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Hammer & Mold Est. 2026
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Know the toy. Then own it. Est. MMXXVI EU shipping, tracked
Vintage Kenner · Star Wars · Ghostbusters

Know the toy.
Then own it

Hammer & Mold brings together original vintage toys, the companies that made them and the stories that made them famous. Explore the history. Watch the commercials. Buy the originals.

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The shop

For sale

Live auctions on original vintage toys. Place a bid, or take it straight away with Buy now.

The makers

Meet the Molders

We organize the collection the way it was built: maker first. The maker is the molder; its toy lines live beneath it. Filter the lines by their maker, or sort them across the years.

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Kenner

Star Wars

1977 – 1985

The line that invented the modern 3¾-inch action figure, and sold an empty box one Christmas to do it.

Meet the Molder →
Kenner

The Real Ghostbusters

1986 – 1991

Proton packs, ecto-plasma and gross-out mutations. The strangest, most inventive toys on the shelf.

Meet the Molder →
BullmarkMarusanPopy

Kaiju

1966 – 1984

Soft-vinyl monsters from Tokyo's tokusatsu boom. Godzilla, Ultraman and the beasts of late-night television, hand-poured and hand-painted.

Meet the Molder →
MaruyamaMedicomGoto

Sofubi

1953 – now

The material itself. Hollow Japanese soft vinyl, slush-cast in heated metal moulds, pulled out by hand and sprayed by hand. And Hiroshi Goto, who has been painting it for seventy years.

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Playmates

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1988 – 1997

Mutant reptiles, pizza and ooze. The line that turned a black-and-white comic into a worldwide phenomenon.

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LJN

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

1982

The gentle alien of 1982. Poseable figures, glowing fingers and the most famous bicycle in cinema.

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Galoob

The A-Team

1983 – 1984

Mr. T, machine guns and a black van. No plan survived contact, but the toys did.

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Hasbro

WWF Wrestling

1990 – 1994

Four inches of hard plastic, one move each, and a ring to throw them in.

Meet the Molder →
Imperial

Godzilla & King Kong

1985 – 1986

The monsters you could actually own. Cheap vinyl on a hook by the till, from the company a Holocaust survivor built out of a ten-cent bouncing ball.

Meet the Molder →
Palitoy

Star Wars, in cardboard

1978 – 1985

Britain's Star Wars line, from the company that also made Action Man. Its Death Star is printed card because plastic cost too much, which is exactly why it is now the one collectors chase.

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Thinkway Toys

Toy Story

1995

The toys about toys. Pull-string Woody and Buzz, straight from Pixar's first feature.

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Why we exist

Not just a grid of photos

Anyone can sell an old toy. We want to tell you what you're actually looking at.

A vintage King Kong figure cranking the handle of an Agfa movie projector.
The Toy

Know what you're buying

Year, maker, series, scale, accessories and condition. The details collectors actually want to know.

The Story

Know where it came from

Who made it, when it appeared and what made it special. The story behind the plastic.

The Commercial

See how it was sold

The original TV commercials that introduced these toys to the world, right where they belong.

The Molders/ Hasbro WWF
The Molder

Hasbro WWF

Pawtucket, Rhode Island · 1990 – 1994

When LJN went under, the biggest roster in wrestling went to Hasbro. What came out was the opposite of LJN's eight-inch rubber giants: small, chunky, cartoonish figures, each built to do one move.

Written by Ramon Gervais/From examples we have handled/Hammer & Mold, Haarlem
1990
The first figures
11
Regular series
4"
Tall, four points of articulation
3
Mail-away figures, 1993
Origins

After the rubber giants.

From 1984 the World Wrestling Federation belonged, in toy form, to LJN: eight-inch wrestlers in solid rubber that survived anything a child could do to them. When LJN went out of business at the end of the decade, the licence was free, and Hasbro took it.

