Chip Shots

Wrestlemania 26 Elite- Rey Mysterio

2010-10-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's about time I started doing this, considering I'm buying new figures every week. You'll find hi-quality pictures along with my thoughts on particular figures. Hopefully my pictures/thoughts will help you if you're on the fence about purchasing a figure...or maybe make you actually think about buying one you might not have originally.

Anyway, first up it's the Wrestlemania 26 Elite Series- Rey Mysterio!

A little backround:

Mattel has released a special set of figures released exclsuively at Toys "R Us to go along with the WWE's Wrestlemania 26 Pay Per View Event. Each of the figures is featured in their respective attires from the event. In the set there are:

6 Basic style figures- (Kane, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Christian, Drew McIntyre & Chris Jericho)

3 sets of 2 Packs- (R-Truth & John Morrison, The Miz & Big Show, Batista vs. John Cena)

A Basic "Exclusive" of Shawn Michaels

4 Elite style figures- (Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker, Triple H & Jack Swagger)

Booyaka Booyaka!

Av-a-tar!

Rey Mysterio is known for his flashy & cool attires at PPV events. Usually at Wrestlemania he brings a special themed attire. For this year's wrestlemania Rey dressed up like a Na'Vi from the blockbuster movie Avatar.

As you can see from the front shot, Mattel really nailed the costumes bright blue colors. He comes with a removeable vest as well. The details on this figure in comparison to the real costume he wore are pretty much 100% accurate. Even down to the colors.

The figure is Elite style and bends at middle of the the waist, along with 2 points of articulation in his knees. His display stand is in normal Mattel style with yellow highlighting instead of red.

I've always been a fan of Mysterio and of the figures he's had. Mattel really got a good one here. The details on his arms are very clean. He did wear a gold mesh netting on his real costume however I give the benefit of the doubt here that it would have been difficult to produce.

His legs are dark blue "tiger" striped with an orange highlighted "619" going down both sides. 619 of course representing the area code of Mysterio's hometown.

The back of the vest features a tribal symbol. Unfortunately he is missing the long braided ponytails. May have had to do with a copyright issue. Either way, the back of his mask is accurate & when the vest is removed he has his complete back tattoo. Can't ask for more.

Finally the front of the figure features logos on the vest similar to those on Mysterio's mask. Complete with orange eyes. He has a straight faced scan with full details on his mask. Taking the vest off reveals Rey's chest tattoos. In full effect.

That's it for this review. If I were to rate this figure out of 5 stars it would get a 4 1/2. The only thing from keeping it flawless is the lack of braided ponytail and the gold on his right forearm not looking like a mesh net. Minor details, however I hope you all realize the awesomeness of this figure, surely a fine piece of work from Mattel.

Until next time...

Chip OUT!

Classic Superstars Series 1-24

2009-05-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

I love the Jakks Classic Superstars line. With it, wrestling fans are able to get figures of so many great superstars we all grew up watching and have come to appreciate. From legends like Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper...to great gimmicks like Repo Man & Doink...to glorified Jobbers like "Spark Plugg" Holly & the Brooklyn Brawler.

With Jakks contract and (probably) the Classic Line coming to an end soon, as it stands (not counting "Variants") there have been 200 individual superstars made in the classic line. This is not including the 2 packs, 3 packs, and exclusives that are available in different retailers or toy sellers. Out of those 200, 12 have been the awful "LJN Style Chaser" figures.

Up to this point in 2009, I have been able to reach my goal of acquiring each (male) figure from the first 24 Classic Superstar series. Paying particular attention to avoiding the "LJN" figures at all cost.

Below are pictures of my display of these figures as it stands today. A couple of notes...I was not able to fit every single figure in this bookcase, as I neared the end of my available space I had to start picking and choosing which to remove. Mostly I started with guys who had 2 or more figures in the line. So you will not see EVERY figure on these shelves. The rest are stored in one smaller bin.

