By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Al Snow's first action figures generated quite a bit of buzz when Wal-Mart yanked them from store shelves in 1999.




- Action Figure Spotlight #30: Al Snow Jakks-Pacific WrestleMania XV and SummerSlam ‘99
- Originally released: 1999
- What you can expect to pay: Less than $5 (packaged or loose)
- Recent sales: $2.99, $3.99 (loose); 99 cents (packaged)

In ECW, a female mannequin head made Al Snow a star. In the WWF, the same head got Snow’s first action figures yanked from store shelves.

Jakks-Pacific released two similar Bone-Crunching Action (BCA) style toys of Snow in 1999. Each figure included various accessories, including Head, the disembodied mannequin head responsible for the voices that Snow heard.

That same year, the figures made national news when two mothers from Georgia complained that the toys promoted violence against women. The mothers didn’t understand that the heads were mannequin heads that came from a crude sexual reference, not the decapitated heads of women.

As a result of the media firestorm, Wal-Mart yanked the figures from store shelves. The controversy resulted in a frenzy over the figure; fans assumed if they’d be able to snatch one up, they’d be sitting on a collectible that might some day be worth a small fortune.

Secondary market prices for the figures were incredibly volatile in 1999, selling for anywhere from $20 to close to $100. Even today, fans who bought the figures 13 years ago send in e-mails inquiring about their value.

Unfortunately, as soon as the controversy faded, so did interest in the figures. Prices dropped dramatically, and today the figures almost always sell for less than $5, whether loose or packaged.

The SummerSlam ’99 figure is somewhat more popular today than the other. It features Snow in a J.O.B. Squad T-shirt and comes with a blonde version of Head. The WrestleMania XV figure shows Snow in a purple and black singlet and comes with a brunette version of Head.

Jakks didn’t forget the controversy created by Head. When the company included Snow in its 13th series of Classic WWE Superstars in the mid-2000s, Head was nothing more than a plain white foam head without any sort of eyes, ears, nose, mouth or hair. The company obviously didn’t want hypersensitive mothers mistaking the doll head for something much more gruesome.

Sloppy Signature Winner and Answers

Congratulations to John Brzys, who was first to correctly identify all 10 autographs in last Thursday’s sloppy signature contest , and will receive a signed 8x10 photo of Kurt Angle certified by TRISTAR.

The 10 autographs featured were:

(1) Matt Morgan
(2) Jimmy Hart
(3) Justin Gabriel
(4) Paul London
(5) Mikey Whipwreck
(6) Big Show
(7) Kurt Angle
(8) Kofi Kingston
(9) Jack Swagger
(10) Shad Gaspard

More than 40 Torch readers submitted entries to last week’s sloppy signature trivia contest. The next contest will be included in the June 28 Collectibles Column exclusively at PWTorch.com, so brush up on your autograph identification skills in the meantime!

Do you have a question about wrestling collectibles? Contact Michael Moore at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com.

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