reviews

Let me start of by talking about my displeasure with the "Build A Figure" concept. As a marketing scheme it is brilliant for Mattel. It puts a collector in the position to buy ate least 3 possibly 4 figures that you don't want just to build a more obscure character to complete my WWE Universe. But I'll get in to that more below as tell you all about my BO2012 Basic debacle

Sin Cara

Sin Cara is pictured in his red ring gear. He comes with his removable rubber duster. Not much to say about him as I already have the Blue and White versions previously released in elite form. But he is a cool character and will fit well in the collection.

Christian

Another figure that i really didn't need but I can justify owing it by convincing myself that I prefer the purple deco to his first elite release. The main draw of this figure is the new throwback white IC belt. Mattel almost always hits their belts out of the park and this belt is no different. The white strap looks great and the leather texture really pops in white.

Sheamus

Yet another figure that I didn't necessarily need (do you see a pattern here?) but i'll take him. He is the first Sheamus figure that I have purchased in a while and the first in non black trunks. Has his removable t-shirt.

John Cena

I know there is a decent amount of heat toward the Master of Thugonomics from people my age but I have a lot of respect for the Hogan of the 2000's. I don't go out of my way to buy new expensive elite Cena figures, but I am always happy to have a Cena in his various colors. He has his green gear that goes great with my throwback NWA ring skirts! He has his usual removable shirt, dog tags, and hat. Hat has logos on front and back which is a nice touch. I really do appreciate that they have started to give Cena a removable arm band. Not necessary but a pleasant touch.

John Laurinaitis

Big Johnie. He is off TV but he is immortalized in plastic. Bright RED plastic. I have always been a fan of the more obscure characters. I remember in the Hasbro days longing for managers, refs, ring announcers, etc. Jakks made these figures regular pack ins and Mattel continues the tradition with build a figure. I would have preferred him in a regular colored suit as he appeared on raw more often in a standard suit but I understand that they wanted to make him stand out. Glad to have him but not worth $80 for the other 4 figures just to get him. You can see next to Sheamus that he is nice and tall so scale looks good.

Best of PPV 2012 Basic

RingSkirt's Math Equation of the day:

Mattel's Quality = POOP!

I'll explain. I can deal with the inflated price, the lack of cool accessories that Jakks blessed us with, and even the questionable head scans on some figures. But i can not excuse a lack of quality of the base of a basic toy. If you have read my posts in the past you will know that I have decided to not collect basics. I chose Elites despite the price for the added articulation, playability, and greater detail. But now Mattel has gone and released a basic Build a Figure line with an elite Build a Figure! What does this mean for me? It means spending $50 on 4 basic figures that I don't even want in order to get the obscure Mack Militant Teddy Long. But that was my choice and I was willing to pay the premium price for the character. What i was not willing to do was to pay for a figure that was broken. I went to a few different TRUs and pieced together the set of 4. When i went to assemble Teddy his right arm would not plug into the socket. So he's a bust. I thought about returning Brock for the new arms but I don't think it is a problem with the arms. I think it's an error with the torso. But i already attached the torso to the legs and could not remove the parts to return things. Even if i could have, none of the stores had extras of Dolph or Brock. So i contacted Mattel and they did not have any Teddy's or parts of his BAF so they are sending a refund. For now I have to live with a glued on arm until i find the replacement parts. For $50 is it too much to ask for a BAF to assemble properly?

Dolph Ziggler

I just can't get my self to enjoy the basic figures. There legs are shaped strange and the torso stiffness is just hard for me to get over. Not impressed but I will use his head to replace that God awful last Elite head scan.

Brock Lesnar

The figure is fine for a basic. But what is with Mattel and their crappy attempts and Brock head scans. Each one they do just look horrible. The other thing that is off about this figure is that he has huge knee pads that are on his calves. Interesting tidbit: His legs rotate at the knee. A slight added bit of articulation in the basic line.

Alberto Delllllllllllllllllllll RIiiiiiiioooooooooooo

I don't care. Basic basicness. I'll stick with my elites.

Randy Orton

Does anyone need another basic Orton? I can only pick apart one thing on this fig. I like the head scan but he has stubble on the sculpt that is not painted and it looks like his chin is melted.

Theodore Long

Other than the above gripes about my adventure finding Teddy, the figure is very nice. I love the head scan, it's pretty much spot on. The removable glasses are a nice touch too. My only complaint once again is the suit color. This is a minor complaint but come on he has had so many different suits. With his skin tone and the brown suit, it's just very mono chromatic.

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Wrestling Super Store Belts

If there is one thing that has been crippling the classic non WWF figure collection it is the lack of belts for our WCW, NWA, ECW, WCCW, AWA, etc. figures. Both Jakks and Mattel have released figures from these organizations from different eras but the belts remain missing. And both companies have given similar excuses as to why they cannot or will not make them, often citing legal reasons. Well Wrestling Super Store comes to the rescue with their version of various championship belts. Ok well it's not exactly the perfect rescue but it's better than nothing.

