Video Reviews

All reviews other than my own are used with permission of the authors.

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Anyway, this tape has become a true WPW classic, for one reason - Charla's absolutely incredible biceps (or is that two reasons?). She was a very attractive woman, her overall physique was excellent, and her conditioning here is superb (she was in contest shape, at 5'1" and around 114 lbs.), but her biceps are so incredible that they completely overshadow everything else on the tape. There are plenty of woman with bigger arms nowadays (though at nearly 15", hers look enormous relative to her small frame), but 12 (!) years later, I still have not seen anyone with better arms (particularly since she also had outstanding triceps). Charla poses outdoors in a yellow bikini, a red leotard with heels (Fall 1991 WPW back cover), and a black dress (the best of the outfits, in my opinion), and indoors in a sundress. Since they know a good thing when they see it, WPW put a heavy emphasis on arm shots. But the rest of her physique was not neglected, and there is some particularly nice leg and glute posing in the leotard.

Janice was also quite attractive, also with excellent biceps (it's genetic, after all) and a good overall physique, but she comes up short in the inevitable comparison with her sister. Still, several of the outfits are very good, particularly the denim mini / halter (Nov/Dec 1987 Women's Physique Publication cover) and the white tights / black halter. For the tandem posing in the Meadowlands, Charla and Janice wore matching purple leotards. They had a very windy, somewhat cold day, but they managed to stop shivering long enough to get some nice footage, with a heavy emphasis on biceps shots.

I wouldn't recommend buying the tape solely for Graser, but for biceps fans, this tape is an absolute must for the classic Sedacca footage. And the Graser segment is certainly a nice plus.

The off-season footage is good, but the contest shape portion of the tape is even better. They shot Athena at the 1988 Jr. USA's, and she was in incredible shape. She was an easy winner of the lightweight class, and probably would have won the overall, but unfortunately, she was disqualified for hitting an illegal moon pose. It's hard to believe that she was really a lightweight - she looks much bigger, particularly in the arms and legs. Her back, which looked unimpressive in the off-season shoot, is much better here - some of the back shots are among the highlights of this part of the tape, in part because of her excellent biceps. She still could have used some more lat width, however. With a contest tan, she looks even more attractive than in off-season shape, if that's possible. She poses in white shorts / halter, black mini / white tank top, a red dress (the best segment on the tape - you simply can not take your eyes off of her in this outfit), a leotard, and a bikini - about half an hour of truly classic posing.

The 1985 footage comes last, and starts with a short pump-oriented lifting segment. This is followed by about fifteen minutes of posing outdoors in a bikini and a dress. This is worth a look, but it certainly pales in comparison to her 1988 footage. However, considering that Athena was still in her teens at the time, this is pretty amazing stuff - you don't have to look very hard to see the potential that was there. Her arms were already good enough for the national level.

This tape is a must for anyone into the older (late 80's) material. Actually, it still stands up quite well today. They just don't make them like this any more.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this tape. There's really nothing seriously wrong with it, but Tommie's contest condition was so good that I would have preferred more of that and less off-season. And as mentioned above, the quality of the contest shape footage could have been better - there's really only about 15 minutes of it that's worth watching. Also, although Tommie's posing was generally pretty good, she rushes a bit in places; you can hear the photographers telling her to slow down several times (though for some reason, this only seemed to be a problem during the first off-season segment). But Tommie's contest shape condition is outstanding....even by current standards.

Note - Although I have not seen it, I think the current version of video 104 includes material from some of WPW's later (1989) work with Tommie. My review is based on the original version of this video.

Then there is about 45 minutes of additional posing - indoors, and on the deck, at that condo WPW uses so often. Again, lots of emphasis on legs; outfits include several more dresses, a bikini, and a leotard. Joanne looks particularly good in the last outfit, a black evening dress. The tape then concludes with an interview, which runs about 20 minutes. I found this interview to be a little more interesting than usual. Joanne talks about her powerlifting experience (she had done pretty well, with a squat and deadlift in the mid 400's), her move into professional wrestling, and fairly candidly about the IFBB and the WBF.

