Basic Kiddienomics: John Cena's Hip Hop Ring
Written: Sep 24 '06 (Updated Sep 24 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Simple to put together, sturdy
Cons: Not very detailed
The Bottom Line: Face John Cena off with anyone in his Hip Hop Ring.
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| roheblius's Full Review: John Cena's Hip Hop Ring |
As a child, I was a collector of the old LJN WWF wrestling figures, which I just called wrestling guys. They were these large hard rubber molded characters without movable arms or legs. They came in one pose and they stayed in one pose. The paint came off of them easily so it wasn't a rare sight to see large splotches of flesh color where there was supposed to be hair or a boot. Not the greatest action figures ever created to say the least. But I recreated many a battle such as Andre The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan from Wrestlemania III. And Hulk Hogan and Mr. T (though I had to substitute Junkyard Dog for Mr. T because he never had a figure) vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff from the original Wrestlemania. I spent many an evening finding new ways for the Hulkster to win matches.
Fast forward some twenty years, and wrestling figures have changed. They are now highly detailed with lots of props and different outfits. They are fully posable with fully operable hands and fingers. One would think that because I was a fan of the old and badly created toys, that my children would be fans of the new and improved toys. Though I wished it was different, it isn't. In fact, they have more of these figures than I ever had as a child and I didn't start collecting until I was about ten. They are five and seven.
With these new figures, now made by Jakks Pacific, comes new and improved rings. Back in my day, in order to support these huge and heavy figures, the ring was gigantic. But it also wasn't all that supportive because I can remember cracking the plastic mat. What was good about it was other than the mat, everything else was solidly made and it lasted a long time, though with tape keeping the mat together. The new rings are made smaller and more to scale than the older rings and they are so easy to put together. Technologically speaking, plastic has come a long way.
The John Cena Hip Hop Ring is a generic ring. Jakks Pacific makes more elaborate rings, such as the Wrestlemania ring that is so pretty that it looks like it was made for antique figurines. But that ring is also very hard to put together and falls apart way too often. Not the John Cena Hip Hop Ring. It's very simplistic without many bells and whistles. The base unit (pretty much the ring without the ropes) is a black plastic box. You have four pillars that act ring posts and you stick them in the four corner holes. There are three turnbuckles per post (think of creating padding for where the buckles keep the ropes together in a real ring) and the ropes go underneath each turnbuckle. If you flip the ring over, you put the ropes in a criss-cross fashion underneath the ring to keep the ropes secure. Now you are ready for action.
Jakks Pacific has three of these "themed" rings from what I've seen. In addition to the John Cena Hip Hop Ring which comes with cardboard cutouts that resemble a DJ turntable and some speakers, there is also a Piper's Pit ring with Rowdy Roddy Piper that resembles the set of his famous interview segment. And Carlito has his Carlito's Cabana ring which has cardboard palm trees. You also get stickers for this ring with the John Cena logo (a big W which stands for word life) and stickers for the sides of the ring with the "Raw" logo. Lastly, you get a generic version of John Cena himself. The addition of the figure adds to the value of the purchase since the figures go for anywhere from $6-$10 retail. So it's a definite added bonus.
In the ring, it's surprisingly sturdy, as long as you don't put your weight on one of the ring posts. My youngest did and it snapped the ring post in two. Take away his heavy leaning and the ring takes a pretty good beating.
Where I fit into this picture is that my children request that I play with them when they bring out their wrestling guys. We even created an event called The Revenge and had seven matches booked. The kids put the matches together and I wrote them down and helped them fight them in the ring. The main event was The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in a tag match against Akeem and the Undertaker. However, my favorite match of the event was the first match where Carlito beat Brock Lesnar (with the Road Dog in his corner) with four flips off the candle for the pin. The kids decided that wrestlers jumping off the top rope wasn't quite good enough. They decided to have them jump off the coffee table. But then that soon wasn't good enough either and they had the wrestlers jump off the candle that was sitting on the coffee table. And that's how Carlito won. Four flips off the candle.
One other thing I should mention is that the ring is a nice place to put all the wrestlers in before taking them back to whichever room they came from. It works as a nice little carrying case.
This review was my first (might be only if I can't figure out to describe baby sunblock) submission into Joyfulgirl91's Taking Candy From A Baby write-off. My submission didn't fit her specifics exactly, but I think it's close. If I actually do publish the baby sunblock review, she might actually forgive me for publishing this one. At least it wasn't holiday themed.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 14.99
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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roheblius
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Member: Garrett M. Gonzales
Location: Gilroy, CA
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