As many of you may know, WSS (Wrestling Super Store) has long made custom wrestling figure accessories. Some are good, some are crap and many are in between. I have ordered a few thing from them over the years. Their old school guard rails are too small and fall over easily. There casket is nice. Boxing gloves cool. But we are here to talk about the belts. Back in the late 90's they released there first line of wrestling belts and boy were they total crap. Sure they expanded the array of championships including a skull versions, intercontinental, cage match, battle royal and everything in between. But they were small rubber belts with one dull medallion style plate in the center that reminds me of the LJN belts but missing the side plates.

Well the new belts have come a long way. They are shiny and metallic looking and are really clones of the style of belts that Jakks used. Over all like them and think they are a nice substitute for your on fed or non WWF belts. They don't come painted but as you can see a bit of paint really makes them pop. I only have two complaints about them. ONe the plastic is really quite stiff and with some body styles it is hard to get them to fit snug. The other is the side plates. They are the exact same from belt to belt. Oh well at least they have the this time. Not there are many styles of belts that they offer, but here are the few i purchased:

Word TV Championship: My least favorite of the belts. Why? Because the best interpretation of a Television belt they could come up with was a pic of a TV with the letters TV etched in it. Unlike any TV title in history. It's atrocious.

United States Championship: Much better in my opinion. Has the shape of the country much like the last incarnation of the WCW US title. Though the shape is much different it's a suitable substitute and my imagination can fill in the rest. As you can see these look fine on Mattel figs. Better on jakks figures but they are compatible for both.

Cage Match Championship: I don't like the idea of a cage match belt. I don't think one ever existed as cage matches were rather rare. But i picked these up as i thought they resembled the ECW tag belts of the 90s.

Southern States Championship: The stars and Stripes and the stars and bars of the south are prominently featured. Another cool regional title.

Worlds Six Man Tag Team Championships: If only Mattel made one more Von Erich.

Northeast Championship: The paint really brings this one to life. I like that they offer different regional style belts.

World Heavyweight Championship: Plain and simple. Plan to use it for the belt for what ever fed I plan on playing that i don't have a belt for. Also great for fig feds.

Intercontinental Championship: I picked this up to use it as a WCW 90's title (one used after big gold) It's not a perfect fit but I still like it for matches that used that era belt.

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Toys R Us Exclusive 20-0 Wrestlemania XXIIIV Undertaker

I have seen a few people rip on this figure but For me this was a pleasant surprise. As a guy who gets the majority of his figures from RingsideCollectables.com it is nice to have a reason to go to TRU. It’s your basic current style taker with his new buzz cut head sculpt as seen at this year’s Wrestle Mania. He has grey taker logos on the tights and is covered in tattoos. He has the MMA style gloves. My main gripe with these is the wrist part. This usually rides up too high on the wrists and exposes skin between the two parts of the glove. This is something that I hate about all of Matty’s gloves. Personally I would prefer that the wrist piece would just be painted on then have it expose the gap of the wrist. This figure also brings back a glimpse of the fun of Jakks by including not one but two accessories. The sledge hammer which is dare I say perfect. The size, shape, color, all great. Even has the small wooden bit that comes through at the top. And it fits perfectly in takers hands. But that’s not it. We also get a chair. This marks my first ever Mattel chair. It’s nice. Not much difference to the Jakks counterpart. Main change is the backing being more curved and having a molded WWE logo. I would prefer no logo. My main gripe about the figure is the price point. $20! Your killing me guys!

Wrestlemania XXIIIV Big Show

Big show is featured in his cammo singlet and has his happy go lucky head sculpt. Personally I am not a big fan of this smiling scan. He has his knit hat which fits very well and has logos on the front and back. He has lower legs are colored black with leg wraps but as you can see part of the flesh colored knee joint pokes through when you bend the knee under the knee pad. He comes with Ricardo Rodrigez head which looks to be a great sculpt. I like the build a figure thing in that we get some more obscure characters but at $20 bucks per figure and having to get a number of figures that I don’t really want to build the figure is a pain in the butt and the wallet. But it’s a great marketing scheme. I think Mattel’s pitch is that these figures are more expensive because you get a free figure with the BAF. Then the price evens out to the typical 16 bucks per figure that elites have been priced at. Oh well. Now if only I can find the rest of them. The hunt is on!

Global Superstars Natalia

Was lucky enough to find Natty in a random stop at K-Mart. She is decked out in her standard Hart Foundation colors and has a shoulder pad accessory. The figure looks fine and the shoulder piece is a nice touch but does not pose well. The head scan is sub par.

Customs

2Cold Scorpio

Headbangers Mosh and Thrasher