The Ultimate Edition Line

Welcome back all, with the images of the next set of Ultimate Editions of Steve Austin and Ric Flair recently coming out and various places doing pre-orders (I ordered mine with DC Collectibles) I thought I'd cover the series so far.

For those of you that have read my previous blogs you will see that I have covered some series of figures from Mattel that only did like 3 lines so when the Ultimate's came out, I did wonder how long they would last especially being a higher price point, on average an Elite figure will cost £20.00 unless you buy off an independent trader who import them in before general release and the Ultimate's can cost about £40.00 but if you miss out first time round the price can go right up.

I have most of them, still waiting for the last 2 to arrive and as stated, I have pre-ordered the next 2.

So, the first ones announced were The Ultimate Warrior based on his Halloween Havoc match with Hulk Hogan in WCW in 1998 and Ronda Rousey. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt I HAD to have the Warrior one, the images looked outstanding and yes, the match it was based on wasn't great but in figure form it was tremendous. Came with an extra head, extra hands and an amazing coat. as someone who wants every Warrior Elite figure, I was always getting this regardless of how it looked but, it looks amazing anyway.

I have stated on previous blogs, I don't collect the female figures, and to clarify, I have to draw a line somewhere as far as the money goes because I spend so much on up-to-date releases and I still dip my toe in buying older figures in the Mattel line, anyone who follows me on social media will know I started collecting the AEW line but realised through the money I'd spend and the space I am working with to display my collection it was a no go. I sold a bunch of my AEW figures, kept some and only buy the odd one here and there, recently picked up Darby Allin from series 3. Even the AEW I have are not displayed and I have many Mattel figures not displayed either and this does annoy me to be honest but there's nothing I can do so, back to the point, I don't collect the female figures so don't have the Rousey one but it looks great what Mattel head designer Bill Miekina has done.

The second series saw releases of Bret 'Hitman' Hart and Shinsuke Nakamura, again, Hart is another one that I collect all his Elite figures, so I knew it was a no brainer I was getting this one, but I have to say, I am not the biggest fan of it, just seems off. Interested to see what you think about this or any of the figures about to be written about. I don't have the Nakamura one, not sure why to be honest, just had no desire to purchase it, it's the only male one I don't have or have it on the way.

Series 3 saw two of my favourites in the line to be honest, first was Finn Balor as the Demon. I love the Balor Demon figures and have all the Elite ones and this Ultimate is EXCEPTIONAL, seriously, a MUST HAVE for any collector. I know a lot of people are not too keen on seeing current stars in the line, but this figure is outstanding. The other one is Triple H; I don't see it get many shouts as one of the better ones, but I think it's great, we had the chain mail vest for the first time in the line, just a top figure overall.

Next up was Brock Lesnar and Shawn Michaels, Lesnar was decent, didn't blow me away but was fine. The Michaels one, well, comes with like a soft goods ring attire, the figure is based on the infamous Montreal Survivor Series (oh boy, could I talk about that) and I know many like this figure, I have most of the Elite figures of Michaels (still hunting two of them) and this hasn't been released by Mattel in that form so was needed, I guess. For me though, in the entrance gear it doesn't look too great, looks better without although mine is displayed in full.

Series 5 had John Cena and Becky Lynch, well I don't have Lynch, read above as to why, again though, looks great. And Cena, well, he's had tons of Elite and basics figures for that matter, can't know WWE/Mattel for that, he was very popular with the kids so I guess they thought they would sell loads, and I'm sure they have so, I was never going to purchase this because one it's Cena and secondly, although he's probably done with wrestling as a whole I still class him as a current star but only yesterday I set up a deal to buy it, yes I caved in so I'll expect that soon.

Next up in series 6 we had two great looking figures, Charlotte Flair, looks amazing but don't have it of course but I do have the other one which is The Rock. Oh, how I love this figure, it is outstanding. I think on the secondary market it goes for the most, not 100% sure on this but I think so. There was however an error with a lot of these Rock figures, where it's supposed to come with a Brahma Bull t shirt, some actually came with an Eddie Guerrero 'I'm Your Papi' one. Not sure as an error it makes the figure more valuable, but I would of course want the proper one. really is a great figure.

Series 7 saw two of the most anticipated Ultimate Edition figures and they were 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt and 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan. Wyatt had finally got an Elite figure prob 6-8 weeks prior (could be wrong on that timescale) but many online who watch the current product (I do not) really were looking forward to the release of the Ultimate Edition, one reason being it came with Wyatt's bespoke Fiend title belt. There is an issue with one of the heads that come with the figure not sitting right but I think on various forums/facebook pages there are solutions to rectify the issue. 

The Hogan figure, WOW, a long time in the making, Hogan was wiped from the WWE history books, removed from the WWE Hall Of Fame (not too hard being as there's no actual building for it) so there hasn't been a Mattel produced Hogan figure or years, Storm Collectables released various Hogan figures from different periods in his career, I do have the first one they did of him, and nWo one which doesn't have nWo on it for trademark reasons. So, when Hogan was welcomed back into the WWE fold, the first thing, I and probably most other, figure collectors wondered was, will we now get that elusive Mattel 'Hollywood' Hogan figure and when it was announced everyone went wild, brother. 

I think for many, maybe most, this is their favourite Ultimate Edition figure so far, let me know if it's yours. It is a great figure, in my top 5 for sure. 

Series 8 are ones I am still waiting for so I can only give opinions on them from images I have seen. First there is Edge, I have never been a fan of him as a wrestler, I never 'got it' with Edge. He retired some years back after a neck injury only to return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, I 'think' this Ultimate Edition is based on that return, decent looking figure, nothing to write home about. He also has a couple of Elite figures that came out, both in series 83 I believe, a regular and chase, I do have Edge Elite figures but didn't pick these up....still may do, I don't know, but I thought I'd pass at the time they became available because I knew I was getting the UE. Also in series 8 is Macho Man Randy Savage, seeing online that people are a bit let down on this one, maybe they wanted attire from a more iconic moment in his career, I don't know, looks OK but for an Ultimate Edition, should it only look, OK? For those that already have them in hand, what are your thoughts of these two?

So that's it guys, that's all the Ultimate Editions that have been released so far, the upcoming Austin and Flair look great, not perfect but do look great and I'll be looking forward to getting them.

As always, thanks for reading, please give me your feedback and stay safe.

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