Sunday, April 24, 2016

Action Figure Review: Lana from WWE by Mattel

 Lana actually made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania 32 a few weeks ago, so we'll see how that turns out. A year or two ago, Lana and Rusev had one of my favorite story lines in WWE. The bizarre Lana and Dolph Ziggler storyline from last summer just got really strange, though, and now that Rusev's part of the League of Nations I find him less interesting, too. That's a shame and I'm hoping things turn around for them. Anyways, this version of Lana was released in the basic series at the end of 2015 but, like most other basic female figures, she has the same level of articulation as the Elite releases. Lana was originally released in a battle pack with Rusev in a red dress so this is just a simple repaint but if you didn't want to get saddled with a spare basic Rusev, this is the way to go. Unfortunately, while I was looking forward to Lana, this just isn't that great of a figure. Read on and find out why it might be best to leave her on the shelf after the break...



The Facts:

Height: 6 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged ankles, hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, swivel waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel wrists, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: Skirt

Non-Scalper Price: $10-$11 dollars
 The Positives:


*Lana does have a fair amount of articulation. While her main functions when she managed Rusev was talking trash and making hare the Bulgarian Brute made it to the ring, you can definitely reenact some of the disputes she got into as well.
The Negatives:

* Considering how some of the female superstars tend to come out in this line, this really isn't a bad likeness of Lana. They've captured her likeness. Unfortunately, her head either looks too small or her body is too large. There's also some weird black paint slop on the top of her head. It's not visible in this picture but it's totally there. How weird.



* Lana's jacket and skirt are rubber overlays on a standard female body and I have to say that they just look way too thick. The rubber material just makes Lana look oversized and disproportionate. I really wish Mattel had tried to sculpt some new parts for Lana that could be used with other females in similar attire because this just doesn't work. I don't know, it looks really poorly done to my eyes.
 I'm just not that thrilled with this figure. She's really below average, even for a basic figure, and just seems like little effort was thrown into creating her. She's not atrocious but she's definitely one of the least impressive WWE figures I've seen lately. Unfortunately, Lana ends up with an Eh and a 1/2 rating. Thick rubber garments just don't look that good no matter who is wearing them, and this is one of the worst I've seen in the line. I don't know if we'll ever see another Lana unless her in-ring career is successful so let's hope it is; Lana deserves better than this.

I've reviewed plenty of other WWE figures from Mattel, including:

WWE by Mattel
AJ Lee (Series 53)
Bray Wyatt (Series 55)
Charlotte
Paige (Series 57)
Stephanie McMahon (Series 40)
Tyler Breeze

WWE Battle Packs by Mattel
Big E & Kofi Kingston
Konnor & Viktor 
Nikki Bella & Brie Bella (Series 38)

WWE Elite Collection by Mattel
Bad News Barrett (Series 34)
Bo Dallas 
Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt (Series 36)
Brock Lesnar (Series 37)
Cesaro (Series 33)
Damien Mizdow
Daniel Bryan (Series 38)
Dean Ambrose (Series 36) 
Dean Ambrose (Series 41)
Dolph Ziggler (Series 39)
Erick Rowan
Goldust (Series 36)
Hulk Hogan (Series 34)
John Cena (Series 40)
Kane (Series 31)
Luke Harper (Series 35)
Mark Henry (Series 32)
The Miz (Series 37)
Paige
Randy Orton (Series 35)
Roman Reigns (Series 38)
Rusev 
Ryback (Series 41)
Seth Rollins (Series 37) 
Stardust (Series 36)
Stephanie McMahon (Series 37)
Triple H (Series 35) 

WWE Elite Collection: Hall of Fame by Mattel
Sargent Slaughter
Stone Cold Steve Austin

WWE Elite Collection: Wrestlemania XXX by Mattel
Bray Wyatt

WWE Elite Collection: Wrestlemania 31 by Mattel
Seth Rollins (Seth Cashes In!)

2 comments:

  1. I agree with you about Rusev and Lana. I loved Rusev when he was just a monster. I'm not interested at all now that he's in the League of Nations. Lana was great when she was the voice of the monster, doing all the talk while Rusev destroyed in the ring. They were both perfect in those roles.

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    Replies
    1. I just watched RAW and I thought Lana and Rusev fighting Sami Zayn on their own (no league) just worked so much better. I'm hoping they get a good story-line again soon.

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