WPW has an earlier video (119) available on Joanne, with footage from 1987 through 1989. I have not seen it, so I can't make a full comparison - however, I have seen video 100 (from 1988), and the original version of 119, which have some of the footage now available in 119. Both 100 and the original 119 are pretty good, but if these are typical of the current video 119, then 176 is definitely the one to get first. If you simply want to look at a great set of calves, you can't go wrong with either tape, but Joanne is noticeably bigger on 176, particularly in the upper body. Needless to say, I heartily recommend video 176, especially for leg aficionados.

Some of the posing further into the tape looks like it might have been intended originally for Ray Martin use. One scene starts with a very short bit of "muscle talk" ("I hope you like my arms..."), and there's another where they shot her doing her hair in a mirror. Fortunately though, regardless of the intended use, there are no corny Ray Martin skits. One particularly unusual scene was shot when they took her out to dinner, video camera in hand. She went into the restaurant with her arms covered, but they managed to persuade her to take her jacket off for a brief arm shot. This must have made for an interesting dining experience for some of the other patrons!

I'm a long time Ragain fan, and I enjoyed this tape a lot. She's not as hard as on the old video 51 from 1986, but she's just as big, and as pretty as ever. Though she was fairly big by mid-80's standards, she lacks the muscularity of the present day women. However, her physique (arms in particular) is a case of good shape and decent size being as good or better than freaky size and so-so shape. If you like the combination of mid-range muscularity and great looks, you'll like this tape.

However, I've also seen many tapes of Juliette Bergmann over the years. WPW-191 has got to be the finest I've EVER seen Juliette Bergmann, EVER! And that's no mean feat as WPW-118 was pretty good (of Juliette). I'd heard that Juliette retired from the fbb world before this taping, but...Seriously, she has NEVER looked better. Not ripped but the most pleasing LARGE muscle shapes everywhere... As good as Athena is, I barely glanced at her, but concentrated on Ms. Bergmann almost exclusively...a MUST!

I also agree with Jabber that Athena *has* looked better. She's still very attractive, and she shows some good muscle size, but she's *very* off-season. I'll say one thing, though - she really filled out those fishnet tights nicely. The black dress and the denim mini aren't bad, either. There's also about ten minutes of heavy lifting, but don't expect to see any world records set. She's strong, but certainly not super strong like some of the other women WPW has taped. It's probably not worth getting this tape solely for Athena, though if you're a fan of hers, it's certainly still worth a look.

The 1990 segment follows, and features some rep-oriented gym work, and posing in a leotard and some dresses. Lenda has added a considerable amount of size, and though she's definitely not close to ripped, she shows good hardness for 160 lbs. This part is fairly short (15-20 minutes), and is followed by a short guest posing appearance, also in off-season shape.

However the real reason to buy this tape (as if the 1989 footage isn't enough) is the 1991 footage, taken shortly before the 1991 Ms. Olympia - about 45 minutes of the most incredible posing you'll ever see. Lenda had really bulked up to do battle with Bev Francis, and in my opinion, never looked better. Except for her notorious high calves, she was full, massive and defined everywhere - her back, arms, shoulders, and thighs are all incredible. The outfits include a very short black & white striped dress, a black dress, a bikini (March 1992 WPW cover), tights / halter, a long-sleeved brown dress, and a leotard (March 1992 WPW back cover). All of these are so good, it's hard to pick one as the best. The 1991 footage ends with another interview.

This tape is a true classic. No video library should be without it, unless you just don't like Lenda - in which case, you're probably hopeless :-). This is one tape that I may eventually risk wearing out.

Some gym work follows, with Debbie wearing a leotard. The lifting is rep oriented, and is probably better than the average WPW gym footage. The gym work is followed by more outdoor posing, by the abandoned caboose and railroad tracks. And speaking of cabooses...Debbie poses hers (among other things) in a really nice cut-off shorts / halter combo (July / August 1995 WPW back cover) and another bikini.

I rate this video as a must have for almost any serious video collector. This and the Lenda Murray video (196) are probably the two best that I have seen. The only reason not to get it is if you prefer the less muscular, fitness look.

