A car drove over Lou Thesz and the legendary National Wrestling Alliance World champion escaped with nary a scrape.
That’s because the accident, with the late champ’s wife Charlie behind the wheel, involved the PowerTown action figure of Thesz. She called its survival a testament to the quality of the collectible and the fact no such thing existed when Thesz won his first world title in 1937.
“It’s just been unbelievable,” Charlie said of her relationship with PowerTown, an emerging force in the collectible figure business spearheaded by ex-stars Greg Gagne and Terry “Magnum TA” Allen. “It means so much to me to give my grandchildren an action figure of their grandfather.”
Thesz is part of the PowerTown Ultra Series 1 line along with Bruiser Brody, Verne Gagne, Stan Hansen, Kerry Von Erich and Magnum. The run is sold out but pre-orders are available through Aug. 16 for the second series of Madusa, Kamala, Wahoo McDaniel, Dory Funk Jr., Jack Brisco and Junkyard Dog.
Greg Gagne said the Ultra series in part honors wrestlers who made their mark before the action figure craze took hold in the 1980s. Charlie Thesz aside, the collectibles are designed to stay in the box and on the shelf with their accompanying bios.
“We’re representing the people who really built this industry. We’ve got some of the greatest names in professional wrestling,” said Gagne, who handles relations with wrestlers and their families. “I just feel for the history of the sport, for the people who built it, we owe it to them. That’s our philosophy.”
Barbara Goodish, Brody’s widow, said she appreciated the way PowerTown provides a generous cut of its revenues to wrestlers and their families, remembering her husband 36 years after he was murdered.
“It’s such an astounding company. This is the first time really that anyone has come to the family. We have not made anything all these years from all the bootlegged merchandise out there,” she said. “To give something back to the family and such a quality, quality product, I am just so grateful and so honored.”
That was a key motivator in getting PowerTown up and running during the last three years, Gagne said during the recent George Tragos/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony in Waterloo, Iowa.
“I wanted the families to enjoy the success of this thing,” he said. “People are so gratified. A lot of these families are hurting a little bit so we try to take all that into consideration as well.”
PowerTown has other lines, as well. The All-Star Wrestlers Series 1 features the likes of Bobo Brazil, Nick Bockwinkel and the Rock and Roll Express, while a TNA group of four includes Jordynne Grace. Those series are currently sold out, which Gagne said reflects the craftsmanship and long lead time in manufacturing the figures.
“We came up with other two lines, so hopefully every month talent has something coming out,” he said. “It takes nine months to get it out and we want to be sure the costumes are right and we have the story right.”
That means PowerTown takes a broad approach to the characters it brings to figurine life, Gagne added.
“We like to take a couple from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s so you get a variety there,” he said. “We’re still a new company and we’re still trying to put out the names that will draw the people to it.”
No matter the era, the level of detail is important. When Charlie Thesz got her first mockup, she said it didn’t look like her husband.
“He didn’t start working out with weights until later on, didn’t have that body. When he was first champion, he didn’t have any hair in his chest. They worked with me. It was so amazing,” she said.
In fact, Gagne said other action figures companies have approached PowerTown, inquiring about its production process.
“If you see the details on them, they’re really a collectors thing. They’re not to take out and play with. They’re more for display,” he said.
In a way, Gagne is simply following the path of his father, Verne, one of wrestling’s greatest all-time stars and a trailblazer in taking the sport in new directions.
Verne Gagne’s out-of-the-ring ventures included Gera-Speed vitamin supplements, a board game, and the first line of action figures 40 years ago. The Remco models of the Road Warriors, the Fabulous Ones and others preceded the WWF Superstars line that coincided with the WrestleMania era.
“He was a marketer and he knew the strength of TV. He figured it out right away and utilized it more than probably anybody in the business at that time,” Greg Gagne said of his dad.
“I think I picked up a little bit of that from him — how important it is to believe in something and get yourself out there. He had a vision of professional wrestling the way he wanted to present it to the public and he licensed some merchandise nobody else had done.”
In a throwback to those early figures, Steve Rosenthal is managing partner of PowerTown — he worked on the first American Wrestling Association toys. Magnum handles the business end with other principals.
Gagne, inducted into the Tragos/Thesz Hall this year, said he started exploring PowerTown as a way to keep in touch with the wrestling community. It quickly evolved into a 12-hour-a-day job contacting families, seeking permissions and just listening to grateful comments.
“The response we’ve had has been unbelievable,” he said. “I started contacting people almost three years ago and said you have to wait a year or two before yours comes out. If they hang in there, just two or three years down the road, we think this thing is going to be a really big business.”
TOP PHOTO: Greg Gagne described the PowerTown Ultra series of wrestling greats. Photo by Steven Johnson
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