COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: Key Figures of 2018 WWE Hall of Famers

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While the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018 may not have the most star power ever, it is full of wrestlers whose careers thrived during the action figure era. Fans who collect action figures of WWE Hall of Famers may have had a hard time finding figures of some previous years’ inductees, but most of this year’s honorees have plenty of plastic for collectors to seek out.

Bill Goldberg. Key figure: Jakks Pacific Classic WWE Superstars Series 25. While Goldberg’s prime years were spent with WCW in the late-1990s, the company produced very few decent figures of their top star. Jakks picked up the slack upon Goldberg’s WWE arrival in 2003 and made plenty of figures. The best of the bunch is this figure from the Classic Superstars line, which captures Goldberg’s very simple look of black trunks and boots from his WCW heyday. It’s a pretty tough figure to find these days; packaged figures will run you about $50-$100, and loose figures can be found for about $35 and up. So far, Mattel has only made one Goldberg figure in its current WWE line, and that was sold exclusively with an expensive Elite Scale ring.

Mark Henry. Key figure: Mattel WWE Elite Series 15. Henry has had plenty of figures since debuting for WWE in 1996, including some pretty bad Jakks Bone Crunching Action (BCA) figures in the late 90s. Mattel has made some pretty cool figures of the “World’s Strongest Man,” including this one from about 2012. While his Elite Series 5 figure is more valuable, the Elite Series 15 does a better job of capturing Henry during the peak of his career, complete with World Heavyweight Championship belt.

The Dudley Boyz. Key figures: Jakks Pacific WWE Best of ECW. The Dudleys made their action figure debuts as part of the ECW action figures from OSFTM in 1999, followed by higher quality figures from Jakks the next year. On the heels of the success of the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD and the first ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005, Jakks created a “Best of ECW” line, which included arguably the best two figures of Bubba and D-Von to date. These figures present the Dudleys in their traditional ECW and early WWF looks: Bubba is wearing a blue and white tie-dyed shirt, and D-Von has a tie-dyed shirt under a pair of overalls. These figures aren’t especially expensive, but can be tough to find. Each figure usually sells for about $20 packaged, or about half that loose.

Jeff Jarrett. Key figure: Mattel Toy Biz TNA Wrestling Impact Series 1. Jarrett was supposed to be included in the Hasbro WWF Series 12 orange card figures in 1995, but the line was canceled before those toys ever saw the light of day. Jarrett has plenty of figures, but very few of any decent quality. This figure from around 2005 isn’t that great itself, but it does come with a really nice looking toy belt of the classic NWA World Heavyweight Championship that Jarrett carried during the early days of TNA. With Jarrett back in the good graces of WWE, it’s possible that he could wind up in future releases from Mattel.

Hillbilly Jim. Key figure: LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars Series 1. Longtime WWE employee and overall nice guy Hillbilly Jim didn’t really have the type of career that most fans would link to a hall of fame. But Jim does have a very historic figure, as he was included in the first series of WWF action figures from LJN in 1985. Most kids who were wrestling fans in the 1980s had this very solid rubber figure, which came with a removable floppy brown hat. Because this figure is so common, you can find a loose one for just a few bucks. If you want a tougher challenge, try tracking down a packaged figure, or one that was sold in a tag team two-pack with Hulk Hogan.

Ivory. Key figure: Jakks Pacific WWE Draft. Many fans may not even remember this, but Ivory was Smackdown’s 14^th pick in the first roster split draft in 2002. Jakks commemorated that draft with a limited series of draft picks for both Raw and Smackdown. This figure usually sells in the $25-$30 range in package.

Kid Rock. Key figure: NECA The Simpsons Greatest Guest Stars Series 1. OK, if you really need a Kid Rock action figure for your collection, you can pick one of these up for $20. Or check your local Toys R Us before the store closes and you may still be able to find one on clearance.