My Vintage Wrestling Collection: Final F4WNL!!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

It's certainly quite a collection you've got there. I never bought any wrestling toys since they weren't really, really big until the 90's and by then I was "too old". There's some names like Pitbull that I completely forgot about and Alex Wright always makes me smile. I do remember it being fun when I worked at Walmart stocking toys and a new box of Jakks came in just to open it up and see who was being made. Back then you (or at least) I didn't see online months in advance what was coming out yet. Ah, I remember in the early days of Marvel Legends I'd stop at Borders just to flip through the toy magazines to see what characters were coming up. Kids today have no appreciation of how to work for information. It's probably why news "reporting" has gone to the crapper. I only regret not buying the British Bulldogs set or individual figures, besides that, I own one Ric Flair somewhere and several WWE figures I bought just for fodder parts.

Thanks a lot Packer, I appreciate that a lot dude Cool about Pitbull and Wright. Cool about Walmart. Nope, they don't, they have no clue how it was then. Back in 80s & 90s you just had the card back to tell you and maybe a catalog/ad and a TV commercial if you were lucky. I kinda miss that way to be honest. What you said about the crapper Yeah, I really stopped collecting Jakks WWF/WWE figures after WCW & ECW were gone. I do regret not getting the classic ones but then again I'm not sure

Wow! Blue Bloods had their own action figures! That's so cool.

I'm super impressed with your WCW figure collection. I'm seeing some of these things for the first time.

Yes dude, they did, I was surprised about that then and really I am today as well. Thanks so much Acid.

I was hoping that you guys would like this and be surprised about it.

OK, as I said earlier, OSTM part 2 will be coming up shortly and I will be showcasing much, much more after that so stay tuned and thanks again guys

[BrandonDaCollector]

I know I said that the OSFM part 2 was coming up soon and it will in time but there was something that I had to post and enter in My great topic. OK, first I entered "The Fridge" Perry on the first page from My great Vintage Action Figure Topic!

Second, I just found My missing OSTM Ring Steps the other day in a pile of boxes and I was like, oh man, there you are! the steel cage still alludes Me however. OK, you connect these steps to the side of the ring via small hooks that you slide up. They stay in place nicely and surprising the electronics still work! There is 4 buttons: 1 is a ring bell, 2 that has grunts and ouch noises and the last one is a voice saying "your out!" Yes, it sounds like a baseball umpire (Atlanta Braves ) than a wrestling ref! In fact there is a sticker that says on the steps what they are So here it is!




"The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart will show it's scale!



So there you go, like I said, look for OFTM pat 2 up soon. I ah so much more to showcase other than that and I am still looking My LJN cards, I gotta find those are quite special to Me. Until the next date I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

So here we go right out of the gate is the WCW OSTM PART 2! Oh but wait, your in for a HUGE treat because I have combined the rest of My WCW OSTM collection into THREE PARTS! Yes, you read that right, Parts 2, 3 & 4! This is gonna be a radical one so get ready to get down with some Attitude Era goodness!

WCW OSTM PART 2!

At last we begin with the aftermath of OFTM's new figures that came out in the Spring of 1997. I always thought that these were experimental figures cause they seemed so far different compared to their LJN inspired line. I believe I saw these online first, I believe it was an Tomart ad (wow, remember those?) and so I called My local K-B Toys and sure enough they had the new 2-pack of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan & Dennis "Rod the Bod" Rodman! I hurried up and called My Mom at her work cause she worked at Sears at the time and K-B Toys was right in the same shopping mall there next to her. I asked her if she could pick Me up this new set and she did!

So, this two pack is just labeled WCW-NWO Special Edition Action Figures. I wanted these guys bad. After a while I was wondering why was these guys made so differently and were they gonna make any more like this? Truth is I wasn't a huge fan of this style, I was still longing for more of the previous design. In fact it seemed like these figures weren't finished and just rushed out or something to that extant. I mean they didn't belong with the previous line and no, these were it, this is all that was made. Like I said prior to this, it seemed like these were nothing but a darn experiment.



