My Vintage Wrestling Collection: Final F4WNL!!!

[AcidDragon]

That's one heck of a collection, Brandon. Inspirational.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Thanks alot Acid

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK, you already seen all of My figs from My collection, now as a sweet bonus, here is 2 WCW Galoob commercials from 1990, gosh these were good times and I miss'em

[BrandonDaCollector]

So finally, here we go with My showcase of the great WCW wrestling figure series made by none other than ToyBiz This line ran from 1998 to 2001 which was the unfortunate end of WCW when they along with ECW were bought & taken over by the WWF/WWE. It was arguably the most painful and emotional events ever in wrestling as I had watched WCW faithfully for over a decade despite I did the same for the WWF but when your a huge wrestling fan like Me then that's what you do! It was a sever struggling after this as feds like TNA & ROH were just beginning but never came close as being competition and it would remain that remain that way until AEW came along but that unbelievable conflict is for another time.

OK, so as previously seen & known, I absolutely loved the previous WCW figures by OSTM and I wanted them to continue it and finding this out was really disappointing but apparently their contract/partnership was over in late 97/early 98 and WCW wasted no time at getting a new company to make their figures. They chose ToyBiz and how apropos it was since they already had Hulk Hogan within their ranks So their figures were made quite differently as they are pose-able with articulation & action features unlike OSTM & Galoob's statuesque figures previously seen in My great in-depth showcase! I quickly got adjusted to this newer style and I arguably liked them even more than their rivals of the WWF's Bone Crunchers/BCA by Jakks Pacific (gosh it was truly a terrific time going to Toys 'R" Us & K-B and seeing all of those classic wrestling figures on the shelves & in the bins...in fact it was weird seeing left over OSTM WCW with the newer ToyBiz WCW figures on the same shelve and I miss them days so much!) as I felt WCW's figures were more realistic because they had great unique sculpts and were mostly real heights as opposed to most Jakks' wrestlers being in the same scale and using the same molds thus continuing the template/palette trend of the 80s, a cool concept that was decided in order to make things fast by companies such as Mattel & REMCO which this process is still being done today

Now, like any entries of My collections, they maybe a bit worn and may not have all accessories and I do not have every wrestler nor variant but I do have most of them. I will present them in random order and will have a special gallery like always and without any more waiting here they are!

Chris Jericho, Sting, "The Giant" Paul Wight, "The Total Package" Lex Luger & Ref: The Ref was actually an accessory but like always, I never count these like that. These Jericho & Luger versions were the best they made of them said wrestlers!



Rick Steiner, Hardcore Hak, Dennis "The Bod/The Worm" Rodman & Chris Kanyon: Steiner uses the same mold as his brother and this I believe is the only version of his heel persona, Hak's figure is rather decent and to think OSTM would make him as The Sandman not to long after this in their awesome ECW series. This is a rather fantastic figure of Rodman, his hair changes color and he has tats. I remember how surprised I was that they actually made him after OSTM made him only a couple short years before this edition. This maybe the only figure ever made of the late great Kanyon



Kevin Nash, The Giant, Bam Bam Bigelow and Scott Hall: This one of many variants of Nash and its OK. This is the first version of the Giant. I love how he is different than his other figure as he is sculpted with a neck brace. He is depicted this way as it was from a time when Nash severely injured him, in fact they both came in a two pack together. My Grandma got Me the late great Bigelow @ Walmart. He is a superb version of him with a great likeness & accurate tattoos! Now, this Scott Hall is one of My most prize figures EVER because this is the black & white version. It was in the year 2000, Me & My Grandma went to our local K-Mart in the old neighborhood and while I was excited to to go to the action figure isle but wow I was so thrilled that I saw him on the peg on a nearly empty section I believe he was the first chase/variant figure I saw from any series and that I got She bought'em for Me and I never seen this version for sale in person again



Konnan, Wrath, The Disco Inferno & Bill Goldberg: Though K-Dawg & Disco's attires arn't as detailed as they could have bee, these are all great versions and I believe these are the only figures made of them except for Goldberg which this one of the best versions of him if not the best!



