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Adrenaline Series 15: John Cena vs. JBL 
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Tonight's guest review is the great Gonzo...okay, I have no idea if he's
great, but he's certainly gonzo. Since I don't do nearly enough
wrestling figure reviews, he's jumped in with one to help out.Tell us all
about it, G!
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Cena has been well over due for some new jean shorts for a while now. He's been wearing Jamie Noble's hand me downs for far too long. Considering all the Cena figures that have been released and likely will be released, if any figure is deserving of wrestler-specific parts, it's John Cena. Not only did John pick up a new pair of shorts, but he grabbed a brand new set of hands as well. JAKKS sculpted new mitts for Cena featuring out stretched fingers wearing Cena's specialty "word life" brass knucks. These Cena specific parts, coupled with an improved paint job on a relatively new face scan, make this one of JAKKS' best RA figures to date.
If I have one complaint with the figure, it's the thickness of Cena's lower legs. Even though JAKKS insured they would never have to include knee pads with a Cena figure ever again by sculpting his shorts below his knee, the legs that protrude from those shorts look a little strange. If you compare this lower leg sculpt to the previous Cena mold, you'll notice what I mean. On this new figure, his legs need to be thinner by the ankle. It's strange that whoever sculpted Cena's lower body could do such a detailed job on the jeans and belt, but when they got to the legs, they stopped short. This also would have been an excellent opportunity for JAKKS to add an articulation point to the legs. A swivel joint where the legs meet the shorts would have made this figure even better.
All in all, this is a tremendous figure and would look great wearing one of Wrestling Superstore's Spinner WWE Championship belts.
At first glance, you may think that JAKKS really went all out on this two pack, giving both Cena and JBL brand new legs. While you may not have seen these legs and feet on JBL used in a RA series, they are in fact not new molds. A quick check of the copyright date on the sole of JBL's cowboy boot reveals a 2001 copyright date. That's right, TTL once again rears its ugly head in a RA series. Thankfully, this hybrid is executed much more effectively than past attempts. The TTL legs actually have a better range of movement than most RA legs. They're also tall enough to give JBL an appropriate height advantage over his adversaries.
An actual new mold included with JBL is his cowboy hat. JAKKS molded the new hat to fit JBL's enormous melon. The new mold is much more accurate, but because of the thin plastic used, it has trouble holding its shape.
I always find it interesting to compare different head scans from the same wrestler. Some Superstars maintain a consistent head shape throughout their different scans, but for some it's like night and day. While you can say that the first Cena head scan looks like John, it's almost comically different from the new scan. Both scans look like the Superstar they represent, but somehow manage to look nothing like each other. With JBL, his newest, jovial
head scan is almost twice the size of his previous, serious head scan. Not exactly a criticism; just an interesting side note.
Overall - ***
Bottom line on Adrenaline 15's John Cena vs. JBL two pack: If you're jonesing for a Cena figure featuring his new shorts mold, this is a good set to go for. Not only do you get the cool "word life" hands, but you get an in scale JBL with a hilariously happy head scan.
Related Links -
Gonzo runs a terrific website for wrestling fans, called WrestlingGuide.com.
Check it out!
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Figure from the collection of
Gonzo.
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