WWE Legends Series 22 Captain Lou Albano review
Captain Lou Albano was basically wrapping up his longtime heel manager stint when I first started watching WWF. The Guiding Light split from his association with Rowdy Roddy Piper and became a close ally to Hulk Hogan, Junkyard Dog and Andre the Giant.
As a manager of fan favorites, Lou would guide George ‘The Animal’ Steele and lead The US Express and The British Bulldogs to tag team championship reigns. Capt. Lou would become immortalized to a certain generation of 1980s fans due to his appearance in the Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling cartoon series (available on Amazon).
My Mattel WWE collection was never going to be complete without The Captain and I was hyped for his reveal last April as part of Mattel’s WrestleMania announcements.
Let’s see if Captain Lou’s long delay to the line was worth it or if he deserves a demotion.
Packaging: We’re onto the new packaging design for the Legends line with an hourglass shape. No doubt to limit the amount of plastic used. It does seem somewhat cramped with the smaller window and all the accessories aren’t as visible.
Both sides feature a portrait of Capt. Lou and over on the back, is the larger version of it along with the always well-done bio.
Likeness: Mattel has been killing head sculpts lately. With the exception of Bret Hart of course. Capt. Lou’s is excellent as it really captures his intensity.
The hair sculpt, which is something that could have been a problem, has just the right amount of curly bounce to it. And the rubber bands are properly scaled as they’re neither too thick nor too small.
Mattel did a nice job with Lou’s body, which I think features a new torso that’s less defined and rounder. This will be a good baseline mold for more 80s guys who were just thick and not at all muscular. The waist and legs are also fittingly wide to best capture his physique.
Scale: At 5’10” Capt. Lou is definitely looking up at the 6’7″ Hogan and 7′ Andre the Giant. He’s more in line height wise with the 6’1″ The Animal and 5’11” Davey Boy Smith.
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Paint: Capt. Lou provides a Han Solo jacket conundrum. His hair was brown but it looked black on screen. Mattel opted to make it brown, which was probably the wrong choice given the T-shirt has his hair black. Is it a big enough deal to slap some black paint on his hair? Maybe.
His goatee also should be more of a salt and pepper style than brown with some white flecks in it. This is something I wish Mattel fixed out the gate, but it’s not a huge issue.
The rest of the paint is solid particularly the tiny rubber bands and the inclusion if chest hair.
Articulation: Capt. Lou was excitable during his promos but didn’t do a ton at ringside after becoming a face.
He’s all about standing at ringside and guiding his charges through promos. But if you want to take him back to his heel days, he can punch and stomp with no trouble.
Captain Lou Albano has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- waist
- hip (hinge)
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Mattel went all out with Captain Lou’s accessories adding some unexpected cool bonuses.
He’s got two pointing fingers, which is a trademark gesture of The Captain.
Lou would often run around without a T-shirt instead rocking a vest. We get both here with Captain Lou wearing one of his signature shirts featuring a caricature drawing with a large head in a tux. That was a cool extra and the image looks fantastic right down to that faded 80s style tampo.
His vest is also really nicely done. It’s a plastic shirt, which is no trouble here since it’s a vest. There’s no struggle in trying to maneuver the arms through plastic sleeves. The detail work is great with a white silhouette of Lou on both sides. It’s done in a deep navy blue with red trim om the edges.
In another very cool touch, Lou has the gold album Piper smashed across his head when he defended Cyndi Lauper. That is such a fun addition and a great deep dive inclusion for its importance towards Lou becoming a beloved face manager.
Now it’s about time for that Legends Lauper figure.
Worth it? Traditionally, Legends figures are usually $22.99, but Target puts them on clearance fairly quickly. I was able to get Captain Lou for $13.49, but now he’s even lower at $11.49. That’s a can’t miss price point.
Rating: 9.7 out of 10
Outside of the missing paint around the beard, I’ve got no complaints with Captain Lou. Mattel added some extra display options with the removable T-shirt making for a stellar addition to the mid 80s collection.
Where to get it? Target is the exclusive spot to get the WWE Legends. Whenever a new wave pops up, the previous wave gets hard to find. You can try your luck at Target.com.
As a Target affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.