WWE Legends Series 9 Nikolai Volkoff figure review
The American patriot version of Nikolai Volkoff gets me another step closer to my WWF collecting goal of completing the 1990 Survivor Series. That was my favorite iteration of the Survivor Series since it has arguably the greatest assembly of talent from the 80s Hulkamania era along with some of the foundational aspects of the New Generation.
Packaging: Of all the package schemes Mattel does, the Legends remains my favorite thanks to the gold, brown and yellow color combination and the iconic portrait of the character.
His bio wonderfully summarizes Nikolai’s shift from hated heel to semi-beloved face battling against Sgt. Slaughter in the fight for America.
I’m curious if Mattel intentionally set out to create a Million Dollar Man theme wave with all four figures having ties to Ted DiBiase.
Likeness: The first Nikolai Volkoff had a snarling expression that helped cheat the likeness a little.
This one features a more relaxed, smiling expression that is more of what I think of with Nikolai. He’s got the burly body that is ideal for an 80s wrestler.
He doesn’t have a ton of unique sculpting elements and that’s fine for a character that doesn’t need a lot of bells and whistles.
Scale: Nikolai Volkoff was about average height for his era at 6’4″ putting him taller than his tag partner, the 6’3 Hacksaw Jim Duggan, while looking up at the 6’5″ Sgt. Slaughter.
Paint: Nikolai has a basic two-tone color scheme. Given what Mattel does with complex attires, I wasn’t expecting anything crazy or sloppy paint work. The three ring socks had some issues just keeping the lining right around the legs.
The WWE team had some issues getting approval to do the actual Russian flag, which means the figure has an incomplete look as we only get the outline of a Russian flag.
It’s one of those deals where it makes the figure look kind of half done and it might have been better for Mattel to do an 85 era Nikolai tight scheme and leave the incomplete flag look for the accessories.
MORE:
- WWE Action Figure Reviews
- The Book of Boba Fett – The Gathering Storm review S1 E4
- Marvel Legends Fan First Thursday reveals: new X-Men wave, Jigsaw, Ulik
- WWE Ultimate Edition Series 9 Stone Cold Steve Austin review
Articulation: My earlier Nikolai had janky legs with wonky hip articulation making posing him pretty challenging.
He’d benefit from the butterfly shoulders to do some of his submission holds like his bear hug.
Nikolai Volkoff has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Nikolai comes with his trademark hat.
This time it has the American flag and a non-detailed Russian flag.
The big accessory is his cloth jacket. It’s separately packed now to prevent bleeding onto the figure. It also has the USA flag and half-done Russian flag.
Additionally, he comes with swappable wide open/chopping/saluting hands.
Worth it? I grabbed Nikolai for $20. This price point is OK for the WWE line for him considering I’m not the biggest fan of this torso.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
The incomplete Russian flag takes away from the American patriot take on Volkoff, but otherwise it’s a solid figure and well worth getting for those who missed out on the first figure.
Where to get it? The WWE Legends line is exclusive to Target. Nikolai is listed as sold out on Target’s website, but they have brought figures back up on the site so keep checking.