Return of the Retro Hasbro Style Wrestling Figures – WWE, Chella Toys and Zombie Sailor

In 2016, Mattel released it’s line of Retro style WWE action figures. These were a call back to the old Hasbro style of wrestling figure that was released in the early 1990s.

What’s interesting with this line of figures, and is a wider part of how wrestling merchandise works nowadays is that it is obviously created as much for older fans and collectors as it is created for younger wrestling fans. This approach of companies creating new action figures which appeal to adults isn’t exclusive to the wrestling industry, as the toy and merchandise industry has long since realised it can capitalise on the fans of movies, TV shows and old toys and market products to nostalgic adults who now have the disposable cash to buy the kinds of action figures and merch that they wish they could have bought themselves as children.

WWE and Mattel released several series of these modern Retro figures between 2016 and 2019, and now in 2021 we’re now in the full new boom period of the retro wrestling action figure craze and third party companies such as Chella Toys in the UK and Zombie Sailor in the US are creating new figures that match the old Hasbro style. It’s probably this work being down away from the WWE which has inspired the WWE and Mattel to announce new figures themselves and revive their retro line after a break for the last couple of years.

Before we dive into what’s new, let’s catch up on the brief history of wrestling action figures and why the classic Hasbro style is all the rage currently!

In the world of pro wrestling action figures, there have been 3 major standards to the styles of figures released. In the mid to late 80s there were the Wrestling Superstars line of figures which were large, fixed position rubbery figures from LJN. Then there were the Hasbro WWF figures which were much smaller, made form hard plastic and had special spring loaded special moves that each figure could do.

These ran until the mid 90s, but were replaced by what is essential still the current standard fully posable range of figures that regardless of whether you have bought WWE, WCW, AEW, TNA figures etc, they’re all pretty much interchangeable in terms of size, presentation and function. This has been great for kids who want to be able to create dream match ups across promotions and eras and means that they don’t have the awkward situation which kids of the late 80s/early 90s had where their LJN Hillybilly Jim towered like Andre the Giant over their Hasbro Razor Ramon for example.

But for all the good that having standardised figure sizes has brought, there are that era of fans who most fondly remember the Hasbro line, and this is where the big boom in retro Hasbro style figures has come from over the last few years. Collectors will have seen eBay flooded with ‘customs’ which are fan created alterations of old figures to either update or change the design of old wrestlers, or transform them into wrestlers who never had a Hasbro figure back in the day.

These custom figures and the scene that developed around them obviously caught the attention of Mattel who made the Retro line form 2016. The figures weren’t exactly like the Hasbro figures in that there were occasional extra points of articulation or new special moves not available in the classic 90s range. People also note that the figures perhaps didn’t have the same level of detail and feel noticeably more cartoonish than the original Hasbro ones did. It’s only a fraction, but it’s definitely noticeable.

The Mattel range did what the WWE has been doing with all of their merch for the last several years and that is mix in new and current stars with representations of superstars of the past.

The first series of Mattel retros had the likes of Roman Reigns, John Cena and Brock Lesnar, but also had an 1991 era Ultimate Warrior and a 1994 era Undertaker. This is a smart way to get kids to know who classic stars are who they can still watch on the WWE Network (or should I say Peacock), or play as in video games.

As Mattel released more series there would be even greater emphasis on stars from the past with series 2 almost being like a missing Hasbro collection from 1997. Future series would mix in more current stars like The Miz and Braun Strowman with the likes of the Iron Sheik and various eras of Randy Savage to name a couple.

So when the WWE and Mattel put a pause on their Retro line in 2019, there was a gap in the market and this is where Chella Toys and Zombie Sailor come in. A couple of months back we featured a review of the Chella Toys Wrestling Megastars Nick Aldis figure which was the first in the Chella series and this figure was perhaps closer in presentation to the classic Hasbro figures than even the official WWE retros from Mattel.

