Way back when Pro Wrestling Illustrated was still relevant, they touted WWE development territory OVW’s superstars on the rise roster. It included an insanely talented group that would go on to dominate the WWE for the 2002s into today.
One of them was Randy Orton, who caught my attention since his father, Bob, was one of the best heels of his generation. Orton had that protected status and was pushed heavily like a superstar before earning it. It took a shoulder injury for him to find his voice and start his ascension to the top of the WWE roster.
Orton’s WWE rookie look made sense for the WWE Decade of Domination line, a callback to Mattel’s 10-year partnership with the WWE. Let’s get an RNN update to see if this figure is worth getting.
Packaging: The Decade of Domination packaging is well done with a black, red and gray color scheme. There’s a cool highlight reel of Orton’s various looks over the past decade. I do wish Mattel added a clip of Orton’s respective look from this figure.
These bios aren’t specific to the character and just explain the purpose of the series. That’s a weird choice since most signature lines still address the character’s time frame instead of a generic write-up on the theme.
Likeness: I don’t know if Mattel could have nailed the 2002 likeness of Orton any better. The headsculpt is perfect with the longer hair and the bangs hanging down.
It’s interesting how the alternate headsculpt looks like an older/modern head with the 2004 haircut while the default one definitely resembles a younger, less weary and experienced Orton.
The body parts all match up to how Orton looked, which to his credit, hasn’t changed much over the decade.
Scale: Randy Orton is pretty tall at 6’5”, making him taller than the 6’3” Brock Lesnar and shorter than the 6’6” Batista. He scales pretty well in the line, something Mattel has had some problems with lately.
Paint: It’s kinda neat seeing a Randy Orton that’s not completely tatted up. His tattoos had that generic create a wrestler tattoo placement, but Mattel did a nice job with them.
Even with the line split for the thigh articulation, the paint on his tights also came out sharp.
Articulation: Orton is a wiry, fluid wrestler with high impact moves. His physique was one of the first ones Mattel created for the WWE Elite line so there was no reason to expect any issues pulling off any of his signature moves.
It’s been a long time since I watched the 2002-2003 era Orton and I don’t think the RKO was his finisher at this point. UPDATE: He was using a flying splash from the top rope. The RKO was a good choice.
Randy Orton has:
- neck
- bicep
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbows
- wrists
- wrist hinge
- torso
- waist
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double-jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Orton has one of my favorite accessories Mattel has produced so far with the elbow sling.
During his RNN alerts, Orton would update fans on the progress of his shoulder that was damaged when he battled Brock Lesnar. Clearly he wasn’t wrestling with the sling, but it’s a great accessory.
He also has swappable gripping hands that’s useful for his old school turnbuckle pose and grabbing steel chairs. Finally, Orton has his traditional Evolution haircut headsculpt. That’s a nice inclusion as Orton did have the haircut for a bit before he switched up his tights.
Worth it? I was able to grab Orton for a few bucks cheaper than the normal $20 price tag. That’s always a good thing with this line even if I don’t think it’s poor value at $20.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Mattel has cranked out a lot of Orton figures even though his look hasn’t dramatically changed over the decades. It’s nice to get this one that reflects the changes and…evolution of his look from WWE rookie to future Hall of Famer.
Where to get it? The Decade of Domination series is exclusive to Walmart. Normally that could be a problem, but Orton was the one figure that hung around on the Walmart website for awhile. They also set up a shipper box that had multiple Ortons. I think he’ll be the figure that sticks around longer than some others.
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