We’re only a few weeks in and I’m already stoked about the 2017 possibilities for my Mattel figure collection.
Clearly the biggest news of the month is Kurt Angle returning to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This was a no-brainer induction as Angle’s body of work in WWE was more than enough for a Hall of Fame career. And while WWE won’t acknowledge any of his TNA/Impact work, Angle arguably had better matches outside the WWE.
But career accomplishments aside, the best part of Angle and the WWE mending fences is we can finally get a Mattel Angle figure. Jakks kept Angle as a regular fixture of its line with a slew of variants.
Hopefully, Mattel will give Angle the Ultimate Warrior/Macho Man treatment and not limit him to just a handful of Flashback figures like Sting. But if we don’t get a hundred Angle figures, Mattel at least needs to give us an early smiling “Olympic hero-era” (with hair) Angle and his more signature “bald assassin” look. Angle returning to the fold is a major win for us collectors, though. And now I’m one step closer to completing my “every Wrestlemania in figure form” project.
Even before Angle returned, this was shaping up to be a good year as another top-tier talent came back to the fold with Goldberg. I feel like Goldberg is even easier for Mattel to get all of his relevant looks: the WCW era, with all black everything; the WWE half white/half black trunks era; and the current era, with grey hair look. Three versions of Da Man. Hey, if Fred Ottman can get a Tugboat, Typhoon, and Shockmaster figure, we should be able to cover the essential Goldberg variants.
Scouring eBay, more and more of the prototypes of the scrapped WCW 4-pack with The Outsiders, Larry Zbyszko, and Eddie Guerrero are becoming available. That seems to indicate we’re due for those actually making it to shelves this year officially.
And the rumor mill is also pretty exciting with leaked lists revealing Ken Shamrock might be coming soon. Shamrock was always a favorite of mine from the Attitude Era, and I want to finish building The Corporation. He was definitely a major cog of that faction. And with the Network Spotlight Vince McMahon and Elite 47 Big Bossman, it certainly appears like The Corporation is finally on Mattel’s radar. Just please go blue tights, Mattel.
But the biggest news of them all might be that WWE is close to ending Hulk Hogan’s indefinite suspension just in time for Wrestlemania. If that is indeed the case, Mattel needs to have the Hollywood Hogan-, Hulkster 91-, and Hulk Still Rules 2002-era figures already set to go at that factory the day after Mania.
Hopefully beyond those big names, Mattel will still find ways to release a few new surprises like the “Bash at the Beach ’96” 3-pack set. My wallet is fearful, but I’m excited about what the year holds for us. What are y’all most excited about adding to your collection?
