Photographing the BCA line, eBay style!

It's not like I want this person to photograph my entire collection for me because I'm that lazy, but it is.

I spotted a few eBay auctions by a seller named gwrbrunel whose listed a few mixed lots of wrestling figures at somewhat reasonable Buy It Now prices as of late and the quality of the photos stood out to me.

Well, that and the fact that I wanted to see how many of the BCAs I could easily identify upon first glance.

Yeah, I'm a nerd.

So, I thought what better way to relay the photos I've seen than to put together a little slideshow and feature them here on the blog.

Did I say I was lazy? Yeah, that might have something to do with another short post.

Enjoy!



Some shots are a little out of focus, but I can appreciate the effort with the clean backdrop.

What do you think? Would you like to see more?

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

- Alex

"Three Generations" of The Rock's BCA figures

I'm a little behind the times, in case you didn't know from reading the contents of this blog.

The same can be said for my DVR watching, especially as it relates to current WWE programming.

It took three weeks, but I finally caught up to WWE's May 2nd edition of Monday Night Raw celebrating The Rock's 39th birthday in his hometown of Miami.

Credit to WrestlingFigs.com forum member zappa2510 for alerting me to a BCA sighting on that particular episode.

Everyone got their binoculars ready?!?

Okay, you don't really need them, but pull them out if you must.

The binoculars.

Anyway, as The Rock stood in the center of the ring, Vince McMahon introduced a tribute video put together by WWE's production team which included a few shots of what is, presumably, a display of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's action figures from within his home.

You can't see much besides heads and upper torsos, but it's clear that a few BCA sculpts are shown.



It's likely this display includes Rocky Maivia's debut Superstars Series 5 figure (1st photo, center) and the customizer's favorite Off The Mat boxed set Rocky Maivia figure (1st photo, to the right).

Other figures from the Bend-Ems, Maximum Sweat, and TTL lines find their place underneath the same "Three Generations" framed photo.

It's nice to see diversity in The Rock's own collection, hearkening back to his roots and the earliest incarnations of his on-screen persona in figure form.

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

- Alex

Collecting WWF Divas in the BCA line

Divas figure collectors can be an interesting bunch, to say the least.

They're devoted to the six-inch plastic representations of their real-life plastic favorite women wrestlers.

Nothing wrong with that, and I certainly won't be the first to judge what with having my own unhealthy obsessions like BCA figures, and sweet potatoes.

Okay, maybe that last one isn't so bad.

Feeding your obsessions can be difficult to keep pace with if, for example, you are awaiting future Mattel WWE Divas or Jakks TNA Knockout figures.

In the meantime, and if you haven't yet done so through the years, maybe you should consider adding Jakks WWF Divas figures from the BCA line.

What they lack in articulation and, for some, likeness, they more than make up for with attention to much smaller details and an unparalleled connection to the Attitude era.

Beginning in the year 1997, Jakks Pacific introduced female wrestling figures to collectors who hadn't known many since the days of Miss Elizabeth in the LJN line.

Sable's debut Jakks figure in a glittery black dress accompanies then-husband "Wildman" Marc Mero as part of a Managers Series 2-pack released in July 1997.

In true Jakks fashion, Sable's sculpt is repainted to red not long after for an October 1997 release of Ringside Collection Series 1 alongside Sunny's debut figure in a white top and black skirt.

Sunny with an all-pink outfit and white boots would become the first to receive the exclusive treatment in the first Raw is War boxed set released by the end of the year.

April of 1998 saw the Managers Series replaced by 2 Tuff Series 1 and two more debut Divas figures, Chyna (with HHH) and Marlena (with Goldust).

Chyna would go on to receive the second most BCA figures (with seven) of any WWF Diva not named Sable (who had eight); for the record, Sunny finishes in third (with three, including a Special Edition Series 1 re-release), and the rest (Debra, Jacqueline, Luna, and Marlena) are tied with one figure a piece.

Amidst a sea or vast space of repaints and re-releases in 1998, namely Chyna's gold attire repaint for Live Wire Series 1, there was one additional debut figure issued in a December 1998 Grudge Match 2-pack opposite Sable - that being Luna.

Jacqueline's debut (Signature Series 3, February 1999) and Debra's debut (2 Tuff Series 5 with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, September 1999) figures highlight the rest of the BCA line's contributions to Divas figures, though Sable's endless repaints continue on with Shotgun Saturday Night Series 2 (January 1999) and the Sunday Night Heat Series (March 1999).

Last but not least, Jakks partnered up with White's Guide magazine in 1999 for a limited edition (1 of 5,000) Sable figure in metallic silver gear repainted from her S.T.O.M.P. Series 3 figure, as previously seen on the blog.

If you're like me and you respond better to list form than paragraph mentions, here is a complete list of all of the Divas figures in the BCA line, as organized by character.

