Mattel WWE lines

I'm still hunting Razor and Zodiac, and I see that the Harts and Cactus are hitting (seemingly everywhere but here).  

A whole bunch of people are getting their RSC exclusive Steiner Bros two packs with Scott missing, replaced by the Target exclusive Vader. Thankfully, I got one each of the Steiners. Fingers are pointing at the Viet Nam factory.

@mrboshek that's so bizarre.  I don't know I've ever heard of this happening.  I wonder if they're on Aliexpress LOL

Found Bret/Anvil/Cactus today.  Cards were absolutely destroyed so they were marked at 15 each.  Grabbed 'em and got out.  Makes me think I might need to go ahead and pay the EBay finders fee for Brutus/Razor though.

The Viet Nam manufacturing era is producing some interesting mistakes. Someone posted a pic of their elite Razor Ramon with a Cody Rhodes torso complete with his "Dream" tattoo and two right legs. There seems to be an uptick in neck pegs that are too long.  I got an HBK Greatest Hits with a longish neck, while the first release from years ago was perfectly normal. Most of my recent figures have legs that can't move without some heat.

@mrboshek I heard about the Monday Night Wars DDP figures shipping with Stone Cold torso, missing DDP's chest tattoo and all.

I'm waiting for the arrival of Ringside Collectibles' Hawk and Animal figures. It was kind of refreshing how they announced their figures about five days before their debut, placed them up for order, and immediately started shipping. In stock sold out and they put up a preorder for June. 

I'm avoiding reviews, but supposedly they feel like AEW figures. The manager, a long time rsc employee, said they are not a joint venture with Jazwares, ending the speculation. He also said they might have to do some amalgamations of ring gear to avoid copyright issues.

I got the RSC Road Warriors yesterday. It's a good effort, a lot to like. They do seem a little smaller than you might expect. It was noticeable because Muta and Brian Pillman arrived on the same day in a previously placed order. Hawk and Animal should look overpowering compared to those those two guys but that's not the case here. The RSC figures can definitely fit in though, because Mattel's scale can be all over the place too.

The RSC's plastic feels better to me compared to Jazwares. I thought AEW figures started to trend gummier after series two. 

I'm glad they went with this torso set up. I'm tired of swivel waists. The whole torso separates easily.  I hope their female figures have similar articulation, if they make any. The neck hinge allows them to look up and down better than a Mattel.

Just comparing to the two Mattel figures I got yesterday. I think the RSC figures look better in ways. The Mattel figures have shoulders that look  perfectly ball shaped at times, like Muta. Hawk and Animal have better looking shoulders and more proportionate hands, imo. The shoulder pads look great, they appear to be made of separate molded pieces in appropriate colors. Of course Mattel has the edge on face printing, which I'm guessing might be expensive and difficult.

If I were being very nitpicky...some of the sculpting is missing fine details that can still be generic for parts reuse. Maybe the crotch piece should have a couple cloth wrinkles or the arms a vein? I forget what it's called, but I heard Bobby Vala say there's a way to call out  a fine surface texture in the sculpted parts. That seems to be missing here compared to Mattel. The double jointed elbows don't have as much range of motion compared to Mattel and Mattel figures can do more of a leg split.

These are solid. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of design, but I'll have no issue picking up more figures.

Looking forward to WWE Superstars wave 14.  Need both the Muta variants for sure.  Zeus is a meh.  Sheiky Baby is welcome.  Diesel is fine, I would have rather had somebody new rather than another Nash but it's aight.

I never bought any of the Zeus figures. Never seen the movie either. I was about 15 or 16 at the time, probably thought I was too cool 😉 

I might get this Zeus if I see him and say, "what's one more 5.5" figure for the collection?"  I can't believe how many of these little guys I bought over the last 5 or 6 years.

After yesterday I wonder if more Superstars stuff will be popping up on Creations...or if (hopefully) it stops being WM exclusive.