Here we go with My
ECW/Extreme Championship Wrestling action figure collection by the
OFTM, makers of My fave
WCW figures that I have greatly & entirely showcased within the topic earlier on. Now these figures were actually a surprise for Me back in the day of 2000. For one, they just came off of the heels of making the last of their
WCW figures when
ToyBiz was starting to making their own (WCW didn't waste no time there and I had just showcased My
ToyBiz WCW collection recently). Another big reason is that
ECW was coming back on TV or at least in My area in the later part of 99 into 2000 cause we hadn't seen
ECW on TV for a while and this became My favorite era of
ECW EVER
Out of all the TV channels they were on
TNN aka The Nashville Network which usually only had country music concerts, shows and anything else that was related to Country, not pro wrestling or anything of that nature of physical sports and keep in mind that
ECW's home was in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. And of course I was surprised that
ECW got the license of action figures because they were the smallest of the three major wrestling promotions of the attitude era which their competition was
WWF & WCW. Though many never did consider it then but I sure did and
ECW was arguably My fave of the three and My Grandparents loved them compared to the other two. So here is a small introduction of the companies that will be the focuses of this long awaited showcase.
First off, if you are a noob/novice of the era of pro wrestling for whatever reason when it was still great and when things mattered compared to this androgynous, insane and pathetic era we are in now then you don't know what you missed but
ECW's main run was from 94 to 2000 was by
Paul Heyman, yes I am talking about the same
Paul Heyman whom is in
WWE today with
The Bloodline. Despite countless probs he had then including not paying his wrestlers at all for example but there was a ton of positives there. There was great talent that was familiar and new, great booking, exciting matches every week and most of the time didn't follow the others in ridicules storylines and the same stuff happening every time you tuned in to their events. I have always said the true attitude era happen when the
nWo happen in
WCW in 1996. However, since
ECW wasn't really mainstream for a while after that, not many people had seen them unless the looked at
Pro Wrestling Illustrated among other wrestling magazines in the mid 90s cause even when the web was getting into full force, there still wasn't a huge amount of
ECW content there. Hence their name, they were hardcore in just about every way from weapons like chairs to barbed-wire bats, harsh language, great looking-big boobed valets and the atmosphere of the product in general just excitingly reeked in hard-line entertainment. Both of the other federations especially in
WCW would experiment in this type of new-age wrestling with actually hiring some of their talent in 95 such
Sabu and Mr JL and in early 96 they got
ECW's former team
Public Enemy and brought that type of style using tables and chairs but people in other states just wasn't into it as a whole but it would soon catch on though. They would also experiment with options like bringing in talent for Mexico & Japan among other international countries which
ECW had already been there, done that until their final days.
ECW really first got themselves known around the world when they "invaded" the
WWF in 97. It was a great time 25 years ago this year! Ever since, Paul Heyman has been cahoots with Vinnie Mac but one could argue that this actually happen sooner than originally thought as the
WWF would get the likes of Steve Austin, Brian Pillman and Sid in 95 & 96
In fact they had a similar deal where they would use "The King" Jerry Lawler's
USWA as a farm system/minor league/training ground for years before, during and after this time because during those days there was no Performance Center/PC for them but
WCW did have their Power Plant much like
AEW's Nightmare Factory today. So with all of that in common, the unthinkable happen,
ECW went bankrupt in 2000 and their TV deal was over with
TNN and had their last PPV in January of 2001, the same year the Monday Night Wars ended when things went to heck for
WCW and were bought by the
WWF and it was on both companies' main shows at the same time which was Nitro & Raw but if that wasn't enough, the
WWF had also acquired
ECW as well. It was the darkest day of all-time is wrestling and it was already 21 years ago which is hard to believe cause I remember it happening like it was last week
If you watched wrestling then and followed as much as I did then you know how it was and what an awful time it was and if you didn't then you missed one of the most heartbreaking moments ever on TV and it will never, ever be repeated again. The
WWF would make a big angle and storyline out of this where Shane-O Mac would recruit some of the wrestlers from both feds and later own would even rebrand them but they were never the same and the wrestlers that were involved, most of then never recovered including
Mike Awesome 
Many wrestlers like
Sting & Shane Douglas never went to the
WWF because
Shane was there many years prior twice and
Sting became the face of the soon to be
TNA but he did make a brief run in "the now"
WWE back in 2015 but we all know how bittersweet that turned out when it as all over.
ECW inspirations would happen
TNA and among other places including
Douglas' Extreme Rising and as much as I loved it, it never went anywhere:x So when the
WWE presents TLC, Extreme Rules, street fights and other stuff like that and today's generation who watches it now and never watched the original hardcore wrestling like
ECW has no clue how it really was and how much better it was back then
Now, as for the company who makes the figures I'm about to showcase in a moment is the
Original San Fransisco Toy Makers/OSTM. They were one of My favorite toy companies in the 90s. Oh here we go again, if you have been following My showcases in My great Vintage Action Figure Topic then you know that I have been really "griping" at
Hasbro as of late just not because their woke but also because they were once, one of My favorite companies but over time I began to realize what such corporate locusts they are as they took-over/bought out many of My other favorites companies such as
Tonka & Kenner, Larami, and Galoob among so many others. When they took over
Galoob they also took over the
OSTM because they were a sister company to THEM
I was very fond of these companies for decades and and when I found out that they were all gone thanks to
Hasbro, it just made Me hurt and aggrieved
So with that being said, the
OSTM out did themselves here, these are extremely realistic for back then and IMHO they still hold up to date even to today's standards. These guys were only $4.99 each and I got them from various stores and some have some sentimental stories as well. Truth is, it was the later part of the Summer of 2020, when got these guys out of storage and took a look at them and reminiscing the old times, this is when I had My awakening of when I was convinced to collect the stuff that I couldn't before and this IS NO JOKE!
I have most of the entire collection, I have all of the different wrestlers but I skipped out on the variants plus they were very hard to obtain because the series prematurely ended when
ECW folded. They all have action features with levers on their backs that I just ignore and they are still all in excellent condition. So at last, here is My
ECW action figure collection by the
OSTM!
It was called none other than 
