Back in 1990, I was firmly entrenched in wrestling mania. I deeply loved the WWF LJN line of figures and, to introduce the stars of the NWA into my little world, I would customize them to make my favorite NWA stars. I longed for the day when the NWA, which was being re-branded into WCW, would make a line parallel to the LJN's.
Unfortunately, the LJN WWF line ended, signally the end of a truly great action figure line. Hasbro became the WWF's toy maker for the 90's. I had no interest in the Hasbro line as I was getting older and those toys were too gimmicky for me. I did notice however that the WCW managed to finally produce some action figures !! I remember watching the commercials, seeing that they were molded plastic figures like the LJN's and was very happy. It was short lived. While I waited for "The Wrestling Ring" to advertise the WCW figures in the latest issue of PWI, I happened to find out that the WCW figures were sadly gonna be the same scale as the 4 inch Hasbro figures. I decided to put my resources towards King Diamond records and concert t-shirts.
Fast Forwards several years, I got over myself and finally got that plastic version of my childhood idol.
From Galoob, WCW Series 1; The Nature Boy Ric Flair !!!! A solid pose and accessorized with a title belt, this figure turned out to be pretty great !!
Well detailed, really quite a nice figure.
Head sculpt is pretty spot on to the legend !!
Cool details on the boots and tights.
OK, even though he's shorter than I wanted but I like this figure. Its a great likeness, well detailed and has a belt ! I did get my wish and got the LJN style Ric Flair figure I wanted but that will be a post for another day..........
To beat the man you need to be the man....Wooooooooo! lol. Great figure Mike.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's just too bad they weren't scaled bigger but he is a great figure.
ReplyDeleteI was never a fan of WCW. I felt too much loyalty to Vince...However I had no problems buying WCW figures that I would incorporate in my WWF play. But I never got any Galoob. Not until 3 years ago. Found an auction on Ebay and ordered them. They easily matched up with my Hasbro collection. I had a few Flair vs. Hogan bouts. I appreciate WCW today of course after reading Bischoff's book and the WWF DVD's of WCW have been great.
ReplyDeleteI gotta read that book. I love all the background stories behind wrestling. I hope your Vince bias didnt preclude the Nature Boy from a fair match!
DeleteI still own all of the WCW Series 1. Great great collection!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll the figures are great! I saw the UK versions recently and I may have to add em to my collection !
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