Howdy Funko Fanatics and welcome to the latest edition of POP! WWE Reviews, today we will take a look at 36-40 in the series. I’ve elected to go back to “stock” pictures of the vinyls, mainly because I am just not getting the quality of picture I desire. So I hope you enjoy the improvement in quality and it doesn’t distract from the “authenticity” of my reviews.
This is an excellent group to make my return, featuring some great looking pops and some of the biggest talents working today. Just be fair warned, if you are looking for negativity, there’s not a lot to be had today. However, if you would like to see some scathing POP! WWE reviews, please visit some of my past reviews, conveniently linked for you below:
36 Goldberg
Rating: 7.50
Pop Price Guide Value: $8.00
Who’s next? Why it is Goldberg of course. I have to admit by the time Goldberg was hitting his stride in WCW, I was fully entranced by the Attitude Era and being pre-multi tuner DVR or streaming service days, you really had to pick your shots. I know most nights Nitro ran back to back on TNT, but I had a bed time! Sadly, when he returned to wrestling for his WWE run I was on a forced hiatus from watching….well about anything (class-work-homework-repeat). Despite my lack of expertise on Goldberg’s career, I will say I think his Pop is fantastic!
I’m really happy they went with the younger looking Goldberg as opposed to Mattel’s version of his most recent run with their Retro Series 3 release (check out Good Brother Michael’s review of that offering here). I’ve also lived in the south long enough to appreciate what a great job they did replicating the tribal tattoo on his left arm. This pop also gives us a great example of how Funko can utilize eyebrows to give expression to their vinyls, they really did a great job of capturing the intensity of the Goldberg character. Everything else about this pop screams Goldberg and to me this point in the series where Funko just really starts getting “it” as far as manufacturing these guys.
This is a very solid pop for this year’s Hall of Fame headliner. The 7.5 rating puts this at the upper quarter of my ratings scale and for very good reason. I hope with his up coming induction into the HoF and a bit more rarity on store shelves this pop will increase in value, as currently that would be my only “knock” on this offering.
37 AJ Styles
Rating: 8.75
Pop Price Guide Value: $9.00
Arguably the best worker in the WWE (if not the world) makes his appearance at number 37. I’ve heard some make the argument that Styles should have made the jump directly from TNA to WWE in 2013. While this would have possibly given us some great matches with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, I kind of question if Styles would have been given that opportunity. WWE had a bit of a reputation of having revulsion of any talent with the “TNA Stank” upon them and at the time he left, AJ was more “The Face of the TNA place” than the “Champ who runs the camp”. All in all, coming off all the Bullet Club heat from NJPW and RoH, one would have to admit the Phenomenal One’s stock was at an all time high coming into WWE.
The first thing that jumps out to me about this pop is the pose. It would appear that this is the first vinyl in the WWE line to feature something other than the, “Come at me bro!” pose. Funko really did a great job of nailing the details of the AJ Styles character. My two favorite features are the hair and the gloves, which really set this pop apart from the rest.
I think broken record sums up my thoughts on the value and I’ll just omit those comments going forward. There just has not been enough time to figure out which of these vinyls will build in value. That being said, this is one of my favorite pops in my collection and regardless of its worth, I think it is phenomenal.
38 “The Demon” Finn Balor
Rating: 9.00
Pop Price Guide Value: $25.00
Funko, much like my wife, really loves them some Finn Balor. At 38 we’re given another version of The Balor Club President in the form of The Demon! Hold on to your seats, I’m going to go off topic. I really hope we end up getting the 3 faces of Foley at some point down the line and this pop sets that precedent, right? Also seeing as how the last couple releases feature legends more so over current talent….I may just get my wish.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in the case of this pop, it may be worth more. The detail is outstanding! The head piece and paint are just great and I just can’t get over what a great job Funko did with this character. To me, the MVPs of this vinyl are the eye lids. I think they add so much expression as opposed to what the full eye would have given.
This is an FYE exclusive but I found the value to be surprising all the same. The Finn Balor (Masked) chase was valued at $28.00 as of today, so having an exclusive that anyone can pre-order valued just $3 less than a chase…WOW! This speaks well for this pop going forward!
39 Bayley
Rating: 7.50
Pop Price Guide Value: $14.00
Fittingly enough, the Bayley Pop is a Toys R Us exclusive and the 39th entry into the series. This pop makes me a bit sad as I am really disappointed with how Bayley has thus far been utilized on the main roster. She really should have been the Daniel Bryan of the women’s division, but was given the title too early and her character depended too much on the title chase. Unfortunately her feud with Alexa Bliss really did nothing to increase interest in her and she’s be relegated to a “buddy gimmick” with Sasha Banks. I really believe Bayley could greatly benefit from a heel turn, much like the “NO! NO! NO!” days propelled Bryan up the card after a similar start.
This pop is really good and there is very little I would change. The key points that you had to hit with a Bayley pop are the pony tail to the side and the head band…check and check. Ring gear and boots all look great and Funko once again hit a home-run with expression. I wouldn’t have minded seeing some polka dots, as she often sports those as tribute to the American Dream, but nothing that I would “ding” the pop for lacking. This is a fantastic Bayley pop and let’s face it, Bayley is perfect to be made into a pop!
40 Chris Jericho
Rating: 7.75
Pop Price Guide Value: $7.00 ($16.00)
The G.O.A.T. comes in at number 40 and out of all the iterations of Jericho, one of the most recent and most entertaining versions was picked, “The List of Jericho” persona. How talented is this guy to get a legal pad over, I mean it is just amazing to me that over such a long career, Jericho has had so few “misses” with his gimmick.
As for the vinyls, they are pretty awesome. The tattoo work on his left arm is maybe a little “iffy” but does not distract from the rest of the pop. I think Funko did an especially great job on his hair and expression, both look great…especially compared to some of the early pops in the series. The pose of marking the list is really good and different from anything else we’ve seen thus far in this line. I would also be remiss if I did not make note of how great the scarf looks as well.
I’ve heard some collectors express some displeasure with the only difference between the red booted standard and the blue booted FYE exclusive being the color of the boots. I don’t have anything negative to say in the regard and gladly handed over my cash for both versions. I think at times collectors can set their expectations too high and really disappoint themselves. These are two excellent pops and I’m glad to have them in my collection.
That pretty much wraps up this installment of POP! WWE reviews. As a final note I want to thank Good Brother Michael for hooking me up with an autographed KANE pop for my birthday and also give a shout out to Matt for taking my Mick Foley to be signed at a convention last week. Thank you both very much!
Next time, we are ever approaching the end of the line, we will take a look at 41-45! As always feel free to leave comments or reach out to me @chuckonwrestling on Twitter.
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