Mattel WWE Elite Wave 46 - Finn Bálor Review

Mattel WWE Elite Wave 46 – Finn Bálor Review

I’ve been collecting the WWE Mattel series of figures for several years now, and I feel I’m at the point where I should actually start reviewing some of them for you. Considering there’s about 100 of these things in my tiny apartment at the moment, and each day I become more and more convinced they’re plotting against me while I sleep. In this edition, I’ll be covering Finn Bálor from Elite Wave 46.

Mattel WWE Elite Wave 46 - Finn Bálor Review

This particular figure is just starting to hit retail now, but since he’s a hot property, his merchandise tends to go pretty quick. Oddly enough, it seems every time a new figure shows up at retail, the wrestler has either been released, retooled, or is on the disabled list. Hopefully Finn heals up in time to show up at Royal Rumble later this month. I was lucky enough to win this one in a message board raffle, but I usually have a leg up on these things (and it’s taking 33% of my yearly earnings it feels like).

This is Bálor’s second Elite release from Mattel, as well as his second in the Demon paint. To date, there have been no Basic versions of him in Demon gear, nor any Elites of him in standard ring attire (which I know a lot of people are still clamoring for).

Mattel has decided to package this one facing backwards to show off the detailed body paint. The last time I can remember them doing this was with the Batista figure from Wave 30, simply deciding a detailed paint job was equal to a plastic T-shirt or pair of sunglasses. They don’t come up short this time at least, as Bálor’s headpiece and arm streamers are also included with this release.

The paint job on this figure is surprisingly well done, I’m often worried when you have this much detail on a figure, it contributes to sloppy paint applications. The last Bálor I got had one minor flaw, but it wasn’t terribly noticeable. The detail on the Oni on his back as well as the ab sculpt is frighteningly realistic.

Articulation wise, it’s standard Elite articulation, which is good, but not great compared to what I used to be able to do with the old Marvel Legends figures. He can pull off most of the cool poses and holds. The Coup De Grace pictured is assisted by an old TNA Toy Biz flight stand.

Mattel WWE Elite Wave 46 - Finn Bálor Review

As mentioned earlier, Bálor comes with his entrance gear, which is the exact same headpiece and arm streamers his last Elite release came with. And since Mattel decided to try a new spin on an old gimmick, we got our figure stands back, sort of. Each figure in this wave comes with a 2 piece black plastic stand and a cardboard backdrop. The idea is if you get all 6, you can create a diorama when you connect them together. Since the only other figure in this wave I would even want is Rusev and I haven’t bought an entire set of anything since the Galactus BAF series from Toy Biz, this is going to serve as a stand for him, and little else.

Overall, this version of Finn Bálor comes highly recommended if you missed his first release in the Elite line. I know there’s supposed to be another one out later this year in the Network Spotlight series from Toys ‘R Us, which is supposed to have him in his NXT Takeover Texas attire with the chainsaw. Considering how many attires he’s gone through and as popular as he is with wrestling fans, it should only be a matter of time where his figures will become much easier to find. I’ll be back in a few days with another review, until then, happy hunting!

This release is also available on Amazon!

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DJ Maniak

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