Round 4: Figure Design Quality
Whilst you could look at things as being fairly equal up to this point just looking at the rosters, this is where things really matter. Both companies have a great list of wrestlers and if they don’t have wrestlers you’d want to collect figures of you wouldn’t get them. But since they are both so close we have to look to how good the designs are of both ZST and WM.
And to cut to the chase here, the Heels and Faces figures from Zombie Sailor Toys wins this easily. The design and level of detail on the Heels and Faces figures has from the first batch of figures been much higher quality than that of the Wrestling MegaStars. The Wrestling MegaStars have improved along the way, and I expect that by the time as the above mentioned figures are released we’ll have a much closer battle, but it doesn’t change that the first couple of series of Wrestling MegaStars vary in design quality.
The Nick Aldis figure was cool when it first came out, but it noticeably didn’t look like Aldis at all. It’s a shame as the artwork of the figure is spot on, but in 3D it’s way off. The feet are tiny, the forehead bulges and the back has more abs than the front. This sounds very harsh, but it’s also not without its charm. As the first figure of the Chella Toys set it could be forgiven as a design choice to play off their inspiration from the WWF Hasbro figures which as I mentioned at the start of the article have slightly stumpy legs and proportions. The follow up figures of Josh Shernoff and Blue Meanie are noticeably better although Shernoff who isn’t a wrestler has a buffer and taller figure than that of the wrestlers.
From here with Hayabusa and Ethan Page things really improved a lot, but they still feel lesser than the WWF Hasbro figures in their level of detail. It’s hard to describe, but it feels like there’s a layer or skin than needs to be peeled off to show the full detail. The Adam Bomb figure is the most impressive one I’ve had my hands on yet, but looking at the Gangrel and Al Snow figures there’s still something that feels slightly wrong about their design. They’re somehow just off the mark.
An advantage Heels and Faces have are that they were designed initially with drawings from original WWF Hasbro toy designer Ron Rudat, and having that connection and level of authenticity was a great move by ZST. It has to be said though that the concept artwork for the Wrestling MegaStars is also of great quality. It’s just that the latter haven’t quite followed through with 3D sculps that look as good as the initial 2D designs as yet.
The Heels and Faces figures have a level of detail at least on par with the Hasbro figures from back in the day. In fact, they are easily better than the official WWE Retros from Mattel in this department. I do get the vibe from them that the arms and particularly the hands stand out as larger than they need to be as proportions wise looking at the figures there is a sense that they are upper body heavy with stumpier legs. This was true of the Hasbro figures, but never as prominently as seen here. Of the initial set Earl Hebner seems the most in proportion for a real human being whilst the others just are a shade too big. This aside the faces, the hair, even scars and ring gear detail is all done to great effect.
It’s true of both sets of figures that neither include the spring loaded special moves of the Hasbro or Mattel figures, but these are designed as figures for adult collectors so it’s understandable that they didn’t add these which would have just increased cost and never really been used. The Heels and Faces do have the holes in the base of the feet like official WWF/WWE figs so figures can be mounted on displays easily. This is missing from the Wrestling MegaStars which is a shame.
I give this round to Zombie Sailor Toys Heels and Faces figs as they are about as spot on as you could hope for to look like the wrestlers.
Winner: Heels and Faces
Round 5: Packaging
How important should packaging be? For many this will be extremely important if you are a collector and like to have your figs mint on card. If you just have a display of the loose figures this will be less important. The Wrestling MegaStars cards are very close to the packing of the Hasbro figures down to position of details like stars behind where the figure sits, a WM logo made to look similar to the WWF logo and a graphic showing off the figures special move even though technically the figures don’t have special moves.
The Heels and Faces cards still are within the realm of the Hasbro cards but have a bit more of their own identity. Where as the WM cards feature a photo of the wrestler as the WWF figures did, the Heels and Faces from Zombie Sailor have artwork of each wrestler which is like a highly detailed painting. The reverse of the card is also full colour unlike the WM which mimic the Hasbro cards as much as possible with 2D outline drawings of each figure. Instead of showing fake information about the special moves as on the WM cards, the ZST cards show the original concept art done which is a nice bonus extra.
To pick a winner here depends on what you value more. If you want these figures purely as a continuation of the Hasbro figures then you’ll prefer the Wrestling MegaStars. If you like to see full colour photos of the other figures available and like the original aspects of the Heels and Faces designs like lightning and soft focus lights then you’ll prefer that one. I like both about the same so will call this one a draw.
