Collector's Corner: Mattel WWE Elite 81 In-Depth Review (Photos)

On the latest Collector’s Corner we take a look at none other than Mattel WWE Elite 81! This set includes:

Montez Ford
Angelo Dawkins
Bianca Belair
“Stunning” Steve Austin
The Rock
Shinsuke Nakamura (plus Chase variant)
Mae Young (Collector’s Edition)

You can currently get these over on RingsideCollectibles.com where you can SAVE 10% with discount code MBG at checkout!

Photo Credit: WWE

The Packaging

This set features the new 2021 style Elite packaging with the red/white/blue color scheme. The box showcases the featured wrestler on one side with their name on the opposite as well as a larger image, statistics and those whom also are in the set on the back. Mae Young is the Collector’s Edition in this set and I believe she is exclusive to Walmart, it could be Target as I’m unsure honestly, but you can get her over on Ringside.

Angelo Dawkins

First up we have one half of the Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins. This is Angelo’s first Elite figure and he comes decked out in his red/white attire. He comes with a removable headband, two sets of swappable hands as well as an entrance jacket. Angelo seems to feature some new tooling as well as he has new short molds.

Overall, Angelo is well done. The detail on him is nice and the new tooling for him is pretty cool, too. Unfortunately the paint apps on mine were pretty bad so I had to do a lot of cleaning up on it, if you may have noticed in the gallery below. Besides that issue his accessories are great as his jacket fits him well and the extra hands are always a nice bonus. His torso seems a little big to me though as it makes his arms a little hard to pose but regardless it is his first and is a decent figure at that. I do wish he had his necklace though but perhaps a future one will!

Montez Ford

Next up we have the other half of the Street Profits, Montez Ford. This is Montez’s first Elite and it features a new, smiling head scan as well. He comes with a crown, an entrance vest, sunglasses, a shot glass and extra glove hands. Montez’s accessories are awesome to say the least and Mattel really knocked him out of the park. His shot glass even has his logos on it, too. His entrance vest has the Street Profits logo on it but it doesn’t seem to fasten that well in the back from what I noticed. His tights and shoes are pretty detailed though otherwise besides his tattoos of course.

Overall, Montez is really well done and the new sculpt looks just like him. The amount of detail, to even his gold gloves, is really nice to say the least. As much as I’m not a fan of the Profits their first Elites are very well done and I do highly recommend them. Definitely don’t pass up on picking them both up.

Bianca Belair

Bianca’s first Elite figure is fantastic to say the least. She is decked out in detail from head to toe and she is sporting her super long ponytail, too. She even has the text in her hair, which is a great attention to detail. She comes with blinged out sunglasses, swappable hands and an entrance jacket that is also very detailed. Her top and tights are also super detailed with her logos on it and her back features her tattoos. She also has her white armbands, too. One cool and random feature of this figure is that her black/silver boots feature the toe joints that the Ultimates have. I’m not sure if this part choice was just more convenient for Mattel or if they plan to start including toe joints on the Elite female figures. Regardless it’s a nice surprise feature on her figure.

Overall, this is by far her best figure and of course is much better than her Basic one that released not long ago. I highly recommend this Elite of her as it’s fantastic due to all the detail and accessories. After this one you honestly won’t need another of her. Definitely do not pass up on this one.

The Rock

The Rock’s latest Elite is based on his return to the debut of SmackDown on FOX. He is in his street clothes with his athletic black/white pants as well as a removable, sleeveless shirt. Rock is sporting a cheesy smile head scan as well as finally showcases his new tattoos that none of his other figures have to my knowledge. He also comes with swappable hands and a SmackDown microphone.

Overall, while it may not be the most exciting figure of Rock it is still a nice change of pace for his figures. If you want a modern Rock in street clothes this would be a nice, updated one to get. The new microphone is a nice bonus accessory, too, but if you pass on this one you wouldn’t be missing a whole lot in my opinion.

Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke has two Elites in this set, one being the common release in blue and the other being the Chase release in black. They both feature Nakamura’s latest jumpsuit looks, which is a nice update to his figures. He comes with an new, smiling head scan with his partially shaven head. The blue one comes with a SmackDown blue armband with “SD” on it. He also features some new tooling for his jumpsuit. He comes with swappable hands doing his taunt as well as black wrist tape. The Chase version does not come with the armband and is in a black jumpsuit with other designs on it. The best part of this figure though is that he comes with the new Intercontinental Championship, which will make his figure much more sought after.

Overall, both figures are nice. Nakamura was due for an update to this look and his new, smiling scans are pretty good too. The detail on these are pretty great as well and are probably my favorite figures of him in some time. I’m not sure if I prefer the common or the Chase, but I am for sure happy to have the new IC belt to say the least. The plates on it are nice to say the least. If you need some new Nakamura figures or simply just want the new belt don’t hesitate on picking these up!

“Stunning” Steve Austin

I believe this is Austin’s very first Elite in the main line and why not kick it off with his “Stunning” Steve look to complete the Hollywood Blondes? Austin is sporting a new scan with his flowing blonde hair and cheesy grin on his face. He comes with his Stunning Steve gray vest with the logos and designs on it. He has white wrist tape, his black trunks with the logos and stars on it as well as his knee pads and white/black laced boots with the stars on them, too. He comes with swappable hands as well as a film slate, which is a neat accessory. It actually claps, too, which is really cool. Not to mention he comes with one of the WCW Tag Team Championship belts, which is pretty well done from what I can tell. It’s nice to have a new throwback belt in the line. Perhaps we will get an updated Pillman to go with this, too?

Overall, it’s nice to have a much different Austin figure for a change as all his figures pretty much look the same after awhile. The detail on this one is nice for such a simple look of his and at least we can somewhat pair this with the old Pillman that came out forever ago. Even though that Pillman isn’t quite accurate to go with this Austin it’s a nice placeholder until they maybe release a new one but nothing has been mentioned yet. The accessories and the belt really make this figure awesome though in my opinion, which explains why he’s on back-order on Ringside currently. Definitely pick this one up as he’s clearly sought after already.

Mae Young

Mae is the Collector’s Edition as mentioned above. She is either exclusive to Walmart or Target but you can get her on Ringside, which I recommend so you don’t have to look for her. With the wacky distribution lately save yourself the headache like I do. That being said, this is Mae’s first time in the Mattel line. She comes with her crown, entrance jacket and the Mae Young Classic statue, which is a really neat accessory. Mae also comes with swappable hands. Once you remove Mae’s jacket you can see her red singlet with the yellow logo on the front. She has her tattoos on her left forearm as well as her red/silver boots with the crown logos. Mae’s crown is pretty detailed, too, which is a nice touch. The statue though is probably my favorite part of this figure as Mattel did an excellent job on it.

Overall, this is a nice figure of a younger Mae Young. While it’s a very simple figure as their looks were simple during her career, it’s pretty well done. Mine had some awful paint apps I had to clean up so hopefully yours will be better. Besides that her accessories are great as they’re pretty detailed. If you need a Mae Young for your collection or simply just want the statue I recommend picking her up. I highly doubt we will be seeing her again in the line.

Overall

Overall, this is a pretty decent set. There’s a lot of new faces in it and the figures are very nicely detailed to say the least. I love that Mattel is putting a lot more effort into these figures it seems as they keep turning out better and better for the most part, their flaws aside. The major issue really being the paint apps as a lot of mine have had some pretty bad issues as others have encountered too unfortunately. I do realize sometimes they are missing logos and such, but it really comes down to the budget for the set and such. Regardless, it’s a decent set you should definitely pickup if you can.

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