Mattel’s WWE SDDC showing was an interesting mix for Flashback collectors. We got some nice surprises and additions to the roster, but I’m not sure if a many were able to check off a lot of their Top 10 lists.
This wasn’t about getting Kurt Angle, Owen Hart, or some other way-out-there choices, but about logical additions/variants. Instead of main-event players, we got solid mid-card additions.
Fred Ottman amazingly came out the big winner from SDCC. His three main incarnations — Tugboat, Typhoon, and The Shockmaster — were revealed. Shockmaster is a fantastic exclusive and comes with a perfectly embarrassed head sculpt. It was great to see Typhoon, which hopefully means a Natural Disaster variant Earthquake is forthcoming.
The greyscale prototypes were pretty exciting. A Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, debut Goldust, and Boogeyman were shown. Colored prototypes of Harlem Heat and Tatanka were also shown. Those are strong additions to our WCW and New Generation eras.
Actually on hand, we saw Narcissist Lex Luger, William Regal, Tugboat for the main Elite lines.
Mattel is doing a lot of exclusive and subset lines with retailers going forward. Target continues to be the home of the Hall of Fame line. On that front, we saw an NWA Dusty Rhodes with WCW ring, a 1993 era Diesel, a debut Andre the Giant, and King Booker among others.
A Memphis-era Jerry Lawler seemed like the figure we should have initially gotten way back in Elite 18. Considering the attention given to the New Generation Era, it seemed odd that Mattel still hasn’t done a Lawler figure based on his look during his feud with Bret Hart. That was clearly his highest profile rivalry
We got two new Sting figures. One is based on his Wrestlemania 31 appearance. That’s been highly requested from collectors, but the Surfer Sting fan base is still tremendously underserved. The second was a Wolfpac version that’s an online exclusive. That’s a solid exclusive choice, but Mattel is just digging this Wolfpac hole deeper with no Hollywood Hogan for them to battle, or no K-Dawg/Konnan to lead the Wolfpac chants, not to mention the black painted-over torso. Mattel, I’m begging you – kill that practice. Thanks. Other WCW Monday Night standouts were absent though, which was disappointing. Still no Goldberg or even a red and black Scott Hall.
Walmart is getting an exclusive line called “Then, Now, and Forever.” As it implies, it’ll be a mix of stars from various eras. The first wave has a Bam Bam Bigelow repaint. Wave 2 has Typhoon arriving. No word on where the Cactus Jack figure will be placed. I’m just glad it was released from figure limbo.
Mattel also revealed Sika and pretty much confirmed Afa is coming in a new flashback series. Hopefully this marks the start of Flashback tag teams. There’s still so many options for not-yet-released figures (Midnight Express, Steiner Bros., British Bulldogs) and variants for existing teams (The Rockers, Demolition, Hart Foundation), so this was welcome news. Kicking off the line with the Samoans was puzzling though, since Mattel hasn’t made a lot of their opponents yet. At least Sika can join the Heenan Family to fight Hulk Hogan.
The Defining Moments line has started to become disappointing. We were shown another John Cena that doesn’t look significantly different than every other John Cena figure, and a Ric Flair. This Flair is based on his Wrestlemania 24 Retirement Match. The robe looks terrific. I’m glad Flair warranted a cloth robe instead of hard plastic. Still, these felt like odd choices.
Possibly the biggest news for old school collectors was the debut of Hasbro-style figures complete with action features. The Retro line features current (Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Kevin Owens, and Roman Reigns) and legends (Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker). ‘Taker and Warrior were somewhat odd choices since they did get figures in the Hasbro line. The potential for this line is broad — a Sting Hasbro figure? Could happen.
All in all, I was happy with the reveals. I wish Mattel would start diving more into WCW, ECW, and the Attitude Era WWF holdouts. Still no Corporation, ’97-era Undertaker, Dangerous Alliance-era Steve Austin, or Rock n Roll Express. It’ll be interesting to see where Mattel goes from here. WWE Elite Wave 50 is coming up soon, so I’m curious if Mattel will do anything special with that set.
What did you think? Happy with the reveals or wanted to see some other figures?
