WWE Elite Brutus Beefcake figure review
To stand out in the WWF during the peak of Hulkamania wrestlers needed a great gimmick. There wasn’t many better than Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. He was one of the first occupation characters in the WWF and arguably one of the most successful next to The Undertaker and Big Boss Man. It’s taken a while, but Mattel finally provided one of the more important remaining members of the Golden Age era in Elite 49. Let’s see if he’s a cut above the rest of the line.
Packaging: I’m past the point of being bored with the Elite packaging. Mattel needs to spruce things up a bit as the red is a little overdone now. I dig the drawing on the side and back as it captures Beefcake’s confidence and his glorious 80s rock band lead singer swagger.
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The stat line about ring attire is a great touch so we know exactly the era Mattel is going for with the figure. I still wish there was a bio with some information on the characters, especially the Flashbacks.
Likeness: There were a lot of ways Mattel could have gone with Brutus. We get a later Barber version with the wild and flowing mullet. Since he might not be a figure Mattel double dips on, I would have preferred a shorter hairstyle so he could double as a Dream Team version.
I do like the expression. That captures Beefcake’s intensity and the hair flows nicely. I’m glad his ripped tights actually have sculpted tears. That’s a nice touch that’s appreciated. Mattel probably won’t get a lot of reuse with that mold, but it’s worth it for Bruti.
Scale: Brutus was 6’4” which should put him half a head shorter than Hulk Hogan. His massive head kinda screws up the scale, but he’s appropriately shorter. Mattel has started to go big with head sizes and hopefully they start paying more attention to this going forward.
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Paint: The zebra tights aren’t the most exciting color, but there are not a lot of guys from this era with white tights so he’ll stand out. The yellow gloves are solid with little overspray.
Mattel typically does right by collectors with paint jobs so I wasn’t worried and it’s nice to see that faith is justified.
Articulation: Brutus has the standard Elite articulation. For Brutus that means you can get a pretty decent, if not fully accurate sleeper hold. His repertoire wasn’t extensive beyond a high knee, clotheslines and punches and kicks so you can hit all of his moves with ease.
Brutus Beefcake has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- waist
- hip
- knee (double jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Brutus comes with the total package of his accessories. He’s got his trusty garden shears, which fit nicely into his hands. The candy stripes are painted smoothly. The grey bowtie fits snugly around his neck, but my favorite accessory is the cloth barber coat.
It’s appropriately in tatters and the pink trim really is eye catching. I’m always a fan whenever Mattel uses cloth for ring gear instead of plastic. The jacket lacks the sheer portions and pink stripes throughout, but this was a pretty solid attempt from Mattel.
And the worthless diorama stand is there as well. I hope these are just a favor for a friend and not impacting the costs much.
Worth it? I got Brutus during one of the Elite sales. He’s one of the figures this year that I definitely think is worth the $20 price tag considering everything you get.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
That oversized noggin aside, this is a pretty much perfect Brutus Beefcake figure. This is a great representation of one of the important Hulkamania era characters.
Where to get it? Elite 49 seemed to come and go quickly in stores. Maybe your local Target, Wal-Mart or Toys R Us still has this series in stock, but mine have moved on already. Your best option now is likely Amazon.com.