A TRIBUTE TO
BONE CRUNCHING ACTION
FIGURES
The year was 1996 and, for the most part, I had stopped collecting wrestling figures. After all, I'd collected all (but one) of the famed LJN Wrestling Superstars set and a healthy chunk of the Hasbro line to boot. What else did I need?
I remember first seeing the Jakks Pacific Bone Crunching Action figures at a Zellers (now-defunct Canadian department store). They were different than previous wrestling figure offerings, in that they were far more articulated and one could bend their knees to make a "bone crunching" sound, thus the name.
I have to admit... I wasn't really interested in these at first. But within a year, the line began expanding unlike any line of collectibles I'd seen before.
Beyond the initial six characters that were sold (Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Goldust, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon and Diesel), the line expanded at an incredible pace.
While the features of these figures were a little cartoonish (not that their predecessors weren't cartoonish... it's just that fans were expecting something more realistic), virtually anyone who was anyone within the world of WWF was captured in rubbery, bone crunching format. For fans and collectors, it opened up a new world of possibilities.
cv
As the Bone Crunching series evolved, the figures became more detailed and realistic. Sure, one can argue that Stone Cold Steve Austin's head sculpt isn't really up to snuff (nor is his torso), you have to appreciate the little things like tattoos, vests and yes, The Rock's infamous People's Eyebrow being included in what was probably the first time ever.
One really cool thing the Bone Crunchers introduced were a wide range of weapons not previously seen in other toy lines. Sure, predecessor lines may have come with hats, canes and snakes.... but in addition to Al Snow's Head and LOD 2000's helmet/shoulderpads, figures came with weapons as diverse as:
-
Broken television sets
-
Ladders
-
Chairs
-
Crutches
-
Guitars
-
Doors
-
Ghetto blasters
-
Super Soaker style water guns
-
Television cameras
-
Microphones
-
Barbed wire baseball bats
-
And yes, the proverbial kitchen sink, too
Perhaps best of all, the Bone Crushing Action line had a massive variety of stars during its six or seven year run. Beyond the figures pictures (Kama Mustafa, Hardcore Holly, Owen Hart, Brian Christopher and Jerry Lawler), other action figure rarities at the time included:
-
Droz
-
Viscera
-
The Godwinns
-
Justin Hawk Bradshaw
-
Flash Funk
-
Savio Vega
-
Steve Blackman
-
Val Venis
-
Gangrel
-
The Sultan
The Bone Crunching Action line probably don't hold a place in collector's hearts the way, say, the WWF Hasbro figures or WCW Galoob ones might... but they're still a pretty important evolution in the history of wrestling figures.