If you’re a long time wrestling fan, how can you forget those late 1980s and early 1990s WWF Hasbro action figure commercials? “Rowdy” Roddy Piper screaming out of the television set at you. The Ultimate Warrior frothing at the mouth in the background. Randy Savage coming in to drop an elbow.
“So close to the real thing, it’s like being in the ring!”
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Well, WWE has been on a nostalgia kick this year and have brought back the design of those great old action figures from years gone by. Earlier this year, they released series one of their “retro” series. Though WWE’s figures are now made by Mattel, they are clearly designed after the classic Hasbro figures. The figures are roughly the same size and proportion as the old figures, and the cards that the figures come on even resemble the old WWF Hasbro line.
Series one of the Mattel retro series featured Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens, The Undertaker, The Ultimate Warrior, and John Cena. These figures originally hit the shelves in the spring and were available exclusively at Wal-Mart. If you look hard enough, you might be able to still find them.
The latest round of figures, series two, features all “Attitude Era” icons and have started to hit store shelves according to photos posted on Twitter. Once again available exclusively at Wal-Mart, included in this series are The Rock, Mankind, Triple H, Steve Austin, Sting, and Kane. Sting of course wasn’t part of WWE during the Attitude Era, but he was a star at the time and the company evidently felt he belonged with the group.
According to WrestlingFigs, the next set of retro series figures released will consist of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Goldberg, and AJ Styles. This set of four is currently set for an early October release.
It’s not all that surprising to see WWE bring back this style. Many of the fans who grew up buying the original Hasbros as children are now adult collectors who love to go out and collect items from their childhood. Take a look at eBay sometime and you’ll see the original WWF figures going for an obscene amount of money.
The likeness that these figures have to the original Hasbros is uncanny, so if you want to get your hands on them, make sure to start browsing those store shelves soon. They will almost surely sell out.
