Matt Cardona and Brian Myers, who are current wrestlers for Impact Wrestling, and hosts of the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast are crossing the line form simply talking about wrestling figures and collecting them, to actually having their own line of wrestling figs. The Major Bendies will be picking up where the Just Toys WWF Bend-Ems left off in the early 2000s.
Cardona and Myers, who were fomally known as Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins in the WWE had already been made into retro Hasbro style figures within the last year in the Heels and Faces line from Zombie Sailor Toys. This along with the Mattel WWE Retros line making a comeback and the retro style figures from Chella Toys, the Hasbro style figure market is busier than ever.
So the new line of figures is going a different retro route, and by not competing with the WWE retros, or current modern standard size and design of figures used by both WWE and AEW they can form their own niche in the market.
So far, three different sets have been shown, with the first set having now had a couple of sale runs which have sold out from the Major Figure Podcast website.
The first set features Matt Cardona and Brian Myers themselves along with figures of Smart Mark Sterling and Swoggle.
A second series have been shown to include Brian Pillman, Adam Bomb, Danhausen and Nick Gage, whilst a third set is a tie in with the My World Podcast and will feature two versions of Jeff Jarrett and what I believe is the first ever figure of prominent podcast host Conrad Thompson.
We won’t be able to review any of the figures on the site until we get our hands on some, but for the purposes of this preview let’s go over some initial reactions from the photos.
A Classic Continuation
In terms of design, if you’re not familiar with the original WWF Bend-Ems line, these look like a direct continuation of them. The large chest and shoulders and cartoon like appearence mean this will fit in nicely with the original toys that inspired them. It’s true that the original Bend-Ems range evolved over time themselves, but these do harken back to the look of the original figures that features the likes of Bret Hart, Lex Luger and Diesel.
The line up in the first series is solid, but perhaps most exciting for fans of the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast. Smart Mark Sterling apppears on the show podcast with Myers and Cardona, but would be most familiar to current wrestling fans for his appearences in AEW. Swoggle meanwhile is famous from his long run in the WWE when he was known as Hornswoggle. And of course Myers and Cardona both wrestle in Impact Wrestling, but it’s Matt Cardona who has been making the biggest waves in the world of wrestling over the last year with his feuds with Nick Gage and Effy in GCW.
Series 2 is for me, the most exciting line up of the three series shown so far with the Adam Bomb and Brian Pillman being callbacks to the era of the original Bend-Ems. These show the potential of a range of figures like this to fill in gaps of rosters for collectors of the original series.
Danhausen meanwhile is a indie star, and known for his time in Ring of Honor. This is his second figure after the Zombie Sailor Toys retro, and his unique persoanlity and gimmick complete with make up make him stand out in the line up as a potential favourite. Lastly for series 2 is Nick Gage, who as mentioned Cardona made a lot of headlines feuding with during 2021, and whom also made a memorable appearence in AEW main eventing against Chris Jericho.
The My World Podcast tie in features two Jeff Jarretts. One to fit his look form mid 90s WWF and one to match his look with short hair and a new attitude from the late 1990s WWF Attitude era. Both of these feel like missing pieces from the original Bend-Ems sets and the Conrad figure is sure to please collectors who are fans of the many podcasts that Conrad chairs with the likes of Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Jim Ross, Eric Bischoff etc.
As mentioned we’ll endevour to get a review of some of these figures on the site when we can get our hands on them, but they certainly seem an exciting proposition for pro wrestling figure collectors.
If you want to check out the figures as they come on sale the website for the Major Figures Podcast features them here.
For more Action Figure and collectibles news, reviews and articles check out the Action Figures and Collectibles Section of the Site. For more Wrestling articles see the Wrestling Section.
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