R3 TECH STILL RULES: Complete History of WWE R-3 Tech 2002 Figures by Jakks Pacific!

R3 Tech was a line of WWE figures by Jakks Pacific that lasted throughout all of 2002. Jakks had big plans for the line when R3 kicked off, but after a year they would turn their attention to Ruthless Aggression! In this video we briefly cover Jakks' history making WWE Figures, everything made in the R3 Tech line, WWE's 2002 Draft Figures, and the beginning of Ruthless Aggression and Classic Superstars figures!
For a complete checklist and pictures of everything WWE R3, check out: figurecollections.com/line.php...
Written and produced by Jack "Slime" Meils (its pronounced "miles" people)

[@blakeswinney2197]

WWF/WWE 2002 was on of my favorite years because of the roster

[@grahambrand1668]

Oh yea man your totally right those are my second favourite to the r3 tech

[@thebaker525]

R-3 was so impressive with its more realistic style and character specific molds, but it unfortunately shot Jakks in the foot because they couldn’t commit to budgeting for more character molds, and unlike TTL or BCA, you can’t reuse parts on different characters, because they’re all tooled to represent exactly one person.

[@FigureCollections]

Couldn't have said it better myself!!

[@sodokami6347]

You gotta do the final count/finishing move figure line those figures were my favorite especially the hardy boyz figure.

[@rayvenkman2087]

How about a video on wrestlers’ first and last figures during their careers in the ring? Like what was the last Steve Austin figure ever released before his retirement and such.

[@nickvazquez7963]

3:26 nice WaterBoy reference.

[@TyMarshall007]

good movie

[@tinky_winky4488]

@@TyMarshall007 great movie

[@dogmd7]

These R3 figures age quite well, especially compared to how bad the TTL figures were that proceeded them. I never really appreciated the R3 figures in their time, because I always thought the BCA figures, while far less impressive sculpts, were way more fun to play with. I'd say some of the face scans of the R3 figures are just as good as what we have today from Mattel, which is extremely impressive considering how good Mattel figures are and how dated R3 is by comparison. I never liked how some of the wrestlers don't come with elbow or kneepads, though. That always bothered me.

[@AidenJustPlayin]

That Captain Insano bit was hilarious

[@andrethegiant3035]

When they made the first Andre the Giant for the classic superstars line and it was this big show body with Andre head lazily plopped on top I was so mad.

[@jefferyjones8399]

This really started Jakks unfortunate run of constant repackagings/repaints

[@andresgc770]

The face scans were generally pretty good, but how I hated the skinny legs some of the wrestlers got lol. I had that Chuck with the short red trunks, and the skinny legs and arms (plus the weird torso) made him look so wimpy, when in reality he's a tall dude with a solid build.

[@pavilion7887]

Some great nostalgia here. That Big Show also got me back into collecting at the time, due to the scale of him. I had virtually all of the R3 Figures, including the WM18 and nWo lines (that Hogan was so underrated). I also remember buying the Metal Vengeance Arena as the images showed it with the ringside floor mats and ring wall, but ended up only actually including a slip mat. Also always did wonder why the Unchained Fury figures were rereleased in different coloured carding.

[@spencer2745]

Actually I liked these figures a lot. It was fun to play with a Hulk Hogan figure and be able to do his taunts like cupping the ear with the moveable hands

[@DropBombsInOctagons]

r3 tech guilty pleasure of mine... they so close to comparison to mattel so its crazy cool they can almost stand side by side with todays product only with less articulation

[@orio_8320]

I remember he was literally crying when the 3:27 laugh kicks in. ah...memories.

[@eugenegorman9697]

i had a few of these, rvd, jericho, kane, stone cold, hulk hogan.nwo, scott hall and a few more

[@marvelghost]

Lmfao Waterboy skit

[@859approved]

I had been somewhat of a fan of WWE and WCW around when I started Kindergarten in 1998/1999, however my parents weren't on board with supporting my wrestling fandom until around 2002, and these were some of the first figures I grew up with. I remember being a mega Hogan fan, and when I first saw the nWo R3 Hogan figure at retail, it was the first time my mom bought me a wrestling figure. I really loved this series and this entire era of Jakks up until they started calling it in around 2008/2009. I think R3 Tech is one of the most innovative series they ever produced, and had they truly invested in it, I think it would have been fascinating to see how far it could have went. I honestly prefer this line over the RA line in terms of scale and deco, it would have been really interesting to see how far they could have gone with this even with Classic Superstars. I think Jakks continuing to produce so many half hearted efforts such as the BCA with Backlash, TTL, etc. strained efforts with budget across the board. They could have easily made R3 or even RA so much better had they just put the effort in there and not in so many excessive lines. As flawed as many are, and as great as Mattel is, nothing gets me invested like the glory days of Jakks.

