Toying with Success 2: The Story of the AWA Action Figures

Joe King

When most people think about the earliest professional wrestling toys to be produced, they think of the big rubber “Wrestling Superstars” toy line from the World Wrestling Federation made by LJN. But another well-known wrestling organization from that era actually produced and released toys first. That organization was the AWA or American Wrestling Association.The one market that professional wrestling had yet to capitalize on was the toy market.  In 1984, the AWA partnered with Remco to develop their line of toys called “All Star Wrestlers”. The top tag-teams of the AWA including The Road Warriors(Hawk & Animal), The High Flyers(Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell), and The Fabulous Ones(Steve Keirn & Stan Lane) would be the first to ever have toys made with their likeness. 

Remco was originally negotiating to become the WWF’s first official toy company before anyone else. They offered Vince McMahon $10,000 but was eventually outbid by Galoob and finally LJN. After Vince McMahon wound up choosing LJN, Remco quickly pivoted and re-purposed an already existing toy line called “Lost World of The Warlord” and made them look as close to the stars of the American Wrestling Association as they possibly could. The AWA Remco toy line called “All-Star Wrestlers” would hit shelves in 1985, just months prior to LJN’s WWF line. 

I remember finding these at a mom & pops discount store as a youngster. As a matter of fact, I still have my Road Warrior Animal and Curt Hennig figures from back then. 

Most of the Remco AWA figures were released and sold in multi-packs. The first series was sold in 2-pack sets featuring Tag Team Wrestlers and a Main Event two-pack featuring Baron Von Raschke vs Rick Martel. Each came with a free AWA Souvenir such as a badge or ring. Series 2 was the same but with different tag-teams. Series 3 consisted of 3-pack sets which featured tag-teams with their valets and/or managers. My personal favorite series was series 4, which was titled ‘Greatest Grudge Matches’. This series had black/gold card backings and included figures of legends from the AWA such as Abdullah The Butcher, Carlos Colon, Jerry Blackwell, Scott Hall, Stan Hansen, & Nick Bockwinkel. They wouldn’t release individual wrestlers until Series 5, which was the last series ever released, called ‘Mat Mania’. Remco also produced a thumb-wrestling series called Thumbsters, Fight To The Finish which included two figures along with a VCR cassette tape featuring classic matches.

Many of the figures came with robes, clothing, belts, and other accessories. Also released were Mini Mashers, a Battle Royal Ring/Playset that included 7 figures, a Championship Belt, and the AWA All-Star Wrestling Ring before ceasing production in 1987. Some of the more iconic figures from this line are Nord The Barbarian,The Fabulous Freebirds, Midnight Rockers(Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels), Ric Flair, Rick Martel, Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie, and The Road Warriors with Paul Ellering. They have become pretty popular again over the last few years with collectors and have become quite valuable. The Nord The Barbarian figure from the Remco AWA ‘Mat Mania’ series is one of the most valuable wrestling toys of all time, as one that was Mint on Card sold for $4200! A loose one excluding accessories is currently up for auction for $1200. Others that are extremely rare and pricey include Boris Zhukov, Buddy Rose, Shawn Michaels, & Marty Jannetty. 

SERIES ONE- TAG TEAM/MAIN EVENT 

•Road Warriors(Animal/Hawk)

•High Flyers(Greg Gagne/Jim Brunzell)

•Fabulous Ones(Steve Keirn/Stan Lane)

•Rick Martel vs Baron Von Raschke

SERIES TWO- TAG TEAM/MAIN EVENT

•Gagne’s Raiders(Gagne/Hennig)

•Long Riders(Bill & Scott Irwin)

•Ric Flair vs Larry Zbyszko

•Rick Martel vs Baron Von Raschke

SERIES THREE- 3 MAN TAG TEAM

•Animal/Hawk/Paul Ellering

•Fabulous Freebirds(Hayes/Roberts/Gordy)

•Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin/Regal/Precious 

SERIES FOUR- GREATEST GRUDGES

•Abdullah vs Carlos Colon 

•Gorgeous Jimmy vs Scott Hall

•Jerry Blackwell vs Stan Hansen

•Larry Zbyszko vs Nick Bockwinkel

SERIES FIVE- MAT MANIA

•Boris Zhukov 

•Buddy Rose 

•Dick Woehrle

•Doug Somers

•Marty Jannetty 

•Nick Bockwinkel

•Nord The Barbarian 

•Paul Ellering

•Ric Flair

•Shawn Michaels

•Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie

FIGHT TO THE FINISH SERIES

•Buddy Rose vs Greg Gagne 

•Michael Hayes vs Rick Martel 

•Steve Regal vs Curt Hennig

AWA THUMBSTERS

•Rick Martel vs Animal

•Greg Gagne vs Hawk

•Ric Flair vs Larry Zbyszko

PLAYSETS & ACCESSORIES

•All-Star Wrestling Ring

•Battle Royal Ring & Figure Playset

•Championship Belt

•Steel Cage Match Playset

•Power Slam Wrestling VCR Game