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. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.
The lineup for WWE Elite series 56 has been known for awhile (and I actually own a few of these figures right now). I fell behind on some of my toy reviews during football season. My betting picks and other gambling-related topics took over the site, so I didn’t have time to write up a couple posts about a hobby I enjoy.
Elite 56 has a couple first-ever elites and includes a couple top stars like AJ Styles and Roman Reigns. It’s a solid set, especially since we finally have The Club elites.
The WWE Superstars included in Elite 56 are AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Jack Gallagher, Roman Reigns & Samoa Joe.
AJ Styles – This is the fourth AJ Styles elite and they have all sold really, really well. The first one was near-impossible to find and now the Network Spotlight Toys R Us exclusive elite is fetching pretty good money on eBay. This figure is solid and I enjoy the new headscan. I also like it that it matches The Club elites.
Karl Anderson – This is his first elite and they nailed the headscan. I love the cloth shirt. I’m glad they didn’t cheap out and give him some cheap rubber/plastic shirt. This one should be a hot seller at retail.
Luke Gallows – This is his second elite, but his first since Elite 9, when he was in CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society. He was released soon after that and wrestled all over the world and caught on with The Bullet Club in Japan. He came back with Karl Anderson and have been a sporadically-pushed tag team in the WWE so far. Solid elite and should be a good seller with Anderson.
Jack Gallagher – This is his first elite and one of the first Cruiserweight elites. A few have been released, but I was anticipating this one the most. I don’t know how well this will sell since 205 Live isn’t watched by a lot of people…but appearing on RAW in random Cruiserweight segments will help.
Roman Reigns – Roman Reigns doesn’t change his attire much at all, so Mattel has been giving us a new headscan for every other elite, which is a bit rare. I don’t think they change John Cena’s headscan very often at all, since all the budget goes for his new shirts and jean shorts colors. This will sell since young kids like Reigns.
Samoa Joe – I worry about this one at retail. His Gamestop elite exclusive is clogging up shelves. The new headscan and cloth t-shirt will help, but this one will likely be the worst seller out of the set. It also doesn’t help that Joe seems to get injured soon after returning from an previous injury.
Elite 56 should be found at retail in late-February.
Elite 57’s lineup has already been released by some early retailers (I already own the entire set). I’ll write something up about them next week.
You can pre-order everything at RingsideCollectibles.com. I’m not getting paid to plug them (although it would be nice to get a nice discount – wink wink). I just recommend them. I’ve been pleased with every purchase. You can also check out WalkOutWear.com for pre-orders with free shipping.
I should also add TheyreActionFigures.com to my recommendation list. Awesome prices for WWE, Marvel and other toy lines. I’ve bought from them numerous times. A trusted seller and treats buyers well with great prices and fast shipping.
Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!
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.