Hollywood Hogan: Looks like Hogan got right off of his ride, look at the helmet!



Dennis Rodman: This is a really cool figure. Green hair and even some of his tattoos! NOTE: His back was messed up when I originally took him out of the package.



Both figures are completely new sculpts and pose with 4 POA with cuts at the shoulders and hips. Notice the height of Rodman compared to Hogan.



I saved the part of the card. Look at the [b]K-B Toys price tag[/b] and the wrestler pictures hence the background I used!



Comparison of the first OSTM Hollywood Hogan next to the new set.

[BrandonDaCollector]

WCW OSTM PART 3!

So, I was still hoping that they would make more of the previous figures and continue the roster. When I went to K-B Toys in the colder months of 1997, I had gotten excited because I saw them on the pegs but under some new blister cards and new name which was WCW Monday Nitro. It was nothing but the same figures and some variants (I previously showed them in My first part) so I was quite disappointed that there was no new wrestlers. However, I saw next to them there a totally new series of with the same title but these figures were unlike them. I was actually stoked about them. My Mom helped Me get the entire set! These figures were all single carded and featured the LJN style but they moved with 4 POA with cuts at the shoulders and hips and completely new sculpts and quite good. It had a few new characters plus a couple needed variants. These guys were slightly larger then the others but they are not real scale like the series before them, that was another point that I just loved about them in the first place! They have a very odd feature which is you press the button on their side and they vibrate...yes they vibrate! You can change their batteries via a compartment and open it up with a screwdriver. One thing to this day that I was absolutely huge to Me was I was taking all of the figures from the pegs looking for Sting...sure enough he was ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK and the only one they had! Oh man I felt so lucky that night!

Hollywood Hogan: This is a great version. He has an accurate looking beard and attire. He also came with an awesome WCW Championship! The sculpting and design is was totally spot on for back then and IMO its one of the greatest action figure belts ever!




The Outsiders: Scott Hall & Kevin Nash: Yep, this was the first time EVER that Hall & Nash was made into action figures in WCW as well as nWo. Amazing to think that only a year before in 1996 Jakks Pacific made Razor Ramon & Diesel figures for the WWF...ah the times of old!! These figures were good and had a decent likeness to them and you surely can tell who they are. This is the only time OSTM made Hall WITHOUT his sunglasses!





The Giant: This time he has a beard and has a great likeness but is not as massive as his previous figure.



"The Total Package" Lex Luger: Still in his generic "All American" attire from his tenure in the WWF, he is much more bulkier and intimidating than that of his first action figure.



"The Taskmaster: Kevin Sullivan: This is the way I was hoping he would look in the previous series instead of his regular gear. This version is arguably the most visually stunning of the entire line with his evil face paint and his ultra cool red & yellow singlet, this was from many appearances when he was in the Dungeon of Doom, My favorite wrestling stable of all-time!



Chris Benoit: Say and think what you will, when this figure was made it was a very different time and what would happen in the future wasn't even a thought! He has a fair likeness and is clearly still a member of the Four Horsemen!




Sting: Yep, Sting! The original "Crow" Sting was still brooding and wasting all of that time when this figure came out. this was one of the first versions ever of this depiction! Notice how short his hair is. He comes with his signature baseball bat. He has a great likeness!




SPECIAL GALLERY!

Bio Cards!






Copyright!



Comparisons with the previous figures.






Notice the remarkable differences between the WCW Titles!




Match ups!

The Giant vs. Kevin Nash!



Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan!



Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan!!



GROUP SHOTS!

WCW



nWo!



Super Group Shot!

[BrandonDaCollector]

OSFM PART 4!