All of the posing that follows shows Paula in contest shape. First, she poses indoors in an olive green swimsuit. For some reason, WPW chose to leave the natural sound intact here, but I think this is a case where dubbing in music would have been wise - there's too much background noise. Following this, she poses outdoors in a gold dress, a black dress, white shorts with a very tight, short sleeve blue top (the same outfit worn during the interview), and a white leotard. For some reason, she wore flat shoes rather than heels while posing in the dresses, but this isn't a big problem because there's a heavy focus on upper body shots. Also, I thought that the black dress was a poor choice - the cut makes her look too blocky. However, the gold dress and the blue top were extremely good choices. As you probably know, Paula is well known for her incredible back, and these two outfits were very well-suited for back poses - both outfits conform nicely when she hits her lat spreads. She also hits some excellent close-up arm shots using an outdoor light fixture as a prop, and there are some great close-up chest shots (all that benching has built incredible pec thickness). One of the best parts of the tape is the closing scene in the blue top - they zoom in so close that her right bicep fills up almost the entire screen.

If you like women with extreme upper body development, this tape is for you. Paula's legs aren't bad, actually; there are probably many women who would be quite happy with legs as good as hers. However, her upper body is so overwhelming that her legs seem a bit underdeveloped by comparison. There's not a lot of leg posing here anyway, so if that's what you want to see, you'll be better off with someone like Joanne McCartney. I've heard some people criticize Paula's looks, but I actually found her to be reasonably attractive. She smiles a lot, and seems quite comfortable posing on camera. As I mentioned above, I thought the gold dress and the outfit with the tight top were particularly nice, and I'd recommend getting the tape just for those (there's probably at least ten minutes of posing in each of these outfits).

Following a short interview, there is about 25 minutes of footage taken about two months later, when Sharon had bulked up to about 160 lbs. (compared to 140 in contest shape). Apparently, she had not been working out much since the Jan Tana; she looks moderately hard, with so-so definition, but a great shape as always. She looks much more relaxed here than I've ever seen her on tape, which is a nice plus. One negative here is that her tan was basically non-existent. There's probably more emphasis on her legs in this segment, for good reason; her lat spread also looks particularly impressive. The outfits in this segment include a red leotard, a denim dress, and a skirt / black tank-top combination. There's another nice walking sequence in the last outfit. Since this was Sharon's final WPW video, they conclude with a nice retrospective, showing clips from their various shoots with her over the years (and there have been many).

I've seen three other Marvel WPW videos - 74, 161 and 246. If picking one for contest shape, I'd go with 283 if you prefer size, but probably with 161 if you like more of a "girl next door" look - great condition, but less size. For off-season shape, I'd go with either 161 or 246 before 283. I think there's more off-season posing on those than on 283, and she's definitely in better shape, without sacrificing her characteristic off-season shape and fullness.

Of course, if you get this video (283), you also get Joanne Lee. This was also WPW's last shooting with Joanne, and as in video 243, she was in contest shape - this time, fresh off her 7th place showing in the 1995 Ms. Olympia. All the posing is outdoors, starting with a black bikini. This begins with Joanne applying oil to herself, after which she poses, first standing, and then sitting on a park bench. For some reason, I didn't particularly care for the cut of her bikini, though her condition here is certainly hard to fault. Posing continues in three dresses - a nice blue one, and two black ones (one sleeveless, and one with short sleeves). There's a definite emphasis on arm shots (for good reason - her arms are huge), with some excellent close-ups, and there are also several nice walking scenes, including one that lasts about two minutes. Although Joanne is probably best known for her upper body, her legs are very good, too. The final posing segment takes place on the railroad tracks (a setting they have used many times - with Debbie Muggli and Diana Dennis, among others), with Joanne wearing a yellow leotard and heels. This is the best outfit she wears on the tape; the cut of the leotard makes the walking scenes particularly good. :-) An interview closes the tape, and is what every WPW interview should be - short.

