By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Mattel produced but never released a Jeff Hardy figure for its first series of WWE Elite figures; collectors are paying hundreds of dollars to get one.

Action figure spotlight #9: Mattel WWE Elite Jeff Hardy
Originally released: N/A (scheduled for January 2010; never released)
What you can expect to pay: $150-250
Recent sales: $242.50




Mattel began formulating plans in mid-2009 for its first wave of WWE action figures, scheduled for release at midnight on January 1, 2010. While these figures were being designed, no wrestler was hotter anywhere in North America than Jeff Hardy. He must have seemed like a no-brainer to include in the first line of WWE Elite figures.

Unfortunately, by the time January 1 rolled around, Jeff was no longer involved with WWE. Given his federal drug charges at the time, WWE in no way wanted to be identified with Jeff Hardy.
Plans for the Hardy figure were scrapped, and it was never released to the public. But, sometime around March 2010, loose figures began popping up on eBay and other collectibles sites.

“The figure began popping up on eBay maybe once or twice every few months, usually sold from Japan, and usually fetching anywhere from $700-900,” said collector Danny Holmes, who owns one of the figures. “I don't know how the people originally selling them got the figures so I can't comment on that. But, the trend continued with the figure scarcely appearing on eBay and selling in that price range for the remainder of 2010.”

By mid-2011, more figures started popping up on eBay, and the price softened, sometimes as low as $100. In recent weeks, the price has gone up somewhat as supplies have dried up. Currently, there are only two offered for sale on eBay, with one completed sale ($242.50) in the last 30 days.

If you’re a Jeff Hardy collector who is willing to spend that kind of money one his rarest action figure – and there are plenty of Hardy fans just like that – there are a few important things to know. The figure pictured with this column is the one produced by Mattel. If you search for “Jeff Hardy Mattel” on eBay, you’ll notice that there are several more auctions that match those key words.

Some wrestling fans produce custom action figures using pieces from other Mattel and Jakks figures. Some of them do very good work, so if you’re looking for a cool Jeff Hardy Mattel style figure, that may be one way to go; just make sure you know the difference between a custom figure and the one made by Mattel.

Also, some sellers will use “Jeff Hardy Mattel” as spam keywords, which is against eBay policy. They know the figure is a hot item, so some sellers will attach those words onto auctions for Mattel figures of Matt Hardy or Hurricane Helms, or onto old Jeff Hardy figures from Jakks.

As Mattel’s line of WWE figures continues to evolve, this figure will likely remain the most valuable of the entire series, unless a warehouse full of unreleased figures is discovered somewhere.
If you have bought or sold one of these Jeff Hardy figures from Mattel, or have any more information, feel free to e-mail michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com.

Collectibles News

-- When new Mattel WWE toy wrestling rings began showing up on shelves in time for Christmas, long-time fans were giddy at what was shown on the back. The packaging showed the seventh line of WWE Legends figures, which was to include the first action figure ever made of Magnum TA. Message boards were flooded with posts from collectors who couldn’t wait to get their hands on one. Unfortunately, a Mattel representative recently confirmed on mattycollector.com that the Legends line is ending and the seventh series will not be produced. Six Legends figures chosen by collectors will be available exclusively at mattycollector.com in 2012, but Magnum was not one of the wrestlers chosen.

-- A few weeks ago, this column included a news item about a special steel cage playset by Mattel that was being sold exclusively at Walmart for Christmas. Several readers have written in to say that their Walmarts marked the playset down by half-price on Dec. 26. For $12.50, you’ll get a ring, steel cage, and exclusive figures of John Cena and The Miz. Considering that the figures alone usually retail for $7.99-9.99 each, that’s a great deal if you can find one.

Trivia Question of the Week

Only one wrestler has appeared in all of the following lines of action figures: Remco AWA and LJN Wrestling Superstars (both from the 1980s), Hasbro WWF (1990s), Jakks-Pacific WWE Classic Superstars (early 2000s) and Mattel WWE Legends (2010). Can you name him?

Several readers correctly identified Rick Martel as the only wrestler to be included in all of these sets. He was included in the AWA Remco series (as AWA World champion), LJN Wrestling Superstars (as one half of Strike Force), Hasbro WWF, Jakks-Pacific WWE Classic Superstars, and Mattel WWE Legends (all three as “The Model”).

Among the Torch readers who correctly identified Martel were Kent Sinkler, Derek Hamel, Mike Vega, C. Miccio, Zac Heath, Robert Haithcock, irememberyou11, PWTorch specialist Charles Cress, Clarence Murray, yankeemax, Raul Najera, Jay in Pa., Brenden Moore, and John Locke.

FYI: A new trivia question will be included in Thursday’s wrestling collectibles column at pwtorch.com. In the meantime, feel free to e-mail michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com with any questions or comments.

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