We’ve finally got our hands on the first series of Major Bendies wrestling figures. The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast which is lead by Matt Cardona and Brian Myers announced the production of their own line of wrestling figs to take them beyond just talking about wrestling figures to producing them and they’re a very cool set.
The series of Major Bendies is inspired by the WWF Bend-Ems range of figs from the 1990s and is a love letter to the early mid 90s releases in every way.
Packaging
Starting with the packaging, the card is the same size, and have a lot of similarities, although there are differences too. The shape of the cut-out hanger is larger, and most prominently, the Major Bendies have a plastic sleeve which can be removed to allow collectors to access their figures without damaging the packing. This is handy for anyone who wants to let their figures breath, but still hold onto the packaging to keep the MOC condition if they choose to display or sell the figs.
The artwork on the packaging features an illustration of the featured wrestler bending a bar with the Bendies logo just as in the classic Just Toys range, and there is also a near identical ‘Bendable Posable Collectible’ disc on the design too.
The back of the card follows the same pattern as the originals as well although you won’t need to cut the collectible card out the centre of the card anymore as the Major Bendies come with a separate card. It’s worth noting that whilst the original WWF toys would show a photo of the series of figures available, the Major Bendies instead have an illustration.
But enough about the packaging for now as I’m sure most of you will want to know about the figures, how they compare to their inspiration, and whether they hold up in their own right!
The Figures
Series 1 features Matt Cardona, Brian Myers, Smart Mark Sterling and Swoggle. Now as we covered in our preview of the set a few week back, Mark Sterling, who wrestling fans would know from appearances on AEW may seem the weakest of the line up in this series. That isn’t to throw shade at Mark, but he just is the only one in the line up who hasn’t had major exposure on WWE television. For fans of the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast his inclusion is because he is a big part of the show, but regardless he is the weaker link in star power here. His ring attire is also on the goofy side, although his position as perhaps the one to overlook in the set may later prove to make him more elusive amongst collectors.
Next up we have Swoggle, who is best known for his time in the WWE as Hornswoggle. A popular character for many years in the WWE alongside Finlay and in his own right, Swoggle is the first Bend-Em style figure of a little person pro wrestler. He is instantly recognisable and has great detail on his ring attire. It’s worth noting that some have pointed out that this figure does have a vibe of mini AJ Styles to the face and once you’ve seen it, you won’t be able to unsee it. You’re welcome!
Getting onto the big hitters of Matt Cardona and Brian Myers, the figures generally look great and are the ones most figure collectors will want to get their hands on. Both have great detail on their boots and tights and have enough differences to keep them ever so slightly out of their real life territory as palette swap Edge clones.
As you’ll see in the photos on the page we’ve compared the figures both in the packaging and loose to classic WWF Bend-Ems, and they are close in the design but not exact matches in style and presentation. All the Major Bendies have generally thicker arms and deeper chests than the originals. Perhaps this is what happens when you get pro wrestlers to approve the designs of their own action figures. They Hulk up slightly. The original Bend-Ems were far from to scale in terms of their size compared to their real-life counterparts.
The size issues stay true here with Matt Cardona easily taller than the 90s Diesel figure and taller than the Triple H figure by a noticeable margin.
In terms of feel, the new figures have a tougher feel then the originals which were more bendy than the Major Bendies. I was able to get the Major Bendies to free stand as well which was a plus, although they didn’t do this easily every time. It is great that having the old and new figures side by side do feel like a continuation of the original Just Toys series, which admittedly did see some changes from when they first came out to their later runs.
Conclusion
I think my favourite of the set is the Matt Cardona, and that is partly because his personality comes through in the figure and he has made himself the most vocal and visible of the line up in his post WWE time on the indie scene. Swoggle is a close second as it’s cool to have him alongside others in my personal collection on display as I was always a fan of his from when he debuted with Fit Finlay.
Wrestling fans who didn’t grow up in the 90s to have the original set should still enjoy having these, although as a clear love letter to the original WWF Bend-Ems these are a fantastic set for the nostalgia loving collectors out there. If you didn’t get into them at the time you may not find the same love for them as fans have taken to the Retros, or modern style figures, but they are a cool cartoony alternative to have.
We’ve already seen that there will be a couple more series of Major Bendies released over the next year and with fan support the Major Bendies could continue to tell the story of a classic toy line that looked to be forgotten to the past. Well, now they’re back and the future is bendy!
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