Let’s rank: WWE Legends Series 1-6

Photos sourced from figurerealm.com

Legends Series 1:

• Road Warrior Hawk
• Road Warrior Animal
• Dusty Rhodes
• Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
• Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Sgt. Slaughter

The Breakdown: With the initial lineup of WWE Legends from Mattel, there were some clear objectives. One, make a splash with Ricky Steamboat, who was never available for the Jakks Classic Superstars. Two, make attires that Jakks didn’t make. The Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes are excellent here. Stone Cold’s legs are way too long, and Sarge should have been in something more well known as an attire choice. Still, a solid debut for the series.

Legends Series 2:

• Jake The Snake Roberts
• Ravishing Rick Rude
• The Iron Sheik
• Superfly Jimmy Snuka
• Kamala
• Terry Funk

The Breakdown: “Let’s not do anything Jakks did” is in full effect here. Heel Jake the Snake, Short Haired Rick Rude, and alternative attires for Sheik, Funk, and Snuka. The Kamala is 1000% better than Jakks’ attempt.

Hall Of Fame Series:

• Dusty Rhodes
• Stone Cold Steve Austin
• Sgt. Slaughter
• Superfly Jimmy Snuka
• Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
• Terry Funk

These were re-releases, exclusive to Kmart stores. They came in a different pose in the package, along with a cardboard Hall of Fame plaque. This line died on the shelves, and caused delays in the next lines being available.

Legends Series 3:

• Mr. Perfect
• Vader
• The British Bulldog
• Hacksaw Jim Duggan
• The Rock
• Brian Pillman

The Breakdown: Series 3 really hit the ground running with some high-tier names with Mr. Perfect, The Rock, and Vader. 1997 Versions of Bulldog and Pillman were good additions, and Hacksaw is a solid entry into the line. No real misses here.

Legends Series 4:

• Demolition Smash
• Demolition Ax
• Ultimate Warrior
• Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff
• George The Animal Steele
• Hillbilly Jim

The Breakdown: Series 4 is when the line started to become harder to find. Personally, I skipped Steele and Jim, but the Warrior and Demolition added some legendary names to the line.

Legends Series 5:

• Macho Man Randy Savage
• Akeem
• The Model Rick Martel
• Bam Bam Bigelow

The Breakdown: Series 5 drops down to four names, but all are blockbusters. To date, these are the only releases of Akeem and Martel, and both are excellent. Bigelow is well done from his 1995 run. Savage was the other major name that Jakks wasn’t able to do, and Mattel knocked it out of the park in his iconic 1988 attire.

Legends Series 6:

• Ultimate Warrior
• The Texas Tornado
• Eddie Guerrero
• Kerry Von Erich
• Kevin Von Erich

The Breakdown: The end of the line, or so we thought. These were only really available in Kmart stores, and were tough to come by. The Von Erich brothers were a definite lowlight, as they were not as big of names as could have been used here. The Warrior comes in his iconic Wrestlemania 6 attire, with a mashup yellow title belt. Eddie Guerrero is spot on, other than his boots being orange, instead of gold. For all we knew, this was the end of the WWE Legends Series, until it was revived in 2020 via Target Exclusive.

The Best:

From the first six WWE Legends Series, to me these are the best. Series 1 Dusty Rhodes, Series 2 Jake the Snake Roberts, Series 2 Ravishing Rick Rude, Series 3 Vader, Series 4 Ax and Smash, Series 5 Macho Man Randy Savage, Series 5 Akeem.

The Worst:

From the First six WWE Legends Series, to me these are the worst: Series 1 Sgt. Slaughter (attire choice), Series 2 Jimmy Snuka (attire choice), Series 2 Terry Funk (attire choice), Series 6 Kerry and Kevin Von Erich. (name recognition)

Next post will feature the online exclusive WWE Legends Series, as well as the Target Exclusive WWE Legends Series 7-10.