[@etoxedge8736]

Huh, so I have some of the last 'wwf' figures? Thats kinda cool, makes me wish I still had the packaging but I was just a kid, I couldn't have known they'd 'get the f out' out of no where, much less thought much about it

[@michaelnugent9758]

Dude, the Bva part 1 sent me down the rabbit hole of your stuff. This has been awesome to relive! 👏🏻 I appreictae all the hard work you had to put into this!

[@johnathanlewis6432]

Holy shit I have that entire Wrestlemania X-8 line except for Triple H...those figures are still in a laundry basket with the hundreds of others to this day.

[@uburton]

I wish I had the WM X8 DDP, WM X8 Triple H, SmackDown Draft/Series Four Kurt Angle, WM X8 Hogan & Rock, WM X8 Taker & Flair (White Hair) and the Unrelenting/Relentless Booker T and Y2J as a kid (I do still have the Series Five RVD, though). I still don't get why they didn't think Stone Cold was worth the extra expense of having moulded knee braces, because the loose ones have never looked good, as far as I know.

[@Autobot_Megatron]

I loved this video. The Captain Insano voiceover part had me in stitches! Loved it!!

[@ethanfigueiredo3407]

I want to se a Classic and deluxe superstars line review💪🏻👍🏻🤘🏻👌🏻🙏🏻 please😎🤙🏻

[@FigureCollections]

Absolutely! The challenging part is finding them all to have them on hand for the video. As soon as that happens, its only a matter of time!

[@ethanfigueiredo3407]

Thank you 👍🏻😎🤙🏻🙏🏻👏🏻

[@SirHimothyMcHe]

The only thing i could focus on us the fugures arms, they really got those jack skellington arms!

[@bambamfale5057]

I love the water boy reference haha

[@FigureCollections]

Haha thank you!

[@COMBOY]

I knew that something was kinda wrong with the back of one of my Stone Cold figures. Now I know where did it come from. 😅

[@jakeq8934]

That kane figure is 🔥

[@MrAdam-dh6kx]

Great review. Much respect.

[@jimmyvolakis5194]

6:35 I’m pretty sure the nWo hogan was available as a variant in the nWo carded set. I have him!

[@orlandomagician8321]

Legend! Childhood memories right here!

[@theevn7]

Great video I love this past WWF/WWE RTech figure, very detailed. Today Mattel create good figures but not the detail like jakks pacific in face and other stuff. Thanks

[@wvu9787]

I loved the draft figures, they were so fun collecting all of them

[@MattWright13]

Some of my favorite figures of all time!

[@KidTonyGaming]

Jakks ran a figures serious alongside the RA with torso being flexible similar to the Mattel Elite figures, could you do a video on those. They were my favourite Jakks figures because of the flexibt torso allowing you to do more moves

[@GDNETWORK983]

loved this Video man liked the look back to the Old figures and how good they looked

[@FigureCollections]

Thank you! R3 deserves more love! Thanks for watching, I'll try and keep crankin' em out!

[@GDNETWORK983]

@@FigureCollections i was too young for this set but i have had them and they are great thanks for these videos i like em alot

[@joeyasweknowit1]

Hey man I was hoping somebody would touch on this series it’s crazy how no one even knows about them and I think there the best figures ever . I’m only collecting R3 tech

[@timothyc93]

I wanna see classic superstars and early 2000s

[@markgeorge1980]

Great video man I just randomly clicked and didn't lose interest for one second. I tried hard to get behind these figures summer of '02 but I just couldn't. Also this is not a rib I'm totally serious that Shawn Stasiak was my favorite wCw Wrestler and Curt Hennig and to find out that Jakks was just trolling me and they weren't ever coming out I was just done with R3. 8 years later my R3 Hardy Boyz became my new born son's favorite toys to play with and carry around with everywhere and my Boy turns 10 in October and Jeff Hardy is STILL his favorite Wrestler... well it's really cool to me and it was bc of the R3 figs. That's my two cents :-) see you in the next video!

