The Pink and Black Attack are back, baby, and the superstars from the Golden Age of the WWF(E), just keep on coming to the Mattel Elite line.
I love whittling down a wish list for any action figure line I collect, so working through the greatest wrestling superstars of yesteryear has been a lot of fun for me, and my collection certainly reflects that. The Hart Foundation, both in their original heel gimmick and their turn as faces, has always been one of my favorite classic tag teams from ’80s – so much so that I continued to like both The Hitman and The Anvil even after they went their separate ways. The Elite line has done a pretty good job of highlighting Bret’s singles career in plastic, but this is the first time the team has been put together, and it is a gentle reminder that they were a force to be reckoned with.
These two tough guys made wearing hot pink intimidating, and while Jim and Bret were two very different wrestlers in terms of technique, they were both very accomplished and complemented each other well. The 1980s was the golden age for guys on the mic, and these two could certainly hold their own, and their skills were still a highlight even with the “Mouth of the South” doing most of the talking. Tag Champions as both heels and faces, these guys set a tone for teams that combined technical perfection and brute force for many years to come, and the Foundation has been at the top of the pile of worthy Flashbacks for a very long time.
This new Bret Hart is the next in a long line of Hitman action figures we have gotten from Mattel, but this one is certainly the youngest take from his career that we have seen. His construction is standard for an Elite series figure in terms of parts and articulation, and the costume is a nice representation of what the team wore near the end of their heel turn, and the start of the their “good guy” personas. The details are certainly sparser with this figure, but Bret’s outfit got more and more complex in terms of the graphics as his career went on. I have to say that I like the simplicity of the pink and black in this deco, and the small heart on the singlet and the “HITMAN” graphic across the ass are both very accurate. I do have to say that I do NOT like that the torso is cast in black plastic and painted over with flesh tone. You can see the black coming through and it makes it so that flesh does not match the rest of the figure. C’mon, Mattel – you can do better here.
As I said, this is a newer and younger Bret, so the head sculpt on this figure certainly reflects that as it is different from any previous Hitman offering. I think Bret is a challenge in terms getting his likeness just right in figure form because none of his figures thus far have really “nailed it.” However, while I was not very impressed with this new sculpt at first, the longer I have had this figure, the more I appreciate it. Going back and looking at pictures of him from this era, the likeness is actually quite good and this is probably the best one we have gotten yet. It took a moment to get used to, but now I see that it really works. The figure does include his old-style aviator glasses to complete the accurate look, but his plastic wraparounds are so ingrained in my memory that these look a bit weird to me. I will likely use a pair from a previous figure just to satisfy my neurosis, but some work will go into making them fit correctly.
While Bret is a good figure, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was really the highlight of the duo for me as this is the first time he has gotten a figure in the Mattel line. Jim has had some substance abuse problems in the past, so I can see why the WWE would be hesitant to allow a figure, but it seems he has cleaned up now, and I am glad to have him. I have always thought he was a bit underappreciated due to the shadow Bret eventually cast, but Jim has always been much more than just a strong man in the ring, and his mic-work was top notch.
The likeness in the head sculpt is immediately recognizable, and they did a great job of capturing his look. Jim has always been intense, so a more animated expression would have been completely acceptable, but the more placid approach they took works, too. He has his patented frown, and that goes well with the flattop and long goatee. His sunglasses were never as memorable as Bret’s, but these get the job done for him. Like his base body, his face might be a *little* thin, but it is certainly nothing past a slight nitpick.
Now, I am not as crazy for the base body they used for Jim, as it seems too skinny and narrow for him. I mean, he was billed at 280 pounds, so right away, the upper body choice looks a bit under weight. Additionally, Jim always had very broad shoulders, and I am not getting that here, especially in the trapezius area. Plus, even at his most fit, Neidhart had a bit of a belly hanging over his belt, so that is lost as well. Overall, the figure is fine, but if they do another iteration of Jim, I hope they get the body more accurate.
Finally, the Foundation comes with their aforementioned sunglasses and the classic Tag Team Titles. We have see the titles several times in the past, so I while I guess it is okay to get them with these guys (there were two-time champs), it would have been better to get their jackets and maybe Anvil’s little pink hat/beanie thing. I realize that those would have been more expensive, but since the figures were pretty basic here, I would have liked to have seen a bit more money spent on some unique accessories.
Yay for the Hart Foundation! Yay for more classic superstars! I love collecting this line and getting my favorite heels and faces from the best era of professional wrestling. We don’t get tag teams as often as singles wrestlers, but it is really nice to get both members of the Foundation in one shot. Now that I have them, I suppose that pushes the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, or maybe the Killer Bees to the top of my Tag Team heap. We are just a Greg Valentine away from Rhythm and Blues, and Haku could round out the Colossal Connection, so Mattel has some room to work. Oh, and Typhoon! Now that we know Shock Master is coming to SDCC, another Fred Ottman incarnation is definitely possible.
Thanks for checking this out, if you are a classic WWF fan like me, you are going to need the Hart Foundation!
