I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month.
Elite Series 31, Elite Series 33 & Elite Series 34 were all home runs (Elite Series 32…not so much). Even though Elite Series 34 hasn’t officially been released, Mattel released finished product photos of Elite Series 35. It looks like a solid set.
The WWE Superstars included in Elite 35 are Earthquake (Flashback), Randy Orton, Triple H, Luke Harper and Los Matadores (Diego & Fernando).
Here are some pictures and a review of which accessories each figure will come with.
I actually pre-ordered the entire series, but it’s mostly due to me jonesing for new figures, since none have been released since the end of 2014. I expect Earthquake to be the only one that will hard to find at retail.
Earthquake – We finally get an Earthquake! This figure comes with Damien and a snake bag. This is in reference to the moment when Earthquake squashed Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts snake in the ring. I hope this means we will get a Typhoon Elite sometime in the near future.
Triple H – This figure appears to be a revamped version of the Wrestlemania 27 Toys R Us exclusive that was released a few years ago. There are two of these in every retail case. It’s a cool figure, but shouldn’t be too hard to find at retail. This will look great in any display.
Randy Orton – Randy Orton Elites have shelf-warmed at retail in the past. This figure might be the exception. The Evolution t-shirt accessory will be a hot seller. I expect hardcore collectors will buy multiple figures just to have extra shirts for Triple H and Batista.
Luke Harper – You’ve never seen Luke Harper with an alligator, but the accessories are because he performs an alligator roll maneuver. The vest is a pretty nice accessory. This might be hard to find at retail since he has become a popular singles wrestler outside of the Wyatt Family.
Los Matadores (Diego & Fernando) – It’s a little difficult to tell these figures apart, but Diego’s green/pink attire is just a shade lighter than Fernando’s gear. It was a nice touch to include the jacket, cape & hat with this set. They aren’t on television much and Torito is the real star of the group. This set could shelf-warm unless WWE does something with the tag team soon.
I expect Mattel to release some prototype pictures for Elite Series 36 soon. Elite 35 should be found at retail some time in May.
You can pre-order everything at RingsideCollectibles.com. I’m not getting paid to plug them. I just highly recommend them. I’ve been pleased with every purchase.
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About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.