Updating The Past: Part Six

I wish I had more to bring to Show and Tell today, but the buck stops here on the archiving of old Action Figure Zone News reports.

Yes, the Internet Archive only collects up to a certain point and all reports from August 11, 1998, and beyond are not accessible at this time.

This means only one thing: Uhh...wait...hold on...it's coming to me..just give me a second...aha!

No, no, I've got nothing.

As a consolation prize, I'll review all six posts from the "Updating The Past" series and I will point out the top ten most-newsworthy items. In my opinion, of course.

You can do the same by checking out these previous posts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five.

Before we get to that, let's take one last look back at a few early August 1998 BCA reports.

Early August 1998 BCA News and Rumors -

8/2 - Apparently there was a STOMP series two Brian Pillman released, he was supposed to be replaced by Owen, but rumor has it, a small number of Pillmans seeped out onto the market.

I cannot say that I've seen this, but I can tell you that I want to as much as anyone. I don't know how Pillman would have leaked into Series 2, so I'm skeptical as is, but I'll take their word for it since stranger things have happened.

8/2 Cont'd - Slammers Series two have apparently been spotted at TRU and KB. The series is comprised of Kane(!), Shawn Michaels, Dude Love, The Patriot, and Taka Michinoku.

Kane's first 6-inch figure was special, despite the Slammers action feature. I believe that I was just as excited for Dude Love and The Patriot then, but as you know there's only so much excitement to go around for the Slammers figures. It's like a law, or something.

8/2 Cont'd Again - This just in: Jakks has apparently released some sort of a Special Edition Diesel figure. This extemporaneous figure has been spotted by one of our sources for just over $3 with tax. We can't verify anything yet, keep checking.

I'm getting my hopes up...

8/3 - The first order of business is to say that the Diesel found yesterday was not a new release, but instead the original re-release of Diesel. Apparently our source was mislead because the KB they went to had about 8 of the figure. So even though there is no new figure, keep a lookout for the first Diesel re-release.

...and now I'm coming back to reality. Dreadful, isn't it? Well, it's still a wonder how so many Series 1 Diesel re-releases could be flooding the market in August 1998.

8/4 - Val Venis might be included in the new Jakks assortment of figures that will not have any particular gimmick. The first asst. will include 5 figures.

Unlike one of Val's adult movies, this report comes up a little bit short. His debut figure would spring into action in the Superstars Series 7 assortment along with Edge and X-Pac.

8/5 - Look for a Michael Cole figure from Jakks as part of the Ringside Collection series #3.

What better way to close out on the reports than by a Michael Cole figure suggestion (and that's about as far as it goes, I'm afraid)?

Oh, you say just bring them to an end already and get back to posting something other than massive walls of text?!?

Well, I never!

Okay, maybe I get the point.

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I hope you didn't break a sweat having to sort through all of that!

I kid but, more importantly, I list, too.

Here are ten observations of mine from archiving the AFZN reports of the late 90s, in no particular order.

1. Rumored lineups are like buttholes...


2. Commemorative figures were all the rage in these reports, except none were ever commemorated.


3. Just how close did we come to having a classic BCA series in the late 90s? My guess is that it was just out of reach.
   
4. Whoever thought delaying the flagship Superstars series in favor of possibly promoting the Slammers figures was a certifiable moron, to put it lightly.


5. The saga that was signing and producing an "Iron" Mike Tyson figure only took about eight years (2006 Rocky Series) to see the light of day, but a part of me wonders what a BCA figure would have looked like.


6. Tom Brandi's chances (supposedly 50%) of having his own BCA figure depending on his emergence as "a star" in the WWF has me rolling to this day.
   
7. Although not BCA related, imagine what McFarlane could have done with the WCW license in 1998 before OSFTM and ToyBiz stepped in for good.


8. Would a deluxe line of WWF figures (articulation & accessories) have been a success in 1998? I guess we'll never know, but the price tag would have been steep (by 1998 collecting standards).


9. So much talk about the Legends and Ripped and Ruthless series that it almost makes me forget how much of a failure both were in their day (notice I didn't say "heyday"). The workhorses were undoubtedly Andre (Legends Series 1) and Kane (Ripped and Ruthless Series 2).
   
10. I've realized through this process that I hate chronicling stuff, which probably doesn't bode well for me considering what I write about is, you know, IN THE PAST. Eh, I'll get over it. ;-)
    

Until next time, thanks for looking and have a nice day!

- Alex