Best wrestling figure line ever

[ludevig]

My vote is WCW Galoobs but what do you guys think is the best ever. Take into account the look of the figures, playability, collectability, scale of line-up (ie how many were available) detail, pricing and availability when you started collecting.

When i started collecting wrestling figures in 1991 we didn't have AWA Remcos or WWF LJN in Scotland (apart from thumb wrestlers and bendies in Poundstretchers but they sold REAL fast)
All we had was WWF Hasbros and WCW galoobs and some cheap knock-offs (Really how many times has Hulk Hogan been made into a knock-off?)

[10incher]

I've gotta go with the Remco's mostly because I grew up watching AWA even before WWF. They also have that uncanny look of capturing the superstar's face without using allot of detail.

[figurecollector]

I have always been partial to LJN's as I started collecting them for my son as he was at the age to collect them. Now it is my turn. I did not like the remco as the swivel bodies got loos way too quickly. Galoob and OSFT are good figures also. I did not like the Hasbros as they were hard plastic.

[mrjayberry]

I went with LJN, the only two lines I have hands on experiance with was the LJN and Hasbro and even as a kid Hasbros "action features" seemed cheesy and in fact some of the features ruined certain sculpts for me.

LJN on the other hand, we played with those guys every where from the bathtub to the trampoline. Awesome.

[ludevig]

Just from what has been said so far it shows me that fans like the older figures as opposed to the newer ones. You can have all the detail in the world, real life scans of the wrestlers face and great articulation but it doesn't hold up to the older figures that had limited articulation.
When i was younger i liked WCW and WWF and i always tried to track down videos of ANY wrestling i could get. Now it just isn't the same. With WWE and TNA (who i enjoy watching) you don't get the variety of years gone by.
It would seem that wrestling is going through another slump (much like it did in the early 90s) but it always finds a way to resurge but now with UFC and MMA i think the magic of wrestling is on the decline in a major way. Too much has been revealed and everyone knows it is predetermined but i still love what they do and it still entertains me.
Time flies now too, it doesn't feel like 7 years have passed since WCW and ECW went out of business. It doesn't feel like 12 years have passed since the NWO formed.
But at least we have our figures and memories of those times. Like 10incher said about the AWA, thats why he likes the figures because he has memories of watching it and that makes that line special to him.

[10incher]

Thats exactly it Ludevig, and honestly the newer figures have no appeal to me, they seem to just look more like statues than toys.

[ludevig]

Even when our older figures could do less we had more fun with them. The newer figures they churn out hundreds of them, just far too many. Plus when you look at the coost of them compared to when we were kids its almost impossible to collect the new ones. Example, the WWE Jacks run about $7-$10 at Wal-Mart, the Legends series though runs about $12-15 then you get tag team packs that run about $15-20 and then you get triple packs that run around $18-$25. There is no way i could afford to just collect the singles on their own even before attempting to collect the tag teams. The cost is too high to collect them. Then you tie in the new rings with exclusive figures and the massive amount of multiple versions of the same wrestler then you are just talking far too much money for less variety.
AWA Remco's had a good sized line but they were on the shelves for longer. WWF LJN had a huge line but it was still relatively easy to get most of them. WWF Hasbro's you could find anywhere and WCW Galoobs did fairly well and were sold almost everywhere Hasbros were sold.
They say variety is the spice of life but they also say too many cooks spoil the broth. I think WWF Hasbros only released one new line a year or maybe two but the Jacks come out with new ones every other month then the previous line is no longer on the shelves.
Oh and one more thing i have noticed the TNA figures have pretty much disappeared. They looked really good but i heard that Jacks now has the contract for TNA so we will probably see the new TNA figures with moulds from the old WWE line. I can't see Jacks getting rid of the moulds they have already got to make new ones just for the TNA line.

[kylefromdirtnapp]

The LJN's where the non-articulated, 7 or 8 inch guys, right? My uncle had a bunch of those he passed on to me, so they're my favorites. I have no room for them, buy I have a friend who collects them, so I can enjoy them vicariously through him.