Bottom Shelf:

Series 1 - 6

Link to larger picture-

http://image75.webshots.com/75/7/50/4/2376750040035685330wofDXG_ph.jpg

Next shelf up:

Series 7 - 12

Link to larger picture-

http://image62.webshots.com/762/8/44/19/2006844190035685330wWDKil_ph.jpg

3rd shelf up:

Series 13 - 18

Link to larger picture-

http://image75.webshots.com/75/7/44/82/2355744820035685330OelgBW_ph.jpg

Top Shelf:

Series 19 - (newly acquired) 24

Link to Larger picture-

http://image74.webshots.com/174/4/81/77/2316481770035685330LAoelW_ph.jpg

I am aware these pictures don't do the display justice. Up close and personal you can really get a good look at who is there and how they are. I had kept 75% of my collection in their packaging up until just recently when I realized I wasn't able to enjoy the money I've spent on them while they were all sitting in a cabinet.

I will be adding, later, pictures of all my 2 Pack, 3 Pack & Exclusive Classic Superstars. I have to buy another bookcase for them.

Despite minor flaws on a bunch of figures (Sycho Sid having short "rocky" boots, CS 19 & CS 20 Rock being the exact same figure and more) Overall this line has been the BEST thing Jakks has produced.

Thanks for checkin' out the pics.

/Blog

Introduction

2009-04-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Alright so I've been crusing the 'net for quite a long time and this is the first attempt at me doing something of interest. Fortunately I have the kind of job where I sit in front of a computer most of the day so I have alot of time on my hands to apparently do nothing.

Anyway, I started this more or less to share with whoever may find it, my passion for the hobby of collecting wrestling figures.

A brief history...

I have been following professional wrestling for almost 19 years. It started on Saturday mornings after a rousing hour of "The Bozo Show" shown on Fox 64 Providence, the station would turn to WWF Wrestling Challenge...and my obsession was born. For those familiar, back in the early 90's Wrestling was on a bit of a downturn. Hulk Hogan's career in the WWF was coming to an end, and it was the era of the gimmick with clowns, garbage men, ex-convicts & the Bushwackers. However the action figure business was booming.

In 1990 Rhode Island's own toymaker Hasbro purchased the rights to make WWF action figures ,from the now defunct 'LJN" company , and began making those little plastic figures that most collectors treasure still to this day.

One random day in the summer of 1990 my mom came home from work with a surprise. She knew I was getting into wrestling and decided to give me my very first action figure! (Keep in mind, I was 7 years old in 1990, you do the math)

Hasbro Series 1 Big Boss Man with Hard Time Slam! action!

(Credit WrestlingFigs.com for the image)

Needless to say, this figure is what started it all. I went on to collect many of the Hasbro figures over time, then found myself not playing with them as much around 1993-1994.

Hasbro stopped making WWF figures in 1994 and we (as fans) wouldn't see a single thing related to action figures until 1996 when the newly formed Jakks Pacific company purchased the rights to produce figures for the WWF.

Jakks ideas were completely different from Hasbro. Instead of the small 3 1/2 - 4 inch plastic figures with spring-loaded "moves" we got 6 inch rubber & plastic figures that moved freely at the waist, legs, arms & head. This was certainly an exciting time to get into collecting wrestling figures as Jakks figures (dubbed: Bone Crunchin' Action) were not only a much better quality than Hasbro, but they were being released much more frequently and featured twice as much detail.

Jakks Superstars Series 1 Shawn Michaels:

(Credit: Loose Jakks Database forum/user chicago for the image)

I'm sure alot of people back then figured Jakks was just another temporary company until a bigger one came along to buy them out and started making wrestling figures...but here we are 13 years later and Jakks is just now in their final year of contract with the (nka) WWE and what a 13 years it has been!

We as collectors saw the "Bone Crunchin' Era" (aka BCA) come and go. Gave way to the (distinctly AWFUL first few series) of "TitanTron Live!" (aka TTL) Then a brief stint at "Real Reaction Series" (aka R3) paving the way to the current Ruthless Aggression (aka RA) & Deluxe Aggression (aka DA) styles we have had now for the last 6 years.

Let me just say, Jakks has come a LONG way since Superstars Series 1. I, for one, am quite glad to be a wrestling figure collector. There is 19 years of history in my collection with each piece having a story or memory associated with it. You can't put a price on that, my friends.

That's all I got for now.

/Blog