Stevie Ray, Kevin Nash, Raven & Rey Mysterio: Rey uses the same sculpt as his brother Booker T. Similar version of Nash, now Raven has a Marvel Daredevil shirt...how apropos that was and oh and like Hak, OSTM would make a version him not too much longer as he would also return to ECW! Now, this is the ONLY UNMASKED version of Mysterio He is maskless due to the stips he had in WCW. Today's WWE for almost 20 years wants the fans that remember this era to forget about it and for noobs to not EVEN KNOW taht this even occurred! This is just not one of the most important Mysterio figures but one of the most imperative wrestling collectibles of all-time



"Macho Man" Randy Savage, Eric Bischoff, Sting & Goldberg: The red & black Macho is really sweet, Easy E is a decent fig with a nice likeness and was exclusive in a box set! This Sting was one of the best versions of him with a rubber jacket. This Goldberg is cool and one My faves, I love his shirt with his tat logo on it!



Bill Goldberg, Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, Kevin Nash and Billy Kidman: This Goldberg was My first figure of him EVER. ToyBiz wasted little at making a figure of him as he was like no wrestler ever seen before at the time! Gosh, I remember how I got him, it was at Sears where My Mom worked and she got him for Me (see My OSTM nWo Hogan & Rodman for a similar special event) and he is My fave figure of him and one of My faves of all of My entire WCW ToyBiz collection! This is really a cool version of Bagwell, great likeness! This is the most realistic version & My fave one of Nash in the series and the Billy Kidman is also superb version!



Sid Viscous, Bret "Hitman" Hart, The Giant, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Ignore the Giant, he is the same fig as presented above and put him in by mistake. This is a tremendous version of Sid and IMO almost rivals Galoobs version that almost came out a decade prior. This is an amazing likeness of Hart, far more realistic IMO than Jakks ever made of him and it is astounding that his figures came out so quick after his screwjob in the WWF Survivor Series 97 nearly 25 years ago! His cousin Piper is great, I find his likeness really good and his removable jacket & kilt is a nice touch! This Hogan was an exclusive with Bischoff and is one of the coolest action figures ever and My fave of all of the ToyBiz Hogan versions!



"Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page and Goldberg: Previously seen in My Marvel section...this is the first & only version of the late great Randy Savage in his newer look & much more aggressive persona and wow what a likeness! The red & black Wolf Pack Sting is really good, love the colors! Another great one with DDP and was the first one they made, his arms are in the pose for good to mimic his diamond sign but this IMO is the most realistic version of him ever! This is also a very realistic version of Goldberg!



DDP, Sting, Nash & Hollywood Hogan: All of these versions are OK, the DDP is much shorter than the other version which is not to My liking and I love that expression Hogan has with his beard!



Lex Luger, Hulk Hogan & Sting: This version of Luger was first they made and they desperately corrected this version seen above. This is the only red & yellow version of Hogan as we were supposed to forgive him for turning heel. I was very glad that they made a R&Y one of as I felt that the line wouldn't have been complete without it. This version of Sting was cool but it was an exclusive gimmick appearance only seen within this series.



Bret Hart, Booker T, 'Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner and "The Crippler" Chris Benoit: All 4 of these guys were in a series called Ring Masters where you would collect all four with a piece of a ring which is what they are displayed in as it is complete! This was one of the first ever build-a-figure/BAF type years before ToyBiz' would do it for their Marvel Legends series This was the first ToyBiz Bret Hart WCW figure and he has his shades! Finally there's Booker T! Steiner & Benoit looks great and this was their first versions with this line!



The Four Horsemen box set - "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, "The Ice Man of 1.000 holds" Dean Malenko & "The Wolverine" Chris Benoit: This was a major set to have as they were one of the most iconic stables ever seen. It's about time they made Flair! Mongo looks just unbelievable, easily one of the best figures in the entire line and really one of the most underrated action figures regardless of series. Malenko's first fig is really good and Benoit's repaint is great!



Vampiro, Mike Awesome & Perry Saturn: These 3 are some of My faves of the whole series and were some of the last WCW figures EVER MADE as WCW went under This Vampiro figure is one of the greatest figures ever created and he is so accurate and I love his hair  Unlike the other ECW guys mentioned above, it was the opposite as OSTM already made a figure of the late great Mike Awesome in their ultra ECW series then he suddenly jumped ship and was totally missed used in WCW and he was never the same since. His ToyBiz figure looks great and was on a much smaller card. Saturn is terrific with a fantastic likeness, his tats and cool skirt!



