Wrestling Toys Played Out?

Joe Moore · 08-30-2009, 09:25 AM

Discussion Of The Week - Have Wrestling Toys Become Stagnant

Runamuck · 08-30-2009, 10:09 AM

No offense to any Wrestling fans or collectors, but I hope they are on the downswing. There is just too many different kind of product out there, in my opinion. It makes it hard for stores to stock new stuff when there are so much older toys that still peg warm. Wrestling figures have always been peg-warmers for the most part, in my nearly 3 years of being with TRU.

ludovicotek · 08-30-2009, 12:03 PM

I haven't bought any wrestling figures since the rubber LJN figures and the little Hasbro ones that came out afterwards, so I'm by no means an expert on them. I do, however, see a whole entire aisle dedicated to wrestling figures while other toy lines barely get a couple rows. Also, they do seem to warm the pegs quite a bit. Not sure how much they sell, but they are always present any time I visit a store, especially TRU.

nomad1632 · 08-30-2009, 01:48 PM

Id have to say yes I mean their all the same how many figures of triple h or hulk hogan can someone want...personally I'm not a big wrestling fan so no disrespect but whats the appeal of the figures? And it is true that when you go to toys r us they always have at least a bulk of an isle's side devoted to these figures but haven't you notice that their always packed kinda looks like they don't sell to heavy compared to other series that at times empty out like iron man, star wars, and transformers.

Snowflakian · 08-30-2009, 03:02 PM

I'd have to concur with yes, they are overplayed.

Even the few people I know who collect them, skip the majority of the lines for the figures who've never been made before. Like the recently release short wrestler (whose name escapes me at the moment).

As a whole though, they take up ungodly room on shelves, rarely move save to the weekend hunters, and honestly don't really look all that fun. But I guess that's me since I've never found wrestling and it's ficticious storylines interesting. I'd rather have fantasy that is fantasy as opposed to muscle bound men beating each other for a fake sport. The only good side to them though? Maybe we'll get a Donald Trump action figure.

I've personally never seen the draw of these figures as opposed to real sports heroes in the mcfarlane lines, or even boxing or UFC. They've had their day, now it's time for the real heroes to shine that actually have a positive light to them (and no, power rangers does not have a positive light either for that you have to turn to japan's sentai). Blurring the lines of fantasy and reality for kids isn't a good idea, and is what leads to backyard brawl mis-haps.

SpeedBreaker · 08-30-2009, 03:25 PM

I'm not that into Wrestling - I watch Afterburn and that's it. Whenever I look at the Wrestling stuff at the store, all I see are figures of people I have never heard of before. Where are the Undertaker, Edge, Jeff Hardy etc. figures?

trebleshot · 08-30-2009, 05:36 PM

I used to be a really big wrestling fan, as far as the show and the "characters" were concerned. Also, most of the guys that I've met at shows and events are really nice and appreciative of the fans.

The toys, on the other hand, have never held that much of an appeal to me. The only exceptions were Shark Boy (local wrestler that I have met a few times before), Mick Foley and Undertaker (my all-time favorite "characters"/gimmicks).

megatronkicksas · 08-30-2009, 06:47 PM

I hate these things, I hope they die out

Enigma2K2 · 08-30-2009, 09:12 PM

YES. Now move along.

Seriously, when I was a wrestling FAN I never bought the things!

Runamuck · 08-31-2009, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpeedBreaker

I'm not that into Wrestling - I watch Afterburn and that's it. Whenever I look at the Wrestling stuff at the store, all I see are figures of people I have never heard of before. Where are the Undertaker, Edge, Jeff Hardy etc. figures?

Wow, man. You need to look around a little harder. Undertaker has a figure in nearly every damn new wave that comes out(Wrestlemania, 2-packs, PPV, etc). Haven't seen Edge in awhile....but I know I recently saw a new Jeff Hardy.

Alyosha · 08-31-2009, 03:24 AM

While I admittedly only buy a few of the BnB guys for customizing or uniqueness (Sarge, RRP, etc...) I do think that Wrestling has had too large a prescence in the toy aisles for too long, and that foot print could be better utilized to showcase another property, or better give it to other long running but more popular name (*ahem* GI Joe, Marvel *ahem*). I think it's a bit sad when stores hop on the hype train (whatever the newest "it" thing is from Japan) and let other evergreen properties stagnate. I'm looking at *YOU* WalMart.

