With lines like Marvel Legends showing that yes, Virginia it is possible to have highly articulated figures with multiple options like heads and hands, Mattel basically had little choice but to step up its game with its WWE line.
I tried out the Ultimate Edition Bret Hart and really liked the added articulation and display options, which left me thinking about some other figures who would really benefit from the format. Here’s five figures Mattel could truly max out, with a little creativity, the Ultimate Edition brand.
Kurt Angle
The Olympic hero could be a lot of fun. Since the line normally has three alternate heads, Mattel could go with a smiling and intense bald head look and a grinning doofus head with hair.
Angle would benefit from the improved arm articulation for his suplexes, but Mattel could add another layer to his options with cloth singlets that could slide down like Angle did when he got pumped up to end his matches.
To seal the deal, Mattel could give him a cloth ring jacket from either his solo or Team Angle days.
Hulk Hogan
This one assumes of course Hogan eventually gets back into figure good graces with the WWE/Mattel. Hogan would be a character that Mattel could do a lot with in this format if collectors were willing to go along with a few slight compromises.
Hogan’s face changed from his 1985-86 heyday to 1991/92. The Ultimate Edition line could capture that with an 86 head and 92 era head with a slip over bandana.
And if Mattel could engineer it properly, a third slighter head from his 95 WCW days could also work. Making use of swappable arms, Mattel could have the 24-inch python arms and then the more WCW-appropriate 21-inch versions. We couldn’t expect a swappable chest, but that’s where the compromise would come into play.
Jerry Lawler
Era swapping is one of the bigger benefits to this line. For The King, Mattel could go with the blue and white color scheme we haven’t gotten yet and give him his ring jacket he would wear during commentary. Then they could swap it out for his wrestling attire with a 1995 style head sculpt for his feud with Bret Hart. An alternate head sculpt with a head set would be fun as well.
Sting
This line is tailor-made for a guy like Sting. So far the Surfer Sting figures have been a little underwhelming, but Mattel could really go all out here with an intricate paint job and an elaborate robe.
For Sting, Mattel could further play up the Ultimate Edition format and have swappable boots to match up different colors. To make this easy, Mattel probably should go with black tights with the multi-colored Scorpion.
Mattel could then go with three head sculpts — two with the blonde hightop and any number of multi-colored face paints Sting has used over the years. For the third head sculpt, Mattel could finally make good on that giant sized 1996 era look with Sting’s dark hair.
Ric Flair
Done correctly, The Nature Boy could be a real standout of the line. Flair clearly needs to have three heads, but Mattel could play up some various eras here. The default head would be a neutral, maybe smiling head sorta like Jakks’ superb Deluxe Aggression Classics figure. It’d be hard to argue against a Woooing head sculpt either. For the third, Mattel should go with the bowl cut look Flair sported for his later years in WCW around the n.W.o. era. It’s arguably Flair’s most prominent look since it’s how he rocked his hair during the Monday Night Wars era anyway.
As far as signature color schemes, it’s about time for purple tights and white boots— my preferred look for him. We’ve already seen Ultimate Warrior come with a cloth jacket so a simpler white robe without the “fur” trim would be fine. Naturally we’d need alternate chopping hands and at least one with four fingers up for the Four Horsemen.
What do you think? Could Mattel do something with these Ultimate Editions options?