If I were picking a tape just for Joanne Lee, I'd probably pick this one over WPW-243. A possible plus (not for me, but some people evidently like it) is that 243 includes some gym work, but I like the posing on 283 a bit better. The main reason for this is that she's a bit bigger on 283; I'd say that the choice is outfits is about equal between the two.

The contest shape footage is next, starting with a 20 minute interview, and followed by another 20 minutes of posing. Once again, Jennifer shows some freaky leg development (I mean that in a good way) - massive, ripped to shreds, and fairly vascular. In addition to the great quads and calves, she also has tremendous hamstring development. She poses indoors in a short black dress and outdoors in a blue bikini. Jennifer is a good poser, and works very well with the WPW camera men. One negative (both off-season and in contest shape) is that the effects of steroid use are clearly evident. There are some shots of her from the side in the bikini where you can clearly see her lower abdominals bulging forward (a common side effect of HGH). Also, her face (even off-season) and voice are somewhat harsh.

The Till segment runs about 40 minutes, including a short interview; there is no gym work. All posing is in contest shape. I thought she looked pretty good here - her legs in particular are excellent, and she's kind of cute. Her upper body is decent - nicely shaped and well balanced, though not especially massive. WPW definitely put more emphasis on leg shots, and for good reason. Jacque poses in a bikini, and a few other outfits - one outfit includes cutoff, and there is a dress or two.

As a general recommendation, I would not suggest buying this tape - it is definitely not a "must have" like the Lenda Murray tape. Nor is it a tape to get if you want to see a lot of bicep action. However, it is a very good bet for those who like extreme leg development, as long as Greenbaum's look doesn't scare you away.

This is followed by about 15 minutes of very heavy lifting in her 1997 off-season shape. Lora is more strict on form than many of WPW's other heavy lifting subjects, so her curl poundage (where cheating makes a big difference) isn't as high as some of the others. This is a plus, in my opinion - I prefer to see the lifts done properly, rather than seeing a lot of cheating to move more weight. Lora then works up to a fairly easy 275 on the bench press, and then takes a shot at 315. Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell if she got 315, because her spotter (Andrea Hurwitz) had her hands on the bar. Lora gets off the bench thinking she missed it, but Hurwitz claims that she did it; Hurwitz certainly didn't convince me. Still, it's pretty decent weight. Then on the leg press, she goes up to 1800 (!) pounds.

After the lifting, it's off to that old train car that WPW uses so often for more posing. Lora starts by posing in a nice white dress inside the car, and although she's around 180 lbs., she still looks pretty hard. In this condition, her back shots are even more impressive than in contest shape. The rest of the off-season posing is in bikinis outside the train car. Obviously, she's smoother than in contest shape, but she still has decent definition; you can even see some detail in her abs in some of the shots. The tape concludes with the usual interview, which runs about 15 minutes.

My preference is generally for the contest or near contest shape look. However, this is one case where I can't decide whether I prefer contest shape or off-season; Lora is so gorgeous that it just doesn't seem to matter. You might be disappointed in this tape if you go for the hard as nails, ripped to the bone look - even in contest shape, she's not in that kind of condition. But otherwise, if you want a tape of an attractive woman with a lot of muscle, this tape is one that I highly recommend.

The Foster part of the tape begins with about 45 minutes of posing in contest shape (5'5", 151 pounds) at the 1996 USA's. She poses indoors in a denim shorts / vest combo, a pink leotard, and a pink bikini, and then outdoors in the bikini and briefly again in the denim outfit. The bikini is probably the best of these outfits, and this alone covers about 25 minutes. Heather's physique is well developed all over, but there is a heavy emphasis on upper body shots, particularly arms. She also has a tremendous back and very impressive, thick pecs (no implants). For upper body posing, this part of the tape compares favorably with any WPW tape that I have seen. This is followed by an off-season segment from 1997, when she was bulked up at about 180 pounds. First, there is about 20 minutes of heavy gym work. She goes up to 315 (near miss) on the bench, does some very impressive heavy curls (easy strict reps with 115, only a slight cheat at 135, heavy cheating at 155), and lat pulldowns. Apparently, a hip or leg injury prevented any lower body work. She then poses indoors for about 15 minutes in a black dress. She is very, very massive here, but not very defined, and this is not nearly as good as the contest shape posing, in my opinion. Needless to say, the tape concludes with an interview. Just before the interview, they measure her right arm, and it checks in at a legitimate 17". Keep this in mind the next time you see some woman claiming 19" arms, because arms don't come much bigger than Heather's.

