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Thursday, December 3, 2015

Ho Ho Hunsperger: LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars




Hulk vs. Andre in the official ring


By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Most of you know I'm obsessed with wrestling.  It's the whole reason for this website in the first place.  In 1985 the world was introduced to WWF action figures made by LJN.  They were about 8 inches tall and made of solid rubber.  That summer I got the first five in the series.  By Christmas of that year I'd added to my collection.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Junkyard Dog, Hillbilly Jim and Nikolai Volkoff joined Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Snuka, The Iron Sheik, Andre the Giant and Big John Studd that year.  Up until that point I'd just been playing with my Superstars on the couch.  But I was also gifted the official WWF wrestling ring that Christmas.  I could have legitimate matches, including over-the-top rope battle royals.

Miss Elizabeth

The following Christmas I specifically remember adding Mr. Fuji, Tito Santana and the lovely Miss Elizabeth to the collection of figures.  Yes, I was 13 years old at the time, but I still had matches nearly every day.   By then I had several other superstars in the lineup that I'd received for my birthday or saved up my allowance and bought.  With a boom box next to the ring, I would announce the Superstars as they made their way to the ring complete with music.  

Part of my collection 

I haven't outgrown those figures as you'd probably expect.  They are in my garage and I do break them out from time to time.  Sometimes I hold an impromptu match, but usually I get them out for a blog post or a YouTube video.  Even I transitioned into a few of the Hasbro, Jakks Pacific and Mattel figures, but as far as I'm concerned nothing beats those old school unposeable LJN figures with the easy to chip off paint.

1 comment:

  1. Man…I remember these too and now that my son is getting into Wraaaastlin’, I was telling him about the LARGE WWF ring with the turnbuckles and elastic ropes. Those 8” solid rubber figures were the bomb.

    Now…I’m scouring the web to find an older set. They’re classics, and much better than the cheaper constructed sets and figures you get today.

    But thanks for your post about these! This brought back some awesome memories.

    ReplyDelete