So, here we go with the last days of OFTM's licence with WCW! It was 1998, thing's were looking better with the federation, Sting wasn't brooding after his ridicules over a year long depression, the nWo wasn't the whole show anymore, the Warrior finally came to WCW, we had an unbelievable winning streak like never seen before and fresh faces started showing up. Yet again, OSTM made some more rather odd and questionable decisions to change their style of figures. I never knew why they made these choices. Seeing them at Toys"R Us for the first time having them in hand I was kinda bummed about them but then they kinda grew on Me. I wanted My Mom to get Me them and she did minus one (more on that in a bit)! There is two scales, one large and one small...that is 7" & 4" and they in are real scale with each other but they are both very deceptive. The series has some new entries which was a big improvement for Me. I didn't collect the larger ones faithfully so there is some key players missing here nor the championship belt 4 pack or other rings and I didn't get the statues or the mini play-sets either. I did get all of 4" ones however as they are My favorites of the whole bunch! These guys all have good sculpting, paint and action features. All of them have the usual 4 POA but some is hindered due to the action features. They are simply under the WCW/NWO brand. Onward to the showcase!  

7" LARGE SCALE!

"Macho Man" Randy Savage



"Nature Boy" Ric Flair



"The Total Package" Lex Luger: In 2014, I got him from My bud Darthhink as a Christmas freebie and a farewell present in a special gift box from him (check that out in the MOTUC topic!). I was stoked that I didn't have this figure before!



The Giant



"The Wolverine/The Crippler" Chris Benoit



DDP/Diamond Dallas Page



Raven



Goldberg



Curt Hennig



SPECIAL GALLERY!

Copyright



Match ups!

Macho Man vs. Ric Flair



Lex Luger vs. Curt Henning



The Giant vs. Goldberg



Group Shot!



4" SMALL SCALE!

I kept the card inserts because I always loved to have things like that!

"Hollywood" Hulk Hogn



"Macho Man" Randy Savage



Scott Hall



Kevin Nash



"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair



"The Total Package" Lex Luger



Sting



The Giant



Bill Goldberg



"The Dog-Faced Gremlin" Rick Steiner



"Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner



SPECIAL GALLERY!

The Copyright!



Match Ups

Macho Man vs. Hogan



The Giant vs. Hogan



The Giant vs. Nash



Sting vs. Flair



Luger vs. Flair



Macho vs. Flair



The Giant vs. Goldberg



Special group shots!

WCW Originals!



The Steiner Brothers



The Outsiders



The nWo!




Super Group Shot!



The Blister Card: It was nearly identical for bother scales.



OSTM Comparison with most types of figures!



Ah wow, there it is Now I have archived all of My WCW OSTM figures Wow that was a lot but it was so good to do! I hope you enjoyed this, comments and questions please

So since OSTM's licence ran out and WCW wasted no time on signing another company to produce action figures for them, I thought it would be very apropos to feature My collection of WCW figures by none other than ToyBiz That is going to a visual dandy to behold for sure. Until then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

I recently found My LJN cards, I may post a special update here plus in My great Vintage Action Figure Topic soon! Don't forget to check out My huge OSTM update with part 2, 3 and 4 from the very beginning of it!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

First off, I wrote an absolute huge history of LJN in My great Vintage Action Figure Topic! Make sure you check it out because I just don't focus on the WWF Superstars of Wrestling but I also focus on The ThunderCats as well, it's one My most grandest showcasing ever! So if you wanna see it and know all of the info plus lots go then please head on over there!

OK, So this is only gonna be a necessary section to shocase here as after all, this is My Vintage wrestling Figure Topic but it was IMO needed to showcase LJN there because they were most classic of all toyline sin the 80s IMO!



Now the thing is, if you had seen & read My LJN debacle in My Vintage Wrestling Figure topic, you'll already know that I have regretted for decades not taking care of My figures and not being more serious about them when I was a little boy. I didn't wise up till I was about 8 in 1989 about how great these figures are not to mention how fun pro wrestling was in general. I loved wrestling since then and never, ever stopped! With with that out the door, I only have a handful of LJN WWF figures. So here they are with My commentary and special galleries!