Miss Elizabeth: She was included in a 2 pack with her ex-hubby & the black & white version of Randy Savage. This is only her second figure ever made and was nearly a decade before her very first figure was made in the ultra classic LJN series as I previously showcased earlier. The likeness is fair, since she is made by a comic company, they went the comic route rather than the realistic option. She is much thinner then her real life self but clearly female and in fact she is the only woman ToyBiz ever made in this entire line which was really a shame as WCW had some really good, hot, classy and talented women. I would have loved it if they would have made a special box set of the Nitro Girls...oh man that would been sweet! Here is she is :bounce:




Bonus Entries!

Bonus Character/Wrestler!

Sabertooth: Yep, from ToyBiz' great X-Men movie series from 2000. I enter him within My fan fiction roster because the actor that played him was a wrestler in WCW in the early 90s known as The Big Sky so it was so apropos that ToyBiz made him and he is in great scale with the WCW ToyBiz figures!



Tyler "Sabertooth" Mane & Kevin "Vinnie Vegas" Nash reunites but are they at odds this time  Look at that scale, they are both 7 footers



Here is special real pic of them that I put together when they were a team in WCW in 1993!

[BrandonDaCollector]

SPECIAL GALLERY!

Chris Jericho & Dean Malenko - Grip N Flip: These had a interesting magnet concept and I got them @ K-Mart!



Ring Master ''Torture Rack'' Lex Luger, Accessories & more: I originally got this version because it was a legit Luger head sculpt as seen much earlier. There was also many items that was included among others.



Head Ringers & Keychains: There was many more figures in these two series'.  I got these at Family Dollar which is all they had of these guys. The HR are OK but I loved the keychains as they were basically the same molds as the main action figures but were sculpted precisely with realism and to be honest, I would have loved a main series like this rather than a gimmick spinoff....funny same thing happen with Marvel Legends years later



Tuff Talkin' Sting, Scott Steiner, Randy Savage & DDP: I love these electronic guys. Their large scale about 12" tall. They speak with a authentic voices of the wrestlers saying some of their well known phrases and their mouths move while they do it. Shame this concept didn't catch on, I thought it was great. I got them later on eBay and I had some others but had to return'em because they were broke and their features didn't work. This may have been the issue with other customers in the past thus the reasoning why they didn't get over the way they should have




WCW Weapons: Yep, when things were extreme!




WCW Rings!





Vampiro in detail! Wow, his face paint, his cool hair and them tattoos! I love his shirt as well. Oh I love flipin' his hair time & time again like he used to do! This is arguably the best wrestling figure ToyBiz ever made!




The nWo!




Group Selection!

[BrandonDaCollector]

SUPER SPECIAL GALLERY!

Blister Cards: These are just examples as I had a hard time locating them. I loved the big pics on the front of them and the little instructions on the back. Notice the size & style differences between the two. The smaller one is from the last of the whole line as they were kinda frugal but had no choice as WCW was on it's last legs before the WWF buyout which this time was such a sad time for WCW fans and major wrestling fans in general and it was over 20 years ago this year if you can believe that





Background: Long ago in 99, Shop 'n Save exclusively had WCW Cereal! I loved them. The boxes were of Bret Hart, Goldberg & Sting! I discovered them in the later hours of the night when Me & My Mom went grocery shoppin' and we got all 3 and I didn't want to throw away the boxes as they were collectibles with great pictures and look how great they make backgrounds :bounce:



Tuff Talkin' Sting vs. Playmates' 14" electronic Undertaker: Previously hinted at in My huge Halloween Spooky figure topic, this is a dream match and still never happen in real life. The scale is pretty good as The Stinger is six foot four and The Phenom is six ten and a half! This is one of the best Undertaker figures ever created and this Sting is also a great one!



Here is a SPECIAL SAMPLE COMPARISON of Kevin Nash thru the 90s in wrestling figure form: WWF's versions when he was "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel which are jJakks's version which I believe he was My second ever Jakks figure (My first was Bret Hart) and Just Toys (My first one ever from that great series)



ToyBiz Hollywood Hogan vs. Jakks Pacific Ultimate Warrior: Oh boy, here it is! I was grateful that I got the Warrior at TRU in 96 not to long after he left the WWF. 2 yeas later he would return in 98 one last time and would feud with none other than Hogan in a big rematch (from the original match at WWF Wrestlemania 6 in 1990) at WCW Halloween Havoc 98. Much of the stuff of the whole storyline was cool but in the end it was quite bittersweet Their scale is fine IMO and I love how they look so here is rad depiction of their encounter as 2 different figures from 2 different companies collide...gosh it was fun back then!





and here is special reunion between Sting & The Ultimate Warrior when they were The Blade Runners way back in the 80s during their time as a team in UWF! Unfortunately after they split and they were never together in a wrestling ring together again

[BrandonDaCollector]

WCW SPECIAL ITEMS GALLERY!

