Tomorrow
I'll be reviewing Mattel's SDCC Exclusive Batman: Arkham Knight
Batmobile, Wednesday we've got a new contributor with an interview,
Thursday I'll put up the Toy Fair post, and Friday will be an all-new
episode of the podcast with me and Mike Gordon talking about Batman
'66!
One
of my favorite Misterio matches took place in front of MGM Studios in
Orlando. It was against the Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko and
Rey walked away with the title. I tend to like outdoor matches
anyway, but this one was particularly notable. Malenko and Misterio
were always fantastic opponents and this is one of their best
matches.
Side
Note: Dean Malenko is one of my all-time favorites and I really hope
they get around to making an Elite figure of him sooner than later.
He’s on the backstage staff, so I’d think it would be likely,
especially with this Misterio out now.
While
I’ve gone back and forth on actually liking Rey Mysterio (as he
started calling himself after joining the WWE roster) due to his
perpetual Whitemeat Babyface status and questionable mic skills, I
will always have the highest level of respect for his work ethic and
in-ring ability. He has to be one of the most successful masked
luchadors America has ever seen, if not the
most.
And deservedly so.
As
good as Mysterio got in WWE – and he definitely upped every aspect
of his game – I’ll always love WCW Rey the most. The more
traditional gear appeals to me and as far as his actions – you just
never knew what he was going to do. Once guys get to WWE they adopt
that predictable match format where you might still get surprised
every once in a while, but for the most part once you’ve seen a guy
wrestle a few times you basically know what to expect. With Rey
Misterio in WCW you never
knew what to expect.
This
gear is from Starrcade 1996, where Misterio faced Jushin “Thunder”
Liger for the first time. It’s an interesting choice. The colors
aren’t particularly flashy, it’s not necessarily one of Rey’s
more known looks, and there’s no other significance to the match.
It wasn’t his first PPV appearance or any particular title
situation. I’d love to think that this is a hint that we’ll get a
Liger figure, but I have no idea what his licensing situation might
be.
First
Glance
This
Rey is markedly smaller than other WWE Elite figures (as it should
be) and even seems smaller than other Rey figures, due to the lack of
baggy indy pants.
I’m immediately impressed with the sculpt of the
wrist bands. Not so much by the doofy look on Rey’s face.
Packaging
This
is the same box that the Elite series has been using for a while. I
like it. The large picture of the Superstar on the angled front makes
these easy to browse on the pegs. The rest of the design and graphics
are appealing and eye-catching.
This
isn’t something I have really thought too much about before, but
when you have a line at retail for multiple years, it’s very
important to change up the look of the packaging every few waves. I
don’t think drastic changes to the shape are necessary – and
perhaps even detrimental – but the color schemes and placement of
logos need to be switched up every few waves so that customers can
easily recognize when new assortments have arrived.
I
mention this because Series 32 of the Elite line brings a few changes
in the packaging, the most noticeable of which is in the biographical
information on the back of the box:
I
suppose that as far as action figures go this makes more sense, but I
much preferred the written narrative of the older Elite figures. Not
only were those more informative, they were actually correct. This
new thing only has eight pieces of information and four of them are
inaccurate or irrelevant.
- I have never heard Rey referred to as “The Biggest Little Man” in any significant manner that would suggest it is an “Also Known As” title.
- Rey didn’t use the 619 or the West Coast Pop until his WWE years. This is not WWE Rey.
- Listing affiliations is dumb in the first place because in wrestling you’re probably going to be enemies with someone just as often as you’re friends; as is the case with the names here. And again – this is WCW Rey. He hadn’t even met those guys yet. Maybe RVD, but not in the way this box suggests.
I
do like that they identify the ring attire. I wish I had realized
that before I looked it up.
Looks
I
have to go ahead and get this doofy face sculpt out of the way.
Rey’s
head is a bit too round, but I can get past that. It’s the “baked
out of my mind” look of his eyes and mouth that’s throwing me
off. I mean, it looks like Rey, but this is not a guy in the middle
of a hurricanrana. This is a guy that just walked out of Cypress
Hill’s dressing room.
Otherwise
the head is great. The design stuff is painted – and nicely – and
the wings are sculpted. My only gripe is that there are no laces on
the back of the mask.
Rey’s
physique looks right. I don’t have any other Mysterio figures, so I
don’t know if this one is actually a bit more slender, but he looks
to have his WCW proportions. He definitely bulked up in WWE,
especially in recent years.
The
wristbands look fantastic. These aren’t just painted on like many
other wrestling figures’. They have raised sculpts and the wings
even jut out from them. The paint looks a little iffy in these
pictures, but in person it looks fine. The armbands are a different
story.
They aren’t sculpted, but just painted directly onto the
figure’s biceps. Not great. Not terrible, but made more obvious
because they’re right above those great wristbands.
WCW
Rey only had one tattoo, and Mattel nailed it. The shape and size are
accurate, but the color is also perfect. It’s not just straight
black. They used a lighter color so that it would give the appearance
of fading that naturally occurs with tattoos.
Rey’s
tights and boots are pretty plain, sculpt-wise, but the paint is
spot-on.
I
would’ve preferred a more serious look on the figure’s face and
the attire could stand to be a little glossier. This gear wasn’t
spandex, it was the shiny PVC stuff. But whatever. Overall the figure
still looks great.
Accessories
Rey
comes with a ring stand and a title belt.
The
ring stand is a neat addition. On its own it is utterly useless, but
if you have one of the many rings that Mattel produces you can clip
it to a ring post to simulate Rey doing all sorts of high-flying
maneuvers. It’s a neat extra and
it helps to fill up a box that’s way too big for Rey.
The
title belt makes me angry.
This
is a great-looking
WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The problem is that this Rey Misterio
never held this title because this title didn’t exist until 2001
and Rey didn’t hold it until 2003, long past the time when he was
wearing tights and wrestling in WCW because WCW was gone.
This
should be the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, which looks nothing
like this belt. I hate to complain about such a nice accessory, but
it’s wrong.
Fun
Like
all of the Elite figures, Rey is packed full of articulation and
great to pose and mess around with.
The
stand isn’t much use without a ring, but I do have one of the old
JAKKS Real Scale rings. I was just too lazy to get it out and tighten
up the ropes for pictures. Since I’m buying so many of these damned
wrestling figures lately, I suppose I should.
Any
wrestling figure that comes with a title belt is a good thing. Back
when I was nuts about collecting the JAKKS figures I’d buy somebody
just to get the title belt. Granted, that’s back when the figures
were eight bucks apiece.
The
most important thing that a wrestling figure should be is fun. They
need to look like the person they’re supposed to be and all, but if
you can’t play with them what’s the point? This is a fun, sturdy
figure that hits all the right notes.
Overall
Mattel
has made a fantastic WCW Rey Misterio, Jr. The stand may be
extraneous and the belt may be wrong, but the figure itself is
excellent. Even considering the wrongness of the title belt (no, I
will NOT let that go), this figure would have gotten a perfect score
if those arm bands had been sculpted rather than painted.
4
out of 5
I
don’t care for the choice of facial expression, but that’s
personal preference, not an accuracy or quality thing.
If
you’re a fan of Rey or of WCW or even just love guys in masks (and
who doesn’t?) I highly recommend this figure.
In
fact, I highly recommend you buy it from Amazon right now and help
out my expensive website:
No comments:
Post a Comment