The Remco's would come in a strong second. I collect a few of the newer ones, but I hate today's over-articulation. Plus, my Bob Holly's ankle joints have worn out, so I can't even put him on the ladder anymore!!

I predict no votes for the TNA's. I wanted a Joe, but man! They are just U-G-L-Y. I will get a Sharkboy, though!

[ludevig]

I want the Scott Steiner TNA figure (either the red pant or black pants version) and possibly an AJ Styles.
With the announcement of Jacks getting the new contract i am bummed as like i said before i think Jacks will just do new head sculpts and use their current WWE body moulds.
I would like to get a Little Petey Pump figure with Petey Williams doing the Scott Steiner gimmick.
You brought up a great point Kyle, i also hate the ankle joints. You can get a figure brand new, open the package, stand it up and if it has an already loose ankle joint then the figure will fall, my Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips from Rocky 3 is like that.
I also hate the wrist articulation of the newer Jacks figures where their hand folds almost all the way onto the forearm. Also their hip articulation is terrible as a lot of them only move a few inches forward but they move all the way backward. It's a bit stupid.
I have never owned a WWF LJN (except for thumb wrestlers and an Andre the Giant bendy) but i do own some WCW OSFT's that were similar. I have Hogan, Vader, Sting and the Nasty Boys. I like them even though their moulds are chunky and they don't always look like who they are supposed to. (Vader is my favourite form that line)

[kylefromdirtnapp]

Jakks got 'em, huh? Is that why I don't see them in stores anymore? I just started looking again because of Sharkboy.

The articulation point that bothers me most is the middle-of-the-chest joint. None of my wrestlers have it, but some do; as well as the 25th anni GI Joes. It seems pointless, and makes the fig look ugly. I did think it looked OK on the brand new MOTU's, because it was hidden by the armor.

[ludevig]

I forgot to mention that i really do like the WCW Toybiz figures that came out around the time the WWF Jacks started coming out. The Toybiz had the Jacks beat. They looked better, had better articulation, were sculpted better and you had every figure completely different in body moulds. Jacks always had the same body but different heads. I remember the early Big Show figures being the same size as Scotty Too Hotty, made no sense. Toybiz Giant figure came with a Rey Mysterio and it was hilarious to see the size difference (which was pretty accurate)

[ludevig]

Aug 7, 2008 9:32:33 GMT -6 kylefromdirtnapp said:

Jakks got 'em, huh? Is that why I don't see them in stores anymore? I just started looking again because of Sharkboy.

The articulation point that bothers me most is the middle-of-the-chest joint. None of my wrestlers have it, but some do; as well as the 25th anni GI Joes. It seems pointless, and makes the fig look ugly. I did think it looked OK on the brand new MOTU's, because it was hidden by the armor.

I hate that middle of the chest articulation, the wrist and ankle articulation is bothersome too.
I can't remember who got the WWE contract but Jakks was excited to get the TNA contract. They said if they even make 50% sales compared to what they did with WWE sales they will still be making money. I personally liked the fact that TNA had figures out but they disappeared quickly from the stores.
I really have my fingers crossed for TNA as i want them to succeed. I don't watch WWE any more but i do watch TNA and i enjoy it so much more than any WWE show from the last few years.
They are actually drawing fans and rating with their women's division. Can WWE say that?
They have the X Division that is really exciting and innovative.
They have a stronegr main event line-up of wrestlers than WWE. (Joe, Booker, Angle, Styles, Cage, Sting) The strength of the matches just seems better than WWE. TNA does have its downside too but i would rather watch TNA than WWE.
For me WWE went downhill after Rock, Austin and Angle all left. They were replaced with uncharismatic Batista, generic Cena and overpushed Orton. At least Edge worked up to the Main Event slowly.

[treckmeyer]

I like Orton. I miss the oldies like austin and rock though.

TNA is good, but it also sucks too. I like all the old WWE stars that work for them now. But I HATE Steiner, Sting, and Rhino. The fact that they work there, means TNA sucks.

