Sid has been one of those guys I’ve been waiting for Mattel to take a crack at for a while. Whether ToyBiz or Jakks, no one has really captured his statue, presence, and charisma. If nothing else, I knew Mattel would deliver in actually capturing Sid’s scale correctly. Now let’s see if Sid rules the world in figure form finally.

Packaging: I’d long grown tired of the old package format Mattel was using, and the 2016 packaging thankfully blows it out of the water. Granted, by December 2016 I might be long since ready for something new, but I really like this packaging from the design, colors, and reformatted bio setup.

Mattel got more creative with the 2016-style packaging. The blue and grey color scheme has been replaced with a predominantly red color scheme, and there’s an old school WWF logo to indicate this is a flashback/legend. I’m curious what the style will be for future NWA, WCW, or ECW stars.

Mattel also set up multiple images of Sid instead of just one repeated throughout the package. Interestingly, none of them quite capture the look of the figure (more on that in a second).

The back and bio portion are much more dynamic and have more of a “file card” look. This a major improvement over the 2015 edition, even if I still want to see Mattel add a write-up particularly for the legends.

Likeness: There’s been a lot of online discussion about Sid’s head sculpt. It’s a classic unhinged look for him, as though he’s thinking, “I’m going to powerbomb you through the mat!” I probably would have gone more for the serious “I’m about to kick your tail” expression as seen on the side package, but this isn’t an uncharacteristic look for Sid either, so it works.

The sculpt on Sid’s curly frizzy hair is done almost perfectly, but it’s cropped too closely on the sides, as opposed to “poofing-out” like Sid had it, even in the non-mullet days.

I’m still not completely sure Mattel shouldn’t have just gone the route of many customizers and just used the Hillbilly Jim body as it already had the right, faint amount of chest hair.  The upper body is fine, but the legs are a bit more defined than necessary for Sid. I’m not sure how all the parts match up, but the less muscular legs on the upper body would make for the best looking Sid assuming none of the height was lost in the swap.

Scale: At 6’9″ Sid is one of the taller WWE stars, but Mattel did a tremendous job getting his scale just right compared to fellow giants Kevin Nash and The Undertaker, both of whom Sid has to slightly look up to.

Naturally, Sid is taller than the average-sized guys and stands out among his fellow Four Horsemen.

Paint: Sid’s a pretty simple guy in terms of paint requirements. He’s a basic black ensemble guy star, so there’s not much to mess up here. Given the expression, even wonky eye paint likely wouldn’t screw this particular figure up much, although mine were painted perfectly fine.

Sid sported visible chest hair, but adding that would have been more trouble than it’s worth since the Arn Anderson and Hillbilly Jim figures have been the only two to really get it right.

Articulation:  Sid has the typical Elite articulation, so he’s got neck, ball-jointed shoulders, bicep, elbow, wrist, hinged wrist, torso, waist, hip, thigh swivel, knees, boot, and ankle.

The cumbersome material used on the elbow and kneepads make these joints more difficult to pose than I’d like, but they don’t completely hinder the articulation. You won’t have any problem hitting a chokeslam, big boot, and, most impressively, a powerbomb.

Accessories: Sid should sorta get psycho over his lack of offerings here. He comes with his trademark vest. The vest isn’t the standard super thick material Mattel has become infamous for and is much more flexible. I’m hopeful this will become the new standard for this type of material as I wasn’t worried about breaking an arm joint for the first time in a while.

Mattel easily could have given Sid the WWF “eagle” title. A bigger missed opportunity was not adding a red or black singlet so the figure could serve double duty to mostly represent his stint as a member of the Four Horsemen. True, this figure doesn’t have that era-appropriate mullet, but I’m not sure if Sid is likely to get a second figure, especially since he’s not yet in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Worth it? Clocking in at the standard Elite price of $20, Sid isn’t blowing the budget, even if his $20 value is a little less obvious than jam-packed figures like The APA.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Sid isn’t the flashiest figure of 2015, but this is a well-done take of one of wrestling’s best big men. For any fans from ’89-’98 on, Sid definitely needs to join your collection.

Where to get it? At this point most retailers don’t even have Elite Series 38, so it’s going to be a while before Series 39 starts popping up in stores. It’s tough for the Toys R Us, Targets and Walmarts to keep up, but it’s hard to feel for them when they’re 2-3 series behind.

For now, your best option is getting Sid at Amazon.com.