By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Galoob’s WCW action figures didn’t sell particularly well in 1990, but today many – especially U.K. exclusives – can bring in big bucks.

Most long-time wrestling fans are pretty familiar at least one line of wrestling action figures: the bigger rubber WWF toys from LJN, the Masters of the Universe-like AWA figures from Remco or the smaller, cartoonish WWF toys from Hasbro.

But, many fans may have never seen the first line of WCW action figures, which were made by Galoob in 1990. They weren’t on the shelves long; stores like KB Toys and Circus World were trying to clearance them out almost as soon as they were released. Galoob issued its last WCW figures in 1991.

Today, the figures are very popular with fans who played with them as kids and those who never saw them in the stores.

“I was still a kid when they first came out, but my father and I were avid collectors from the Remco and LJN series, so we bought two sets: one to open and one to keep on the card,” said Scott McMaster, who currently owns the entire collection of Galoob WCW figures. “I wanted a Sting figure pretty bad, ‘cause it was his first figure ever produced and they all had rad belts.”

The Galoob figures were smaller, but very similar to the LJN Wrestling Superstars line of WWF figures, as they were solid pieces of plastic with no articulation. The first series included many of the top wrestlers that are still associated with WCW to this day, including Ric Flair, Sting, Lex Luger, and Arn Anderson. Many of the same figures were also released in tag team two-packs, such as Flair and Anderson, the Steiner Brothers, and Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons). Some of the figures in the tag team two-packs had slightly different paint jobs.

Most of the figures were repainted and sold in the U.K. For example, the U.S. Sting toy had either blue or orange pants, while the one sold in the U.K. wore black pants. Galoob also released some of the same tag teams in the U.K., but also produced toys of Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin that were never available in the U.S. Many of the U.K. repaints today fetch higher prices on the secondary market than their U.S. counterparts.

Galoob’s final series was a line of figures sold exclusively in the U.K. This series includes rare figures of El Gigante, Big Josh, and Dustin Rhodes, along with different toys of Sting and Luger. These are some of the most difficult wrestling toys to find, and carded figures can command hundreds of dollars.

Galoob planned another series, but they were never released. There are a limited number of prototypes floating around of the Diamond Studd, PN News, Black Blood, and others.
In addition to the basic figures, Galoob also produced a ring, bendable figures and 14-inch articulated wrestlers.

McMaster, a collector of all sorts of wrestling figures, counts the WCW toys from Galoob among his favorites.

“The sculpts are on point,” he said. “They are one of the only lines besides the LJN (WWF toys) that weren't solid figures and the toy company couldn't interchange body parts to make a new figure, as done by Hasbro and Jakks.”

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