By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In a word: Mattel and Jakks released the first action figures of dozens of new wrestlers in 2013.

Mattel has literally released enough different John Cena figures to fill up three wrestling rings for a WCW-style World War 3 battle royal. There are dozens of Undertakers, Randy Ortons, and Rey Mysterios, too. So, when Mattel and Jakks roll out the first action figures of new stars, kids, and collectors alike are in hot pursuit.

Here’s a look at 10 hot debuts from 2013 – and one total dud.

(10) Gail Kim. No, this isn’t a mistake. Gail Kim, who captured her first WWE Women’s Title in 2002, didn’t have an action figure until 2013. Jakks finally released its first toy of the current Knockouts Champion in Deluxe Impact Series 11.

(9) Titus O’Neill. Darren Young’s first action figure debuted back in 2010, when he was part of the Nexus. Three years later, he was repackaged with Titus O’Neill as the Prime Time Players, making their tag team debut in Mattel’s WWE two-packs series 21. WWE has been hot and cold on Titus, just as they are with most mid-card wrestlers. But, if Titus gets a big push in 2014, this could become a hot figure, much like the Michael McGillicutty figure did when Joe Hennig was repackaged as Curtis Axel.

(8) Antonio Cesaro. The former Claudio Castagnolli arrived with a considerable amount of buzz in 2012 and was given a long U.S. Title run. He’s stuck in a mid-card tag team right now, but his giant swing and hard-hitting uppercuts have made him popular with the vocal males. Cesaro debuted in the 32nd series of basic figures, and his more popular figure was released in Elite Series 23. That figure comes with a U.S. flag and a slick, detailed U.S. Title belt.

(7) Damien Sandow. Sandow dropped his Lanny Poffo shtick for a more serious, aggressive character late in 2013. He was rewarded with a failed Money in the Bank cash-in and a series of garbage matches with Dolph Ziggler. Fans see a lot in Sandow, though, and have taken to his first two figures, from Basic Series 25 and Elite Series 22.

(6) The New WWE Title. Elite-style title belts can often fetch more on the secondary market than the wrestlers they come with. The only way to get this belt was with a Rock Elite figure from Series 22. There’s also a dull, colorless version in the Rock-John Cena two-pack from Series 24, and Mattel will also include the Elite-style belt with yet another Cena Elite figure in early 2014.

(5) Fandango. The guy who beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania and had the crowd singing his theme song on Raw the next night is little more than a jobber to the stars now, but collectors are buzzing over his new figure. Fandango’s debut figure is included in Basic Series 36, which was just made available online and should be hitting stores by the end of the year. He’ll have an Elite figure in early 2014.

(4) Ricardo Rodriguez. Okay, so technically, Rodriguez debuted as a build-a-figure in 2012. But to get one of those, collectors had to buy four different Toys R Us figures for $22.99 each to get all four pieces to assemble Ricardo. In 2013, Mattel gave collectors who didn’t want to spend $100 on a build-a-figure a basic toy of Alberto Del Rio’s former ring announcer in Basic Series 34. The figure was selling for $30-40 this fall, but has cooled somewhat since.

(3) Kaitlyn. A self-professed Simpsons geek and lifelong wrestling fan, Kaitlyn has a large, loyal fanboy (and fangirl) following who were waiting for her first figure. They got their wish this fall, when Mattel included the former Divas Champion in its Basic Best of 2013 line. The figure had sold as high as $50 and then settled into a $20-30 price range. However, a very similar figure of Kaitlyn can now be found in Basic Series 36, so the first figure has dropped to around the $10 retail price.




(2) A.J. Lee. A.J. was arguably the hottest star in WWE in 2012, when the “crazy chick” was in the middle of main event feuds involving Daniel Bryan, C.M. Punk, Kane, John Cena, and Dolph Ziggler. She’s lost a lot of steam since then, but is still the most popular Diva on the roster, despite being a heel. Her first figure from Basic Series 24 was white hot when it came out last spring, then dropped in value when an Elite Series 21 figure was released. A.J. also appeared in Basic Series 30, and will probably have many more figures to come.

(1) The Shield. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose debuted at the 2012 Survivor Series, and fans immediately began counting down the days until their first figures were released. Rollins and Reigns debuted in WWE Two-Packs 24, with Dean Ambrose following shortly thereafter in Basic Series 33. All three were included in a special Kmart-exclusive three-pack that sold out online and in stores almost as soon as it was released. Ambrose and Rollins are also included in Elite Series 25, and an Elite Reigns figure will be released in early 2014.




Worst Debut of the Year: Dixie Carter Jakks Pacific Shop TNA Internet Exclusive. Kudos to TNA and Jakks for releasing the action figure that no one was asking for. Collectors can get the figure for around $20, or they can spend an extra $10 or so to have it autographed. The last thing the world needed more of in 2013 was Dixie Carter after she turned heel and became centerpiece of Impact Wrestling TV.




Other wrestlers who made their action figure debuts in 2013 included Big E. Langston, Tamina Snuka, the Funkadactyls, Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Magnus, Brooke Tessmacher, and Crimson.

PWTorch Collectibles Columnist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com .

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt