This Extremely Rare Kamala Action Figure Is Worth A Stunning Amount Today
"So close to the real thing, it's like being in the ring!" was the tagline for the WWF Hasbro action figures. Capturing the wild and colorful gimmicks of the WWF from 1990 to 1994, the Hasbro figures remain popular with fans and toy collectors three decades later. Mattel even revived the Hasbro figure style for its "WWE Retro" line.
In the spring of 1993, the WWF began placing a two-page spread in its monthly magazine for the new wave of Hasbro action figures to be released that summer. One of the 22 figures featured was Kamala, who was getting his second WWF figure six years after the release of his LJN figure. However, something was off about Kamala's figure. Whereas the LJN figure perfectly replicated Kamala's body paint with the two white stars on his chest and centered yellow crescent moon on his belly, Hasbro replaced the moon with an off-centered yellow star.
Remembering what happened in 1991 when Toys "R" Us featured an unreleased Rhythm and Blues Greg Valentine figure in their promotional flyers, fans assumed Kamala's figure was a prototype that would be changed before appearing on store shelves. However, that wasn't the case. Kamala's figure in the advertisement was the commercially released version, perplexing many who knew Kamala never had a star on his belly. Since Hasbro changed Kamala's body paint, why is there a Kamala figure from Hasbro with a moon belly on eBay for $24,000?
Kamala moon belly figures explained
On History Channel's "Pawn Stars," a customer brought in a sealed Hasbro Kamala figure with the yellow crescent moon on the belly to sell for $7500. Wanting to verify the figure's authenticity, Chumlee, one of the shop's employees, called in Steve Johnston — owner of Rogue Toys. Upon seeing the figure, Johnston said, "This is a very, very rare and desirable figure in the WWF Hasbro line and maybe in all of wrestling toys. This is going to be a top two or three grail for collectors."
Johnston explained Hasbro would run a set of two dozen samples before production and send those samples to the lawyers or head of the brand for final approval, which is where the Kamala moon figures came from. "It is speculated that he (Kamala) didn't sign off on the final approval of what was being produced by Hasbro, so the actual production figure was kind of a star and they were able to produce it without his okay," he explained.
After inspection though, the customer's figure was a fake. The belly of Kamala's released figure had been repainted and resealed. Also, Johnston noticed price sticker residue on the Hasbro carding, and it was his belief that "this is a figure that would have never actually made it to the floor of a store, so why would it have a price sticker on it?"
How much does an authentic moon belly Kamala figure cost? Matt Cardona, whose passion is collecting wrestling figures, revealed on the "Keepin' It 100 with Konnan" podcast he spent $11,000 for one.