By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: In 1987, Hasbro released a Sgt. Slaughter toy similar to LJN's WWF toys of that era.




- Action Figure Spotlight #34: Sgt. Slaughter Hasbro G.I. Joe Mail-Away Figure
- Originally released: 1987
- What you can expect to pay: $100-175
- Recent sales: $84.80, $95.00, $129.99, $160.00, $650.99

When Sgt. Slaughter wasn’t battling Cobra Commander or Larry Zbysko in the mid-1980s, he was apparently busy toppling Hulk Hogan and the WWF’s other top stars.

A famous ad that appeared regularly in wrestling magazines in the ‘80s showed an LJN-style toy standing on top of Hulk Hogan and the Iron Sheik, even though the Sarge was long gone from the WWF and wouldn’t return until 1990.




Thanks to his association with G.I. Joe and Reagan era patriotism, Slaughter was a big star even outside of wrestling. His G.I. Joe toys were hot sellers, so to capitalize on Slaughter’s popularity, Hasbro released a mail order exclusive LJN-type wrestling figure. The figure stood eight inches tall and closely resembled the big rubber WWF toys of the day, but was made of slightly harder plastic.

The figure wasn’t produced by LJN, but many collectors today consider it a part of that particular line. It has become a favorite among die-hard collectors due to its scarcity and value.

The figure was sent to collectors in a clear plastic bag, so there is no official packaging to go with the toy. However, one astute collector who kept the box used for mailing the figure and all of the original packaging recently sold his figure for a whopping $650.99.

The Slaughter figure is tough to come by in any condition, and those in excellent shape usually sell in the $100-125 range, sometimes fetching closer to $200.

Collectibles News

- The next sloppy signatures trivia contest will be included in the July 5 PWTorch Collectibles Column.

- There is nobody hotter in wrestling right now than A.J. Her cards from 2011 Topps WWE Classic have been popular since they were released late last year, but they’ve really picked up steam as of late. A couple months ago, her autographed card from that set was holding steady in the $25-30 range. Today it’s fetching almost double that, if you can even find one; sites like eBay, Amazon, and several trading card sites haven’t had one offered for sale in weeks. There’s also a gold bordered parallel to her base card that sells in the $20-25 range.

A.J. is scheduled to be included in the 2012 Topps WWE set, which should be released in September. If her current push continues, new autograph and lip print cards from A.J. may be the most valuable in the set.

- Mattel’s new Arn Anderson figure will go on-sale Monday, July 16 at 12:00 noon EST. The Internet-exclusive figure is the fourth of six WWE Legends toys that will be released this year at mattycollector.com. Tully Blanchard and Elizabeth are the two remaining figures that will be sold online later this year.

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Is there a wrestler or a certain figure you would like to see figured in a future action figure spotlight? Contact Michael Moore at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com.

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