So this is very long over due so here it goes
Do you wonder why I bash Mattel all the time 
Do think I say things just to say them I am NOT a person to do such things like that, I don't like bashing anything unless I have to and I have a good reason to when I do and in this case it's a bad one 
Remember when Mattel just got the licensed to make WWE figures back in 2010 and they had that huge hype deal in 2011 to get a free Vince McMahon figure? Well, I didn't forget nor will I ever! I have put this in the back in My head like I have so many other countless things in My life that I try hard to ignore but there is ALWAYS something to remind of crappy times. I was already involved heavily in Mattel's MOTUC & GBCs (I have nearly the whole collection of both!) I mean everyday it was Matty this and that either on the Matty Board or finding out what is coming out next and so on. I was buying stuff like expensive Sideshow Premium Format & Dinosauria figures that I so regret. Yeah, I had money then but it's not like that anymore
So, I tried to keep it cool and stuff about Mattel they way they were and how poorly they handled their lines. So I got back involved with wrestling in 2010 with TNA and got back into WWE in 2011 (I didn't quit involving wrestling over the previous years however as I always watched My old VHS tapes and played the old games, My passion for the sport never left Me but I kept up with the new stuff off and on via web sites & YT and the like) and it was fun. I was excited to collect the new figures. Then they had the new McMahon figure deal. I thought it was cool but darn the figures were so expensive I mean $15.99 for 1 figure when I could get a few of them for that price way back when and I'm talking classic WWF Jakks, ToyBiz WCW & OSTM WCW & ECW. Things were pathetically changing then only to develop into how things are now I mean stuff was becoming so unaffordable, games weren't games anymore, seemed like every movie was CGI and had to have silly trends in stat still continues and wrestling definitely wasn't the same anymore. Now off to this and this should have been a grand time for Me but oh no, it couldn't, could it
One day then in the summer of 2011 My Grandma needed to go somewhere and I said to her I'll go with ya but after that I wanna go to TRU and get them new WWE figs so I can get that free Vinnie Mac figure. She said OK. After she was doing what needed to be done, we stopped at TRU and I was excited, I always loved going there but it was so different compared to years prior however, the toy magic just wasn't there There it was, the WWE Mattel isle and the Vinnie Mac display was seen, I was quite euphoric to say the least 
NOTE: I took ALL the pics from 2011
NOTE: The red car on the left in the right pic with the Chihuahua bobble-head, that's My Grandma's Garfield Express, I had said about it earlier that some dumb drunk totaled it in 2017 and we got nothing for it 
There it was, the WWE Mattel isle and the Vinnie Mac display
So you saw all of that, it was fun taking them pics and being there. I bought so much, I basically bought every figure of the kind to My liking to qualify to get the free fig. I spent $375 + there
I know, it's so insane, the prices were so ridiculously high and you got silly people like Me who was so happy to get this stuff and wouldn't think anything of it. I wanted to build My collection in a hurry and not wait like I did when I was a youngster. So I got the figures that I needed to qualify such as the Elites, the Defining moments and of course the Legends. So like the old days when they used to have mail-aways where you send it points & cash/checks and I did My part and so like a little kid I was waiting for My Vinnie Mac figure and several weeks went by and what happen 
He didn't arrive to Me, a month or so went by and still nothing. I was worried that he got lost in the mail or something. So I called Mattel and ya know what they said
They said My order didn't qualify and I'm like what, I bought what was needed and sent in My proof of purchases and even the darn receipts that even said HOW MUCH I SPENT! I EVEN MADE THEM AT TRU GIVE ME A COPY FOR CRY'IN OUT LOUD FOR PROOF. They said their was nothing they could do no matter what I said, they were really jacks to Me. So I got so stressed out I couldn't take it anymore, I called My Grandma & Mom to see what they thought and they're like, heck yeah, we doubled checked your stuff so they both called Mattel to help Me out and they were even worse to them, I MEAN THEY WERE CALLING THEM NAMES & EVEN LIARS After that we wrote to the WWE but they couldn't do nothing about it supposedly and that was that. We had enough of it. This was the first time something like this had ever happen, all the mail-away figures I got years and years before then from Kenner & Hasbro and others, nothing like that ever occurred Now you know the reason why I am about Mattel and their WWE figures. Now you know why they have left such a stain on Me and left such a bittersweet & sour taste in My mouth...now you know why I complain about Mattel, who is a billionaire company with their poor-mouthin' budget crap, ToyGuru being such a you know what. I don't forget these times while everybody else just does
I hate this current crap too like we NEED backers in the crowdfunding offers especially for this WWF New Generation set even though most of it has already been released before. I mean I'm sick of it, people doing this crowdfunding stuff and just giving in to the BEYOND INSANE prices of this pathetic day & age and especially to the greedy, SOB company like them and don't get Me started about them woke corporate locusts Hasbro! It's also bad enough that other companies like McFarlane, NECA, Sideshow and others make the same stuff that has been made so much so many times over the decades, I mean their all generic and now, they used to be special So there it is, It's finally off of My chest
Oh by the way, I bought many other WWE figures on eBay & Family Dollar...I mean I had every wrestler that was released and some variants and the ring and more. What did I do with all of them figures you ask ...oh but I sold My entire collection for a lot I mean I couldn't stand to look at them much less to display them I mean they were going to waste when I could have sold them and got a ton of moolah for them However, I only kept 2 and that was The Brothers of Destruction, look for them in a future "regular" showcase. That's it about this horrible WWE Mattel Experience 
Well congrats on your friend and I can see why you felt bad, I'm sure it wasn't easy for him. Oh yeah, I remember Digital River, who could forget that 
Oh I haven't stopped liking their products. If you noticed in My Grandma MiMi's tribute I showed My Street Sharks and their made by Mattel. This wasn't just a great time then but also way before I knew stuff about Mattel, seemed liked they were a bit more considerate then like others too. Sometimes I do get stuff from them & Hasbro or others that isn't My faves because sometimes it's the only way to get what i what no matter whom you buy it from or it's nothing else. I completely understand and stopping on some company that I don't like but no, I haven't with stuff I like and yes it's My choice. Thanks for the little advise and the reply ONS, I appreciate that very much