LVJR - Seeing Foley in threes

For the ninth installment of my "Latest Vintage Jakks Receivings" posts, I have stocked up just in time for Halloween in three weeks by adding three faces to my collection.

The three faces of Foley, that is.

I bought Mick Foley's Triple Threat boxed set, along with another item to be mentioned later on Twitter, from an eBay seller this past week for under $9 shipped. Although only one of the figures is new to my rebuilt collection, I figured that it was worth the purchase since I did rank it in my top ten list of the best BCA boxed sets back in June 2009.

As anyone who has followed pro wrestling over the years should know, Mick Foley (the wrestler) once alternated between three different characters -- Cactus Jack, Dude Love and Mankind -- while working for the WWF in the late 1990s; he even wrestled as all three personas in the same match at the 1998 Royal Rumble!

So, there was no doubt that Jakks Pacific would equally represent each of Foley's gimmicks in their WWF BCA figure line. Mankind was the first to receive a figure in the third Superstars assortment, then Dude Love followed as one of several figures to make their debut in Slammers Series 2.

Thus, Cactus Jack was the lone man out and collectors everywhere patiently waited to hear the news of Jack's arrival. That is where Foley's Kay-Bee Toys exclusive Triple Threat set comes into play (or display for all of you MIB collectors out there).

Mick Foley's Triple Threat, or "Faces of Foley" as it's more commonly known as, is best remembered for having the first Cactus Jack BCA figure at the time of its release, September 1998, but it was also a landmark set since it preceded Austin's Bad to the Bonz 3-pack as the first Jakks WWF boxed set to feature three 6-inch figures of the same person.

However, the initial price tag of $21.99 is sure to impress, well, no one.

It doesn't surprise me coming from Jakks and a store exclusive, but there is something to be said about the contents that lie within that rectangular packaging.

One regular BCA figure + two BCA-sized Slammers figures does not = the best possible Foley representation in my book.

It is the one reason why I could not rate the set higher was because of the two Slammers figures which, let's be honest, do not meet the quality of regular BCA figures sans the atrocious "action" features. Not to mention, both Dude Love and Mankind Slammers versions were incredibly easy to find in other Jakks series.

But I would never let that influence my decision to buy this particular set unless, of course, I were sick and tired of the Slammers figures and I'm happy to say that I haven't reached my threshold just yet.

I had to bite the bullet on the less-than-stellar condition of the pack that I won on eBay, but all that matters to me in the end is that the figures are still mint. They are diamonds in the rough, if you will.

The only accessory to be had is a fully-painted barbed wire bat which can be useful for each character, especially if they so choose to use it on themselves and keep coming back for more. That's the kind of Foley spirit I'm looking for in my figures!

I don't think two extra folding chairs would've been an issue for including in a 3-pack since it had been done before in the BCA line, but apparently Jakks didn't see it the same way.

Oh well, at least the packaging they did choose has some great graphics and a color pattern that is oddly attractive to me.

My take: You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the Fac...es of Foley!

But, seriously, it is a quality set which makes for a hell of a collector's item for anyone who claims to be a Foley or late 90s WWF Attitude Era fan. If you can find it for under $10 MIB, and it's not that hard to do, I would recommend taking a chance on it.

Sure, you won't be jumping for joy at Mankind's gorilla arms or Dude Love's bionic elbow (I'll throw in another "if you will" just because!), but Cactus Jack is truly a great figure considering its BCA limitations and all.

Fun fact: Cactus Jack's figure was re-released one more time in the No Holds Barred 3-pack (again exclusive to KB Toys) with Kane and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and he was never seen again in the BCA line.

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

- Alex