Hasbro did not try to make better rubber men. It made a different toy. The figures stood about four inches tall, were moulded in hard plastic, had four points of articulation and looked more like cartoons than athletes. What they could do instead was wrestle: every figure had its own move, triggered with one simple action, a spring-loaded arm for a punch or a waist that twisted back for a spin.

The first series in 1990 brought Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Jake Roberts and the Ultimate Warrior. Over five years the line grew to eleven regular series, a run of tag team two-packs, rings and playsets, and three figures you could only get by post.

The record

Five years, eleven series

From the first blue cards to the last green ones.

  1. 1984LJN wins the WWF licence and launches Wrestling Superstars.
  2. 1989LJN's wrestling line ends, and the company with it.
  3. 1990Hasbro launches its first series, and shows the Official Wrestling Ring at Toy Fair.
  4. 1993Three mail-away figures are offered through WWF Magazine, and the yellow King of the Ring playset arrives.
  5. 1994The eleventh and last series ships on green cards, and the line ends.
Dating a card

The colour tells you the series

On a carded figure the backing card does the dating for you. Six series on one colour, then a new colour for every series after.

SeriesCard colourNote
1 to 6Powder blueThe first six waves, from 1990
7YellowThe first change of colour
8RedThe 1994 Undertaker came on a red card
9Purple
10BlueA darker blue than the first six
11GreenThe last series, late 1994, made in smaller numbers
Collector guides do not all agree on the order of the later colours. We follow the series by series listing in The Toy Collector's Guide, which matches the red card of the 1994 Undertaker.
The ring

A ring of their own

A wrestler needs somewhere to wrestle. Hasbro sold the ring from the start.

The Official Wrestling Ring, item 7030, appeared in Hasbro's 1990 Toy Fair catalogue with ropes, turnbuckles, corner posts, an American flag and a championship belt, built to take the body slams. It was moulded in hard blue plastic.

Variations followed: a JCPenney exclusive packed with Hogan and Macho Man, a version with a sound module, and in 1993 the King of the Ring playset, a yellow ring with spring-action ropes.

Original or reissue? In 2016 Mattel released a retro ring modelled on the Hasbro design. It is easy to tell apart once you know where to look: the reissue has three steps and two small televisions, the original two steps and one television.

What collectors chase

The rare ones are not where you expect

The prices below are a snapshot of eBay sales in the spring of 2019, given to show what is scarce, not what anything is worth today.

The mail-aways. In 1993 WWF Magazine offered three figures by post only: the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. They came bagged, not carded, and they are among the scarcest wrestling figures ever made. A sealed Undertaker sold for $2,850. The Bret Hart is almost identical to his ordinary series 4 figure, which is why some collectors care less about it despite how few exist.

Common loose, rare carded. Andre the Giant from the first series is easy to find loose for a few tens of euros and very hard to find still on its card, where it sold for $300 to $500. Dusty Rhodes from series 2 is the same story: a carded one went for $700.

Identifying one

What to check on a loose figure

Most of these come without a card. This is what we look at.

  1. MoveTry the action feature. A spring that no longer snaps back or a waist that does not return is the most common fault.
  2. SizeAbout four inches and hard plastic. An eight-inch rubber figure is LJN, not Hasbro.
  3. ExtrasMany came with something of their own, a nightstick, a guitar, a gold chain. Ask whether it is there.
  4. CardOn a carded figure, the colour gives the series, and the card carries the Titan Sports copyright and Made in China.
Where this comes from

Our own reading of the toys, checked against the public record. Follow these if you want to go further than we did.

