It has been an exciting time to be a collector of the WWE Mattel wrestling figures line. With the arrival of San Diego Comic Con, there has been anticipation of new reveals and preorders for upcoming figures. However, this process has been a disaster so far. Preorders delayed, confusion, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria. In short, This Is Nonsense.
WWE Legends Series 10, Target
Let’s begin with the mess of Legends Series 10. Series 10 contains John Cena, Big Van Vader, Diamond Dallas Page, and Brutus Beefcake. Cena and Vader showed up on April 20 or so, which was before the announced release date. Word then came that DDP and Brutus would only be available online, and they would drop on 7/5. July 5 came and went, and as of today (7/24), no sign of them other than a few seconds where Brutus showed up. The real dilemma? Beefcake is the chase in this wave, so he has to be ordered and hope you might get the chase. This is nonsense.
WWE Fan Takeover Hulk Hogan and Jeff Hardy Ultimate Edition, Amazon
During the Wrestlemania week Mattel reveals, it was announced that Hulk Hogan and Jeff Hardy would be released in Ultimate Editions, with fan voted attires and exclusively on Amazon.com. One brief sighting in mid-July caused a stir, with assurances that the pre-order was going to be live on 7/23. July 23 arrived and the Hogan and Jeff sold out almost instantly. Since then, there have been no updates on when more inventory would become available. This is nonsense.
SDCC Exclusive Sgt. Slaughter Ultimate Edition
The annual SDCC exclusive for 2021 was an Ultimate Edition Sgt. Slaughter. This release was nonsense for a few reasons:
- There was a chase included, so you didn’t know if you were getting the main or a chase
- The Mattel Creations site sold out in a few minutes
- They showed up by surprise on WWEShop.com, without notice and sold out in a short time.
As of now, there is no word on if there are more coming, so for those who wanted him, This Is Nonsense.
WWE Legends Series 11, Target
All along, Legends Series 11 was supposed to be in stores, nice and easy. It was announced that there would be no preorder for this set. Last week, social media revealed that Big John Studd from this wave was hitting early. I stopped in and secured one on July 20. Note: the cashier did assist, as the item wasn’t in system. A follow up from AFA indicated that the rest of the wave would be in stores at the end of July, possibly on an endcap display. I’m waiting to see what happens here. This is nonsense?
WWE Legends Series 12, Target
Legends Series 12, which features Billy Gunn, Kevin Nash, Junkyard Dog, and Rowdy Roddy Piper, was announced during the SDCC panel on 7/23 that they would be up for preorder on 7/24. No time was given. 24+ hours later, they have not yet shown up on Target.com. This is nonsense.
Impatient, Entitled, or Justified?
There has been a lot of commotion on this issue, and people are falling into either the “you’re being impatient” or “stop being so entitled” camps, or the “I have the right to complain as the consumer I’m justified” camp. I think both sides have a point. Mattel has chosen to put out the highly in demand products into a flawed preorder system, instead of just getting them into the stores, or making them available online through a simple process. On the other hand, patience will be key, as the odds are that the figures are on the way, and we all just need to breathe for a minute and this will work out. This is nonsense, but breathe for a minute.
7/24 New Development
On 7/24, Steve (AFA) from the Mattel Team put out the following announcement:
While this clarified things a little bit on Legends 12, it added the following issues:
- No Mention of what happened to Legends 10 DDP and Brutus Beefcake
- Legends 11 now having a preorder when before they were to only be in stores
- Legends 12 gets pushed back, to an unknown date and time
- No update on a date or time for Amazon Hogan and Hardy
This is nonsense.
In Conclusion, This is Nonsense.
The information continues to roll in. To be continued?
