By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Terry Gordy is one of the few top stars from World Class Championship Wrestling to have an action figure made in the last decade.




Action Figure Spotlight #15: Jakks-Pacific WWE Classic Superstars Terry Gordy
Originally Released: 2004
What you can expect to pay: $8-10 (loose); $25-35 packaged (Freebirds three-pack)
Recent sales: $4.00, $7.99, $8.39 (loose)

Thanks to Netflix, WWE’s documentaries from the mid-2000s have found a whole new audience. One of the most popular is “The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling,” which tells the tale of the Von Erich family and many of the top stars who passed through Dallas in the 1980s.

Watching this documentary provides a reminder of how few World Class stars have been immortalized as action figures. None of the top toy companies has ever made a figure of Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, David Von Erich, Iceman Parsons, or the Missing Link, just to name a few. Only Remco (1980s AWA) and Galoob (1990 WCW) ever made figures of Jimmy Garvin.

Fortunately for fans of World Class, figures of the Von Erichs and the Freebirds – who engaged in arguably the greatest feud in wrestling history – are available. Mattel released figures of Kerry and Kevin Von Erich in 2011, and, in 2004, Jakks-Pacific produced a Wal-Mart exclusive three-pack of Fabulous Freebirds Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts, and Terry Gordy.

In WWE’s World Class DVD, Hayes refers to Gordy as “God’s gift to wrestling,” and it’s hard to disagree. Fans who didn’t live through Gordy’s peak years or haven’t watched his best work in years may not remember just what a great wrestler Gordy was.

In addition to his time in World Class, Gordy also starred in Bill Watts’s Mid-South Wrestling (and later, the UWF) where he won the UWF World title in 1986. He had incredible matches with wrestlers like “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Gordy achieved considerable fame in Japan, where he teamed with Williams to form the Miracle Violence Connection, one of the best tag teams in all of wrestling. Fans in the U.S. caught a glimpse of Doc and Gordy’s brutal, believable style in a memorable feud with the Steiner Brothers in WCW in 1992.

Gordy re-surfaced in ECW in 1996 and then had a forgettable run as The Executioner, Paul Bearer’s henchman, during Mankind’s feud with the Undertaker. Sadly, Gordy died in 2001 at just 40 years of age.

Gordy’s first action figure was included in a Freebirds three-pack in the popular AWA line of figures from Remco in the mid-1980s. There are two versions of this figure, one with a flabby body, and one with a muscular frame. Gordy’s Execution persona was also captured by Jakks in 1997 in a special “Buried Alive” four-pack that also included Bearer, Mankind, and Undertaker.

Gordy’s most recent figure is the Jakks-Pacific WWE Classic Superstars toy that was released only as a part of a Freebirds three-pack. It features Gordy wearing black trunks and a black vest that reads “Fabulous Freebirds” on the back.

Individually, the Gordy figure can usually be found loose for under $10. If you’re interested in adding the Miracle Violence Connection to your collection of figures, Jakks produced a cool figure of “Dr. Death” just a few years later that can usually be found for about the same price loose, or around $20-25 in the package.

Collectibles News

-- Brodus Clay’s first action figure is available in stores now, and is commanding big bucks on the secondary market. The figure is included in the 15th series of basic figures from Mattel and has been selling in the $35-45 range. That series also includes the first Mattel figure of Layla, which has been selling as high as $30.

-- Toys R Us is selling a new Mattel WWE Elite figure of Triple H. The figure depicts Triple H as he appeared during last year’s epic WrestleMania bout with the Undertaker, complete with mask, crown, and cape. If you don’t have a Toys R Us near you, it can be purchased online at toysrus.com for $20.99, plus shipping.

-- ShopTNA.com is selling a Jakks-Pacific Deluxe Impact Series 4 figure for $6.74. This is a pretty low price, considering the same figure currently sells on eBay for $15-20. An autographed figure is also available from TNA’s site for $14.99.

Sloppy signature Question of the Week

Several readers submitted guesses to last week’s sloppy signature trivia question, but only two – Kevin McCarthy and Michael Tisdale – knew that the illegible scribble was actually the autograph of Hernandez.

Thursday’s Collectibles Column will include another sloppy signature from a top star.

Reader Comments

Pete Griffin: “The thing that makes fans connect to the wrestlers is their catchphrases. I always thought it would be cool if the card company made a limited number of cards where the wrestler not only autographs the card but inscribes their catch phrase: ‘Wooooo!;’ ‘Best there is, best there was, best there ever will be;’ ‘Rest in peace;’ ‘Woo woo woo, you know it,’ etc. Imagine how much one of those type of cards would go for if each wrestler only signed 10 of them.”

Questions and comments about wrestling collectibles can be sent to michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com.

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