Mattel Basic 23 Hunico

  Well Today I finally got all of what I wanted out of Mattel Basic series 23. I have been hearing that Target has been getting this wave in lately and I decided to check this out for myself. I went to Target after my 8 AM class today to check out what they had.

  Sure enough they did indeed have Mattel Basic 23. I checked to see what was on the pegs. I spotted an Alicia Fox but I already had her because I bought her from Ringside Collectibles to be on the safe side to save money on gas that I would have spent on looking for her in stores and coming back empty handed. So I asked a worker if they had anymore of them in the back. He scanned the figure with the Telxon gun and there were more figures in the back. I told him the Hunico figure. Sure enough he comes back with the Hunico figure. Naturally I bought the updated figure. 
  Hunico's new figure is way better than the masked imposter Sin Cara gimmick he had. Also his figure is taller than his first figure because his Imposter Sin Cara figure was just a lousy repaint of Sin Cara. Hunico is packed 1 per case unlike his first figure was.

His first figure

Mattel Basic 23 Kane

  Back in October I ordered a Mattel Basic 23 Kane from Ringside Collectibles. It was on backorder for Late October. Due to Hurricane Sandy, all orders that were supposed to be shipped was delayed until Friday November 9th. So due to another delay, Veterans Day, my Kane came today. I was hoping I would get the Dark mask variant and believe it or not I did get just that.
  This figure is one of Mattel's best WWE figures they have done. I was very impressed with the figure's detail and quality. Kane's figures sell out instantly in stores and they are very high in demand especially in the secondary market. Just type Mattel Kane on eBay and you will see what I mean.

B23 Kane MOC

Loose

Right Side

Back Side

Left Side

Evolution of Kane. I haven't changed the Tag Team Belt over to the new one yet.

List Of One Hit Wonder Mattel WWE Action Figures

  I have bn meaning to write out this list of Mattel Basic WWE figures who only have 1 figure. Many of these superstars have been released from their WWE contracts. Please note I am not counting Elites.

1. B3 Mickie James
2. B4 William Regal
3. B5 Mike Knox
4. B5 The Hurricane
5. B7 Michelle McCool
6. B8 Maryse
7. B11 Skip Sheffield (Not technically since his new Ryback gimmick will be getting a new figure next year)
8. B13 Vickie Guererro
9. B14 Bret Hart
10. B15 Layla
11. B16 Ultimate Warrior
12. B16 Eddie Guerrero
13. B19 Jinder Mahal
14. B22 Booker T
15. B23 Alicia Fox
16. B24 AJ Lee
17. B25 Brock Lesnar
18. 2Pack3 Shad
19. 2Pack4 Tommy Dreamer
20. 2Pack4 Chavo Guerrero 
21. 2Pack5 Ricky Steamboat
22. 2Pack7 Luke Gallows
23. 2Pack10 Darren Young
24. 2Pack10 Michael Tarver
25. 2Pack11 Jimmy and Jey Uso
26. BattlePack15 Bella Twins
27. BattlePack16 Michael McGillicutty
28. BattlePack17 Trent Baretta
29. BattlePack19 Epico
30. BattlePack20 Curt Hawkins
31. Entrance Greats2 Ted DiBiase Sr.
32. Entrance Greats2 Rowdy Roddy Piper