The Hughes part of the tape is reasonably good, but to me, Heather Foster is the star of the tape. I would definitely recommend this tape, but mostly for the contest shape footage of Foster - a particularly good choice for those who like a massively developed upper body.

Next, Komlos poses for about 40 minutes in a red bikini, white shorts / green halter, and a really nice gold dress. She's somewhat bigger than Lydon, but somehow, it's hard to believe that she was in contest shape; she lacks hardness, and has more of a slight off-season look. Nevertheless, she's one of the most attractive women WPW has photographed in a long time, and she seems extremely comfortable in front of the camera. Her biceps, chest, and calves are probably her best bodyparts. In addition to the usual WPW posing, Marianna does a few unusual strength moves - a straddle hold on an outdoor light for about a minute and some handstand pushups. She also started to do a "flag", but the tree she was going to use for support didn't seem up to the job. The Extravaganza routines of both women come next, and the tape concludes with Marianna's interview, which runs 15-20 minutes.

In many respects, this tape has the feel of a mid-80's production, as both women are very attractive, but neither is either highly ripped or extremely massive. Consequently, this tape would be a good choice if you prefer the more attractive, but less muscular women; if you want state of the art muscularity, look elsewhere.

The gym work is followed by about 45 minutes of indoor posing from 1996. Christa's arms are probably her best bodypart, but she has one of the most completely developed physiques you will see anywhere. She's also a very attractive woman, and probably looks a good ten years younger than her actual age (late 40's when this was done). The first outfit is a nice black dress, and although there is a definite emphasis on her upper body (particularly arms), they also get plenty of leg shots (Christa is not lacking here, either). This is followed by a bikini, a dark lingerie outfit with long gloves, and a really nice red leotard. Christa's arms look good regardless of her attire, but for some reason, the lingerie outfit was particularly good for arm shots. Also, being semi-transparent, it made for some nice chest shots. If you think implants are a necessity in women's bodybuilding, you might change your mind after seeing this tape. In the red leotard, Christa does that "bouncing pecs" muscle control thing, which is something you don't see women doing very often. The 1996 segment concludes with a roughly 10 minute interview.

This is followed by a shorter (20-25 minutes) 1997 posing segment. Needless to say, her condition was about the same as usual - practically contest ready. They shot her outdoors in two nice outfits - a dress with a tight black long-sleeved top, and a black shorts / halter combination. The first outfit still makes for great arm shots in spite of the long sleeves, since her arms look like they're about to burst through the fabric. They also got in one of those nice walking scenes that they often do. However, I liked the second outfit even better - this is the best part of the tape, in my opinion. Her arms look simply unbelievable in this segment, especially while she is using a nearby tree for a prop. This outfit also provided the opportunity for some outstanding ab shots, and as most of us know, Christa's abs are another of her many strong points. In both of these outfits, there's a much greater emphasis on upper body shots than in the 1996 footage. For some reason, the 1997 posing has a slightly grainy look to it. It's certainly not bad enough to ruin this part of the tape, but it appears that WPW didn't use their best equipment here. The tape concludes with Christa's guest posing appearance at the 1997 Strength Extravaganza. Here, she takes the stage dressed as a traditional German barmaid, then gradually strips down to her posing suit.

I may be somewhat biased, since Christa is one of my three or four all-time favorites, but this tape is one of the best that I have seen - nearly on a par with the Lenda Murray (196) and Debbie Muggli (253) videos. The footage on Christa's 1993 WPW video (230, with Gabriella Spuhn) is outstanding, but this tape is just as good, if not better. Her conditioning *might* be a hair better on the earlier tape, but she is also in superb condition on 322, despite her retirement. Also, she's probably a bit bigger on 322. If you are a biceps fan, a Christa tape should be at or near the top of your list, and you can't go wrong with either 230 or 322 unless you prefer a heavier, off-season look.