[@user-qd6tl6dv4p]

Loved these figures so much

[@smithswoodrookie]

Awesome video :)

[@jglovehart9021]

Would love to see videos about the WWF finishing move/final count figures.

[@grizzgo]

I always thought these figures looked a bit on the small side and those jean figures had the worst leg articulation! But that Jeff Hardy is probably my all time favorite Jeff Hardy figure!

[@SK-zo8ec]

We Need More Videos Like This

[@ekwrestling]

Just discovered your channel!!! This is amazing!!! The only one of these that I own is the Edge that’s displayed on the video! I love your videos and your style! Keep up the amazing content!

[@FigureCollections]

Thank you!! Be sure to subscribe, we have more coming!

[@ekwrestling]

Figure Collections already done brother, you know this!!!

[@MattWeedon]

So awesome!!

[@ultrasan7066]

Real molding❗️

[@MARQ23]

Subscribed!

[@Dewaynesite1]

R3 Test was my first figure outta the series to restart my collection in 2003. I got the R3 Big Show but the paint started peeling off.

[@SK-zo8ec]

R3 Was The Best Model Figures For Them Times

[@Dewaynesite1]

I call them the pre Mattel models. They fit well with the current figures.

[@spartanisland9977]

Please do ruthless aggression and classic superstars video!

[@jefferyjones8399]

I was really into WWE figures from about the end of BCA/early TTL until the RA figure line. I still remember getting the TTL stage with Vince from Walmart back in the day. I had a bunch of the WCW Galoob and Toy Biz figures too. I habed a good amount of the R3 line. It was a good idea in concept but the execution seemed kinda lazy. It still produced some great figures though. I fell out of wrestling after the first few RA Classic Superstars. I still have the Ric Flair, Bret, Ultimate Warrior, Million Dollar Man, and Jake Roberts figures though.

[@Sittnslideways]

Would love to see coverage on the ruthless agression toys

[@thelimit6231]

I’d love to see a playmates Star Trek video!

[@codyjobe]

I remember them looking amazing and the articulation on the hands being pretty cool. but for most if not all the figures the articulation on the legs was really hindered by the sculpt and I did not enjoy playing with them. I looooved the finishing moves series although they looked crazy af lol. the articulation was awesome.

[@616Entertainment]

Excellent video, dude!

[@FigureCollections]

Holy s***! That means a great deal coming from you! Believe it or not your channel and a couple others really inspired me to get the ball rolling with all of our figure history videos, so thanks!!

[@616Entertainment]

Figure Collections That’s crazy to hear! Well, I’m glad I played a part in you starting this channel, because I watched like 10 of these videos last night. You do excellent work. If you’re interested, maybe we can get you on my podcast, or we can figure out some sort of collab down the line.

[@FigureCollections]

Yes!! Would love to do something like this! I'll track you down on facebook and we can figure it out!

[@CodyHagenGaming]

Will You Do A Brief History Of The Jakks Classic Superstars Line

[@taimak123]

R3 wasn’t the best, but it was innovative for what it was

[@LeonLeon24]

Do classic deluxe aggression line review please

[@philipgonzalez7826]

2003 Classic superstars next!! Please

[@jiovannividro3438]

You should do one on the Saturday night heat or even the finishing moves line

[@619kane]

I REALLY WISHED THE CONCEPT OF R3 TECH TOOK OFF! INDIVIDUAL SCULPTS AT LEAST WOULD OF BEEN GREAT!MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE ARTICULATED UNMATCHED FURY ACTION FIGURES.

[@yetanotheruser1989]

Such a great series overall, and some outstanding figures. It's just a shame there were so many paints. Also I remember them having a bit less playability than the TTL figures

[@RealTeX1]

Tbh they felt better to me then the TTL ones. Easier to do certain things and they werent super bulky

[@nicholasblack411]

Can you do classic superstars history

[@PeteSanctions]

What was the reason for the "Blue Bloods" set name? Were they all on Smackdown at the time?

[@PaulJonathanWpg24]

Dude! My childhood is flashing before my eyes. I'm the same age, and did stop motion too. Were you posting on wrestlingfigs animation?

[@FigureCollections]

I sure was! What did you go by? I went by 3Lephant

[@PaulJonathanWpg24]

@@FigureCollections I started as Suicide, then flipped to Chaos, and finally settled on P@ul. Crazy. You're doing a great job with these videos man, keep them going. It's great content.