WCW Magnets: I got Kevin Nash & Goldberg at My local 7-Eleven! I saw them there and had to get'em! I got the regular ones from WCW theirselves! The little holograms are from the ToyBiz blister cards, I carefully took them off! All of these are on My fridge has been for over a generation



WCW Airfresheners: I got these babies over Dollar Tree/Deals, I wanted them as collectibles and not to freshen up the place




WCW Plushes: I got these at a vending claw machine at the Schnucks! I put My money in and My Grandma got them out with only a couple tries! We got tons out of them machines over the course of 2 decades and sometimes we would actually clear them out...no joke but this is for another topic entirely Anyway, We only saw Sting & Goldberg. They both have great likenesses and about 12" tall and are made by Play-by-Play!





THE FUTURE!

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the near future, finally it's coming into fruition...I am going to start My Modern Wrestling Figure topic Here is small sample of what's in store. This is a special comparison of ToyBiz' cool WCW Kevin Nash compared to their fantastic version when they got the license to make TNA figures in the mid 2000s Look at the difference at the 2 and how drastically the sculpting improved...sometimes I still can't get over when the technique majorly changed in around 2001!  The TNA version is IMO the best Nash ever made!



SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The INVASION of OSTM ECW  :shock:  :!: Yep, they are coming as a significant showcase soon. These are arguably My fav wrestling figures of all-time...wait till the next showcase for this extreme awesomeness!



Oh but wait, here is a big hint as a comparison with ToyBiz' Mike Awesome with OSTM ECW version which was first!



OK, this will be it, here is a special comparison of OSTM ECW and ToyBiz' WCW & TNA This is a special selection that I chose as Shane Douglas was one of the most crucial ECW figures for Me and in history but more on that later. There is the WCW ToyBiz Sting and the TNA Jeff Jarrett! These guys look so good together!



So all in all, the ToyBiz WCW series was great. It was always a battle as to if they were better & funner that the OSTM or not and of course it was always a challenge deciding who was better being ToyBiz or Jakks just like you were watching it on TV...who was better...WCW of WWF? I always picked WWF but I always had a soft spot for WCW and really I never really could make up My mind back then but now...oh now its a total different story...I really would have have WCW when then the Monday Night War and despite what going on now with WWE & AEW, the MNW will never, ever be duplicated, I am very fortunate to have experience it from beginning to end which was 1995 - 2001

Sadly Toybiz had plans of making much more for the series. Their Bash at the Beach line is one of the most expensive of the series bcause it was their last. Also finding Kronik is nearly impossible and them prototypes are extremely pricey! A lot of the series is at affordable prices on eBay. If anybody has a desire to get'm get knows what they want, I think it would be possible to get a good number of these classic figures, in fact i think it would actually be simpler to get them then today's super expensive offerings from Mattel's WWE & Jazwares' AEW figures, it's so ridicules when you compare how yeaster was compared to today... yesteryear wrestling figures at your local toy shop were like $5.99, now, they range over $20...no thank you

Well, that concludes My huge WCW ToyBiz showcase! It was a lot of work to make but it was very fun. I hope you learned something here and enjoyed it If your just now seeing this MAKE SURE YOU GO BACK to the start of this special showcase, you don't wanna miss I started it So with them spoilers already in motion, My next vintage wrestling showcase will be My OSTM ECW figures and it's one I've been waiting to do for quite some time and it's gonna be great. Until then I'll see you around

[BrandonDaCollector]

As a special bonus, here is some great ToyBiz WCW Commercials that shows you the wrestlers and their figures! When you see them in action, the seemed so real then and more ideal than teh ones that Jakks made for the WWF. WCW always had an edge over the WWF but... It was so cool back then If your just just now seeing this, don't forget to check out My huge WCW ToyBiz showcase that I just posted, you don't wanna miss anything about it

[packerbacker180]

The Blade Runners might've had the worst face paint ever, lol. I remember really loving ToyBiz Marvel Legends figures, but looking at them now, they haven't aged well. Some of these wrestling figs haven't either. I honestly can't image what your house looks like with all these toys.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Huh. I beg the differ on some figs, some do look lees authentic bur I thought that when I originally got them However, them Hogans still are quite impressive and still present the true Hollywood Hogan look & feel to this day IMO.

Oh you don't want to