The posing part of the tape is pretty good, though. Andrulla was about 145 lbs - about 5 lbs. over contest shape (6 weeks after the Ms. I), so she still looked good - not ripped, but very hard. She poses outdoors in a two piece outfit (bikini? sort of, I guess...) and a white dress - very, very thick physique, excellent arms, back, and thighs. Then there's the usual WPW interview. I was a little disappointed in the amount of posing on this tape. The gym work last about 20 minutes, and the interview is about the same - maybe even a few minutes longer. That only leaves about 20 minutes of posing. What posing there is is excellent, especially the part in the white dress. Maybe they just cut the posing short because of that thunderstorm that came up. :-)

After her routine from the USA's, there is about 20 minutes of gym work at her heavier weight. This was one of their heavy lifting sessions, and she's particularly impressive on the lat pulldowns (she says in the interview that her back is her strongest bodypart). 20 minutes of posing follows, in a black dress, a black two piece (sort of a leotard), and denim shorts with a white top. Again, there is a heavy emphasis on upper body shots, and she has decent definition for off-season shape. The tape closes with a 20 minute interview.

If you like upper body posing and a ripped, vascular look, this tape is a good choice. It might have improved things a little if they had worked another outfit or two into the contest shape section (perhaps instead of using the bikini again on the second day). Also, despite being quite attractive, Kelly doesn't seem to exude sex appeal the way some of the women (Bergmann, Murray, Muggli, Masino, Ralabate, etc.) do. However, these are relatively minor complaints - overall, a solid effort from both Felske and WPW.

The video starts with about five minutes of Christa flexing her incredible biceps in a tight, long-sleeved black top. This section is very good in places, and only so-so in others - black is a tricky color, and when Christa hits certain poses (like bicep shots with her arm in front of her torso), her arm doesn't stand out well, due to the lack of contrast with the rest of her body. This is followed by a rather long (about 12 minutes) segment where Robin Parker applies some sort of oil to Christa (wearing a black bikini), in preparation for the posing to follow. Since Christa is just standing there, but isn't actually doing much of anything, this starts to drag after a few minutes - I ended up watching most of this on fast forward. Also, although a look at Robin could have been a nice plus, it wasn't, since she was wearing a very baggy sweatshirt. The posing scenes that follow are worth the wait, however.

There is another oiling segment later in the tape; Christa is wearing a blue bikini this time. This second oiling scene is much better than the first - the difference is that they did a lot of close up shots and moved the camera around enough to keep it interesting. The trademark Bauch ab punching scene takes place during the oiling segment, with Robin Parker and some anonymous guy (we only see his arm, which is probably just as well) doing the honors. After Christa hits her poses in the blue bikini, she switches to a red leotard and poses in front of a nice wood wardrobe chest. Unfortunately, this wasn't the best choice of background, since the wood is nearly the same color as her skin. She then changes to the last (and in my opinion, best) outfit - black spandex shorts and a pink top - and poses her legs for several minutes. Though Christa is probably best known for her biceps, her legs are also outstanding. The tape then closes with a nice arm posing segment in the same outfit.

Christa is one of my favorites, and in the condition she was in (contest shape, or very close to it), it would be hard not to like this tape. However, I prefer the standard WPW approach, without the "cutesy" stuff. I don't buy a lot of Ray Martin tapes, but I have the impression that they typically include even more of this. For example, on this tape, the dialog was minimal, presumably because Christa's English was somewhat limited. But this is probably a matter of individual taste. In any case, the video quality is outstanding - as good as on WPW tapes, perhaps even a little better than their norm (the lighting is absolutely superb). Overall, a good choice for bicep fans.

