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[LOLtron]

It was great being a kid in the 1980s; being a wrestling fan back thenwas even better. But throughout most of the decade, WWF enthusiastsonly had a few options when it came to collecting action figures. Infact, we really only had two: LJN's Wrestling Superstars, and theirsmaller (and less popular) counterparts, the thumb wrestlers. Theseguys were constructed out of solid rubber and basically had zeroarticulation. Sound like fun, eh? At the time these figures were allthe rage due to the WWF's aggressive advertising campaign. And don'tget me wrong, some of those commercials were classic:

"I'll bring MY guys, you have YOURS!"

"They're so real, can YOU tell the difference?"

Yep,they'd get you pretty pumped up, and seeing Roddy Rowdy Piper promotingthe figures on late-night television was equally exciting. But inretrospect, the toys were pretty crappy. The main issue was their lackof durability. It was only a matter of time before the deteriorationset in, and soon enough your wrestlers were grappling with each othersans pants as the paint began to peel away from their trunks, exposingthe flesh-toned color bases of the figures. Dogs were also quite fondof them. After a few months of play, it wasn't uncommon to see LJN'sbig ol' rubber wrestlers lying neglected on the lawn, half naked andhalf chewed up.

In 1989 Acclaim purchased LJN, shutting down itstoy division to focus exclusively on video games. After five years ofproduction, the Wrestling Superstars were canceled. But we neededsomething different anyway. We needed a new generation of toys torepresent a new era in the World Wrestling Federation. And we wouldsoon get it. In 1990, one company introduced what would perhaps becomethe most collectible wrestling figure line of all time: Hasbro's"Official" WWF Superstars.

In contrast to the larger LJN wrestlers, Hasbro produced plasticfigures that only stood approximately 4 1/2 to 5 inches tall, eachfeaturing a signature "action move". The toys were relatively tiny, butcame packed with tons of personality like the series #1 "Macho Man"Randy Savage. This is a great representation of such an intense,colorful performer given how small the scale was. The head sculpt isaccurate and his attire is spot-on for this stage in his career:headband, wacky glasses, star-patterned trunks, yellow knee pads, andyellow boots.

Macho Man was given a generic hammer fist for asignature move; this type of action feature and figure mold would beused again for characters like Rick "The Model" Martel and ShawnMichaels. It wasn't the most exciting wrestling maneuver, but it workedwell enough and was easy to perform. Basically, the figure's arms arepulled up and then released, unleashing a quick, downward strike.

 

Jake "The Snake" Roberts is another great figure from the first series.They pretty much nailed his appearance, from the icy facial expressionto his trademark snakeskin boots. This figure also came equipped withone of the most essential accessories in the entire line: the SNAKE.That's right, Hasbro included Jake's first pet, Damien, who adorns thefigure perfectly. Jake performs a "Python Punch", an appropriatesignature move given to a wrestler known for his quick,believable-looking strikes.

 

 

 

 

 



My only complaint with the appearance of this figure is its size. Jakewas a large wrestler who was billed at 6'5; his figure should reflectthat to some degree. But he looks quite small next to others like HBK,a performer of average build and stature.

 

 

 

 



Other figures like Andre the Giant, "Giant" Gonzales, and even TheUndertaker tower over most of the models and still manage to beproportioned correctly, so it was clearly feasible to accomplish this.But other than that this is a great representation of the Snakeman, anda must-have figure.

 

 

  

The Bottom Line

Istill love looking at these guys today. You won't have any displayissues with the Hasbro figures, provided you take care of them. Asimple dusting every now and then should suffice. The paint jobsgenerally are solid and the toys even seem to retain their glossyfinish after all these years. The signature moves wear down over time,so if you're thinking about purchasing pre-owned figures online, makesure they are in working condition. A broken action feature is usuallyindicative of other problems due to heavy play, such as paint wear,loose parts, etc. There were eleven series in this line and severalexclusives, so stay tuned for more Hasbro figure reviews.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

These wrestling figure reviews are dominating the Toys section. What's up jsalwen?

