On this installment of Collector’s Corner we take a look at the new Mattel WWE WrestleMania 37 Elite series! This set includes:
- Chyna
- Goldberg
- Shawn Michaels
- Edge
- Paul Ellering & Rocco (Build-A-Figure)
Each figure in the set comes with pieces to build a modern and flashback Paul Ellering as well as his sidekick Rocco. You can currently get these over on RingsideCollectibles.com and with discount code at checkout!
The Packaging
This set features the typical 2020 Elite shape packaging but with a blue/gold/white color scheme. The old school WrestleMania logo is plastered on the front with the designated superstars’ names on the front, images of them on the sides and all whom is in the set on the back. The back also showcases a diagram of which Paul Ellering parts the designated figure comes with so you can complete the Build-A-Figure of Paul and his puppet Rocco.
Chyna
First up we have Chyna in her purple attire. This is based on her WrestleMania 17 match when she defeated Ivory to become the Women’s Champion. She has a new, smiling head scan with lipstick and long hair held up by a painted on headband. She features her top with minimal design on it besides the trim as well as her trunks with trim and logo designs on it. She also features her much more muscular arms and legs, which is perfect for her build, swappable fists and what looks to me like new, black boots. She also comes with a dull painted Women’s Championship, which is nicely detailed, and the arms plus Rocco for the BAF Paul Ellering.
Overall, it’s a nice figure of Chyna from later in her career. The detail on it is nice, mostly in the headband and briefly on the attire, but her scan is also pretty good, too. The belt being dull is kind of disappointing as I liked when it shined to make it look more authentic, but I’m not sure why Mattel has started doing that. Regardless it’s a nice belt to have if you don’t have it yet. Her fist hands look very small to me compared to her open hands, which are larger, so beware of that if you decide to swap out her hands. The other main thing is to be aware of issues with this figure. Ringside received some with two left feet and the one I got actually has her abdomen attached backwards, which cannot be adjusted unless you were to break the figure and twist it…so just be sure to take a look at yours if you get it at the store eventually versus from Ringside or elsewhere.
Goldberg
Up next we have “old man” Goldberg based on his most recent return. He comes with the Blue WWE SmackDown Championship title, which is shockingly the first time we are getting it in the line. He is sporting his black/white trunks, his full white beard and swappable glove hands that are slightly more closed than the ones he comes with. He also comes with the young, flashback Paul Ellering head. You can also see the tattoos on his left shoulder and underside of his right arm as well as his knee pads and short black boots.
Overall, being a fellow Goldberg I was excited to get this as he’s a childhood favorite of mine for obvious reasons. I’m glad we got a modern scan of him with his white beard and the TrueFX print technology on it, too. I was also thrilled to finally get the blue WWE title as we’ve been craving that for such a long time now it seems, so it is great to see it in the line finally. The swappable hands are kind of silly as they’re just slightly more closed than the ones he comes with on his body. I wish Mattel would make closed glove hands for us as we are overdue for those. If you want the new title and missed out on the Goldberg with the RAW ring then this would make this figure pretty sought after. If you don’t care about any of that or simply aren’t interested in Goldberg then you could pass on it. It also depends if you want a young Paul head, too.
Edge
Edge is based on his epic hardcore match against Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22. Edge features a new head scan, more of an angry one, with his teeth showing. Not many people are fond of it and I personally think it looks just ok. The highlights in his hair are decent though. Besides that he features a vest with logos and other designs on it as well as elbow pads, hands with black tape, wristbands with the left having the “Rated R” logo on it and a baseball bat that unfortunately is missing the barbed wire. He is also wearing his “Rated R” cargo like pants with the camo designs and other logos on it as well as his black, laced boots underneath. Not to mention he comes with swappable taped hands doing his signature “Too Sweet” like pose during his entrance. He comes with the torso piece and modern head for Paul, too.
Overall, I was looking forward to getting this figure. While his new scan isn’t the greatest it is still nice to get a figure of Edge with a much more unique look than any of his other figures in the past or present for that matter. I wish his baseball bat was more accurate but I’m sure they didn’t want to tool a new one. Besides those few things I think it is pretty cool and it pairs well with the Foley in the previous wave. If you want a unique Edge figure then pick this one up. You can always swap the head, too, if it bothers you that much.
Shawn Michaels
Lastly, we have a young Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania 9. He comes with his entrance attire, which is really detailed to say the least. It is made of rubber so do be careful when trying to remove it, but it does fit him pretty well. Just be sure to remove it slowly/carefully as I feel it is a bit fragile due to the small “chains” and want not on it that seem like they could easily rip if you’re not careful. He also comes with removable sunglasses that fit into his hair to hold it to his face better. Once you remove the entrance attire you can see the hair on his chest, which to me looks to be printed a little too high on his pectorals but it doesn’t look terrible. He also features his black/white tights, white kick pads and his gloved hands as well as swappable fist hands. He also comes with the legs for Paul.
Overall, I really like this figure of HBK. It features the same old school head scan I believe his Ringside Exclusive had. It’s almost a repaint of that figure honestly from what it looks like. The entrance attire is nicely done as it fasten right under his neck, but it is a bit of a pain to remove I must say. It looks great for display though honestly. If you like collecting HBK figures I’d definitely recommend this one as it is pretty nice. The detail on it is decent and I like the entrance gear as mentioned.
Paul Ellering & Rocco
Once you’ve bought everyone in the set you can assemble Paul Ellering, who was originally supposed to release in the NXT Elite set at Target awhile back but was later cancelled. Regardless, it’s awesome to finally have him in figure form like this. The modern head looks great as does the younger one with the black hair. One complain people had was that his jacket is closed compared to the open one we saw in the prototype, but honestly just looking at the photo within this article he has his jacket closed so it works just fine. One big complaint I did have with this BAF though is that his hands are tan and not the same color as his head or neck, which is really odd. You can easily swap the hands with the other skin tone, such as Daniel Bryan for example, so if you have extra hands you can fix it easily. You shouldn’t have to do that of course but this was a very odd parts choice by Mattel in my opinion. The heads don’t seem to be easy to swap either so be careful if you choose to do such. You can just heat up the head with a blow dryer for a minute or so to pop it off and put on other should you desire.
Finally, we also have the Rocco accessory, which was a real surprise in the Mattel line as he’s never had a figure before. Rocco is a solid piece of plastic with no articulation. He features a great amount of detail though, which makes him look great in my opinion. He also has a hole attachment in his back so you can put Paul’s hand in there if desired to display him properly.
Overall
Overall, the Paul BAF is pretty nice. It definitely has it’s flaws though that you can easily fix if you desire to do such. The Rocco accessory is great though I must say and Mattel knocked it out of the park. If you want Paul I recommend buying the set as I highly doubt he will ever have another figure as decent as this one. And honestly this Mania set is pretty nice if I must say. The figures in the set of course aren’t perfect but I still think it’s a fun set regardless. Just beware of some of the issues you may encounter with some of yours but overall I would definitely recommend it as a whole.
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Mattel WWE WrestleMania 37 Elite Series
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