Hasbro

In the shop now

Keep reading

The other molders

1970 – 1995LJNThe rubber wrestlers that came before.
1990 – 1994Hasbro WWFYou are here.
1947 – 2000KennerStar Wars, and the 3¾-inch figure that set the standard. 1966 –PlaymatesTurtles by the million, out of Hong Kong. 1957 – 1998GaloobThe A-Team, Micro Machines, and the other federation. 1985 –Thinkway ToysThe Buzz Lightyear nobody could keep in stock. 1969 –Imperial Toy CorpDime-store dinosaurs and bagged rack toys. 1986Dor MeiUnlicensed Godzillas, and no record of who made them.
Home/About
About

It started with a shelf

Hammer & Mold · Netherlands

A private collection that grew into something bigger. This is where it comes from, and what we hunt for.

What began as a handful of childhood pieces turned into a hunt: for the odd, the overlooked and the wonderfully strange. The finding, the careful cleaning, the search for a missing weapon or a lost accessory, the stories behind each toy. Somewhere along the way the collecting became a way of living.

We are drawn to the weird ones. Toys that were played with, loved and actually handled, over the pristine pieces sealed and graded never to be opened again. A toy locked in plastic, never to be read or felt, becomes a frozen artifact. We would rather keep them alive.

Have a collection of your own? We buy and take on whole collections and single pieces. Tell us what you have, send a few photos, and we will look after it.

Home/Sell
Sell with us

Upload. AI builds the listing

Photos in. Listing ready.

Upload a few clear photos. Our AI identifies the toy, dates it, checks the condition and builds the listing for you. It also reviews recent sales to suggest a fair starting price.

Identification is free. You only use a listing when you decide to sell.

How it works

From photos to listing in two steps

1 · Upload & guide

Add photos and direction

Add clear photos of the front, back, accessories and any visible flaws. Include a close-up of the maker's stamp where possible.

You can also add your own source or a note of direction, either to point us at something you already trust or to have the identification double-checked against it.

A worn or partly legible stamp is fine.

2 · Review & list

We identify, check and grade it

Our AI reads the toy the way Hammer & Mold does, dating it from the moulded stamp rather than the box, then identifies the year, line and variant, grades the condition and reviews recent sales to suggest a price.

You see the identification, the sources, the condition, the pricing and the listing details before anything goes live. Change what you like, set your Reserve or Buy Now price, then approve the listing.

Optional, and worth a minute. We can grade what we can see, but we cannot tell from a photograph whether the eyes still light up, and on a toy that has electronics that is usually the largest single thing about what it is worth. If you already know the reference, the variant or a source that settles it, put it here and we will check against it.
Your photos stay in your browser until you start identification. Identification is free. A listing is only used when you choose to publish the item for sale.
Your toy details will appear here.
Selling packages

What it costs to sell

Toy identification is free and unlimited. Photograph anything and we will identify it, date it, show what originally came with it and grade its condition. You only pay when you list. Choose a package based on how much you sell, or let us work out which one costs you least.

Home/We buy
Sell it to us

Or skip the auction and take the money today

Whole collections and single pieces

You do not have to run an auction to get rid of a box of toys. Send us photographs, we tell you what it is worth, and we make you an offer for the lot. You post one parcel and we pay. No listing, no waiting, no wondering whether it sells.

Two ways, and one of them is better for you

Sell it to us, or sell it through us

We would rather you picked the right one than the one that suits us, so here is the arithmetic on a toy we think will fetch €30.

On a toy worth about €30Sell it to usSell it through us
You receive€ 15,00€ 25,50
WhenWithin a weekAfter it sells
If it does not sellOur problemYou still have it
Photographs, listing, packingWe do itYou do it
If it turns out to be rareWe keep the upsideYou keep it
We pay about half of what we think a piece will fetch, and we say so up front. That is what buying it outright costs us: we take the risk that it does not sell, we do the photographing and grading and packing, and we wait for our money instead of you. If you would rather have the other €10,50 and do the work yourself, list it and keep 85%. Both offers are real and the page for the other one is here.
What we take

Bring the box, not the figure

The honest reason: assessing one toy and assessing forty costs us nearly the same in setup, so a whole collection is worth far more of our attention than a single common figure.

