My Crazy Weekend Fig Hunt!
This past weekend, with my wife and kids preoccupied, I decided to go on something of a road trip to see if I could find any deals on wrestling figures.... because, of course I did. Travelling to several different cities in two days, here are a few of the things I saw and some that I actually purchased (after the text below, you can scroll through the images).
Toys 'R' Us (Vaughan Ontario)
My local Toys 'R' Us was absolutely stacked with WWE and AEW figures, belts and playsets. Unfortunately, I already had everything I wanted here, including the entire set of WWE Legends Series 12 and AEW Unrivaled Series Six.
Fun side note: Every Toys 'R' Us in the province is just FILLED with Col. Mustafa figures; e.g. dozens and dozens of the short-lived Iron Sheik character. I always set up a mini-display of Mustafas wherever I go.
B & K Collectibles (Waterloo, Ontario)
I've been to B & K a few times now, and it's worth the drive. In addition to having tons of Funkos (if you're into that), the store always has the newest WWE and AEW releases before anyone else in the area. While the prices are on the high side, they're probably importing their inventory from the likes of Ringside Collectibles or other distributors and, having ordered figures off those sites before, the import fees to Canada are quite pricey. In addition, the staff are extremely knowledgeable and friendly.
I ended up picking up Mean Mark Callous (WWE Legends Series 14) for my rapidly-expanding WCW Mattel collection, and also because it's an amazing figure.
Walmart (Waterloo, Ontario)
Walmarts in the area almost always have the exact same merchandise when it comes to wrestling - a few Masters of the WWE Universe figs (always Series Six, for some reason), some ancient WWE Mattel releases, and a mixed bag of AEW figs from different series. It's always worth checking, but nine times out ten, I leave Walmart empty-handed.
Toys 'R' Us (Waterloo, Ontario)
Lucky for me, these three Waterloo stores are a five-minute drive apart, but the inventory here was exactly the same as in Vaughan, right down to the multiple Mustafas.
Walmart (Brantford, Ontario)
I'd never been to this Walmart before, so I figured it was worth a try. The shelves were only semi-stocked, but nothing out of the ordinary. Having said that... I did find some packages of WWE Panini Prizm Cards there (for the first time), and given it's the debut series, I had to at least see what the fuss was about.
Woodstock Toy Expo (Woodstock, Ontario)
I haven't been to a collectibles show since the beginning of the pandemic and this was the primary destination for my little road trip. I'd been to this show once before, but at least five years ago. It's always a decent-sized vendor population there, but the wrestling figures weren't as plentiful as they were last time.
I took a few photos of the loose and packaged wrestling figures I saw, and I did end up buying three things there:
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Finn Balor WWE Entrance Greats
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Chyna WWE Legends Series 14
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Hillbilly Jim WWF Wrestling Superstars (Complete with floppy hat and poster, neither of which I've ever owned. My childhood Hillbilly is a bit of a mess, so I figured it was worth a few bucks to upgrade it).
Toys 'R' Us (Thornhill, Ontario)
This is my childhood Toys 'R' Us, and I don't visit there very often any more but it was on my way home.... There was the usual Mustafa Militia on sale here, but nothing I wanted to buy. Oh... I did stumble across a fig-swapped Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Sgt. Slaughter box. I am calling the hybrid figure Stone Cold Steve Slaughter. "Atten-hut, ya mealy-mouthed piece of trash!"
In the end, five purchases over two days. Not bad for a weekend road trip!