The fantastic Heels and Faces line of wrestling figures is back and after a long wait we finally have some of the Series 2 figures in our hands. Be sure to check out our other reviews coming out shortly including the review of the Raven figure.
For now though, we have the Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant.
Signing Andre for figures in this set of figures is huge for Zombie Sailor Toys, and yes pun is intended. It’s a massive retro compared to the others and the attention to detail is fantastic. Andre is top five in terms of the most recognisable and iconic wrestlers of all time, and his inclusion in the line up further legitimises the Heels and Faces line as the leader of the makers of the Hasbro style wrestling retros.
ZST clearly knew this and took the opportunity to have two variants of Andre launch at the same time. Described as the ‘blue strap’ and ‘black strap’ variants, the difference between them is the colour of the ring attire Andre is wearing and the design of the face. They could have been called the stern Andre and the shouty Andre variants.
For this review we have the stern blue Andre rather than the shouty black strap Andre. I figured this was a more classic look.
As with all modern non WWE produced retros, the figure doesn’t have any spring loaded actions, which as I mention in most of my reviews of the indie retros, is because most people who buy these figures will be keeping them mint on card. Why go to the expense of added spring loaded actions that won’t get used?
This figure does look like an upgraded version of the classic WWE Hasbro Andre the Giant figure. Despite no spring loaded headbutt action this figure has a similar pose. This figure more than others gives me the vibe that the old Hasbro figure was the cocoon that the true Andre figure lay within and then it hatched for this perfect version to come from within. The upcoming Epic Toys/Chella Toys version already looks laughably poor in comparison to the detail on the face and hair of this one.
Andre was never known to be the most tanned guy and the colour of the plastic for the flesh on this figure looks about right to match the slight pastiness that Andre had in the ring compared to the orange tans of Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.
Interestingly compared to the image on the back of the card the hands show a point of articulation at the wrists. This is no bad thing though as it gives collectors who photograph their figures more options.
The card the figure comes on is a red series design that will fit in nicely with the colour coded series of Hasbro figures from the 1990s. Andre’s signature looks like it says Andy the giant, but hey ho, I’m sure they got a copy of his signature and this must just have been how he signed things.
As with all these figures the back of the card features the original pencil design for what the figure would become and a clip and collect style card with stats on Andre. The Heels and Faces line still has actual photos of the rest of the figures in the collection rather than outline renders, and that’s fine if not true to the Hasbro originals that this is inspired by. It’s certainly better for advertising and oh boy is the current line up of other figures in this series huge. Fifteen figures are crammed onto the card so that the previously released first series isn’t even features which in a sense is a shame. I always thought it was cool on the 1990s Hasbros that the line up on the back of the cards would grow as more were released.
Conclusion
For me this was certainly ‘the one’ to get from the Heels and Faces Series 2 line up. A new Andre figure won’t fill a gap in your retros collection like a figure of someone who never had a figure made of them previously would, but this is by far the best designed Andre retro.
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