Hasbro got the license to turn into action figures the most famous wrestlers from the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) that, at this time, was at the peak of its popularity. There had never been more famous and charismatic wrestlers than Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior or Macho Man.
Years before, other figures were made by companies like LJN. More precisely, LJN built several series of wrestlers between 1984 and 1989, but these figures were made of rubber plastic and didn’t move at all.
Galoob also had their own wrestlers, made in PVC and without any articulation point. These were sold as "WCW wrestlers" between 1990 and 1991.
Many wrestlers had their figures in two series, the one by LJN and the one by Hasbro, or the one by Galoob and later the one by Hasbro.
As you can imagine, such a popular collection had hundreds of knock-offs and look-alike figures. Most of these have very bad quality and could be found in “1 Euro shops”, kiosk, tobacconists, and so on. Some exceptions were quality toys, like Simba’s Wrestlers.
In Spain, this toys were released with a two years delay, I used to watch the program on TV every Sunday morning, so when the figures came out, I quickly got a few to play with. The first figures (first wave) were around 500 pesetas (3,00 Eur), later waves increased slowly their prices. If I can remember properly, I got 6 figures from the first wave, 2 from the second and 1 from the third… I am almost sure that the figures from 5th wave on were never available in Spain, but since they were available in other countries like Germany and Austria (were, by the way, there were and there are many wrestling fanatics even today), I got to buy most figures in this collection.
First Hasbro's WWF wave |
In this article and the next two, I want to show the first wave, released in 1990. This wave consisted of 12 wrestlers, so I’ll show 4 of them on each entry.
1. Hulk Hogan #1 with Gorilla Press Slam!
Hulk Hogan is the greatest star of wrestling so far, the good guy, the one that always plays fair, This figure was probably the best selling figure in the whole Hasbro collection. The figure came with open hands to allow the featured action of holding and knocking off one other figure. This movement was repeated many times during the 11 series that were released.
2. André the Giant with Giant Jolt!
André the Giant retired in 1990, and was more popular during the eighties than at this time. He was one of the figures which I didn’t know who they were in 1992. The other two were Akeem and Brutus Beefcake. The figure however looks great, and is one of the most “wanted” from this first series. His “action” movement is a chest-slam, what makes it a relatively fragile figure (compared with other in this collection)
BONUS: Spanish filecard
3. Macho Man Randy Savage #1 with Elbow Smash!
Macho Man (later Macho King) was also among the most popular wrestlers, and had several versions of him made. The movement is the same that features Hulk Hogan, but Macho Man has not open hands but fists. These movement is also featured by many other figures.
BONUS: Spanish filecard
4. Ultimate Warrior #1 with Ultimate Smash!
One of the greatest stars of wrestling ever… by the time these figures were released, it was absolutely number 2 in popularity after Hulk Hogan. Had many fans because of his look and his great style of fighting. The figure has on its back a flap that you can push to make the figure jump. The chest part of the figure goes down to its feet showing a strange and not very well done neck (the “spine” of the figure) (see pic). The movement is absolutely great when it comes to play with, and was the featured action of many figures from wave 1 to 10.
FACTS and FIGURES:
- Name: HULK HOGAN #1, ANDRÉ “THE GIANT”, “MACHO MAN” RANDY SAVAGE #1 and ULTIMATE WARRIOR #1
- Alternate Names: HULK HOGAN, ANDRÉ EL GIGANTE, MACHO KING*, EL ULTIMO GUERRERO (Spain)
- Toy Line: Official WWF (Wave 1)
- Year: 1990
- Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
- Size of the figures: 12 cm or 4,5’’
*As a result of that delay of 2 years that the figures took to arrive to Spain, Macho Man #1 was already renamed to Macho King.
As an annex, I include a list of all produced figures ordered by year and series. I hope all of them (or almost) will be appearing in this blog in the next years… The list is based on the one published by sophandjames in “ebay.co.uk guides”.
