It looks like my assumptions about the state of the Elite series in my area were wrong because last week I saw wave 16 figures all over the place! I'm very happy about that because it means I'm not at the mercy of RSC-pricing for retail figures. Legends fans should be doubly excited about series 16 because it contains two "Flashback" figures. Okay, yeah, they're technically the same guy, but he appears in two must-have versions. I'm talking of course about Kevin Nash and his WWE alter-ego, Diesel. So far I've only found Nash in his WCW-era, New World Order "Outsiders" gear, but it's a great addition to the burgeoning WCW section of the collection. Let's see how he turned out!
Kevin Nash
WWE Elite Collection Series 16 - Flashback
Mattel/ 7" Scale
$18.69 (at Target)
This is Nash's first time in the line, in fact, it's his first time in ANY of Mattel's WWE lines. Mattel used a combination of new and old parts to bring him to three-dimensional life. Obviously, his head is brand-new featuring a separate, glued on hair piece to recreate his long, flowing locks. The hair is molded in a light brown plastic which they matched pretty well on the painted portion of his head.
Big Sexy's upper body is borrowed from the Undertaker and I think the overall look of the figure suffers a bit because of that choice. Like early '00s Kane, this torso makes Nash look a bit slimmer than he actually was. Throwing the proportions off a bit more are his arms which are borrowed from Hillbilly Jim and also seen on "debut" Kane. They are massive, much thicker than Undertaker's. The torso was molded in the same red plastic used on his lower body with the exposed skin painted on over it. This creates a bit of a distinction between the skin tone on his chest and the tone of his arms and head.
The paint on Nash is great, even on the torso which even though has a slightly different skin tone, still manages to be neat without an slop running over the red tank top. "The Outsiders" is stamped across Nash's belly, but due to the size of the lettering, the "O" and "s" are printed on the upper torso section. Luckily lining those letters up with the rest of the word doesn't cause him to look hunched over. "OUTSiDERS" is also printed in thick lettering down the lenth of Nash's right leg and it covers four separate sections. Like the tampo on his torso, the word is well-aligned and looks good in standing poses.
The nWo-defiled World Heavyweight Title belt!
There is one glaring omission on Kevin Nash, though. And it's something that's missing on his Diesel release, too. No right elbow pad! With as good as Mattel's been about including these necessary "accessories" I'm surprised they didn't pack one in for Nash. It's not a deal-breaker, but that certainly should have been available with this figure.
It just so happened I had an extra right elbow pad from my "Ministry of Darkness" Undertaker (he came with two right pads, I swapped the left one from one of the other Elite 'Takers) and now Kevin Nash is complete. I don't really plan to display him and Diesel simultaneously, so they can share the pad.
With that said, I don't feel this figure is in any way worth the $80 RSC is asking for him. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of Nash to begin with and I've certainly spent more than that on figures I do really love. I found Nash at the downtown Kendall Target which usually prices everything 1 or 2 dollars more than my local store. After the 7% Florida sales tax, I paid $20 for Kevin Nash. Not bad, all things considered.
Like my Elite Flashback Stone Cold Steve Austin, Nash here was a bit dirty out of the package. He had a few dark marks on his face and the backs of his legs. It seems they're getting a bit sloppy at the factory. The fact he's missing his elbow pad is somewhat annoying, but we did get a whole new lower body (which is also used for Diesel) and the nWo title belt turned out great!
Anyway, Nash won't be truly "complete" until we get an "Outsiders" Scott Hall. And, hey, Mattel can always throw in a Razor Ramon variant along with him.
