Sunday, April 17, 2011

Looking back at Edge's BCA figures

In the wake of last Monday's retirement announcement, Edge's pro wrestling career has been contemplated over by both fans of the current and past generation(s).

I haven't seen many retrospective accounts on Edge's pro wrestling figure career, though, so I thought...well, there must be a reason for it.

Maybe everyone has better things to do than chronicle a person's representations in plastic form?

Do I? Hmm, I'll get back to you on that one.

Now, as it pertains to Jakks Pacific's BCA figure line, Edge was not a Superstar (forget about being "Rated R", the closest thing to that would be Al Snow's figure controversy).

He wasn't even a main event talent at the time, but he was making strides in the tag team division and as a former Intercontinental champion.

For the sake of formalities, here are all of Edge's BCA figures that I have added to VJB's official checklist.

*Note: The photos are above the descriptions, so the list begins with Superstars Series 7 Edge and ends with Backlash Series 4 Edge.


Considering the fact that most of these were repaints and only two had significantly different parts chosen (Backlash Series 3 and 4), it's surprising that there are only three straight re-releases from that list.

Superstars Series 7 3-pack (BJ's Exclusive)
Deadly Games Series 3-pack (BJ's Exclusive)
Signature Series 4 3-pack (KB Toys Exclusive)

Edge's debut BCA figure, alongside Val Venis and X-Pac, from Superstars Series 7 was released in January 1999 and his last came as late as the summer of 2001, July to be exact, when Backlash Series 4 reached KB Toys stores.

A two-and-a-half year (1999-2001) BCA figure run pales in comparison to his actual WWF/E in-ring career which lasted nearly 13 years (1998-2011).

However, we were treated to several different colored attires and one repaint that stands far above the rest.

As I did in reviewing Owen Hart's best BCA figure, I will rank Edge's best and worst figures from this particular time period.

The scores might seem low for some people, but I find that Edge's earlier figures suffer from inaccurate reused parts.

You should be able to recognize them from HHH's figure mold introduced in Superstars Series 6, and I can't just pretend that the thick sculpted belt and knee pads don't exist under a new paint application.

It's easy to see then why his last two figures, Backlash Series 3 and 4, turn up at the top of the list for their ingenuity.

Okay, they have recycled parts too, but these figures actually make sense, unusual as it sounds for two end-of-the-line, throwaway repaints from the Backlash series.



So, here is my ranking of the best Edge figures (1-best, 7-worst), as listed above.

  1. Backlash Series 3 - 19/25 (The tights design is phenomenal).

  2. Backlash Series 4 - 16.5/25 (Sure, it's primarily a Slammers Patriot body, but it fits Edge better than a bulky HHH figure).

  3. Signature Series 3 - 15/25 (The best of the bigger Edge figures using HHH's sculpt, except with Razor legs).

  4. Backlash Series 1 - 14.5/25 (The random black vest is a welcome addition, and it's not far removed from the #5-7 figures).

  5. TIE. Deadly Games Series, Signature Series 4, and Special Edition Series 5 (same as Signature Series 3, just without the signature vest) - 14/25

  6. Superstars Series 7 - 13.5/25 (Edge's debut figure is simple and seemingly effective, but there are better repaints).

  7. DTA Tour Series 2 - 13/25 (Backlash Series 4 has bleach blonde hair and this one is almost a dark red - huh? Some of the paint apps only make the head sculpts look worse, if that's possible).


I haven't included in that list the three re-releases from the store exclusive 3-packs.



Here's to a long and well-deserved retirement for Edge, and thanks for all of the memories!

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

- Alex
Posted by adougl5 at 11:26 PM

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