Chyna:
2 Tuff Series 1 (debut)
Live Wire Series 1 (2T1 repaint)
Best of '98 Series 1 (LW1 re-release)
Special Edition Series 4 (2T1 re-release)
D-Generation X Boxed Set (2T1 re-release)
S.T.O.M.P. Series 2
S.T.O.M.P. Series 4 (non-BCA sculpt)

Debra:
2 Tuff Series 5 with "Double J" Jeff Jarrett (debut)

Jacqueline:
Signature Series 3 (debut)

Luna:
Grudge Match 2-pack with Sable (debut)

Marlena:
2 Tuff Series 1 with Goldust (debut)

Sable:
Managers Series 1 (debut)
Ringside Collection Series 1 (Man1 repaint)
Shotgun Saturday Night Series 2 (STOMP3 repaint)
Sunday Night Heat Series (STOMP3 repaint)
Grudge Match 2-pack with Luna (STOMP3 re-release w/o accessories)
Special Edition Series 2 (Man1 re-release)
S.T.O.M.P. Series 3
White's Guide 1 of 5,000 Boxed Exclusive (STOMP3 repaint with accessories)

Sunny:
Ringside Collection Series 1 (debut)
Special Edition Series 1 (RSC1 re-release)
Raw Is War #1 Boxed Set (RSC1 repaint)

As of now, I own about 14 of those listed above, but there are several that I'm still after (specifically, Live Wire Series 1 Chyna and Ringside Collection Series 1 Sable).

Here's to hoping I find a few of my wants and you discover yours.

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

- Alex

BCA Custom Corner #7 - Razor's Edge, Part Three

The trilogy is complete tonight for my series of posts dedicated to the exceptional work by the customizers of The Razor's Edge Custom Wrestling Figures website.

As I've mentioned before in Part One and Part Two, I came across a link to the old site while browsing the Internet Archive (one of the few redeeming methods of researching the BCA line, along with Google Groups).

The following embedded slideshow contains images of Extreme Championship Wrestling figure customs, as well as one Hayabusa from FMW and Stevie Richards from the Indies, all made by the Razor's Edge crew.



Here we see some of the mainstays of ECW in the late 1990s, as well as undeniable effort and attention to detail for characters like Raven, RVD, and The Sandman.

You also have to admire the smooth paint job for Super Nova and head choices for the Impact Players (Credible and Storm).

It's good to see another variation of Stevie Richards, and how appropriate to use a Shawn Michaels head considering his influence on a young Stevie.

My personal favorite would be The Sandman, followed by Raven, but I could see myself adding any one of these figures to my collection.

Don't get me wrong, I love the OSFTM ECW line and think it's criminally underrated, but the prospects of ECW wrestlers in the BCA line (and maybe there might have been, who knows) is too good to pass up.

So, which is your favorite? Have you ever attempted an ECW custom using BCA figures?

If you've ever stumbled on the Collection tab of this blog, you would have seen my Mikey Whipwreck custom (of a 2 Tuff Series 4 Billy Gunn figure) made when I was a kid.

And that's why I feel compelled to acknowledge the great ones out there, because customizing ain't easy.

That, or I just suck.

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

- Alex

Tomart's has got your fix of MOC BCA figure pics

Courtesy of one Tomart's Action Figure Digest #079 issue and WrestlingFigs.com forum member mad2009's recent "Blast from the Past" post, it was brought to my attention, and the rest of the WF community, that multiple pages showcasing MOC BCA figures just...never gets old.

MOC, MIB, MIP - It doesn't matter how you classify their mint statuses, just as long as you become familiar with the names and series of origin.

Take a look at these 11 magazine scans and see if there are any figures pictured that you may have owned, always wanted but never had, or never knew even existed.

Please note that this is not a complete collection of the BCA line. Several of the later series are missing from these pages, but it should be comprehensive enough for the casual collector.

Here are a few notes of what I found interesting from Tomart's pages.

Notes:

Anyone else notice the variant Superstars Series 1 and 2 cards? The text in the upper right corner is either a glossy finish or backed by a yellow stamp marking.

Bret Hart from the third photo exemplifies this difference in the line-up across the top of the right side of the page.

My belief is that these cards came in separate waves, though I'm not sure of the order. Considering most of the Series 1 and 2 cards appear to have the glossy text, I would think the yellow backdrop was released first.

Is there any sort of rarity in the differences of the cards? I don't know, but I'll see what I can find.

You'll also see the Superstars Series 3 card shape variants in Picture 3, from the die-cut design to the regular or full-sized cards (or however it is you refer to them).

In Picture 6, Fully Loaded Series 1 Kane and Al Snow have a pair of packaging variants; the accessories included in each are shifted for, well, unknown reasons. Kane comes with a mallet and shovel, and Al Snow is featured with Head and a trusty stool.

Also, for the Maximum Sweat fans out there, Kane is pictured both with and without his mask in another interesting packaging arrangement.

The Raw Is War Series Stone Cold Steve Austin from Picture 8 has light and dark paint applications to his facial hair, thus making another unusual variant for BCA figure collectors.

Speaking of unusual, it's not often that the Jakks Pacific BCA 3-packs are acknowledged, but in Picture 10 we see those for the WrestleMania XIV and Superstars Series 7 sets (more on these 3-packs in a later post).

Also from Picture 10, the Championship Title Series #1 and Survivor Series boxed set variants ("Europeam" incorrect spelling, and Goldust's wacky assemblance of parts from 'Taker to Vader's influence).

Finally, in Picture 11 we are introduced to some of the bagged exclusives for the BCA line, as well as Raw Is War Monster Ring variants with Referee and Vince McMahon figures included (for more on these ring variants, check out the BCA Checklist tab at the top of the page and scroll to the bottom).

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

- Alex