The Iron Shiek: This legendary wrestler was My FIRST LJN WRESTLER EVER! My Grandma got Me him at Schnucks of all places but more on that later! Oh I loved that place and that neighborhood. I remember I was a foolish, dum@$$ kid then because I wasn't sure if I wanted him or not because of whatever stupid reason it was...I look back at that moment and I'm like, dude, I can't believe I was like that, this is not how I should be and I got change My ways about this stuff and quick too! Ranting over, his sculpting is great and his physique is great as well. This has always been My favorite ring attire for the Iron Sheik, the fact of the matter is, he hardly wore it yet LJN made this version and I'm glad of it! Oh, on his head, is My bite marks when I was really young, yeah, I know, I was a stupid 3/4 year old brat in 1984 The Iron Sheik is still active today!



The Junk Yard Dog: My Mom got Me him at K-B Toys but more on that later. This JYD (R.I.P.) is a great figure. His body and likeness is spot on for the era. He has always been one of My favorite wrestling figures of all from any series & era. Unfortunately I have misplaced his dog collar & chain

[/i]

Hulk Hogan vs. Big John Studd Thumb Wrestlers: I believe My Mom got Me them at Toy Chest across the street from Toys''R''Us. I played the heck outta these guys and its a shame I did and didn't take care of them. The bodies' and likenesses are fairly well done.




Now here is this, I had a long hiatus from not getting any LJN figures because of My foolish ways, I wised up as I saw an ad in Pro Wrestling Illustrated with so many great ones to order. So I asked My Grandma to get them for Me, I mean there was Ax of Demolition, Captain Lou Albano, White Shirt version of Hulk Hogan, Ted Arcidi, The Ultimate Warrior, The Warlord, The One Man Gang and Miss Elizabeth among others. Here is the two ads that was in the magazines I digged...look at the fun & coolness, I miss those timeless days and I want them back




So she order Me what she could but we got the mail back and the bad news was they were completely out of stock never to get them back in and that was that, My time of getting more LJN WWF figures was over. Oh but wait, a few years later I say 1992/1993 Me at My Grandma went down the neighborhood looking at yard sales as We used to do because you never know what you'll find! I was like HOLY CRAP! They got WWF LJN!!!!!!! So she got'em for Me and here is whom they had!

Hillbilly Jim: He didn't have his hat but he was in fair condition. LJN made him really nice with a great likeness.



"The Immortal" Hulk Hogan: He was also in good condition but was missing his world championship title belt. I was really lucky that they had him. The likeness is great and every wrestling collections need at least one figure of Hulk Hogan!



"Macho Man" Randy Savage: Another surprise, they had The Macho Man! He was in fair condition. Like Hogan, any wrestling collection needs at least 1 Randy Savage!



Bendable Hillbilly Jim: This was a treat for Me because back then I didn't even know that LJN made bendable figures for the series He is basically the same mold as the much larger regular figure and he is in great condition!

[BrandonDaCollector]

SPECIAL GALLERY!

The BLISTER CARDS! These are the babies that halted Me posting these wonderful history making figures for many months! It took Me a long time to find them is putting that very mildly to say the least Their the only two that I have and thank goodness I kept them in good shape. Here is a nice detailed look at their classic beauty from the front!



Here is the back of The Iron Sheiks' card, see his cool bio and the figures in the series! I had always like the Andre the Giant with the Afro style hair but never got him. Looking at the pic has so much meaning and history, its so remarkable!




Here is the JYD's card, he has a really god bio and you can tell he he came out later as there is many more superstars on the back, I would have loved that Jesse "The Body" Ventura & King Kong Bundy! Yes, they had a special point system and mail-aways and look at that year!





The Price tags! Oh yes, I always look at old prices tags. Young collectors today has no clue how cool that was back then. The Iron Sheik was $7.99 @ Schnucks while JYD was only $6.99 at Kay-Bee! These guys were so cheap then, I miss it when you got great figures with decent blister cards and you didn't feel like you were buying the packaging and you felt that you got something special really worth more than what you paid for because it had meaning unlike today's offerings on the market IMO with theses insane prices where you are just basically paying for the packing and figures or even toy lines that has been produced by several different companies over the past 2 decades...I'm sorry but IMO it's just not the same anymore To think that these guys were that cheap, now their nearly worth gold on the secondary & third marketplaces...that's how special this WWF Series is



Copyrights!









