Hey guys and welcome to another installment of Figure Friday! This week we look at an action figure you definitely won’t be saying, “They don’t want none” to, the Figures Toy Company Exclusive variant version Rising Stars AJ Styles!
This figure is ONLY available on FiguresToyCompany.com / WrestlingSuperstore.com and is the variant, what looks like his recent WWE attire, versus the gray/black attire version also available on their website currently. He is part of their Rising Stars line that has a lot of up and coming wrestlers or wrestlers who are now/were in WWE and/or TNA. They also have a Legends of Professional Wrestling series coming soon with first time figures/figures of guys who haven’t had a nice figure in many years as well as their Ring of Honor series that you can currently order on their website!
Looking at AJ in the packaging you can see he has a very unique style packaging to any current wrestling figure, which is pretty cool. The card design is really nice, as I love the graphic with a ring in the background. The illustrated graphic of AJ is a nice touch as well. The best part of this packaging in my opinion is that the top is only fastened with a zip tie with the FTC logo on a tag. If you open the side near AJ (the plastic splits as it’s just folded) carefully you can just slide AJ out of the box without undoing the zip tie or even hurting the card if you choose to display him back in the box after removing him. The packaging also comes with a thin plastic layer adhesive over the window of the box to prevent any scratching, as seen in my photos below. You can see some of his accessories in the window there as he has a blue guardrail behind him as well as a folded towel and microphone in a baggie under his feet if you can see that.
Looking at the back of the box you can see all the other stars, from indy guys to Lucha Underground to TNA to WWE and many others on the back. There’s a huge lineup and not all of these guys are available just yet but should definitely surface throughout 2017. Not to mention a sneak peek of the first Legends of the Ring series coming soon, which I personally am very excited to get, especially the Blue Meanie’s very first figure! I’ll hopefully review him in a future review!
Now let’s take a look at the Phenomenal One out of the packaging! My biggest compliment straight out of the packaging is his vest. It’s made out of I assume fake leather and it has a cloth hood and a real working zipper, which is just awesome. It really make this figure pop in my opinion and you won’t get this on the new WWE Mattel one, which I’ll review soon as well. The detail on this figure is phenomenal, no pun intended. If you ever collected before Mattel you’ll realize this figure looks a lot like the old Jakks Pacific WWE/TNA figures and you’re correct as FTC used the same bodies with fresh, new head sculpts and cloth goods. If you prefer the older Jakks figures, as I know many still do to this day, this figure will fit in well with that collection.
As you can see AJ has a screaming head scan, which is pretty cool as you can see his tongue and teeth. The detail in his hair is great as well and I think the likeness is pretty good honestly. Head scans can sometimes be difficult but I feel they did a decent job. I’m not a fan of yelling scans personally but this one doesn’t really bother me. Looking at his body you can see he has a ball jointed head and arms, swivel wrists, jointed hands/elbows/knees/ankles and a swivel waist joint. He is very similar to the Jakks WWE Ruthless Aggression figures if you had/have any of those. He also has a rubber elbow pad and kneepads, which are a thin rubber that honestly don’t really restrict any of his movement, which is great for posing purposes.
Lastly, looking at his detail he has his torso tattoo that says AJ and the dates below it. He has some designs on his gloves and even wrinkles on them, too. They painted part of his tights over his belly button, which may be annoying to some but sometimes it’s hard for them to put the detail on the figure so that’s the route they go. He also has his P1 logo on his right leg, wrinkles in his tights and designs on his kick pads that say Phenomenal and 1. Looking at his accessories his cloth towel is made out of towel material and has snap buttons so you could fasten it around his waist or head if you wanted. The guardrail is made of plastic, it’s a little small scale wise but it still looks nice and lastly his microphone is like the old Jakks mics with the detail on the mic and a “button” they would press to talk.
Overall, I’d say this figure is a really nice piece, especially for anyone who loves AJ Styles. It’s a totally different style figure than his Mattel ones and the vest alone makes it that much more worthwhile in my opinion. Or if you just don’t like Mattel but want a pretty modern AJ in the old Jakks style be sure to pick him up while supplies last! You can also put him back into his packaging with ease if you change your mind later, which is an awesome feature. He is currently on their website and can be ordered here!
Thanks for checking out this week’s Figure Friday! Be sure to tune in Monday to see a new episode of Figure 2 Photo showing the making of the photo above. In the meantime, feel free to keep up with me on my Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for more wrestling figure photography and wrestling figure news! Thanks and I’ll see you next week!
Have any figures you’d like to see me review? Feel free to comment below or reach out to me on Twitter/Facebook and let me know!
Figure Friday FTC Exclusive AJ Styles
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_1
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_2
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_3
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_4
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_5
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_6
-
Wz_figure_friday_ftc_aj_7