Adventures in Kmart: The WWE Cube

  Ok I thought I would post about Mattel WWE action figures this time. If you are a WWE fan like myself, you probably know that Kmart is the Official sponsor of WWE Live events or something like that. I know that Kmart is billed as WWE Fan Central. So I belong to wfigs.proboards.com which is a forum for Wrestling figures. Members have posted about Kmart getting in a display cube full of Mattel WWE figure assortments. People have also reported to find the Elite series 16 Kevin Nash figure from the revision cases in those cubes. Yesterday I stopped in a Kmart after my 8:00 AM class to see if they had put the cube out. Surprisingly they had 2 cubes out for some reason. My guess is that the store is located in a higher populated area than where I live. Those 2 cubes contained Elite 16 The Rock, Randy Orton, and CM Punk. No Kevin Nash figure. Somebody probably got to them already. I already have E16 Diesel which is also Kevin Nash so no worries about that. I could live without the Kevin Nash from the revision cases. Now where was I? Oh yes, what the cubes contained. The cubes also contained that awful FlexForce stuff that clogs the shelves. Also there were Battle Pack series 18 in the cubes as well. For the single basic series figures there was series 22. I didn't need anyone from B22 because I have them in one form or another. I contemplated picking up a Booker T figure for my nephew's in Arizona but decided against it.
  Last night I couldn't get out to my local Kmart due to being at a local concert. When I get home I checked my email and got one from my former coworker who also collects WWE figures. He asked me if I got the E16 Kevin Nash figure. I responded back and said no I wasn't at my local Kmart due to the concert. Anyway I went to my Kmart to see if they had the B21 Beth Phoenix. Well I lucked out. B21 was there but the Beth Phoenix's were gone. Usually Diva figures are packed 2 per cube and 1 per case. I did manage to get the B21 Mason Ryan figure. I like it a lot. It's better than his first figure that had an uncanny resemblance to pitchman Billy Mays. Also the Kmart cubes had the kid sized belts.

The Last 2012 Kmart Collector Day Didn't Suck This Time

  As you may already know, I wasn't to happy with the first Kmart Collector Day of 2012. The second Kmart Collector Day which is today 9/15/2012 wasn't bad at all but not by much. I was a tad bit disappointed that they're wasn't any Chevrolet SS's at all. I was hoping I could get one because none of the stores in my area even got that wave. I refuse to buy them online. I hate scalpers they ruin collecting at other people's expense. Anyway I got to Kmart on my lunch break around 12:15ish around the same time I was at the first one. Usually at the last Kmart Collector Day of the year, they will have some of next years New Models. To my surprise there were none 2013 New Models. What a let down. There were a few 2013 segment series cars with updated packaging for the upcoming model year.
  I didn't leave Kmart empty handed. I found 2 new 2012 New Models. One was Minion Pig from Angry Birds, and the other was a Custom '71 El Camino designed by Team Hot Wheels and GM. I'll admit I am not an Angry Birds fan at all. My phone isn't even a touchscreen phone. The reason why I bought the 2 Angry Birds cars this year was due to them being an oddity and also a licensed product. I know I know I broken my oath of never buying a non street vehicle Hot Wheels car ever again unless it's a Treasure Hunt car. I highly recommend the Red Bird and Minion Pig cars. Get them before the collectors grab them up. On a non Hot Wheels finding at Kmart, I found WWE Basic Series 19 on the pegs at my Kmart. So I looked to see if Hornswoggle was still there or if a scalper got to it yet. It was my Lucky day, Hornswoggle was there so I bought that as well. I also collect Mattel WWE figures.
   So other than the ups and downs of the last 2012 Kmart Collector's Day, I'd have to say it was a great day for me. Even though there wasn't a good selection of Kmart exclusive colors New Models or 2013 New Models, this one didn't suck like the last one.

My Greatest Salvation Army Find

Front of Card

  Today my mom was at a doctor appointment and I decided to take a walk to some of the stores in the vicinity. One of them was The Salvation Army. So I go looking for old action figures and I struck gold. No Scratch that. I struck Platinum. I found an old Jakks-Pacific 2 Tuff Bone Crunching Action 2-pack with Chyna and HHH. Best part is was that it was only $4 and the carding had minor shelfwear. I never find anything this nice in thrift stores. Since Mattel won't make a Chyna figure due to her making porno films now I couldn't pass this up for $4. I opened it up to display my Chyna figure next to my Mattel Divas. HHH I'm not so sure of what to do with him.
  The Triple H figure's headscan looks alot like Regis Philbin for some reason. I ended up giving the Triple H to my nephews.
 

Back of Card

I Finally Got Them

  It's been a hectic past few weeks since I last blogged, due to work and my Biology and Business Law 2 final exams. As a WWE action figure collector, I am a WFigs.proboards.com member and had just completed a trade with one of my YouTube subscribers and fellow WFigs member. I traded him a Walmart exclusive Wrestlemania Heritage Melina figure for a Jakks Lita figure. You're probably thinking why would a collector of Mattel WWE figures, trade a Mattel figure for an old Jakks figure when the Jakks figure is not in scale whatsoever? Well here's why. I am a huge fan of Gene Snitsky, who is from Nesquehoning Pennsylvania, which is 14.4 miles from where I live in Hazleton. Since I gave a former coworker a Maryse figure, he gave me his old Jakks Gene Snitsky figure. I wanted to create the first storyline he was involved in, the death of Kane and Lita's Baby. Even though it wasn't his fault.

