{"id":71457,"date":"2018-12-12T11:15:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T17:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=71457"},"modified":"2018-12-12T11:15:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T17:15:27","slug":"collectibles-column-collectors-showing-new-love-for-older-mattel-wwe-legends-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/12\/12\/collectibles-column-collectors-showing-new-love-for-older-mattel-wwe-legends-figures\/","title":{"rendered":"COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: Collectors Showing New Love for Older Mattel WWE Legends Figures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1867502486\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><div class=\"m_5150591226370568862gmail_signature\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Last month&#8217;s PWTorch collectibles column on the cost of collecting Mattel WWE Elite action figures generated quite a bit of discussion on social media, messages boards and a couple podcasts. One of the most common comments was something along the lines of, \u201cThink how much money people have to spend to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you passed up or just weren\u2019t buying wrestling figures when Mattel produced its WWE Legends line, catching up could cost you quite a bit.<\/p>\n<p>From 2010 to 2012, Mattel produced six series of WWE Legends. The suggested retail price (SRP) for Legends figures varied by store, usually in the $12.99 to $14.99 range. A series of three tag team two-packs were sold at Toys R Us for $24.99 each. In 2012, Mattel\u2019s online collectors\u2019 group, Matty Collector, kicked off a line of exclusive figures with a two-pack of Rockers Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. From there, Matty Collector offered fans a new figure every other month for around $20 each. Ringside Collectibles produced just one exclusive figure in Mattel WWE Legends packaging, a figure of \u201cMacho King\u201d Randy Savage.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-71459 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"251\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers-300x240.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers-768x615.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/rockers-1024x820.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2012, Mattel advertised figures for a seventh series that was eventually scrapped as the Legends line was canceled, reportedly due to poor sales. After that, Mattel began integrating its legends figures into the regular Elite series.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the figures from the first few series of Legends haven\u2019t seen much of an increase in value. Figures of wrestlers like Kamala, the Rock, George Steele, the Iron Sheik, Terry Funk and Sgt. Slaughter all had average eBay sale prices of $32 or less, and many could be found for less than their original $20 SRP.<\/p>\n<p>But some figures from Mattel WWE Legends Series 5 and 6 and the Matty Collector exclusives have become some of the scarcest and most valuable of all Mattel WWE action figures. This article provides a look at some of the top selling Mattel WWE Legends figures in 2018. Secondary market prices noted in this article are from completed eBay listings for the 90-day period ending November 30, 2018. Only packaged figures were included in these estimates. Loose, custom and signed figures were excluded. High, low and average sale prices are included for each figure.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Kevin Von Erich Legends Series 6. High: $250. Low: $187.50. Average: $217.11. To date, this is Kevin Von Erich\u2019s only action figure. Kevin is barefoot with red trunks and kneepads, and a removable windbreaker with the colors of the Texas flag. These figures didn\u2019t sell particularly well at the time, and some collectors were able to pick them up for $5 or less on clearance at Toys R Us.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-71460 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs.jpeg 1600w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs-300x215.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs-768x550.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/von_erichs-1024x733.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kerry Von Erich Legends Series 6. High: $174.30. Low: $159.99. Average: $169.20. This was only Kerry\u2019s second action figure ever, and the first in about two decades. This figure resembles Kerry\u2019s later days in World Class Championship Wrestling, with long hair, white trunks, white boots and black kneepads, along with a blue robe.<\/li>\n<li>Texas Tornado Legends Series 6. High: $200. Low: $120. Average: $150. That\u2019s right: Mattel included two figures of Kerry in this series. It\u2019s essentially a repaint of the basic Kerry figure that\u2019s meant to capture his run as the Texas Tornado in the WWF from 1990-92. This figure has yellow trunks and yellow and black boots, along with a removable white jacket with \u201cKerry\u201d printed on the back.<\/li>\n<li>Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty Matty Collector Two-Pack. High: $220. Low: $65. Average: $142.92. This two-pack of figures was sold exclusively through Matty Collector as a way to introduce fans to the new online exclusives. Mattel had great success with an online exclusive Masters of the Universe series of figures in the years leading up to this, but the WWE Legends figures didn\u2019t click quite as well and lasted just one year. With their feathery hair, torn purple shirts and bright yellow tights, these figures will take you back to the days when Gorilla Monsoon told you ad nauseam that Shawn and Marty were tag team specialists. To date, this is Jannetty\u2019s only Mattel WWE action figure.