Yes, gladly
  • Whole collections, boxes, attic finds, shop stock
  • Single pieces we think will fetch €25 or more
  • Played-with condition. Paint loss and loose joints are fine
  • Incomplete figures, spares, accessories and weapons in a bag
  • Anything with a moulded maker's stamp, even a worn one
A collection has no minimum per piece. Send the lot and we price it as a lot.
Not for us
  • Single common figures under about €25
  • Modern reissues and toys still on shop shelves
  • Broken beyond display: melted, snapped, missing limbs
  • Bootlegs presented as the licensed original
  • Anything that is not a toy, model or related memorabilia
A single cheap figure is not worth what it costs either of us to move it. List it yourself, or put it in with a box of others.
How it goes

Photographs, an offer, a parcel

1. You send photographs. A few clear shots of what you have, laid out. For anything you think is worth something, add a close-up of the moulded stamp on the feet or the lower back: that text is what lets us date it and find what it really sells for.

2. We tell you what it is, before we make an offer. You get the identification either way, and you keep it whether you sell to us or not. If we think a piece is worth more than we would pay for it, we will say so and tell you to list it yourself.

3. We make one offer for the lot. Within two working days, with the reasoning attached: what we think each piece fetches and what we are paying for it. No haggling and no fishing.

4. You post it, we pay. We send you a prepaid label. Payment goes out the day the parcel arrives and matches the photographs. If something is not as described you get the parcel back at our cost, not a lower offer.

Show us

What have you got?

Photographs and a way to reach you. Nothing else needed, and nothing is committed by sending it.

We reply within two working days. Your photographs are used to make you an offer and for nothing else.
Home/Sell/Packages
Selling packages

Pick the package that fits how you sell

Toy identification is always free and unlimited. Photograph anything and we will tell you what it is, who made it, when it was made and what condition it is in. You only pay when you sell. Choose a package based on how much you sell each month. Every package includes price research, buyer protection and live postage rates.

Which one, exactly

See which package costs you least

Tell us roughly how much you sell. We will compare the monthly fee and selling fee together and recommend the cheapest package.

The number that matters

What the platform takes out of a sale

Compare what buyer and seller pay together. On a €100 hammer price, Catawiki charges the seller 12.5% and adds another 9% buyer fee. The buyer pays €109 while the seller receives €87,50. Hammer & Mold adds no buyer fee. A €100 hammer price means the buyer pays €100.

On a €100 hammer priceBuyer paysSeller receivesTotal platform fees
Catawiki€ 109,00€ 87,5021,5%
Hammer & Mold, Starter€ 100,00€ 85,0015,0%
Hammer & Mold, Trader€ 100,00€ 88,0012,0%
Hammer & Mold, Dealer€ 100,00€ 92,008,0%
Monthly package fees are not included in this table. The calculator above includes both your package fee and selling fee to show which package costs least at your sales volume.
Catawiki figures based on its published seller commission and buyer protection fee, August 2026.
Is the monthly fee worth it?

What each package really costs

A monthly package fee buys you a lower selling fee. Sell enough in a month and the saving becomes greater than the subscription. Sell less, and Starter is cheaper. The table shows the total cost of each package at different monthly sales volumes.

Changing your package

Move up. Move down. Any time.

  • Upgrades happen immediately. Your new listing allowance is available straight away. You only pay the difference for the rest of the month.
  • Downgrades start next month. Your current package stays active until the end of the period you have already paid for. You can cancel the change before then.
  • Unused listings stay with you. They roll over up to twice your monthly allowance. Downgrading never removes listings you have already accumulated.
  • No minimum term. No phone calls. Change or cancel your package from your account whenever you need to.
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Active lots

On auction now

Live lots from this seller.

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Delivery

Where should it go?

We need the delivery address before payment, so the postage you are charged is the postage for your own country and not an estimate.

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Results

Sold & ended

Past results. What has changed hands, and for how much.
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