Figure Friday: Giant Gonzalez and homemade wrestlers

As I explained in the Doink the Clown article, after Hasbro stopped producing WWF figures, toy stores were left with only the less popular figures that had yet to sell out. As a result, parents of the mid-90s had slim pickings when it came time to buy an action figure for their kids' birthdays or Christmas. That would explain how over the years my household acquired not one, but three Giant Gonzalez figures.

Not Raw #31 - August 23rd, 1993

This week's episode opens in a studio with Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan. Vince tells us that this is not Monday Night Raw. Well, looks like my work is done here.

Of course, the show doesn't end there. Tonight's program will be a one-hour version of the previous night's Summerslam Spectacular special (or Triple S, as in would be known after joining D-Generation X). Stay tuned for some highly edited action on this hour-long infomercial for the pay-per-view.

Raw #9 - March 15th, 1993

It's the ninth episode of Raw and... what's this? We're at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York? And that's not Vince McMahon's voice, that's Gorilla Monsoon's. And look who's standing next to him! None other than Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Monsoon and Heenan are on commentary? The only thing better would be if Macho Man were here. And guess who's standing to Monsoon's left.... Crap, it's Rob Bartlett. Doing a Vince McMahon impersonation. Tonight, Vince and Randy are at the Michael Landis Leukemia Awards dinner. They give out awards for that now?

Raw #5 - February 15th, 1993

Tonight's Raw is the first in two weeks, and to mark this auspicious occasion, it has been pre-recorded. We open with short promos by both Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase, flanked by a nervous Jimmy Hart who bobs up and down and tells Ted, and I quote, "There's no need for that, baby. No need for that now." Even when he's hinting at a face turn, the Mouth of the South has no "off" button, baby.