WWE Elite The New Day figure review: Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods

One of the freshest WWE acts in the last decade has been The New Day. Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have proven to be a highly entertaining faction. New Day connects with fans in a different level than previous modern day trios like The Shield and The Wyatt Family thanks in no small part to their zany and over the top promos.

Working as fast as they could to get figures of WWE’s hottest team act in stores, Mattel quickly cranked out New Day figures for the Basic line. It took a little longer for Elite versions with one member released in Elite 42-44. Let’s see if these New Day figures rock or suck.

Packaging:  I’m still a big fan of the current Elite style packaging. To help break things up a bit, Xavier and Kofi get the blue Smackdown accents while Big E gets the red Raw colors. Until the brand split that’s totally arbitrary, but it does provide a little shelf variety for you MOC folks.

As usual, my biggest beef is the lack of any kind of write-up for the bio. I like the stats, but I’d love those in addition to a brief summary on the character.

One aspect of these three that was really cool was Mattel actually put some thought into the side panel portraits. They’re positioned in a way so Xavier is positioned on the right, Kofi on the left and Big E in the middle. That was a very nice touch.

Likeness:  There were a lot of ways to go with Xavier in terms of his expression and hairstyle. The guy changes his look seemingly every week. In the end, Mattel went with a semi-regular look for Xavier with his hair pulled back devoid of facial hair.

Kofi has a bright smile and overall is a good representation of the New Day’s high-flyer. His hair sculpt is particularly well done and actually has a little style in how it’s tied up. I wish Kofi was the final member to get released so he could get those great wing tip boots, but there’s always the exclusive set.

Big E gets an open mouth expression as if he’s in the middle of saying ‘New Day Rocks.’ I really like that Mattel gave him a dedicated sculpt with larger than normal thighs to better reflect his unique look. `

Scale:  New Day really just needs to be scaled properly to each other, but there’s not a big difference anyway. Both Xavier and Big E are 5’11” and Kofi is 6’. That means they’ll all be looking up at Kane and towering over Kalisto.

Paint:  When they started, New Day largely wore a bold primary shade of blue, which is what Xavier is wearing. As they kept pushing the boundaries of what they could get away with the trio started wearing louder, more obnoxious color combinations like neon pink and baby blue or white and gold.

Blue is my favorite color, but I wish Mattel waited just a bit longer to get New Day’s more colorful attires in Elite form. Still, better to have all three in some fashion before one of them gets released. That oh so minor gripe aside, the blue is a nice, striking shade though and contrasts well against the white.

White is a notoriously troublesome color to apply properly especially with a strong primary color. There’s some slop throughout Kofi and Xavier thanks to their more complicated design. Big E is fine. None of the paint issues are a major problem largely due to expecting some trouble with the white transfer.

Articulation:  New Day are your standard Elite figures meaning if you can come up with the move, there’s a 90 percent likelihood you’ll be able to simulate it. The only one that I really wish I could have done was That makes the Elite articulation so much fun and useful for this line.

New Day has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double-jointed)
• ankle

Accessories:  Kofi comes with a vest, but he’s got a fun additional accessory. In reference to his mini-feud with Titus O’Neil who won the Celebrity Dad of the Year award, Kofi has a Real Mega Dad of the Year sign. Considering how big signs are in wrestling I wish Mattel would toss these in with pretty much everyone.

Like his fellow New Day members, Xavier comes with a vest. Nothing especially flashy with it, but the design looks good and covers Xavier’s ring wear attire. The real bonus though is the inclusion of Francesca — Xavier’s beloved trumpet, which he uses to taunt New Day opponents. Xavier is a strong figure in his own right, but Francesca takes it over the top.

Big E gets cheated on this front as he only has his sleeveless trench coat. I would have been fine with more signs like Kofi. Those can’t be the expensive.

Worth it?  Kofi and Big E are currently under $16. Definitely a great price for Elite figures. Xavier is trickier now to find for a good price online, but I have seen him in stores as of late.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

New Day is just missing their more colorful attire and useful accessories for Big E. Otherwise this is a great trio of figures worth hunting down.

 

Where to find it?  Check the regular retailers like Toys R Us and Target, Wal-Mart and Gamestop. If all else fails, Amazon.com has Wave 42-44 available now. I’d assume Toys R Us will have them shortly if they’re not already at some locations. Target has just begun to get Wave 41 so it might take them awhile to catch up though.