If you happened to make your way to the WrestleMania Superstore in Los Angeles during WrestleMania weekend, you probably saw the Mattel display showing off current and upcoming WWE action figures. Among lots of fun stuff, one particular display stood out: a massive, incredibly detailed entrance stage from the glory days of WCW Monday Nitro.
It turns out that wasn’t something Mattel whipped up just to promote its line of Monday Night War figures (more on those in a bit), but a real, honest to goodness product you can actually buy — if enough wrestling and action figure fans help crowdfund it.
So far, so good. As of April 10, the WWE Ultimate Edition WCW Monday Nitro Entrance Stage is more than 40% funded, with 2,008 backers of 5,000 needed for Mattel Creations to put it into production. At $400, it’s definitely not for every collecting budget, but the love that’s going into this and what you’ll get for it are both impressive.
Scaled to accommodate WWE Elite and Ultimate Edition figures, the set is an enormous 20.5 x 40 x 20 inches, with a ramp that takes the depth out to 31 inches. Not enough space for a stage that size? No problem, because it’s modular and can adapt to fit many different shelves, tables or whatever you might have handy to show it off.
“For the people who are space conscious, it’s just two clips away to making it sit on a 10-inch shelf on your wall,” Mattel product designer Bill Benecke said at a press event before night 1 of WrestleMania 39. “When we work out this thing, and when you guys all their videos of how to put it together, I’m going to show you guys how to put it on a shelf. If you guys have display issues, but you’ve got a wall, you can put it on a wall.”
That fact is made all the more mind boggling when considering what’s included with the stage, including an entrance tunnel with more than 100 LEDs (controlled by remote), two authentic Monday Nitro signs, two premium fabric WCW Monday Nitro banners, and the removable entrance ramp.
It might come with bonus figures as well, depending on how many backers the stage receives by its May 6 deadline. Ultimate Edition figures of WCW era Rey Mysterio, Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Steiner and Ultimate Warrior are all part of the stretch goals.
Mattel is clearly feeling that wrestling fans will embrace the nostalgia of the late 1990s high water mark of mainstream pro wrestling popularity, as it also revealed the first figures from its The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW line. The first wave, which will be exclusive to Walmart, includes figures of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall, as well as a Lex Luger build-a-figure (complete with puffy shirt) from his surprise debut on the first ever episode of Nitro.
But everything starts with the WCW Monday Nitro Entrance Stage, which still needs another couple thousand people to buy in — which you can do here, if you’re so inclined. There’s no question that Mattel is confident that enough fans will want to relive a specific time in wrestling history in a very real, tactile way, and that the effort put into the stage will be worth it for both creators and consumers alike.
“I want you guys to be able to set and recreate all those moments and just be excited about the start,” Benecke said. “The start of something bigger, for us.”