My FIRST 2 LJN Wrestlers!



Hogan & Macho!



Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik!



Thumb wrestler Hogan vs. G.I. Joe's Sgt Slaughter (previously seen):



LJN Group Shot!



LJN Size Comparison: Here is Bendable Hillbilly Jim & JYD compared to G.I. Joe's previously presented in My topic The "Fridge" Perry (special appearance @ Wrestlemania 2) and  Sgt. Slaughter (former WWF Champion)!

[BrandonDaCollector]

LJN vs. Hasbro!

As had mentioned earlier, after LJN was out of the picture and picked up by Acclaim, the WWF wasted no time at getting another company to make figures of their great talented roster and that was of course Hasbro and it seemed like the most obvious choice cause I had mentioned previously they already had Sgt. Slaughter a part of their G.I. Joe series so why wouldn't you sign them? The series would last from 1990 to 1994/1995 and would consist of most of the wrestling talent from the WWF's "Golden Era" to the early days of the WWF's "New Generation"! These would lack that classic toy feel that LJN had because these were plastic and had action features but they looked very realistic and were still amongst some of the most cherished and talked about action figure lines of the 90s never to be duplicated ever and became as famous & sought after as the WWF Wrestling Superstars series by LJN! Here is LJN Hulk Hogan from 1984 compared to Hasbro's Hulk Hogan version #2 from 1990...take a gander at that difference!



Also, recently seen in My great Vintage Action Figure Topic was this...

Sgt. Slaughter THRU THE AGES! So this is something else I have been wanting to present for quite some time. Here is the 2 Sgt. Slaughter figures previously seen within the topic and is with 2 newer ones I thought was a must show since I have shown him more than once. Since I had talked greatly about Hasbro's WWF figure license in My awesome LJN showcase, I thought I'd show Hasbro's WWF version that I got in 1992 from the last days of the WWF's Golden era! This is after his major Iraq heel turn, became babyface and joined the USA again. Next is the WWF Jakks Pacific figure that I got in 1997 during the early heyday of the Attitude era! This figure depicts him as Commissioner Slaughter! He had been a WWF official since he retired in late 1992, but his run as Commissioner Slaughter was kinda short & bittersweet. Ever since he has appeared on WWF/WWE TV and became a Hall of Famer! So the figures look great, I have always loved the Hasbro version very much, the stance and sculpting of his face is uncanny. Say what you will about Jakks, I really did like their figures despite some gripes here and there...I mean they did have great moments. The sculpting of him is great, love that suit and them papers. His likeness is done extremely well and I believe this is one of the only figures ever done of him this way. He is actually got hair, no big bald spot He was part of a special "personnel" series that really, no other company that made wrestling figures ever ventured in which IMO is a darn shame





Well, that'll do it for now. I know I said that ToyBiz WCW was coming up next and it will be here soon but like My LJN cards, I recently found something that was very crucial so next up will be a very special WCW OSTM update, till then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK, here is My WCW OSTM special update! Recently I was very surprised as I finally found THE CAGE that came with the ring! There will be a very interesting note towards the end of the update

So here it is, I chose Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant with "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart and "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan in their corners as the Dungeon of Doom days was My favorite of all-time in WCW! Wow these looks so great, I just love these







Now, here is the very interesting note, as I had theorized earlier within the topic that OSTM was actually a branch/sister company of Galoob (and is most likely owned by Hasbro) and I believe My theory is correct Look at the cages comparison as Galoob's version is nearly identical with the OSTM's cage, just different sizes, they are even made of the same type of plastic and feel the same




That's it for now, next up should be My showcase of WCW ToyBiz which gonna be a great & fun one Until then I'll see you around