WWE Legends Series 8 Paul Orndorff figure review
It may be tricky to find bright spots in 2020, but one was Mattel revealing the relaunch of its WWE Legends line. Now us flashback collectors wouldn’t have to hope for a star from the 80s and 90s to get slotted in one of those rare standard elite wave slots. Wave Seven marked the return of the sub-line and while I’m still reviewing them Legends 8 showed up at my local Target so they’re cutting the line. I’m starting off with the guy responsible for my top kayfabe traumatic wrestling moment — Paul Orndorff — when he turned on Hulk Hogan. I recently rewatched it and all those old emotions (minus the tears…mostly) came right back.
Orndorff got a figure earlier in the Legends line and it’s always been one of my favorites so I was fine getting a repaint with a slight update. Now let’s see if this figure is exceptional or below average.
Packaging: The old Legends line was one of my favorites. I love the painted look for the classic characters and I’m thrilled Mattel brought it back for this line. Mattel seems to take more time with the bios and this one is exceptional summing up his career nicely.
Likeness: Just like the Series 7 Bobby Heenan the True FX improved upon the older already great headsculpt. Mattel really nailed Orndorff’s likeness earlier and the True FX touch it up a bit more.
Mattel reused the same torso as before — the muscular one that best captures his physique. Overall I think this is one of the better part choices Mattel has matched up with a figure. It just fits for Mr. Wonderful. He’s got the newer style elbows though, which have the same range of motion and just look different. The biggest change is something that’s not really evident with the figure on his own, which leads me to…
Scale: Orndorff was 6’ making him noticeably shorter than peers like the 6’8 Hogan, 6’4” King Kong Bundy and 6’3” Junkyard Dog.
Orndorff’s first figure was scaled perfectly for his shorter height.
Mattel gave this version longer shins, which makes him relatively 6’6″ or 6’7″ and dwarfs the original figure. Not good. Scale is one of the areas Mattel blew Jakks out of the water on and it’s so odd that this is starting to become an issue at this stage in the line.
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Paint: The first Orndorff figure came in blue. I liked that choice as he seemed to wear that a bit more often during his 1990 stint in WCW. This time he’s in red. In another downgrade from the first figure his hair loses the blonde with brown wash and has more of a greenish blonde.
And the logo on the back of his trunks is missing some elements. Finally, there’s some slop on the boots in the back. Not so wonderful after all.
Now I’m kinda hoping Mattel finishes off Orndorff’s main outfit choices and give us a version in white since that seemed to be his main color when he fought Hogan. Hmmn, red, white and blue. And we scoffed and booed Orndorff when he came out to Real American for his theme song!
Articulation: Despite all the changes from the first one what still holds up is the articulation. This is a fun figure to put in action and break out all of Mr. Wonderful’s move set.
Again, the elbow joint switch doesn’t affect the range at all although with the Ultimate Edition and AEW Unrivaled figures, Mattel probably needs to see about incorporating double jointed elbows in the Elite line real soon.
Mr. Wonderful has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Mr. Wonderful comes with swappable fists. I appreciate this over having one open hand to hold something, but unable to properly hold a steel chair thanks to the other hand being in a fist.
The showpiece accessory is his ring robe. It looks great with more detail than the original. It’s only lacking the velcro to help fasten it beyond the belt. Mattel has now packed the ring robes separately to prevent staining in a smart move.
I really like the robe and appreciate that Mattel mixed up the design instead of just making it in red.
Worth It? The $20 price point feels perfectly fair for a figure with a cloth accessory and a few swappable parts. Right now Target has a save $10 on $50 and $25 off $100 sale. It’s a great deal if you’ve got a lot of figures you’ve been eyeing.
Rating: 7 out of 10
This was essentially a layup figure. Take the original great Mr. Wonderful figure and just repaint his tights. Instead Mattel inexplicably sized him up with longer shins and gave the 2020 figure a worst hair paintjob than the original. It’s still a good figure, but in need of some part swaps.
Where to Get It? The Legends line is exclusive to Target. That’s not as scary as some exclusives as both waves of the Legends line has been well stocked. I wouldn’t worry with paying scalper prices here unless you’re overseas and don’t have access to Target.