Chella have also released an Ethan Page figure and a two pack of the Blue Meanie and Joel Shernoff (who co-hosts the Mind of the Meanie Podcast). They have also announced a Bull Nakano figure, which unbelievably is the first retro style figure to be made of a female wrestler.

Others that have been announced and shown off to some degree include figures of the Dynamite Kid meaning we can finally have the British Bulldogs tag team complete with Matilda as this Dynamite Kid figure will include a figure of their famed mascot bulldog. There is also a Hayabusa figure and they have just shown off a brand new Adam Bomb figure which will no doubt delight fans who were unable to get one of the super rare Green Card Hasbro Adam Bomb figures back in the 1990s.

The mix of current and classic stars that WWE do is continued here with the Chella Toys line, but unlike the WWE figures both Chella and Zombie Sailor figures are free to include figures of wrestlers who have never wrestled for the WWE. Current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis is a great example of this. And the left field inclusion of Joel Shernoff who isn’t a wrestler opens up a world of possibilities of who else could get a figure who may be connected to wrestling but never wrestled.

The Zombie Sailor line of figures is another really exciting range of upcoming figures which have been all over twitter, and seeing announcements regularly from both Chella and Zombie Sailor has been like experiencing the roster draft picks between Raw and Smackdown back in the day.

Zombie Sailor’s figures are being designed by Ron Rudat who was a designer back in the day for Hasbro which gives these and extra connection to the figures of the past. The range of have a matt finish rather than the gloss look of the classic Hasbros, Chellas and Mattel WWE retros, but this won’t prevent them fitting right in with the other figures in your collection.

It’s worth noting that in the case of both the Chella Toys and Zombie Sailor lines that they don’t feature any spring loaded special moves currently. To do so would have upped the costs for the companies, and let’s face it these figures are designed even more so for adult collectors and it’s fair to expect that most figures sold won’t be taken out of their packaging, and even if some are let to breathe, these are likely to be kept in display cases or at best be used for photoshoots and not played with as a kid may do.

Figures already announced in the Zombie Sailor line include Sabu, which from photographs features a great amount of detail even down to his many scars and welts.

Then there is Dino Bravo who is getting his first ever action figure which was a super surprising to learn, and Earl Hebner which will be the first referee figure made in the Hasbro style. This figure will even have a swappable hand to show off either a 1 or 2 count.

And then there are Matt Cordona and Brian Myers (formally Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins respectively) who obviously are a big deal in the world of pro wrestling action figures as they host the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast.

It’s been great that if you follow either of these companies on twitter you’ll have been able to track the progress of the figures development from announcements through to early design sketches and to first sculpts and finished painted editions.

Future retro style figures from Zombie Sailor in the Heels and Faces line include Paul Roma, the Brooklyn Brawler, Barry Horrowitz, King Kong Bundy, Swoggle, Todd Pettengill and Danhausen. Chella meanwhile have announced a new range of 7” figures which will match the more modern stye of figures, and have also teased a new Giant Haystacks figure, although at time of writing this hasn’t been completely confirmed as yet.

So with all these new retro figures, the WWE wasn’t going to be left behind and you can probably thank Chella Toys and Zombie Sailor’s efforts for making Mattel and the house of Vince get their fingers out and announce new Retro WWE figures of Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mean Gene Okerland. The Mean Gene figure will be the first non wrestler made officially by the WWE in the retro style (although Chella beat them to the punch with the Shernoff figure).

The return of the official WWE figures is great news as obviously there are many wrestlers who are either on the current active roster or tied in to legends contracts which would prevent them from doing deals with third parties. This way we’ll end up with more of the retro style figures over all. Also hopefully all three brands of figures will inspire each other to make better quality and inventive ideas!

We’re going to have a lot more coverage of past, present and future figures and collectibles coming up in the near future, both of pro wrestling and other cult and geek culture stuff so do make sure you bookmark XStreamed.tv for lots more great stuff!

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