WWE Elite 94 The British Bulldog review – Collector’s Edition
British Bulldog’s career highlight was clearly his SummerSlam 92 main event against his brother-in-law Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart. It still holds up as one of the best main events in WWF/WWE history so it’s no surprise that it’s been one of his most popular attire choices for figures. Mattel has already released this look in the Basic format, but now it was overdue for an Elite figure.
The wild thing was Action Figure Attack of the Mattel WWE team said he was pushing to get the Summerslam Bulldog and Bret slotted for Ultimate Edition figures. That would have been sweet. Hopefully they will get put back into a slot at some point.
For now, let’s see if the Elite version of one-half of the SummerSlam 92 main event is ready to hold the burden of expectations of one of Bulldog’s best matches.
Packaging: As a Collector’s Edition figure in lieu of a Flashback designation, there’s no real change from the standard packaging save the standard blue is swapped for a purple, which reminds me of the New Generation era opening.
I still think the setup is a little weird as part of the figure’s head is obscured by the random W logo placement.
The photo for Bulldog is solid even having the SummerSlam backdrop on the side panel. Bulldog’s bio sums up his big moment at SummerSlam while the stats break down all the important information.
Likeness: Mattel likes the smiling expression for Bulldog. It’s fine as that wasn’t an uncommon look for him, but it’d be nice to have a different portrait from the one way back in the Elite 30s.
The hair braids are nicely sculpted as well. Though you might need to dip them in hot water to lay correctly instead of being suspended in air thanks to the cape placement in the package.
Mattel has done a nice job of choosing the appropriate body for the various Bulldog figures. Since this time period featured him at his most jacked up, Mattel gave him the most defined, buff torso with the larger thick arms.
MORE:
- Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two review
- G.I. Joe Classified Series Clutch with VAMP review
- Power Rangers Lightning Collection Lost Galaxy Green Ranger review
- Star Wars: Tales of the Empire review
Scale: Bulldog stood at 5’11″, shorter by two inches to his brother-in-law Bret Hart and his 6’3″ Allied Powers partner Lex Luger. Bulldog’s head is slightly oversized, which contributes to him being a few inches taller than Bret.
Paint: Bulldog’s attire lends itself to a challenging paint job. There’s so many precise white lines and stripes that it’d be impossible for Mattel to nail them properly throughout the figure.
For the most part the Union Jack came out better than I expected with just a few areas looking like they could have used another slap of white paint.
On the left side, Mattel tried to implement the mesh strip. It’s sloppy and just kind of tapers off. That was a high degree of difficulty so I applaud Mattel for trying to do it justice.
Articulation: British Bulldog was all about the power although he could mix in some scientific holds as needed depending on his opponent.
The double-jointed elbows are a huge help for his running powerbomb although I kept thinking his articulation would have been even better with the Ultimate Edition articulation.
You can pull off most of his moves with no issue and bust out all the clotheslines, press slams and delayed vertical suplexes you want to unleash.
British Bulldog has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows (double-jointed)
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: British Bulldog comes with a major improvement from the earliest Bulldog as he’s got a cloth cape.
The plastic ones didn’t hang naturally at all and looked way too stiff.
This is such an upgrade for the braided hair era of Bulldog and hopefully this is the standard for any 91-93 era Bulldog going forward.
Additionally, British Bulldog gets a set of gripping fists. Given his smiling expression, it would have been nice to have an alternate serious/focused portrait as another display option.
A bonus accessory is the SummerSlam cardboard backdrop. This is the backstage interview piece. It’s made of sturdy enough material that it can stand on its own when slanted in.
You’ll probably want to open it up though. This was such a terrific inclusion and definitely something that adds value to the figure.
Worth it? The WWE figures are Target are $22.99 now, but fittingly I was able to get Bulldog in a buy one get one 50% off sale with Bret Hart, which made the cost cheaper than the old retail price.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Bulldog is a very solid figure. An alternate less happy head sculpt with the frizzy hair would be welcome, but this is easily the best British Bulldog figure from Mattel yet.
Where to get it? The most recent British Bulldog was also a Collector’s Edition exclusive to Target. Unlike Walmart you should be able to actually find him in stores without resorting to hitting up the secondary market.
