WWE Elite Flashback Collection -Irwin R. Schyster AKA I.R.S. Review !!!

Just in time for TAX SEASON , I.R.S. is here !!! I purchased this figure of Irwin R. Schyster at a local Walmart for around 19.99 . For those whom may not know the background of this character , he is supposed to be a former Internal Revenue Service employee turned pro wrestler . Not the real man, whose real name is Lawrence Michael  Rotunda, but his character of Irwin applies to being a former government worker . As noted on the packaging , this is the first appearance of I.R.S. in the line . Another well known and popular wrestler from the 1990s, fans seemed to love poking fun at him with chants of " Irwin , Irwin " . Ha haa, I'm sure many WWE fans remember those moments.

I've been wishing for a figure of this guy for a while , now he's finally here. Irwin is interesting because he's different. And by that I mean it's not too often that wrestlers in office attire are made into action figures. Now let's take a look at Irwin out of the packaging , both with and without his glasses.

There is quite a bit of information to be discussed about this figure . Depending on how you view things, one could say that he comes with either two or three accessories. The packaging just mentions his glasses and briefcase, however his suspenders can also be removed if you choose to do so . Just like with Masters of the Universe figures, there is a loop in the back where you can unhook and then remove the suspenders, similar to removing armor from MOTU figures . His tie is a soft rubbery plastic and can be moved around, it is not sculpted onto the figure . If you look closely on the left side of his chest, you can see the initials IRS on his shirt . The letters are not separated by dots. So neither the suspenders or tie are sculpted on .

As for Irwin's appearance, while wearing the glasses he kind of reminds me of Clark Kent, Superman's secret identity. The glasses and the jet black hair makes him resemble Clark Kent with his hair combed backwards . Speaking of the glasses, they are a nice accessory and they look nice, however they can easily fall off of his face if you move the figure around too quickly. They are not easy too keep on when moving the figure, which makes me wish Mattel should have done something to make them remain on Irwin's face more securely .

Irwin is also the first WWE Mattel figure to come with just plain regular eye glasses, and not shades or sunglasses. There are a lot of figures out there with sunglasses and shades, but Irwin becomes the first with regular glasses in this line. However he is not the first action figure ever to wear regular removable glasses, to be honest I'm not sure what figure holds that honor. However the most recent is

Mezco's  Hiro Nakamura from the Heroes toy line .

The glasses on both of these figures feel as if they are made of the same material , even though these two action figures were made years apart from one another . The main difference here is that Irwin's glasses can easily be placed off or on , whereas with Hiro if you want to remove his glasses you would have to cut them off with some scissors maybe. Also if you want to display Irwin like he is on the packaging, with the glasses hanging below his eyes on the bridge of his nose, you may have some difficulty with this task as they may easily slide off. This is why I think Mattel should have done something similar to what Mezco did with Hiro's glasses . Therefore it is easier to display I.R.S. with his glasses the normal way, at eye level . For those of you that are worried about losing Irwin's glasses, they can easily be stored in his briefcase as shown below. A perfect place to keep them for those who would rather display the figure without the glasses .

As you can see the briefcase opens and closes . Like all WWE Mattel figures, Irwin's face and hair are highly detailed . For the face you can see wrinkles, bags under the eyes, etc, and for the hair he has that waved back look like it's been greased and combed . I love the realism with all of these figures, not just I.R.S. I also love the " Elite Flashback Collection ". Below are just three figures produced under this title.

Three members from the Elite Flashback Collection, The Godfather, I.R.S. , and Doink the Clown . Notice that all of these guys are from the 1990s WWE era. So for those of you collectors that are looking for figures of wrestlers from the 1990s or earlier, then now is the time to visit your local Walmarts, Targets , Toys R Us or wherever you buy your action figures from because these guys are coming out in droves .

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - Irwin has the same basic normal excellent articulation that all WWE Elite figures always have, with the only thing being limited is the up and down head movement .

(2) STANDING  ABILITY - The figure stands very well with no balance issues.

(3) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - The glasses. The briefcase opens and closes plus it fits well into either hand. The idea of the suspenders being removable is also nice, even  though I have no desire to remove them from Irwin. However having the option of removing the suspenders from Irwin and placing them onto another figure is a nice luxury to have .

(4) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THIS  FIGURE ? - The glasses can easily fall off of his face .

(5) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURE ? - Come up with a way to make the glasses stay on easier .

(6) GRADING  SCALE - Despite my gripe about the glasses not fitting securely, I still give this figure a Perfect 10 . After all, the glasses are optional for display , so without them this is a flawless figure in my opinion .

(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - Rather you decide to display Irwin with or without the glasses , I think he looks cool standing next to the other wrestlers from his era. It's great to finally have I.R.S. in this toy line .