[Zechs]

I'm too busy focusing on the finale to Spectacular Spidey and other things. My review of Marauders will be up soon.

[Two-Fang Tony]

Fixed the text/picture alignment. I don't know what I'm doing wrong when I submit them, but I have to go and edit the html code to format the articles properly after they're posted.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I changed the size of the preview window to better match the site. This might fix it.

[LOLtron]

http://www.theouthousers.com/content/view/3894/156/

<p>
<img src="http://www.theouthousers.com/images/stories/theleak/Misc/toyshed/wwf_logo.bmp.jpg" alt="wwf_logo.bmp.jpg" title="wwf_logo.bmp.jpg" width="225" height="150">It was great being a kid in the 1980s; being a wrestling fan back then
was even better. But throughout most of the decade, WWF enthusiasts
only had a few options when it came to collecting action figures. In
fact, we really only had two: LJN's Wrestling Superstars, and their
smaller (and less popular) counterparts, the thumb wrestlers. These
guys were constructed out of solid rubber and basically had zero
articulation. Sound like fun, eh? At the time these figures were all
the rage due to the WWF's aggressive advertising campaign. And don't
get me wrong, some of those commercials were classic:<br>
<br>
"I'll bring MY guys, you have YOURS!"<br>
<br>
"They're so real, can YOU tell the difference?"<br>
<br>
Yep,
they'd get you pretty pumped up, and seeing Roddy Rowdy Piper promoting
the figures on late-night television was equally exciting. But in
retrospect, the toys were pretty crappy. The main issue was their lack
of durability. It was only a matter of time before the deterioration
set in, and soon enough your wrestlers were grappling with each other
sans pants as the paint began to peel away from their trunks, exposing
the flesh-toned color bases of the figures. Dogs were also quite fond
of them. After a few months of play, it wasn't uncommon to see LJN's
big ol' rubber wrestlers lying neglected on the lawn, half naked and
half chewed up.<br>
<br>
In 1989 Acclaim purchased LJN, shutting down its
toy division to focus exclusively on video games. After five years of
production, the Wrestling Superstars were canceled. But we needed
something different anyway. We needed a new generation of toys to
represent a new era in the World Wrestling Federation. And we would
soon get it. In 1990, one company introduced what would perhaps become
the most collectible wrestling figure line of all time: Hasbro's
"Official" WWF Superstars.
</p>

[US Agent]

Jake and Macho were one of my tag teams.

Till Jake betrayed Macho and hit him with the DDT

Enter Warrior (green pants, legs together version) to save the day and form the ultimate alliance with Macho.

[Doc Jon]

These wrestling figure reviews are dominating the Toys section. What's up jsalwen?

Is there a section for me?

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Is there a section for me?

Need a name my friend, for your two categories. But technically the whole section belongs to you and zechs.

[Two-Fang Tony]

Jake and Macho were one of my tag teams.

Till Jake betrayed Macho and hit him with the DDT

Enter Warrior (green pants, legs together version) to save the day and form the ultimate alliance with Macho.

Awesome. That's the series #1 Ultimate Warrior, with the lame-ass dive/headbutt action feature. I might do an overview of all the guys with that figure mold.

[US Agent]

Awesome. That's the series #1 Ultimate Warrior, with the lame-ass dive/headbutt action feature. I might do an overview of all the guys with that figure mold.

Ram Man Warrior!!

Once I got the Crush / Smash two-pack I had Ax and Crush kick Smash out (because I now only had two Demolition helmets) which led to a lengthy singles World Title reign for Smash.

Smash and Hogan eventually became tag partners as well, then Smash turned heel on Hogan, and Ax / Crush joined in on all beating up on Hogan.

Enter the Natural Disasters with the save.

Turned into a six man survior match.

Man I miss those figures.

[Baskerville Holmes]

Awesome. That's the series #1 Ultimate Warrior, with the lame-ass dive/headbutt action feature. I might do an overview of all the guys with that figure mold.

The best looking Warrior was the version 3 that you could push his feet in and his arms would swing around. I lost that figure at a festival I went to as a kid and was pissed.