WWE MATTEL - The Hart Foundation Review !!!

Bret "the Hitman" Hart along with Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart , together along with their former manager Jimmy " Mouth of the South" Hart are known as The Hart Foundation . However all three of these guys are sold separately . This review on the other hand is about Bret and Jim . Jimmy Hart was reviewed earlier in 2016 . If you missed the review of Jimmy Hart you can go here http://actionfigureimagerytoyreviews.blogspot.com/2016/04/wwe-elite-hall-of-fame-2005-jimmy-mouth.html . I purchased the figures of both Bret and Jim at a local Walgreens for around the price of $19.99 for each one. Since Bret Hart is the most popular of the two and most well known, I will review his action figure first, then on to Jim Neidhart .

There are previous versions of Bret Hart that were released when he was a singles/individual wrestler. This is the first figure of him as a tag team wrestler. Now for a look at the figure out of the packaging .

The only thing that I do not like about this Bret Hart figure is the facial sculpt. It is because I feel that it does not look very much like him. I prefer the head sculpts of the previous WWE Mattel Bret figures than I do this one because they actually look more like the real man. I think this figure resembles Bret a little, but not a lot. Plus I'm not a fan of the smile, as I do not remember seeing Bret smile a lot. I think he should have came with the facial expression that is on the packaging. Other than this one gripe, he is EXCELLENT as in the " EXCELLENCE OF EXECUTION ", his main catch phrase as a singles wrestler . Bret's hand poses fit in well with his fighting/wrestling style, with the right hand being an open palm fist and the left being a closed fist . Since he was somewhat of a combination of a brawler mixed in with a technical collegiate style of wrestling. I love the knee and elbow pads, I'm glad that they are rubbery and can be moved or cut off if you wish.That's better than them being painted on . The sunglasses that come with Bret do not fit real well on his face. They're almost too big and may fall of sometimes. This does not bother me however because I am use to seeing Bret more without shades than with them. Speaking of accessories, the only other accessory is a tag team championship belt. By the way, both Bret and Jim come with the same belt , so an up close pic of one of the belts is only shown once. 

As always with these figures, the championship belts are gorgeous, looking like an exact copy of the real thing . Plus they shine well in bright light, just like the real belts also . Now for a look at Bret to see if his finishing maneuver ," the Sharpshooter ", can be pulled off.

After several attempts at trying to successfully achieve the "sharp shooter" pose, it is nearly an impossible move to accomplish with the WWE Mattel figures. The sitting position is easy to do, but wrapping the arms around the victim's ankles is tough to do. The victim by the way being Doink the Clown . If Bret's arms or Doink's legs could be contorted just a little more, the move could probably be successfully pulled off. I guess the above pictures could indicate that Bret is " ATTEMPTING " the sharpshooter on Doink, but not actually performing the actual finishing move. At least an attempting look at the maneuver works. Now for a look at the Jim"the Anvil" Neidhart figure.

As you can see this is Jim"the Anvil" Neidhart's "First time in the Line".  Also as you can see that both him and Bret are on each other's packaging, letting collectors know that they are meant to be together as a tag team . Now for a look at the figure out of the packaging . 

As you can see, like Bret , Jim comes with two accessories. A tag team championship belt and a pair of sunglasses. Unlike Bret though, Jim's shades fit perfectly onto his face, not sliding or slipping off. Plus his shades are smaller than Bret's . The shades are not the same but the belts are. Also I think I like the Jim Neidhart figure better than I do the Bret figure. The reason why is that I can find no flaws with the Neidhart figure. Bret on the other hand the facial sculpt and expression are the only flaws for that particular figure. Plus Jim is unique in his own way, in that no one has a sharp pointy beard like that except him. Plus his chest hair is done nicely, along with his cool looking crew cut hair cut . Now let's see if Neidhart's finishing maneuver can be successfully pulled off.

Jim Neidhart's finishing maneuver is more of a modified body slam called "The Anvil Flattener". The name of this move makes since because at the end of the move Jim ends up on top of his opponent after they are slammed to the mat . So Jim's finisher is more easier to display than Bret's . Now for a look at both of these guys pictured with their former manager, Jimmy Hart . 

Above, a look at all three original members of the Hart Foundation pictured together. Now for a side by side comparison look at the two wrestlers, Bret and Jim . 

Looking at both of these guys pictured together, it may seem there are more differences than similarities. I'm not just talking about their faces either, but their attire. Even though they both have the same cool looking blend of black and pink, the tank tops are the same but the tights are somewhat different along with the boots. Bret has knee and shoulder pads whereas Jim does not. However the main thing that they both have in common is that they are champions, literally, with those fantastic looking championship belts.

FINAL  THOUGHTS

(1) ARTICULATION - Both Bret and Jim come with the regular standard articulation that all WWE Mattel figures possess .

(2) STANDING  ABILITY - Both guys stand well with no balance issues.

(3) WHAT  I  LIKE  BEST  ABOUT  THESE  FIGURES ? - BRET - The luxury of finally having my first and only Bret Hart action figure in the collection, however this is not my favorite version of the WWE Mattel Brets he will do for now. Also love the fact that he has both a closed fist for one hand and and opened palm fist for the other. JIM - The unique coolness of his beard and haircut . Plus his shades fit perfectly onto his face. TOGETHER it is a luxury to own figures of one of the best tag teams in WWE history. Plus I love how bright and vivid the pink colors are. 

(4) WHAT  I  LIKE  LEAST  ABOUT  THESE  FIGURES ? - The  only dislike is for Bret however it is a minor dislike not major. I do not think the face sculpt looks like Bret very much, plus I'm not use to Bret with a big smile. 

(5) WHAT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  DONE  TO  IMPROVE  THE  FIGURES ? - Give Bret one of his older head sculpts from one of his previous figures. Jim is okay.

(6) GRADING  SCALE - BRET - a 9.5. The minus is for the head sculpt not looking too much like him as mentioned earlier . Still an overall cool figure. JIM - A Perfect 10. No flaws . 

(7) FINAL  ANALYSIS - It feels great to own figures of the Hart Foundation. However if you do not like the Hart Foundation you can still purchase them for the championship belts and put them around the waist of other wrestling figures. However I love both the belts and the figures.