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-71461 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/martel-819x1024.jpeg 819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Rick Martel Legends Series 5. High: $169.40. Low: $100. Average: $133.48. Legends Series 5 spent a lot of time taking up space and gathering dust on retail shelves in 2011 and 2012. Aside from the first Mattel figure of Randy Savage, collectors weren\u2019t too interested in figures of Martel, Akeem and Bam Bam Bigelow in his goofy 1995 WWF babyface gear. But apparently, so many collectors passed on the Martel figure that those who want it today can\u2019t find one, and are willing to spend big money on it. This figure captures Martel in his days as \u201cthe Model,\u201d with purple trunks, boots, kneepads and a bowtie, along with a removable black jacket and oversized button that reads, \u201cYes, I am a model.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Andre the Giant Matty Collector. High: $134.99. Low: $85. Average: $105.42. After the introductory Rockers figures, Andre was the first regular bimonthly Matty Collector figure. This was Andre\u2019s first Mattel figure, with a removable black singlet and a toy belt of the popular winged eagle WWF Championship. He\u2019s proportionally bigger than the other Mattel figures, as illustrated in this photo courtesy of 3B\u2019s Toy Hive.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-71462 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre.jpeg 1275w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre-239x300.jpeg 239w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre-768x964.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/andre-816x1024.jpeg 816w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>(King Kong) Bundy Matty Collector. High: $149.99. Low: $65. Average: $103.00. Mattel was obviously skirting some copyright issues with this online exclusive, which is identified simply as \u201cBundy,\u201d minus the King Kong. It\u2019s a cool looking figure, with a removable cloth T-shirt just like the one Bundy used to model in the old merchandise catalogs in WWF Magazine. Like all of the Matty Club Legends figures, Bundy didn\u2019t sell too well when initially released in 2012, but has since become a bit of a white whale for collectors. This is Bundy\u2019s only Mattel WWE figure to date.<\/li>\n<li>Randy Savage Ringside Collectibles Exclusive. High: $112.50. Low: $66. Average: $86.17. This figure of the \u201cMacho King\u201d is the only Ringside Collectibles exclusive to feature the WWE Legends style packaging. Savage\u2019s 1989-91 run as the \u201cMacho King\u201d wasn\u2019t exactly the highlight of his career, but Mattel did a very good job with this figure, including a crown, scepter and gold robe.<\/li>\n<li>The Bushwhackers Legends Two-Packs Series 1. High: $102.50. Low: $59.99. Average: $84.62. It\u2019s astounding that this two-pack has become such a gem for collectors. Released in 2010 as Toys R Us Exclusives, these figures sat on shelves for years, surviving markdown after markdown but never making it out of the building. Yet Luke and Butch are selling for up to four times their original SRP.<\/li>\n<li>Eddie Guerrero Legends Series 6. High: $114.00. Low: $59.50. Average: $80.73. This figure was a favorite of collectors as soon as it was released. Guerrero is decked out in the red tights he wore when he defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2004, the pinnacle of Guerrero\u2019s career in many fans\u2019 eyes. The figure also comes packaged with the 2004-style WWE Championship belt.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THE PRIOR COLUMN:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/11\/23\/collectibles-column-by-the-numbers-the-cost-of-collecting\/\">COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: By the Numbers \u2013 The Cost of Collecting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"mailto:michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com\"><i>michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com<\/i><\/a><i>. Follow him on Twitter @MMooreWriter.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>All pictures for this article were provided by 3B\u2019s Toy Hive (<a href=\"http:\/\/3bstoyhive.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/3bstoyhive.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1544720342638000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFw9TbGQke32ezI0Dtaz8D7xw-wkQ\">3bstoyhive.com<\/a>, or @3BsToyHive on Twitter).\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3405461751\"><div id=\"pwtor-1277353772\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Last month&#8217;s PWTorch collectibles column on the cost of collecting Mattel WWE Elite action figures generated quite a bit of discussion on social media, messages boards and a couple podcasts. One of the most common <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/12\/12\/collectibles-column-collectors-showing-new-love-for-older-mattel-wwe-legends-figures\/\" title=\"COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: Collectors Showing New Love for Older Mattel WWE Legends Figures\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,52,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-specialists_collectibles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/12\/Collectibles_von_erichs.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71457"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71463,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71457\/revisions\/71463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}