WWE Ultimate Edition nWo Macho Man Randy Savage review (2022)
nWo Macho Man proves that Randy Savage is a character you can never have enough figures of with Mattel’s Ultimate Edition line. It’d be nice to share the Ultimate Edition wealth every so often.
This time we get Macho Man after he fully embraced the adage of not being able to beat them, so he joined then. In this case, the “them” is the New World Order, Macho’s chief rivals for most of 1996.
Macho Man eventually became one of the more popular members of the faction and his feud with Diamond Dallas Page was the stuff of WCW legend. While Mattel has been slow in delivering more Ultimate Edition figures from WCW’s Monday Night Wars era, at least we’ve got Mach and his longtime frenemy Hollywood Hogan.
Let’s see if this figure has me clamoring “Oh Yeahhh.”
Packaging: Don’t expect a packaging change yet as it’s the standard red with white accents. The open window shows off Macho and his accessories nicely with the added bonus of picking out the best paintjob. I dig (dig it!) the nWo portrait of Macho Man on the side. As usual, the back features a reference image along with the figure.
I always appreciate the stat breakdown, but my favorite part of the WWE packaging — the bio — shows why it’s the top of the line with this quick summary of Macho’s stint with the nWo.
Likeness: With this third (!) UE figure, Mattel doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, yet each version is noticeably different. The default head sculpt is the same as the previous two with the gritted/half smile expression. Mattel assembled the best parts for Macho and haven’t deviated from the formula.
For the most part, he’s a basic UE body although Mattel added sculpted fringe for the side of his tights and boots. He’s got a cloth shirt with the iconic Madness splatter pattern.
There was some controversy about the cut-up sleeves.
They’re thicker than Macho wore them, but I doubt Mattel could have made them accurate without the material fraying and causing other problems.
Scale: Macho Man is listed as 6’2″ making him the shortest member of the nWo’s Big Four with the 6’7″ Hall and Hogan and 6’9″ Nash. He should also be looking up at his 6’5″ rival DDP. The figure is scaled fairly well height-wise, but size wise he seems much slighter next to Hall and Hogan.
Paint: Macho’s attire is black and white. This particular attire isn’t as complicated as some of his other nWo gear. That was appreciated so I don’t feel completely burnt with my exclusive Elite nWo Savage figure. Not surprisingly the black plastic bleeds through the white fringes.
The work on the laces is pretty solid though. Mattel was on point in painting Macho’s wrist tape and the black fingerless gloves. And I didn’t have any issues with sloppy paint on the face.
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Articulation: Macho Man still had no problem nailing his signature moves by his third year in WCW. That would come later… As such, his figure should be able to nail all his moves from the flying axe-handle, hangman rope clotheslines and his flying elbow drop finisher.
Maybe no figure benefitted as much from the UE articulation and the shift from plastic to cloth for the shirts than nWo Macho Man, who looks leaner and has a much easier time pulling off his move set.
Ultimate Edition nWo Macho Man Randy Savage has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- butterfly shoulders
- elbows (double-jointed)
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Strap in as this is gonna take a second. nWo Macho Man comes with a lot.
First up is his nWo Macho Man Madness splatter bandanna. Next are his sunglasses with that cool fanged teeth visual. It doesn’t fit well on every head sculpt though.
Macho gets two more alternate expressions. First is the intense and determined sculpt i.e., the match default choice. Next up is a new one with Macho sticking his tongue out. Clearly that’s a worthwhile addition and fitting for this rogue version of Macho.
Next up he’s got the other awesome nWo Macho Man jailed T-shirt. That was one of my favorite nWo era shirts and fully captured his even wilder person as part of the nWo. Like the default shirt, the torn sleeves should be much slimmer and not as symmetrical. I do like the nice fading to give it that worn look.
He’s got the spread-out swappable hands this time as Mattel continues to freshen up his hand options although he really should have gotten the nWo hand sign sculpts as well.
Finally, he’s got his Macho weight belt. In a nod to his boy Hollywood, nWo Macho Man started rocking this in all his matches. It’s basically part of his gear and you can use it to tuck in the shirt for a neater look.
Worth it? A standard Ultimate Edition figure costs $32.99. nWo Macho Man’s additional shirt and head sculpts make him a great value with variety in display options. He’s another example of the bar I have for this line in terms of not feeling ripped off. Still, I was happy to get him for cheaper with Target’s save $10 off $50 toy purchase sales.
Rating: 10 out of 10
It’s not hard to see why Mattel keeps going back to the Macho Man well for the UE figures. He’s got an easily replicated formula for success. The nWo version is another home run and a welcome addition to the late 90s WCW ranks.
Where to get it? nWo Macho Man is part of Target’s exclusive WWE Ultimate Edition Legends line so that’s your only option. You can track him down in stores or grab him from Target.com.
As a Target affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.