The Interesting History Of The WWF LJN Action Figures
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Sports and entertainment reached unfathomable highs in the mid-1980s. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson brought the NBA to national prominence. Films like Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom and Ghostbusters were redefining the summer blockbuster. And still, another form of entertainment was making its mark. Professional wrestling, specifically the World Wrestling Federation, was making damn good use of its national television audience, hooking kids and young adults.
Superstars like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, and The Junkyard Dog were larger than life. They were living, breathing superheroes with jaw-dropping physiques.
The one market that American wrestling had yet to traverse was the toy market. The wrestlers looked like giant action figures in their own right, so it seemed like the next logical step. Few knew just how successful the wrestling toy enterprise would be. That is until the first series of LJN Action Figures hit the market. As soon as they did, the audience expanded, profits exploded, and history was made.
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The Fight For The Rights: How LJN Partnered With WWE
The meteoric rise of WWE meant that multiple toy distribution companies were eager to partner with the company. The first was Remco, an established but lower-level toy company specializing in knock-offs. If parents couldn't find a sought-after He-Man action figure, Remco had you covered with a cheap substitute (much to their child's chagrin).
Lack of creativity aside, Remco saw the value in pro-wrestling action figures and made a quick $10,000 offer to Vince McMahon.
Another toy company, Galoob, was even more interested in partnering with the WWE. They offered McMahon $25,000, more than enough to pique the WWE Owner's interest. Money aside, Galoob had much more clout than Remco; they had recently done a line of toys for the film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
WhenGaloob told McMahon to contact Universal Pictures as a reference, they had no idea that the film studio had just purchased a toy company of their own; LJN. The WWE owner contacted Universal, expecting to solidify his deal with Galoob. Instead, he was offered a whopping $200,000 from LJN.
Vince McMahon found his partners.
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Massive Figures Were A Massive Success For LJN & WWE
The first series of the LJN's Wrestling Superstars was a big hit due to their enormous size and unique design. At eight inches, they stood taller than most action figures of that time. Their rubber frame made them impervious to punishment. The toys were built to take a beating, much like the wrestlers they were modeled after. The figures were also molded in fun, expansive poses, a welcome change from the usual stiff orientation of action figures.
Of course, the wrestlers chosen for the debut series also helped in the success. Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, The Iron Sheik, and Big John Studd were just a few massive names available for purchase.
RELATED: 5 Old School LJN WWE Action Figures That Look Great (& 5 That Look Awful)The success of LJN's Series One led to an even more successful Series Two. 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, King Kong Bundy, and Paul Orndoff were some big names introduced in this batch. More importantly, LJN introduced the "Sling 'Em, Fling 'Em" Wrestling Ring so that fans could create their own wrestling matches inside the squared circle.
Each new series saw a massive expansion of the figure roster. WWE led customers to LJN, and LJN led customers to the WWE. It was a match made in toy heaven.
A Surprising End To The LJN & WWE Partnership
Just when it seemed that nothing could stand in the way of the Wrestling Superstars line, LJN found themselves in a major PR nightmare.
In 1989, LJN released a collection of water pistols that looked incredibly realistic, which is not necessarily good. A bunch of kids running around with life-like toy guns is bad enough, but when the products were used in actual bank robberies - outrage ensued.
Universal and LJN were willing to accept their mistakes but unwilling to absorb the headache that came with them. So, they sold the company to another toy distributor, Grand Toys.
Wrestling Superstars 1989, more commonly known as the Black Card Series, was the final collection of LJN figures. It featured previously unreleased figures of The Ultimate Warrior, the Big Bossman, Haku, and Warlord. The series also featured a re-release of several figures from LJN's previous series. Grand Toys did this to offload any remaining products they had.
The series never found its way to American shelves and was only sold in Canada. Because of this, this Black Card Series (at the time considered the bastard series of the collection) produced some of the rarest and most sought-after wrestling action figures in history.
Rarities & Variants For Action Figure Collectors
While the LJN and WWE partnership ended prematurely, their legacy lives on with wrestling action figure collectors. As time has passed, alternate versions, known as variants, have become top-rated items to hunt for.
Mistakes or minor changes to a figure's design can raise the selling price of a figure by hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. A paler version of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth with a purple skirt (instead of gold) are examples of these prized rarities. There's also the LJN tag team series, which could be worth thousands if in their original packaging. The most notable is The Hart Foundation tag team series.
The LJN Wrestling Superstars series may be outdated in terms of flexibility and movement, but they undoubtedly set the bar for wrestling action figures. They spawned an entire community of collectors. More significantly, LJN's partnership with WWE changed the toy industry forever.
