Over the years, we have opened up our massive figure collection to ask readers of this site important questions such as "Which Bundy Is Best?"; "Which Big John Studd Is Best?" and of course "Which Rick Rude Is Best?". Everyone has their opinions, of course, as do we.
By pure coincidence, we have yet another Heenan family stablemate to rank the action figures of, and that is "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. Although new figures for Mr. Wonderful are being developed at press time, we have eight in our collection, with one that we haven't been able to get our hands on... yet.
We decided to rank (in reverse order) our favorite Orndorff figures for the purposes of this article, showing from worst to best. Here we go!
# 8 - WWF Wrestling Superstars Thumb Wrestlers (LJN)
Most of the Thumb Wrestlers that came out in the mid-1980s were more or replicas of their LJN counterparts, only in a seated position. While this Thumb Wrestler is kind of, sort of, in that same vein, they lost all of Mr. Wonderful's muscles in the process. And given that was kind of his gimmick, it renders the figure pretty pointless, no?
# 7 - WWF Wrestling Superstars Series 2 (LJN )
We feel bad ranking this fig so low, given it's not terrible or anything. It's just that... the fig has transformed from having no muscle mass at all in the previous entry, to WAY too much muscle mass here. Especially if you compare him to his then-tag team partner Hulk Hogan in Series 1 of LJN, this figure appears to be a walking advertisement for steroids. In addition, the figure is smiling, and how often did we ever see Mr. Wonderful smile?
#6 - WWF Wrestling Superstars Bendies (LJN)
Yes, this is pretty much the exact same pose as the previous entry, but at least they managed to rein in Mr. Wonderful's proportions somewhat. And honestly, if you look at the other figures in the short-lived Bendies series, this was truly one of the better renderings.
# 5 - WWE Classic Superstars (Jakks Pacific)
This figure came as part of a three-pack of figures, along with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bob Orton. In terms of renderings, this one is pretty faithful to the character and there's not too much to criticize here. That said, it's as plain as they come.
# 4 - WWE Basic Series 58 (Mattel)
Speaking of plain... this figure is as plain as they come, right down to the generic white trunks and knee pads. Don't get us wrong; it's a perfectly serviceable Paul Orndorff action figure... just no bells and whistles.
# 3 - WWE Classic Superstars Series 5 (Jakks Pacific)
The first Paul Orndorff figure that Jakks came out with was far superior to its three-pack predecessor. For beginners, the scowling face scan is just about perfect. And can we talk about that robe? For anyone wanting to parade their fig around in a classy red-and-silver "Mr. #1derful" robe, you now had that option thanks to this action figure.
#2 - WWE Legends Series 5 (Mattel)
For the sake of accuracy... it's worth pointing out that this figure originally came with a matching blue robe; I just wasn't able to procure it when I found the fig at a flea market some time ago.
Beyond that, though, this has an incredible likeness; the blue outfit really pops, and the lighter shade of hair is a nice touch as well.
#1 - WWE Legends Series 8 (Mattel)
This figures takes all the best elements of the previous Paul Orndorff figures and packages it into one "Wonderful" package. The face scan is awesome; the lighter hair shade is here; they've nailed the physique; and the robe is even better than the Classic Superstars one.
If you were looking for one Paul Orndorff to turn on your Hulk Hogan figure... this would be the one.
Which Paul Orndorff figures are we missing?
In 1987, LJN created a Paul Orndorff "Stretch Wrestler," which today is extremely hard to find and/or pricey on the secondary market.
Asylum All-Stars is planning a figure in their second series of Mr. Wonderful, with a release date yet to be determined.
Title Run Toys has announced a Hasbro/Retro style Paul Orndorff figure, without a release date at this time.