Toy Review: WWE Series 44 Goldust (Mattel)

I've been collecting WWE Mattel action figures for about a year or so now.   I grew up collecting WWF Hasbro toys, then moved into the long and sometimes awful era of Jakks.    My son has recently gotten into professional wrestling at the age of three and WWE is the promotion he watches the most along with Lucha Underground.    The reason why we get WWE toys?   There really aren't many others on the market in the U.S.     So when we found this Goldust figure at Target, on sale for $9.89, months after buying the Corporate Kane from this same series, I asked my son if he wanted him and he said yes.   His reason?   Because when Smack Down! was moving from Friday (back) to Thursday they had a promo where superstars took the Rorschach test and Goldust said "Thursday... chomp!", which my son enjoys repeating.

Now this is my forty-somethingth WWE Mattel figure and yet the first one I am writing a review for, why I'm not sure.    I began watching WWE before Goldust made his debut so in many ways you could say that this is a character I have followed throughout his time in WWE.     Goldust used to come out with an elaborate robe and wig but hasn't in some time (since teaming with Cody Rhodes, who would go on to become Stardust) so not having those as accessories in some sort of classic Goldust doesn't bother me in the least especially since I know that adding in those pieces and an extra joint movement or two would double the price.

To understand why I bought this Goldust figure (outside of my son wanting it) is to understand why and how I collect WWE Mattel figures.   I am no longer buying every figure made or at least one of every character made as I did in the Jakks days.   I simply can't be bothered to do so and a lot of the current roster is boring and as such I have no desire to own figures based on Mark Henry, Big Show, etc.    My collection is based upon current superstars whom I enjoy, which go from Sin Cara, Cesaro, The Wyatt Family and The Shield to guys who aren't on the roster any more such as Alberto Del Rio, Mason Ryan, Drew McIntyre, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne and Justin Gabriel.

Since I like to think of my collection as being "current", since it is the time frame in which my son is watching, I'm trying to get only the superstars who are active or how they look now.   This means I will be getting a WWE version of Sting and not Surfer era WCW Sting as well as the modern version of Hulk Hogan and not the days when he was an active wrestler.    If one day Mattel should make a figure of, say, Kevin Owens and he wants to fight Hulk Hogan, he's going to fight 2014 era Hulk Hogan and not 1984 era Hulkster.   It makes sense in my mind, but I'm not sure if I can explain it properly to everyone else or not.   Also, Brian Pillman and Vader are glaring exceptions to this rule but for justified reasons.

As this is a modern version of a classic in Goldust you might ask why and though I can only recall one WWE Jakks Goldust figure there are a number of Mattel versions, probably an Elite as well.   But I'm not going to pay Elite money for Goldust.   I don't need or care about the accessories he'll come with or his extra movements.    Basic is fine for me when it comes to Goldust, though yes there are figures which I have required to get in Elite form and most likely will in the future as well.   Most recently that I can recall, Goldust came in a Battle Pack (which is Mattel's way of saying "two pack") with Cody Rhodes but by the time those hit stores Cody was already into his Stardust character.   Whether or not we'll get Stardust as a figure is another story altogether.

This has to be my favorite version of Goldust made by Mattel because even though it doesn't have as much gold in it as he has in his past days of wrestling, he could just as easily be facing Adam Rose on WWE Superstars (where Adam Rose will lose, because he always loses) or Razor Ramon back in the 1990's.     This is why I like it most I suppose- because Goldust hasn't really changed his look that drastically over the years, at least not in action figure form- and as one of my favorite wrestlers because I feel like in ways I've taken his journey in his WWE career with him, this became a must have for me even if I didn't know it before I got it.

The details are there, with the star on the back and his name written in it, an homage back to when he used to quote famous movies in his promos.   He also only has his head partially painted so on the back you can see his hair and neck.   This was done on purpose and was probably harder to pull off than not and as such Playmates could take a note from it in their laziness in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.     The best part about this figure is that I will most likely never buy another Goldust again and that is all right with me.