Some WPW style posing follows, outdoors in a bikini and a nice black dress. This is a can't miss combination of a great looking blonde and plenty of muscle - nice quads, good glutes, and plenty of upper body size. The dress is particularly good, and features a lot of upper body close-up shots (for some reason, her skin has a noticeable pinkish cast in this dress, apparently from some filter RM uses on their camera). Lora does a very nice job of showing off her physique (a background in exotic dancing probably doesn't hurt). The posing must run about half an hour, and the tape is worth getting for this alone. Then in the closing scene, Lora is wearing short denim shorts and a halter while she chats with Renee O'Neil as they share a smoke (cigars). The conversation isn't particularly interesting, but serves mostly as an excuse for Lora to hit various poses (alternately flexing her pecs, among other things). The tape closes with a little posing in this last outfit without the chit-chat.

As in WPW-304, Lora is not really ripped (it appears that this tape may have been shot around the same time), but she looks terrific - plenty of size, nice muscle shapes, and great looks. I'd still go with WPW-304 first, but this is one of the better Ray Martin efforts, and one I highly recommend.

Anyway, Joanne then goes back inside and poses in a nice red leotard. Again, there's an upper body emphasis, with plenty of close-ups. This is followed by a trip to the gym, for a mostly upper body, pump-oriented workout (50 lb. dumbbell curls apparently don't qualify as "heavy" lifting for her). Finally, there's more posing (indoors again) in a nice skirt / blouse combination.

I would have been quite happy if they had just dropped the music story line completely, but unlike a lot of the Ray Martin skits, it's pretty harmless and doesn't detract from the tape. Joanne's condition is good, though probably somewhat off of contest shape, and the outfits are excellent. I'd probably go with WPW-283 as my first choice for a Joanne tape, but this one is definitely worth getting if you like her.

This is probably Melissa at her biggest, but in my opinion, not necessarily at her best. Though it's her best condition strictly from a bodybuilding standpoint, I thought she looked better earlier in her career before she went all out to bulk up and gain a pro title. Some women can put on plenty of size without hurting their looks (Debbie Muggli and Annie Rivieccio come to mind), but Melissa apparently isn't one of them. She's still attractive enough, but not the incredibly beauty she was when she graced the cover of WPW back in 1994. With that in mind, I'd give this tape a positive recommendation - not a "must buy", but one that probably won't disappoint.

With one exception (a sleeveless black body suit near the end of the tape), the outfits are pretty standard stuff (leotard / bikini). There's nothing wrong with Christa in a leotard or bikini, but with several other good tapes of her already available, something a little more out of the ordinary would have been nice. If you are a Christa fan, as I am, you'll probably want to see this tape, but I found that one viewing was enough. I found both the story line and Mike Bogen's presence to be distracting. Nothing personal against Mike, but I'd rather have seen more of Christa posing, and less of him. I suppose this is probably more a reflection of my general distaste for the Ray Martin "skits" than anything else. If you happen to like the skits, this is an opportunity to see Christa do something different from the plain vanilla posing on her WPW tapes, but if your interest runs more toward regular posing, you'll be better off with the other Ray Martin or WPW Christa tapes.

The first half of this video shows Andrulla working out in the gym. The first few minutes are not particularly exciting, as Andrulla warms up on the treadmill wearing a baggy t-shirt over her workout wear. But things improve considerably when she finishes the cardio work and the t-shirt comes off. The next fifteen minutes or so show her going through an upper body workout, featuring lat pulldowns, cable rows, barbell press, dumbbell laterals, barbell and dumbbell curls, and dips. This is vaguely similar to WPW's workout scenes, but I thought it was better in several respects: 1) although Andrulla went fairly heavy on some of the exercises (e.g., 135x11 in the barbell press), there was no blatant cheating to allow heavier weights to be used; 2) most of the original sound was replaced by light music (a big improvement over the typical noisy gym environment); 3) she does only one or two sets of each exercise, rather than repeating the same movement over and over. As in the WPW videos, there is plenty of good flexing between sets, mostly concentrating on the muscles she has just pumped up. Andrulla's upper body is very thickly developed, and there are lots of good arm and back shots.

