestly didn't. Even the backer cards on these Chella releases (I own the Aldis figure as well) are of the same thickness of cardboard that Hasbro used all of those years ago. The Mattel stuff was, for lack of better terms, cheap and flimsy. Is it that expensive to get a better quality cardboard for loyal fans paying good money? Chella Toys doesn't think so. They delivered.

Two aesthetics that may be cons with fans do exist. Some collectors probably would've preferred a different shirt on the figure. Seeing as that his podcast is probably something that he'd like to promote, it's easy to see why that shirt was used over a Blue Meanie or bWo shirt. Even though I've never heard the podcast I don't mind the shirt at all. It even promotes his social media accounts on the back. The other issue some may have is with the "Real Megastar Action." As a take off on the classic Hasbro "Real Wrestling Action" of each figure in that line, the Wrestling Megastar line has followed suit. The difference is that it's tongue-in-cheek and none of these figures have an action beyond you posing them. I actually think it's rather cute and the classic "action" callout on the card is much more endearing than a useless stand or an even more worthless advertisement for an app game. Mattel, I'm looking at you.

What a great new addition to the Hasbro-styled collection! I went the eBay route on these through a reputable United States based seller. There is apparently an "official" distributor of these in the U.S., but by many accounts that individual is less than trustworthy. For future Chella Toys releases I'll probably stick to eBay. I definitely want to get my hands on a Bull and probably a Dynamite who is designed to match the Hasbro Davey Boy Smith. Another independent toy maker is bringing out a Hasbro-styled line as well, so I could see possibly picking up some of those and reviewing them as well. But until then...

Meanie Dance!!!