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Character: The Undertaker
Brand: Mattel
Year: 2010
Series: Pay-Per-View #2: Survivor Series

The Undertaker has seen several Mattel figures in the past 4 months. Coming later this year will be an Elite based on Wrestlemania 26 and a Ministry of Darkness Comic-Con exclusive. There are many different Takers to choose from, so what makes PPV#2 special?

This figure is in the Pay-Per-View line. The PPV series isn’t much different than the regular Basic-style figures. The price is the same, the figures have the same articulation, but there’s a few things of note that makes this particular series special.

For one, this is the only line to date that has different display stands. The Elites and the Basics share the exact same style.  The PPV series has the PPV name insert opposed to the generic standard version. The packaging is also labeled in this fashion. It’s a subtle difference, with the PPV logo on the bottom and blue trim on the sides (the upcoming Royal Rumble set has gray), but it’s enough to stand out.

The best feature about the PPV line is that it’s prioritized ahead of the others. As of this writing, Mattel are up to early Summer of 2009 with attires/characters in the Basic/Elite series. When The Undertaker came back after a long haitus post-WM25, he sported new designs on his gear. He had a different design for a short while and eventually started wearing the red winged logos seen above. This figure is the only Undertaker thus far that is up-to-date with what he currently wears. Survivor Series was 4 months before this figure saw official release, to give you an idea of how recent it is.

The head mold is painted much better than most of the other Undertaker figures. One of the main problems Mattel has here in the infancy of the WWE line is that they haven’t gotten the hang of painting heads yet. Shawn Michaels and Triple H are both sporting bright orange hair on their figures (and that’s why there hasn’t been a Figure 4 review of them yet!). It’s nice to see such a strong resemblence to The Deadman.

Here is a comparison of the Mattel Undertaker vs the Jakks Undertaker. This Jakks figure is from the original Hell in the Cell playset from 2007. It has a RA11 head, as the HITC set had a bizarre scan with Taker’s tongue hanging out. For its time, it was pretty good. Jakks made better modern Takers later on, but this is the only one I own. Notice the MMA-style gloves; nice touch. Usually Jakks’ RA figures are taller than Mattel’s Basic/Elite. This figure is very tall, and is scaled appropriately (more on that later).

The glaring difference between the two are the tattoos. Simply put, Jakks doodled on his arms with the slightest resemblence to the man’s ink as possible. Mattel actually recreated a large percentage of them. Even the scribe w/ feather is detailed and in color!

The castle on his left bicep is quite visible. You can even lift up his one elbow pad (+1 for accuracy on that too) to expose more tats!

Mattel went as far as to wrap the tattoos around his arms like in real life. Jakks’ kid-doodles didn’t even do that!

They actually go “under” his singlet straps! He is also sporting the neck tattoos.

Undertaker hits his trademark Tombstone Piledriver on his brother, Kane.

Here’s an idea as to how it is scaled with other Mattel figures. Seeing a Shelton Benjamin figure be shorter than The Undertaker is long overdue. He and Kane are massively sized and are quite heavy compared to the “Chris Jerichos” of the Mattel universe. Proper scaling makes everything look so much more authentic.

As said, there have been many Undertaker figures thus far. The Elite has a very impressive removable trench coat. Basic Series #3 has nice looking, albeit dated logos. Any way you go with The Dead Man is a good one with Mattel. I believe, though, that PPV#2 might be the best 2004-Deadman Undertaker ever produced by any manufacturer. PPV #2 is available now for $9.99.

Perfection.

(read up on the S3 rating method used on this site right here).

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