Of course as soon as I plan to review them this week, WWE breaks up Big Cass and Enzo Amore. I don’t get WWE’s obsession with splitting their tag teams prematurely. It’s not like there’s a shortage of singles wrestlers on RAW and SmackDown Live anyway. But much like The New Age Outlaws, I’m convinced history will show Big Cass and Enzo were better as a team, which is why I’m combining their Elite reviews.

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Packaging: For this year’s Elite line, Mattel is sticking with the slightly changed variation to the 2016 model. I’m realizing the layout isn’t the problem so much as the dominant red in the backdrop. If Mattel color coordinated that blue for SmackDown, yellow for Legends, etc. the red wouldn’t be so obnoxious.

Cass and Enzo are posed similar to how they’d come down the ring, which is a nice touch. The sides feature the same portrait and their brand designation — in this case RAW red. Look closely to the top left to check in on the accessories and the back has a simple bio. Just a couple of lines about the wrestler is really all Mattel needs to add here.

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Likeness: Cass is close. He is pretty much all legs. Mattel always seems to be a bit generous with the body parts used, which hurts Cass’ likeness. He’s not particularly shredded anywhere. He’s a big guy in decent shape.

The British Bulldog torso would have worked better for Cass though I’m blanking on better leg choices. The ripped parts take away from Cass’ giant like status height and give him a weirdly proportioned visual. Mattel just about had Cass’ head sculpt down, but didn’t exaggerate the bags around the eyes enough. That helps give Cass his intensity resulting in a Cass sculpt that looks like he’s bored or stoned.

[irp]

Enzo fares better all around. He’s got appropriately spiky hair, his baggy pants, sculpted socks and sneakers. The bugged out eyes sell his personality perfectly. One look and it’s clear this is Enzo Amore.

Scale: Cass is billed at 7 foot. That would put him right in line with the 6’10” Kevin Nash and 7 foot Big Show. He’s off though notably shorter than Kane. Maybe sitting his head up higher would help some.

At 5’11”, Enzo is the same height as Finn Balor and AJ Styles. He’s fine although the high hair gives him a taller illusion.

Paint: Once again, Cass takes a backseat to Enzo, but in this case, it’s unavoidable. Cass wears standard wrestling attire with only a Big Cass explosion logo on his tights.

The articulation hinders the visual, but the tampo is clean. The arm wraps are done well and there are no stray marks or paint gaffes on the head sculpt. Mattel is typically excellent in that category.

Enzo has the far more complicated paint job thanks to his ring wear. I’m somewhat surprised his female silhouette adorned tights made the cut. Not that they’re particularly risqué, but at the same time, they don’t necessarily seem PG. All of the complicated attire detail with the leopard trim is terrific.

Even Enzo’s stylized eyebrow and the hair designs along the sides of his head are done correctly. Take a closer look and see the socks have the eyes looking forward. There is very light overspray of the sneaker trim, but I’ll cut Mattel slack here.

This is one of their most complex figures yet and he’s just about perfect. The only way Enzo could be improved would be if Mattel added some shading to the hair. The shock straight platinum blonde is actually more obnoxious than Enzo wears it.

Articulation: Cass is the standard Elite figure. He can nail a big boot and any of his other regular moves. Despite the shorts mold, Enzo doesn’t have any movement issues either. He doesn’t need a lot to get rag dolled. I appreciate Mattel’s consistency on this front so collectors know what they’re getting with each figure.

As usual the bulky kneepad gets in the way somewhat for Cass. I really wish Mattel could figure out a better way to implement those without restricting articulation.

Cass and Enzo have:

neck

ball-jointed shoulders

bicep

elbow

wrist

wrist hinge

torso

waist

hip

thigh

knee (double-jointed)

ankle

Accessories: Yay! Cass gets a win for once? The big guy has a necklace that’s a tad too big. Getting that to scale would probably not be worth the effort. He comes with two shirts featuring their catchphrases. As is the norm with multiple shirts, they’re the goofy hard plastic making it look like the guys are wearing vests. If these were cloth shirts, I’d be ecstatic. But at least you have some display options. Even with the hair, Enzo can wear either shirt without needing to pop off his head first.

Enzo comes with his leather vest. Like the attire, that’s very well done and comes off easily enough. Vests are much easier than the full jackets. Enzo also gets a pair of necklaces. These are thinner and look better than the one on Cass. I know I’m greedy here, but Enzo is definitely one of the few wrestlers who should have gotten a microphone accessory as well. Talking is his best wrestling skill after all.

Both guys also come with adjoining sections of the exclusive diorama. I’m not a fan of these so they’ll be collecting space until I decide to toss them.

Worth it? I got these guys for $20. Enzo was regularly going for higher, but the demand seems to have subsided. Cass could eventually go for less, but for me it didn’t make sense having Enzo without Cass and vice versa. Not that it matters much now…

Big Cass Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Enzo Amore Rating: 10 out of 10

Enzo is going to be a hard figure to top as far as WWE Elites for the rest of the year. The complexity of the outfit and head sculpt really set him apart. Big Cass is pretty good, but the part choice especially for the legs and the relaxed head sculpt hold him back.

Where to get it? I’ve seen the full Elite 49 at Target just once. Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Walgreens are lagging behind on this wave. Gamestop also might be a viable option. I ordered both Cass and Enzo from Amazon to spare myself an endlessly frustrating hunt.