Raving Toy Maniac

It seems as though Jakks Pacific has been producing World Wrestling Federation action figures forever, but it was only a few years back in 1996 that the first Superstar Series saw release. Back then wrestling wasn't the hot property it is now and Jakks, a newcomer to the action figure scene, was able to acquire the WWF license.

The first releases in the Superstar Series (the main figure line) featured Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Diesel, Goldust, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, and debuted the innovative "Bone-Crunching" feature. The line proved popular enough that late-1996 saw the release of Superstar Series 2. Wrestler after wrestler soon made it's way to toy store shelves. Jakks began creating different series to release figures under such as Signature Series (featuring "autographed" versions of the figures), 2 Tuff (2-packs), boxed sets and more. All in all the product was still pretty standard. Soon, the "bone crunching" feature was dropped.

Early 1998 saw a new, creative direction appear. The first S.T.O.M.P. series was released and featured Ahmed Johnson, Crush, Ken Shamrock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker and the late Brian Pilman. This series featured a variety of accessories and clip-on armor and clothing to give the wrestlers a more adverturesome theme. The line was met by collectors with mixed results, but performed well-enough to warrant the later release of 3 more S.T.O.M.P. series (the latest of which, Camo Carnage, just hit stores in recent weeks).

It appears that Jakks was just warming up. 1999 has seen an explosion of innovative ideas from the WWF development team at Jakks that will continue throughout the rest of the year and into 2000.

This year saw the release of the Maximum Sweat line, which features bulky, oversized caracitures of Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels and HHH and display a feature never before seen in the action figure world: sweating action! The second series is hitting stores now, and a 3rd is coming by the end of summer. Word has it that there are 2 more series planned beyond that.

This August sees the release of the latest innovation from Jakks, The TitanTron Live Series. The TitanTron is the huge entrance seen by millions of fans each week on various WWF television shows (such as Sunday Night Heat, and Monday night's Raw, both airing on cable's USA Network). Jakks will be releasing an interactive TitanTron playset (seen here) that works with upcoming TitanTron Live action figures which use a resistor coil technology in the foot of the wrestler to activate a sound chip in the TitanTron, which then plays that wrestlers entrance theme music. The playset comes packed with an exclusive Vince McMahon figure.

Accompanying the release of the playset is a new action figure series, TitanTron Live. These figures feature the aforemention resistor coil technology. The first series of TitanTron Live figures features Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker, RoadDogg and Kane. This series features all-new, improved sculpts and greater articulation than previous series. According to Jakks, all future standard figures will be TitanTron ready.

Jakks continues to explore technological innovations with it's upcoming Interactive Stone Cold Steve Austin figure. This 12" figure is designed to interact with the user's PC. The microphone contains a special PC connector which will allow users to download authentic Stone Cold Steve Austin sound bytes from the web.

Rather than your standard sound-chip equipped figure, where you are limited to perhaps 3 or 4 phrases (which gets real old, real quick) new phrases will be available for download all the time. Did you like what Austin told McMahon on last weeks Raw? Now you can download it into the action figure and activate it with the press of a button.

If the Interactive Stone Cold Steve Austin proves popular enough, there may be future Interactive figures released in 2000.

The past few years have seen a resurgence in the popularity of the 12" figure scale. Everything from the classic G.I. Joe, to Star Wars, Star Trek, Superheroes and Sports Stars have appeared in stores, with more being announced all the time. Jakks has taken note of the trend and is preparing for the release of 12" WWF Superstar Action Figures. Stone Cold Steve Austin should be released this September, and The Undertaker is planned as an October release. Beyond that, there are plans to release 12" versions of The Rock, and Kane.

On the smaller end of the figure spectrum, Jakks has been releasing smaller scale wrestling rings/figure sets for some time now. That line has been reinvigorated with the early summer release of the Lethal Ladder and Deadly Dungeon Brawl-4-All sets. Each Brawl-4-All set features a wrestling ring (complete with brick walls, ladders, sewage pipes and other exciting accessories), and comes with 4 3" poseable figures. The new figures are more detailed than past Jakks mini-figures and stylistically take a nod from the Maximum Sweat line.

Two more Brawl-4-All sets are planned for an October release and feature 3" figures of Austin, Big Show, Road Dogg, Mankind, The Undertaker, another Austin, Viscera and Vince McMahon.

Road Champs, a division of Jakks Pacific, has been releasing die-cast WWF race cars for awhile now. The Road Champs team has been busy preparing for the release of the WWF Attitude Racing line which is going to feature 1" figures that will fit inside the various cars.
The Attitude Racing line should start appearing in stores any time now, with The Undertaker, The Rock, Kane and Stone Cold Steve Austin being the first wrestlers featured in the new line.

Overall, 1999 has seen a huge improved in the general quality of Jakks product, and their WWF figures remain some of the most durable, and playable on the market (in an day when playability often takes a backseat to sculpting with most companies). The current action figure market is a crowded, demanding place. Companies have to keep upping the stakes in order to get shelf space from retailers and notice from the buying public.

Jakks is also in the process of developing a strong web presence to better interact with fans and collectors. There are plans to make product available via the upcoming website, some of which is planned to be exclusively available through the site (such as a rumored set of 50 accessories!). The site should be live in September.

If the remaining 1999 releases are indication the sky's the limit in the year 2000 and beyond. Raving Toy Maniac will bring you the latest news and information from the Malibu-based toymaker as it becomes available.