WWE Elite King of the Ring Bret Hart figure review

Unlike the swarm of Ultimate Warriors and Macho Man Randy Savage, I can never get enough Bret Hart figures. So of course, Mattel only gives a new figure every other year or so if I’m lucky. The latest is the King of the Ring 1993 figure featuring Bret in his triumphant moment where he’s re-established as the man coincidentally on the same show when Hulk Hogan’s disastrous comeback ends in inglorious fashion to Yokozuna.

In staging these pics, I rewatched his matches and this really was a make good, shine the spotlight on The Hitman event and one of Bret’s best performances. This is the second Ringside Collectibles exclusive Bret figure, but I’ll take them where I can get them. Let’s see if this Hart figure gets the royal treatment.

Packaging:  Mattel tends to do quality work for their exclusive figures in regard to packaging. None of them ever look like an afterthought and this is no different. This package sports a black and pink color scheme with a very detailed bio breaking down his accomplishment.

I love the tale of the figure and would love if Mattel did that with every Flashback figure. The insert has a cool design with a throne that with some creative placement would make for a nice backdrop.

Likeness:  Bret’s another figure that Mattel got right in terms of the body part choices. He matches up well next to bigger muscular guys like Lex Luger and giants like Diesel and The Undertaker. I like the head sculpt, but I’m curious how a new Bret would look with the updated face printing technology.

Scale:  Bret is 6’, which puts him slightly shorter than most of his peers from the 6’3” Mr. Perfect and the 6’4” Bam Bam Bigelow and Lex Luger. The figure scales with the others nicely.

Paint:  Bret would add white or black trim to his singlets, but for KOTR 93, he wore all pink so it’s nice to see Mattel going for full accuracy here. The pink was very vibrant and almost neon pink and Mattel did a nice job reproducing a tricky shade.

Even with the lighter white on black, there’s no bleed through on the white flame or Hitman lettering. The work on the stars along the boots and the pink trim is on point throughout.

Improving on the Hart Foundation Bret Hart figure, the flesh portions of the torso are not painted over black plastic.

Articulation:  Some Elite bodies are easier to pose and do the various moves than others.

Fortunately, the Bret figures all have great range of movement and call do all of his trademark moves with the exception of a good looking Russian Leg Sweep, Sleeper or Small Package.

King of the Ring Bret Hart has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• bicep
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double jointed)
• ankle

Accessories:  Bret gets accessories fit for a king. He gets the sleeveless robe. The actual robe featured rhinestones, which created this reflective, metallic like appearance.

Mattel doesn’t do that, which makes the robe look duller and not accurate despite having a good approximation of the genuine article. The patterns on the robe aren’t accurate to how they were on the figure, but are represented so I won’t complain.

He also gets the scepter, which is pretty accurate from the top with the ornate jewels to the scale. Bret can’t be the king without a crown so he has that as well. It’s the basic crown mold we’ve seen, but the accurate paint job helps make it stand out. Of course, this figure really makes me want a Flashback 1993-94 era Lawler even more now.

Worth it? You can get the RSC Bret for about $26. There’s no real difference accessory wise from a standard Elite figure, but it’s not a ridiculous exclusive markup either.

Rating: 10 out of 10

This was a great use of an exclusive as it features a signature Bret Hart moment and provides another attire choice for Hitman fanatics like me.

Where to get it? Ringside still has the figure in stock, but if you’re opposed to getting from them, Amazon has him in stock for pretty much the same price.