[@markgeorge1980]

Can I get a "HELL YEAH" Shout out for those who remember "Theaxehennig" on wfigs boards!

[@FigureCollections]

@@markgeorge1980 I'm sorry I'm just seeing this, but I know at one point I had a handful of his custom figures in my collection!

[@bennygilbert8764]

Any chance you can release some of your old animations? That would be pretty neat to see!

[@FigureCollections]

I'd actually really like to release them in a video if there's interest! I was never as good as some people back then, but it was a fun hobby for a 13 year old at the time!

[@CeemPlay]

Love em

[@SuperMarioPlush2006]

Can you review the WWE Ruthless/ Deluxe Aggression figures?

[@spacecase7504]

I think the R3 line had way too many repaints, we never even got The Rock in wrestling gear.

[@FigureCollections]

Wrestlemania X-8 Two packs with Hogan had Rock in wrestling gear!

[@spacecase7504]

@@FigureCollections 😂 I'm trippin Insightful video as always, thank you

[@jokesover3433]

Jakks was my childhood from attitude era to ruthless, but I gotta say I got a love hate relationship with these figures.🤷

[@HardyHeft]

Fantastic……

[@Eric-wu7bp]

When will you talk about the WWF Titantron live figures?

[@ONEWRESTLINGNATION_OWNIT]

I had all of these

[@ericmoorejr8033]

Bruh I was mad asf I had that alliance r3 tech stone cold figure with the long sleeve shirt and the short shorts that be up to his thighs this happened when I was really little I took that toy up to pizza hut you know how it used to be when you a kid so I was in there I was just eating pizza everything is fine but as soon as we left I couldn't find that toy and after that I never seen it again

[@thewhitewolf7886]

I hope you get an awesome Stone Cold elite figure, dude. I've been there as a kid and it sucks.

[@josephzanabria9369]

Are they on scale with the Mattel elites ???????

[@hezekiahthomas837]

There was a wrestlmania 18 two pack with rock and Hogan but it's rare

[@Shlumbus69]

R3 look really dope for their times but.... I gotta say i thought it was just the last years of the jakks license but it seems they did it here too, i hate how jakks would have figures pictures looking awesome then you look at the actual figure and it looks horrible and has left out detail even deluxe figures sometimes. Really makes me appreciate mattel so much more.

[@tnw782]

Was the Tajiri draft figure the first R3 of him?

[@rushmaaima7233]

Any chance you could do a vid on Signature Series WWF Line of figs?! The ones had amazing articulation for figs for way back when! There were definitely some Lines that were rare as back in the day.

[@FigureCollections]

Nothing is off the table! Are you talking about these signature series figures? figurecollections.com/series.php?id=118

[@rushmaaima7233]

So sorry I remembered the Title of that line of figs wrong! I mean these ones lol, they're called "Finishing Moves". I'm pretty sure they had some other line of figs with a different Title but same amount of articulation which was a pretty rare sight back in the day! Thanks again for replying, appreciate it! :) www.ebay.com/itm/WWF-WWE-WrestleMania-XVII-Finishing-Moves-Series-1-Jericho-Kurt-Angle-Figurines/202241418164?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D226053%26meid%3D6f0c81a75cdf4671be0e15cdf3f14fc8%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpf%26sd%3D193384221399%26itm%3D202241418164%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV1Filter&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

[@ZCW_ZANE]

Are loose jakks figures worth any money?

[@_The_Worst_]

😮...Saaaaaay whaaaaaat...❗️❓️❗️ Ric Flair at one point had dark hair...🤯...I thought he came outta the womb an old man with white hair and gold rings whom was styling and profiling...Like, I didn't know he was ever young...💯✔️

[@Dewaynesite1]

I call these the Jakks Pacific versions the pre Mattel. Why? They go flush with the Mattel figures.

[@zvrdoz4988]

Best Kane ever

[@westnile21]

Hey quick question, do you have any idea when Mattel is releasing Bray Wyatt “The Fiend” figure? I haven’t been able to find info on it.

[@Cardinal187]

westnile21 up for preorder on Ringside Collectibles

[@rayvenkman2087]

Toybiz Marvel Legends style finger joints.