It Wasn't My Fault!!! Any Other Questions?

   Now onto another epic pickup. This time it's something that Mattel collectors want to find. I was in Kohl's today and was doing my usual check of the action figure isle, and was looking at a rack by the girls clothing section. (Since it's the Holiday season, toys are scattered in different locations in or near the children's clothing dept.) I looked at these figures on December 8th and didn't see a 1/1000th figure. Today I look there and what do I find? Can you guess what it is? I'll give you 3 choices. Is it... A) Basic 13 Vickie Guerrero, B) 1/1000 Survivor Series figure, Or C) Best of 2010 Hornswoggle. Correct answer is B and it's Sheamus to be exact. 

Jackpot!!!!!

5 Things I Collect

  I collect many different things. In fact there are too many things that I collect. Really there is. To tell you how bad this is, since Black Friday, I have acquired 4 new hats for my collection, and a diecast NASCAR. So yeah I do have an extreme collection of many things.

My Favorite Car Key

1. Car Keys. How did I get into collecting car keys? Well to my best knowledge, I started collecting car keys when my sister gave my dad her old 1991 Subaru Loyale wagon. In the car there were a bunch of junk keys that she was about to throw out, and she gave them to me instead, one of those keys was an old worn out Mitsubishi key for one of her old cars. I believe it was the one that caught on fire. I'm not really sure but I am certain it is. Anyway after that day I became obsessed with car keys. When my grandfather was still living and no longer driving anymore, I noticed he had old gold Cadillac keys, and I asked him for them and he said yes. They were for his Cadillac that was stolen, I also have keys for my mom's 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and other cars my family has owned.
2. Trucker hats. Here is another thing I collect. Again I don't know how I got started collecting them. I believe it was after watching the movie Days of Thunder, seeing all of the old NASCAR trucker hats that the driver's used to wear. So I have many friends who are truckers who I meet and they give me hats because they know I collect them, Especially the ones who drive for my employer who I will not mention. to give you the jest of how many hats I own, I have a Rubbermaid bin full of hats, Two shelves in my closet full of hats stacked on top of one another, an old Circuit City handbasket full of hats and an old coke crate with some hats. As a friend of mine says, You only have one head and you can only wear one at a time.
3. Hot Wheels cars. Well I have been collecting them since I was a little kid. So since I was born 22 years ago you can guess around there. I have tons of cars loose and mint. The majority are loose. The ones that are mint are my Trea$ure Hunt cars and TV and movie cars and some rare cars in between. I also have a respectable NASCAR diecast collection with cars both loose and mint. I have many 48 car carriers and they take up 3 bottom shelves and counting. This is one that will never be finished.
4. WWE Action figures. I used to have a few Jakks ones when I was around 8-9 years old. I foolishly gave them away. Now in the Mattel days, I have a bigger collection than my Jakks ones. I started collecting again in January of 2011, after a friend told me about the SVR games and how the Create a Wrestler feature is pretty good. I bought SVR 2010 to make a Lady Gaga CAW and was hooked on WWE games and was hooked on them. How this connects to WWE Action figures, is one day I was in Kmart on my lunch when I saw a basic series 8 Maryse figure and I bought it, thinking I would make a custom Lady Gaga action figure with it, my friend said don't do that and I didn't. So that's how I got into WWE action figures.
5. Score Soundtracks. Well If I hadn't got into Nine Inch Nails because of my friend, I wouldn't have bought the Oscar winning soundtrack, The Social Network by the man behind Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor and his associate Atticus Ross. After buying the Social Network soundtrack, I bought other score soundtracks such as ones from the Batman movies, and The Brave Little Toaster and The Stupids just to name a few. They are way better than Various Artists soundtracks although I own the Oh Brother Where Art Though soundtrack.