Series 1 (1990)
- 1. Hulk Hogan #1
- 2. Andre the Giant
- 3. Macho Man Randy Savage #1
- 4. Ultimate Warrior #1
- 5. Jake the Snake Roberts (with snake “Damien”)
- 6. Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase #1 (with million dollar belt)
- 7. Brutus the Barber Beefcake #1 (with red shears)
- 8. Ravishing Rick Rude
- 9. Big Boss Man #1 (with stick)
- 10. Akeem
- 11. Ax of Demolition
- 12. Smash of Demolition #1
- 13. Hulk Hogan # 2
- 14. 'Macho King' Randy Savage #2 (with crown & sceptre)
- 15. Ultimate Warrior #2
- 16. Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase #2 (with million dollar belt)
- 17. Rowdy Roddy Piper
- 18. Superfly Jimmy Snuka
- 19. Honky Tonk Man (with guitar)
- 20. Hacksaw Jim Duggan #1 (with 2x4)
- 21A. Dusty Rhodes [Rare] (with white boots)
- 21B. Dusty Rhodes [Very Rare] (with yellow boots)
- 22 and 23. Bushwackers Butch and Luke
- 24 and 25. Demolition Crush #1 and Smash #2 [re-issue] (both with helmets)
- 26 and 27. Rockers Shawn Michaels #1 and Marty Jannetty #1
- 28. Hulk Hogan #3
- 29. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage #3 (with crown and sceptre, same as #2 with logo in trunks)
- 30. Ultimate Warrior #3
- 31. Big Bossman #2 (with nightstick)
- 32. Brutus the Barber Beefcake #2 (with black shears)
- 33. Mr Perfect #1
- 34. Koko B.Ware (with Frankie-parrot)
- 35. Greg the Hammer Valentine
- 36. Sgt Slaughter
- 37. Texas Tornado
- 38. Earthquake
- 39. Typhoon
Series 4 (1992)
- 44A. Bret Hitman Hart #1 (pink heart on vest)
- 44B. Bret Hitman Hart #1 [Very Rare] (purple heart on vest -factory error-)
- 45. British Bulldog
- 46A. Undertaker #1 (grey trim)
- 46B. Undertaker #1 [Rare] (purple trim)
- 47. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat (with 'wings')
- 48. Hulk Hogan #4
- 49. Macho Man Randy Savage #4
- 50. I.R.S.
- 51. Jim the Anvil Neidhart
- 52. Mountie (with cattle prod)
- 53. Rick the Model Martel
- 54. Sid Justice
- 55. Virgil
- 56. Skinner
- 57. Warlord
- 58. Berzerker (with brown cloak)
- 59. Repo Man
- 60. Papa Shango (with skull necklace)
- 61. El Matador
- 62. Ric Flair
- 63. Tatanka #1
- 64. Crush #2
- 65. Owen Hart
- 66. Nailz
- 67. Razor Ramon #1 (with chain)
- 68. Shawn Michaels #2
- 69. Kamala (Star on belly)
- 70. Kamala [Very Rare, only 24 ever made] (Moon on belly)
- 71. Bret Hitman Hart #2
- 72. Mr Perfect #2
- 73. Lex Luger
- 74. Bam Bam Bigelow
- 75. Undertaker #2 (with coat, Same as #1, but with dark hair and beard)
- 76. Yokozuna #1
- 77. Hacksaw Jim Duggan #2 (with USA flag)
- 78. Million Dollar Man #3
- 79. Tatanka #2 [re-issue]
- 80. Rick Steiner
- 81. Scott Steiner
- 82. Doink the Clown
- 83. Marty Jannetty #2
- 84. Giant Gozalez
- 85. Samu of Headshrinkers
- 86. Fatu of Headshrinkers
- 87. Butch of Bushwackers #2 (with cap)
- 88. Luke of Bushwackers #2 (with cap)
- 89. Razor Ramon #2 (with chain) [re-issue]
- 90. Razor Ramon # 3 [Rare] (with chain)
- 91. Shawn Michaels #3 [re-issue]
- 92. Shawn Michaels #4 [Rare]
- 93. Crush #3
- 94. Ludvig Borga
- 95. 1-2-3 Kid
- 96. Adam Bomb
- 97. Bart Gunn of Smoking Gunns
- 98. Billy Gunn of Smoking Gunns
- 99. Yokozuna #2
- 100. Hulk Hogan #5 (same as #3 but with red Hulkamania Shirt)
- 101. Bret Hitman Hart #3 (same as #1 but with purple heart)
- 102. Undertaker #3 (same as #1 but with light brown hair and Eye Shadow)
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