WWE Elite 44 Braun Strowman figure review
It’s only taken thrashing Roman Reigns around for Braun Strowman to get over huge with WWE fans. The former black sheep of the Wyatt Family is emerging as a real player in the post-brand split WWE. I liked the visual of Bray surrounded by these three intimidating dudes and definitely wanted to grab Braun.
But his newfound popularity made tracking down his figure trickier than I expected. When I stumbled onto him at Toys R Us, I didn’t hesitate this time. Let’s see if the big guy was worth all the hassle.
Packaging: Braun gets the standard Elite packaging. My excitement for this packaging style has waned a bit, but that’s largely due to Mattel not addressing the minor shortcomings to really make the package special. Like adding a bio like we see on the specialty lines.
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Likeness: For the time frame of the figure, this is a strong likeness. Braun had this weird baby face with a beard thing going on and the figure captures that dead stare well. The hair and beard are sculpted well with a nice natural look. The Elite 50 Rhino looks like he’s wearing a hairpiece, but that’s the case with Braun at all.
Scale: Braun is 6’8” putting him taller than Wyatt Family member Luke Harper at 6’5” and 6’3” Bray Wyatt and the same height as the 6’8” Erik Rowan. Braun is taller than he should be to Rowan, but he’s scaled in a massive giant kind of way that I don’t mind the liberties taken in this instance.
Paint: Braun’s paint job is largely solid although he’s got the painted chest that I hate so much in other figures. His skin tone coverage is a little better, but it’s still easy to spot. You’ll want to watch the beard and tank top areas as they’re the spots that tend to miss paint coverage.
Of course, it’s not like you’ll be able to choose the Strowman with the best paint job so better hope you just get lucky. The detailed tattoo work is really well done and Mattel got them down nicely.
Articulation: The Elite body works well for Braun. He’s hardly the most agile guy on the WWE roster so you can re-enact most of his moves.
Things like bear hugs will be trickier thanks to the limitations in the shoulders, which don’t allow them to move forward as much as I’d like. That’s the biggest problem with Braun since he’s a power guy who uses moves like power slams and shoulder breakers.
Strowman has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Braun gets a lowly one accessory — the same sheep mask Erik Rowan has come with painted black. I love the creep factor of the sheep masks, but it’s pretty crappy that Strowman only gets such a small accessory.
Mattel really needs to just randomly toss in weapons like chairs or barricade pieces. The Elite 50 Shane McMahon comes with an entire announce table and Braun just gets a mask. That’s real weird.
Worth it? Thanks to the massive amount of plastic Braun doesn’t feel like you’re getting cheated. At the $20 retail price. He’s not worth the higher secondary market prices however.
Rating: 8 out of 10
I got the Elite 44 Braun Strowman to have a Wyatt Family version. This is fine as the Wyatt’s enforcer, but I’m hoping Mattel made some adjustments for the articulation as well as making more expressive faces.
Where to get it? Maybe you can get lucky and catch a Target that’s still stocking Elite Wave 44. I found Braun at Toys R Us so there’s some hope. Or you can always grab him on Amazon.com.