To complete the Howard Finkel figure, you will need to purchase four basic figures in the series . Since Basic figures are at lower prices than the Elite ones, I was glad that Finkel was not a part of an Elite series. So by him being in a basic series, it saves us all a good deal of money . I was lucky enough to purchase all four figures on the same day at the same local Walmart . Below are pics of the figures that you will need to purchase to complete Finkel . I just love how colorful the packagings are with the light blue and red colors.
The Million Dollar Man comes with Howard's torso .
Bob Orton comes with Howard's head and microphone .
Rick Rude comes with both of Finkel's legs .
Sgt. Slaughter comes with both of Howard's arms .
Once you get Howard put together, he is a perfectly cool figure . My only complaint about him is the same one that I had about the Mean Gene Okerlund figure, that he is just a little bit too tall . When you visit Finkel's Wikipedia page , he is listed at 5"8 . However this figure is just a little over six inches tall, making him somewhat out of scale when placed next to figures that he should be shorter than .
For those of you that may not be familiar with whom Howard Finkel is, he is a former ring announcer for the WWE . Lots of times he was referred to as "The Fink" . The figure is pretty cool and detailed with realism . You can clearly see the age lines in his neck .
The card backs are basically the same on all of the figures in this series with the exception of one mishap. Or is it an error ? Look closely and you'll notice that on one box art Howard's right hand is an open palm so he can hold the microphone, whereas the closed fist is the left hand . On the other it's vice versa, the exact opposite . The microphone holding hand is the left one and the closed fist is the right . Did Mattel do this intentionally ? Is this their way of telling us that either of Howard's arms can fit into either shoulder socket ? Or was this a mistake ? When I was putting Finkel together, I had difficulty inserting the microphone holding hand into the left socket, however it's a perfect fit into the right socket as you can see in the pictures . Plus I also wonder why does Howard Finkel has a closed fist ?He's NOT a fighter or a wrestler, just a ring announcer . So that makes me wonder a bit, although I'm not bothered by it, just curious about it . Gene Okerlund has the closed fist also .
Again, the above figures are all you need to complete Howard Finkel . Before purchasing these guys, the only figure I really wanted out of this series was The Million Dollar Man. Reasons being is because he is a classic WWE character that I wanted to add to my collection plus this is my first and only WWE Mattel figure of him . Not to mention this suited version works well with the Virgil figure . I did not want the others because- I already own Elite figures of Sgt. Slaughter and Rick Rude in the collection, so I had no interest in these basic figures . As for Cowboy Bob Orton, I did not have a figure of him I just was not interested in him . However that changed once I removed them out of their packaging . I like Bob Orton's hat and despite already owning a Slaughter figure I've come to like this basic figure after all, he seems really cool with the head attire to pair him when he was in alliance with The Iron Sheik . However I still have no interest in the Rick Rude figure and I'm thinking about either selling him or giving him away in one of my contests . Before purchasing this set all I really wanted was The Million Dollar Man and the build-a-figure himself , Finkel .
FINAL THOUGHTS
(1) ARTICULATION LIMITS - Even though Howard is a part of a Basic series, he has the articulation of an Elite figure . The Basic figures that you need to build him of course have their normal Basic figure articulation .
(2) STANDING ABILITY- All of the figures in this series including Howard stand well without balance issues.
(3) WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT EACH FIGURE INCLUDING HOWARD ? - Million Dollar Man - his blueish green outfit. One of my favorite colors . Orton - his hat . Rick Rude - Nothing because I already own an Elite Rude figure . Slaughter - he's built like he's ready to fight, his brawler style mold makes him ready for fighting poses. Finkel - The star of this series, I like the figure's overall true likeness to the real man . Plus the inclusion of the microphone .
(4) WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT ANY OF THESE FIGURES ? - I do not like Howard's height being out of scale, other than that there are no dislikes for any of the figures, including Rude . Rude was just the only figure I have no interest in keeping .
(5) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE TO IMPROVE ANY OF THE FIGURES ? - No improvements needed with the exception of making Howard just a little shorter .
(6) GRADING SCALE - I give Million Dollar Man and Slaughter a Perfect 10 . I'm not sure what to give Rude and Orton . Howard himself gets a 9.8 . The minus is for him being just a little too tall and out of scale, other than that he is perfect .
(7) FINAL ANALYSIS - Now that Howard Finkel has been made into a WWE Mattel figure, I am now looking forward to a figure of fellow female ring announcer known as Lilian Garcia .
No comments:
Post a Comment