[ludevig]

Nah, you have to have established talent like Rhino, Sting and Steiner for a company to work.
Ok Rhino ain't what he used to be, Sting almost never works anymore but makes good money but they are still worth watching.
How can you not like Scott Steiner? He is funny (sometimes unintentionally) on a microphone, can wrestle anyone and has a great gimmick.
When it comes to wrestling there is always going to be people in a company you will not like but that doesn't mean you say the company sucks.
I personally don't watch WWE anymore but it is not because of certain wrestlers, it is the writing, bad matches, releasing /firing of younger talent, insulting my intelligence and stale characters that turned me away from them.
Cena and Batista are just awful. They never change their movesets, never throw in anything new, have weak characters, can't sell for their opponents and are just not good wrestlers. Khali is a joke, HHH is still overused, Michaels is still really good but gets injured in storylines too much, Jericho is better as a Heel but when he does comedy as a Heel he is better, Shelton Benjamin is probably the best worker they have and they hardly use him, ECW just plain bores me and is not even a patch on the original, Mark Henry is not a World Champion, Colin Delaney???
At least TNA has a lot of talented workers. Yes they have some goofy stuff like Super Eric, Curry Man and Shark Boy but when you look at their roster its actually better (wrestling wise) than WWE's.

Samoa Joe
Booker T
AJ Styles
Kurt Angle
Christopher Daniels (Curry Man)
Kaz
Petey Williams
Christian Cage
Sting
Scott Steiner
James Storm
Bobby Roode
Homicide
Hernandez
Sonjay Dutt
Jay Lethal

They have more than that but they also have a great women's division where the matches are not gimmick matches like what WWE do. Their matches (TNA) are based on talent in the ring.

[brcthrift]

I like the older LJN figures best followed by Remco AWA. The Junkyard Dog is my all time favorite wrestler so I have the bendie of him, his LJN and the JYD Thumbwrestler. I got the Jakks classic figure, but do not love it.

[kylefromdirtnapp]

Christopher Daniels is Curry Man!?!?!?! Sonjay Dutt kicks ass. They don't use him enough. He must be hurt.

[ludevig]

Yup Christopher Daniels is Curry Man. It's the gimmick he used in Japan then after the storyline where he left TNA they brought him in with this gimmick, it was super over in Japan and Europe so they let him try it in TNA and it proved to be succesful and the fans like it.
Super Eric is of course Eric Young and Shark Boy is NOT Steve Austin hahaha

[kylefromdirtnapp]

I figured Daniels just went back to RoH. (I hate Daniels AND Curry Man!)

[ludevig]

I would really like to get my hands on some of the NJPW figures like Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, Muta, Liger among others. Alongside WCW i loved the eraly 90's New Japan stuff. Matches between the Steiners and anyone from New Japan always rocked. Vader/Bigelow vs Steiners is particularly good.
Has anyone noticed that WWE now puts out 1 LJN style figure with the new sets of Legends figures? Kind of cool but it would be better if they just released all the Legends this way. Apart from who the figure represents they are no different than current wrestlers. By giving them the retro feel of the LJNs i think they would be a more fun collectible than having them almost identicle to the newer wrestler figures.
They have done Rock, Austin, Michaels, Mankind and (i think) Flair this way so far as LJN style (although they are 6 inches tall this time)

[ludevig]

After watching TNA for the past few years and really following it this year i have decided i want to get some of the TNA figures.
Ones i am on the lookout for are

Samoa Joe
Scott Steiner
AJ Styles
Kurt Angle
Petey Williams
BG James
Low Ki / Senshi

[ludevig]

I recently bought a Raven and a Petey Williams of TNA figures. The Raven is really good but i do not like the articulation on Petey Williams. It is almost like there is too much and some of his joints don't work and i am afraid to try and force them in case they snap. The Raven seems to be made out of a more durable plastic too.
On a side note I recently managed to get hold of some Ring of Honor dvds and they are awesome.