TOYS: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING GALOOB FIGURES

In 1991 WCW had a line of figures released by the toy company Galoob. Galoob had major success with their A-Team and the hugely popular Micro Machines cars prior to making these figures. At the time the WWF's Hasbro toy line was dominating the popular toy market so WCW decided to release their own toy line.

The line had many figures to choose from and they were all the same size as the Hasbro figures. The Hasbro figures did not have many points of articulation and the WCW ones followed suit in an even more extreme fashion by not giving these figures any articulation what so ever! Many of the figures were not released in the UK and the UK variations had different ring attires and tag team packs were exclusively made for the UK.

Superb Four Horsemen tag team pack exclusively made for the Uk

Although the figures had no moves or joints they made up for it in detail and quality. The figures were very highly detailed and very much looked like the wrestlers that they depicted. While the WWF figures depicted the superstars in a more cartoonish manner, the WCW figures concentrated more on realism. Each figure came with a rubber gold championship title which had black paint detail and the word WCW in text.

The WCW Galoob ring was a huge anti climax.

I have wrote about this product before (in this article click here to read)  and how it was a HUGE disappointment when I got it home. The ring was a great idea with a solid red cage that could be attached on the sides. The ring had a bell and awesome steel steps which could launch wrestlers in the air. On top of all this the ring had a launching spring activated platform as well to boot. This was all so amazing but there was just one problem.. none of it fucking worked!

The ring posts would implode on them selves after the elastic ropes were attached, the spring would just work when it wanted to and I ended up binning mine and using the red cage for my Hasbro ring. The Galoob WCW ring was a major disappointment after seeing what it could have offered if it would have worked properly.

Galoob also released a sound effects board to latch onto the ring as an extra part. After seeing how crap the ring was I (and many others I'm sure) would not part with any cash what so ever for a shit wrestling ring that doesn't work properly in the first place.

Sting 14 inch tall Galoob Doll.

One thing that Galoob did release which was superb, were the 14 inch giant action dolls. These dolls had great articulation and just looked awesome. They also released other dolls in this line which were Ric Flair, Lex Luger and Sid Vicious. These figures also came with rubber WCW belts.

The Galoob WCW world title.

Galoob also released a WCW title belt at the time also. When you look at the belt in the box and the one the kids wearing you can see a major difference. Galoob went onto making more popular toy lines like Biker Mice from Mars and the Game Genie which was a hugely popular console add on cartridge which let you cheat at computer games to a ridiculous level. Nintendo took Galoob to court for making an unofficial product without their consent. Galoob won the battle and continued to make Game Genie add on's. Just like the real life war with WCW and the WWF, Hasbro bought Galoob for $220 million in 1998

RELATED LOST ENTERTAINMENT ARTICLES

THE 1991 ARGOS TOY CATALOG

TOP TEN WWF HASBRO TOYS

CHRISTMAS 2012 COUNTDOWN: MY CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM 1991

BBC1 INDENT FROM CHRISTMAS 1991

So it has been ages since I last wrote something for the site due to the whole smashed computer thing but I am back now and ready to roll.

I remember Christmas 1991 and the whole year it self so well, it was a great year and an even better Christmas for me.

A while back I scanned and reviewed the 1991 Argos catalog (click here to read it) so a lot of the toys from that Christmas will be in there so have a look and see if anything you received was in the book. Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing my best presents and then some of my worst ones. Today I am in a good mood so I will go straight from the top with my all time best year.

CHRISTMAS 1991 BEST GIFTS GO IN THIS ORDER

5. WWF JAKE THE SNAKE ROBERTS BOP BAG

WWF had really peaked in 1991 in the UK and everyone was wrestling mad but no one was madder than me I fucking loved it. The Jake the Snake Roberts bop bag was a giant inflatable punch bag which was full of sand at the bottom to keep it grounded. My bop bag only lasted a matter of hours before it was punctured and all kinds of fucked up.

4. THE BEETLEJUICE VANISHING VAULT PLAYSET

The Beetlejuice vanishing vault was another cool addition to my action figure collection. Beetlejuice was pretty over at the time as well for some reason (maybe down to an animated series or something) and everyone was collecting them. The grave had a magic compartment which when activated would make the figure (or anything else for that matter) disappear.  The Beetlejuice figures became unpopular in as much time as they became popular making them another Lost Entertainment gem. Beetlejuice was shown on ITV for the first time on Christmas day 1991 also.

3. HASBRO GIANT TALKING ULTIMATE WARRIOR FIGURE

At this stage in my life the Ultimate Warrior was the greatest human being I had ever seen. The were only two types of these figures (the other being Hulk Hogan) and I was only allowed one. So I had a good think in the toy shop and even though I was a huge Hulkamaniac I had to take into consideration that the Warrior kicked Hogans ass at Wrestlemania VI so I chose the Warrior. Sorry Hulky-baby but you don't have face paint or the whole "I am a fucking mental deranged being from another solar system" thing going on. 

2. DOUBLE DRAGON FOR GAMEBOY

When I opened this gift it ruined the surprise of my main present which I will talk about it in a moment. This version of Double Dragon is much better than any over version because it is harder but if you master it you may one day complete it. I have only completed the game twice since 1991.

1. THE NINTENDO GAME BOY

This was my main surprise present from my mum and it was one of the greatest things I ever got for Christmas. Things were tight back then but my mum still managed to get us all the shit we really wanted. Thats why my mum is awesome. I still have it to this day.

NEWS 6TH NOVEMBER 2012

Hey everyone this week was meant to be the first week of the Lost Entertainment Christmas shindig but thanks to the main computer at the Lost Entertainment HQ kicking the bucket last week the whole thing has had to be put on hold. Many prepared articles and content for the season have been lost.

However there is some good news and that is the computer issue will be fixed but the bad news is there will be no Lost Entertainment posts over the next few weeks. The rest of the site is still working but there will be no new content until further notice. Thanks for bearing with us during this time. The comic store is also still up and running as per usual but due to the tech issue only titles up to the letter P have been uploaded so far.