[@therealnickynurotic8930]

Some were cool. But some had them standing weird or a really skinny hulk hogan where his ribs showed. Or Bill gun for example

[@jimmyvolakis5194]

8:54 taker without sleeve tattoos looks weirder than flair with black hair

[@XTR02]

2001 was the height of my original wrestling figure collection (I collected about 120 WWE figures from early 2000 until 2003). At the time I strongly disliked the R3 figures because everyone had massive shoulders, very skinny wrists and an underdeveloped chest. Some figures were oddly very pale and that hideous back arch really ruined everything for me. Even though these figures were noticeably smaller in every way compared to the Tron Ready figures, Jakks reused a number of Tron Ready head sculpts and used them on some of their R3 figures. Certain figures like Kane and the Hardys looked very good and the level of detail in those selective figures reminds me of modern day Mattel WWE figures. But overall I didn't like them and I still don't like them (that Triple H figure has an impressive headsculpt but his physique looks beyond terrible). I bought the nWo figures because unfortunately there weren't any Tron Ready style figures of the nWo back then. Seeing the Ruthless Aggression figures made me slightly relieved just because they replaced the R3 figures The RA figures were a lot like the Tron Ready figures but the wrestlers looked so damn bloated and massive. Definitely makes me appreciate the figures of today a lot more.

[@Ckypwnd]

R-3s were the best

[@timothyc93]

We getting a ttl video

[@Z_wwfz]

Is it better to leave the original hasbro ring...with every piece/sticker...no matter how worn and torn, or clean it up and get repro stickers...i.e. from hasbromaniacs? How would the collectibility be effected? Also, if a hasbro figure has some wear, will touching it up decrease the value/collectibility?

[@SamirTripleA]

What’s the song played from 10:37-12:21? I was enjoying that whilst watching this 😂

[@FigureCollections]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGi8i4yOrdposJI I don't blame you for enjoying this, it slaps pretty hard

[@SamirTripleA]

Figure Collections you absolute legend

[@BrianAwesome]

@Figure Collections, ... Why did they discontinue the TTLive figures in 2001, instead of continuing them with different articulation? I mean The WWF and WWE Smackdown Fists and the "Across the Nation" Titantrons were still released.

[@FigureCollections]

I'm not sure of the official reason, but Jakks started working with Gentle Giant (the company that produced the real scan renderings) in a larger capacity in 2001-2002. Its possible they thought they could take real scanning to the next level, and TTL's were only equipped to use real scan heads. I think they continued the TTL molds from 2002-2009 because they were cheap and ready to go -- most of them used the exact same "super ripped" body!

[@thedumbmurderer9424]

I actually have two four packs of figures in TitanTron Live style which include Batista, John Cena or Carlito. It must be from 2005-2006

[@lo-kilo]

I had the two pack with ddp and Christian

[@AshleyMassaro1]

where can i see you animations?

[@FigureCollections]

They're in hiding at the moment.. I made most of them when I was 12-13 years old, with no mentor and no constructive criticism back then.. Most of them are pretty bad haha. If people realllly want to see them I'll make a compilation and post a vid!

[@MrWhitegold13]

Realistic stone cold has a six pack... And it is not the beer kind

[@TheNameisAaron.]

Plz put up jakks wwe full history

[@FigureCollections]

If you fund the purchase of all the figures :) Kidding, but I'd need a full staff working for weeks and weeks to pull off something like that!

[@TTE441]

- what about CS 6 andre with the correct R3 moulds?

[@FigureCollections]

It crossed my mind to include this, but I decided to save it for our eventual Classic Superstars history video :)

[@Acillatem23]

Cash for Gold, more like Cash for Toys

[@ColorsBright]

I stopped collecting after Bone Crunching ended as well.. I bought maybe one or 2 of the titantron figures but then realized they were terrible for actually "play wrestling" and then I saw these and always felt the bodies looked odd, never knew about the arch in the back since I never bought one.

[@FigureCollections]

Actually same here! I bought the Signature Series Last of the Line BCA Triple H & Hardcore Holly, then I remember shortly after finding X-Pac and Kane TTL's. I bought both, and then pretty much stopped collecting and playing with figures until 2002 when TTL's were mostly gone!

[@ColorsBright]

@@FigureCollections i know I bought Mankind and someone else , can't remember.. but I remember I couldn't even do a piledriver because their legs wouldn't even sit and the arms were terrible.. so with the disappoint of that and the realizing I would need to rebuy all the figures.. I did a stone cold and said ... oohhhh HELLLOOO NOOOO.

[@acork7601]

Rushed and lame is how i'd describe it