Joe King
Original San Francisco Toy Makers would get hit hard when they lost their rights to produce professional wrestling toys. They held the license making WCW toys from 1994-1997. Their head of marketing, Bobby Kanoff(RIP), was a huge wrestling fan and wanted to stay in that particular market to be able to mingle with the superstars of the industry. Not only did he help them get the WCW license…he also had previously worked for Galoob and was instrumental in helping them get their WCW license.
With WWF having Jakks Pacific and WCW having ToyBiz, OSFTM decided to enter “The Land of Extreme” and acquire the Extreme Championship Wrestling license. ECW was on fire at the time having Pay-Per-Views, video games, a show on network television, and major distribution deals everywhere. They would acquire the ECW license in 1998 and begin production immediately and the first wave was released in 1999.
Their figures would be released through 6 different series with many variants of some of the company’s top superstars. RVD, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Shane Douglas, and many others would finally be immortalized as action figures. Most would have different color schemes, New Jack would have both a noose & non noose version, and Shane Douglas would have a big head and a small head variant. The ECW OSFTM line is one of my favorite toy lines ever made. While their movements were limited, the wrestler’s likeness are uncanny. Each figure would come with an accessory/weapon through the first three series and then series 4-6 would include stickers, trading cards, and temporary tattoos, respectively. They would also produce a wrestling ring with a steel cage and two different accessories packs that included weapons such as guardrails, chainsaws, chairs, ladders, and guitars. They have recently made a splash in the collector’s market as I’ve noticed a huge increase in their value and more being sold than ever before.
Series 1
Chris Candido
Justin Credible
Rob Van Dam
Sabu
Shane Douglas
Taz
Series 2
Bubba Ray Dudley
D-Von Dudley
Lance Storm
New Jack
Tommy Dreamer
Series 3
Justin Credible
New Jack
Rob Van Dam
Sabu
Taz
Tommy Dreamer
Series 4: Champion Clashers
Axl Rotten
Balls Mahoney
Jerry Lynn
Raven
Rhino
Rob Van Dam
Taz
Yoshihiro Tajiri
Series 5: Bash of The Brawlers
Justin Credible
Little Guido
Mike Awesome
Super Nova
Sabu
Sandman
Steve Corino
Super Crazy
Series 6: Thrill Zone
Balls Mahoney
Chris Candido
Lance Storm
New Jack
Raven
Rhino
Rob Van Dam
Tommy Dreamer
David Fullam
Liked the handful I had.