manic mailman · 08-31-2009, 11:10 AM

i started buying wrestling figures again when i deluxe aggression cm punk.
i got back into them in a big way getting pretty much all the deluxe figures
and then all the build n brawls and then some of the classics.
i gotta say there are some awesome figures out there in all three of those
lines, but i cant stand the lack of scale--some head sculpts are bigger
than others and some are ridiculously small. height scale is never right.
and the articulation (even on the deluxe) are limited. but overall im a homer
for wrestling figures.

actually im kind of confused by the discussion because the whole game is
changing once mattel takes over the wwe license in a few months.
so wont all this talk be moot?

besides targets in my area only give wwe 2 or 3 or even 1 column of wwe figs. now tru is another story.

uberlad · 09-01-2009, 04:52 PM

Mattel can't legally show prototypes (at least those are the interweb rumors I've heard), but I hope they continue with the 3 3/4-4 inch scale figures. The Build n Brawl figures were pretty awesome imo, and it was nice to have a ring/steel cage in that scale.

The more 4 inch scale toys readily available at retail, the better.

mattwrightkitty · 09-08-2009, 12:10 PM

When I thinned my WWE collection a few months back I found that even loose figures and sets fetched more than just a few $$$.
Packaged, they tend to do really well as resales on ebay, or if one knows where to go, locally.
So many products on the toy-aisle are sold as "collectible," (the selling-point being that they might accrue or at least retain an after-market value.) Jaks wrestling figure items have lived up to that end quite well.
When Mattel takes the license (product-quality-pending) the Jaks brand might see a surge in after-market-value (people might not be too inclined to chuck their Jaks products: consider the initial shift of Marvel Legends to Hasbro.)
Mattel will really have to impress, not just with quality, but in innovation.
I still collect Undertaker, and Jaks has put out quite a few gems for him. I regret not buying the Walmart exclusive 3-pack featuring the three faces of Undertaker. Expensive on Ebay!

Runamuck · 09-08-2009, 05:58 PM

Yayz...I finally get a post of mine in one of these threads front paged.

A small goal for me. lol

Anyways, I stocked some Treacherous Trio case today at work. Yay....

08-30-2009, 09:25 AM	#1
Joe Moore Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 34,305	Discussion Of The Week - Have Wrestling Toys Become Stagnant __________________

08-30-2009, 10:09 AM	#2
Runamuck Collects things Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 927	No offense to any Wrestling fans or collectors, but I hope they are on the downswing. There is just too many different kind of product out there, in my opinion. It makes it hard for stores to stock new stuff when there are so much older toys that still peg warm. Wrestling figures have always been peg-warmers for the most part, in my nearly 3 years of being with TRU. __________________

08-30-2009, 01:48 PM	#4
nomad1632 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Palm Beach Gardens Posts: 722	Id have to say yes I mean their all the same how many figures of triple h or hulk hogan can someone want...personally I'm not a big wrestling fan so no disrespect but whats the appeal of the figures? And it is true that when you go to toys r us they always have at least a bulk of an isle's side devoted to these figures but haven't you notice that their always packed kinda looks like they don't sell to heavy compared to other series that at times empty out like iron man, star wars, and transformers. Last edited by nomad1632; 08-30-2009 at 01:54 PM..

08-30-2009, 03:02 PM	#5
Snowflakian Illyria's New Qwa'ha Xahn Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: In the clouds. Posts: 4,120	I'd have to concur with yes, they are overplayed. Even the few people I know who collect them, skip the majority of the lines for the figures who've never been made before. Like the recently release short wrestler (whose name escapes me at the moment). As a whole though, they take up ungodly room on shelves, rarely move save to the weekend hunters, and honestly don't really look all that fun. But I guess that's me since I've never found wrestling and it's ficticious storylines interesting. I'd rather have fantasy that is fantasy as opposed to muscle bound men beating each other for a fake sport. The only good side to them though? Maybe we'll get a Donald Trump action figure. I've personally never seen the draw of these figures as opposed to real sports heroes in the mcfarlane lines, or even boxing or UFC. They've had their day, now it's time for the real heroes to shine that actually have a positive light to them (and no, power rangers does not have a positive light either for that you have to turn to japan's sentai). Blurring the lines of fantasy and reality for kids isn't a good idea, and is what leads to backyard brawl mis-haps. __________________

08-30-2009, 03:25 PM	#6
SpeedBreaker By the Power of Poopskull Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 143	I'm not that into Wrestling - I watch Afterburn and that's it. Whenever I look at the Wrestling stuff at the store, all I see are figures of people I have never heard of before. Where are the Undertaker, Edge, Jeff Hardy etc. figures? __________________ Iron Man... Iron Man...Does whatever an iron can...