Papa Shango WWE Superstars Series 3 Review
Check out our latest review of the voodoo practitioner himself, Papa Shango, the the WWE Superstars Series 3 line!
Summary
According to the WWE, “In 1992, the haunting voodoo practitioner known as Papa Shango made his shocking debut in WWE. Stalking down the aisle with a smoking skull in his hands, the bizarre Superstar’s horrifying appearance — complete with morbid skeletal face paint and a necklace made from bones — struck fear in his opponents before he even stepped into the ring. Once the bell rang, Shango was even more fearsome, using his 330-pound frame to completely destroy everything in his path.”
In what we are dubbing the gimmick era, Papa Shango (aka Charles Wright) wrestled as a Vudu practitioner and came down to the ring in a similar entrance attire as his figure, minus the staff and skull!
With nods to his gimmick and character from the early 90’s, the Papa Shango WWE Superstars Series 3 figure blends just right amount of nostalgia without overdoing the figure. Papa Shango did change the flowers on his hat quite a bit and sometimes incorporated feathers into the front of it but the figure’s top hat has a nice red flower that is set off by the white stripe
Papa Shango on Card
The front of Papa Shango’s card features a color illustration of the promo photo shown above with the burst that states that he includes a fabric entrance cape, which was a big part of his gimmick. On the back of the card, there is a black and white illustration that is found on the front of the card with the Series 3 designation in the upper right corner. It also has the words “Voodoo Curse,” “Beware Of,” and, “The Spell Has Been Put on You.” You also see the cross sell for the other figures in the wave, including The Million Dollar Man, Mankind, and the Undertaker.
Head Sculpt
Featuring a white painted face with two red markings on each cheek, they did an excellent job at translating the real like Papa Shango character into this figure! He also has black circles around his eyes, a black painted nose and black squares to complete the skull look! Since this figure is also made by Mattel, he could be considered the Skeletor of the WWE Universe. The face paint is only on half of his head while the back of the head is not painted, matching his skin color on his buck.
Cape On
With the WWE Superstars figures, the attention to detail with the soft goods they are making for this line are not only great looking but they also are of very high quality. His cape has a very large collar that goes around his shoulders and all the down to his abdomen.
Cape Design
As for the design of the cape, it is light blue in color on the inside and, on the outer part that shows, it is made to look like layers of fabric that have a mix of light blues, dark blues, and creams.
Cape Detail
The cape also tattered at the bottom, giving it a unique look and playing off the layered fabric look of the colors and patterns The cape also features straps to hold it on his body that are sewn into the upper part of the cape.
Cape Straps
Here are a couple shots of what the cape looks like under the arms and they are hidden very well by the large collar piece. The stitching that holds the straps in place are visible on the front of the collar but they are not too distracting and they blend in nicely with the blacks.
Papa Shango Cape Off
Chest, Back, and Arms
Once you have his cape off off, there is more detail to behold under the hood so to speak. He uses the MOTWWE and MOTU Origins figure buck and his wrestling tank top, which feature a cool snake symbol design on the front and on the back that is set off in red.
Charles Wright is tatted up in real life and they did a great job recreating the look of his arm sleeves as he is covered in them!
Waist, Legs, and Boots
His wrestling pants and boots are black to match his tank top and his shoelaces are red to go along with the designs that run up and down his left and right legs.
Accessories
Papa Shango comes with a top hat, a bone necklace, extra hands.
Hands
You can see from the various options you can throw on the open hands to give him different looks.
He also has a gripping hand for grappling or it provides a nice way to display the pointing to himself or giving him a thumbs up
You can also achieve a menacing look with his closed fist.
Top Hat
As stated above, Papa Shango’s hat had many different looks but they chose to go with a simple design with a red flower and a thick white stripe on the front of it.
Bone Necklace
He also comes with a bone necklace that they took some liberties with and embellished it with a snake head, continuing the reptile theme that is found on his wrestling attire.
Displayability
There are countless ways to display Papa Shango either in his cape on or off. It’s cool you can use different hand combinations to achieve the desired look you want.
Rating
Michael
Toy Sorceress
Overall, we are giving Papa Shango a 5 out of 7! They did an amazing job with recreating his look in plastic with various paint apps, tattoos, and his beautifully constructed cape. We did ding him a couple stars because, at the $19.99 price point, we feel that he could have come with some extra accessories given his elaborate voodoo gimmick. For example, he also used a skull and an elaborate stick that he used to light enough that it will smoke like you are saging to rid or cleanse a space from evil spirts or unwanted negative energy!
WWE Series 3 Reviews
Check out our reviews of The Million Dollar Man and Mankind!
Complete YOUR Collection!
Be sure to check out our WRESTLING SHOP PAGES and our WWE SUPERSTARS page where you can find links to your favorite retailers for all your favorite figures all in one convenient place!