The second part of the video (posing) starts off with the camera following a trail of abandoned clothing up a stairway to a bedroom, where we find Andrulla on the bed ready to pose in a nice black lingerie. Actually, this isn't the first we have seen of this outfit - there are short teasers mixed in with the gym footage, between exercises. She does a good job here of mixing a more sensual posing style with hardcore flexing. The camera moves in and out a bit, but sticks mostly with close-ups. There still seems to be an emphasis on her upper body, but we also get plenty of shots of her legs, which are also top notch. After about ten minutes, Andrulla removes her stockings and begins to oil herself - first her legs, and then a bit on her upper body. She then poses a little more before we cut to the final outfit - a bikini. The posing here is much less sensual - more like you see on typical WPW videos. There's a nice mix of upper and lower body shots, and both close-ups and full-length shots. I would have liked to see a little more of this, but unfortunately, this segment only lasts three or four minutes. Then we go into the closing credits, which show clips from various parts of the video (and a few that were not shown).

This tape certainly does not leave much to complain about. The video quality is excellent, as good as anything on the market, and the production is smooth and professional. The sound level could stand to be a little higher however; I had to turn up the volume well above the usual level. The background music was unobtrusive, and as I mentioned above, I think dubbing over the gym noise was a good move. Andrulla appeared to be nearly in contest shape, and of course, her physique is one of the very best in the world. She's also a good poser, and seemed quite comfortable in front of the camera throughout the tape. A few things I think might have improved the tape are: 1) at least one lower body exercise in the gym; 2) more posing in the last bikini (or another similar outfit); 3) skipping the treadmill warm-up. Overall, this is a well-produced tape of one of the very best physiques in the world today, and all Andrulla fans will certainly want a copy.

The video starts out with the massive Paula Suzuki. You know any video where I say she's only 2nd best has got to be something (ah, but who's better? read on). Paula just looks incredibly thick and wide here. She wears a leotard in the gym, starting out with lat pulldowns, showing oodles of back muscles. Then she does wide grip chin-ups from the rear, the patented Builtmore slo-mo (love it or hate it) employed here. Then from the front, I got a kick out of seeing the medial head of the tricep - very impressive. Unlike the WPW tape gym segments, there was no posing after each exercise, and there was dubbed music (you couldn't hear Paula grunt, for example). Then Paula did seated machine rows, mind you, this was not a heavy workout, she just did some stretches and prances around the gym looking REAL thick here.

Then comes the arms... Dumbbell bicep curls, some close-ups, and Paula shows great triceps, too. Then barbell curls, she has incredibly thick shoulders, too. Finally she poses her arms for an extended period of time (I ain't complaining and it IS worth the wait). Then she does seated concentration curls, first her right arm, then her left. Builtmore employed an interesting from the floor angle perspective while filming her here. Then more two-arm seated curls. With workouts like these, you can see why her legs are smaller proportionately. Then (a favorite of some guys), Paula fixes her hair for an extended period of time, showing incredibly chunky biceps. Then comes one-arm preacher curls, left, then right - juicy biceps, indeed.

Then Paula does standing cable curls for her biceps, I'm not sure what the official term for this exercise is, but it's good for posing (the front double bicep shot). Then one-arm cable curls, then she does the standing cable curls for her biceps pose from the rear. If you've 'almost' overdosed on her biceps, she then does some bench presses, but they were curiously light (for her). Watching her put on her wrist wraps was the most interesting part of this exercise. Then she did lat posing, and some hack squats, also with a light weight. But in this segment, we notice her inner thigh muscles are quite cute.

Finally, Paula does posing outside the gym, on a motorcycle. I found this segment to be a bit uninspired (unlike the previous segment), it was too dark; the lighting wasn't right.

The second woman is Vernice Cooper, a black fbb whom I hadn't heard of before. Although I found this to be the low segment in the tape, that doesn't mean it was bad. Wearing a small bikini, Vernice did lots of standing shots, and although she notoriously really didn't pose them, I liked her abs, especially when shot in the upward direction (from that low Builtmore perspective). The best segment of Vernice possibly was with her in a two-piece white workout gear; it was quite cute, and the contrast of her dark skin against the light outfit was intense. As in many other segments with Builtmore, some of the same footage was repeated over and over, but a bit differently (different lighting, etc.), basically extending the segment to seem like more unique footage was taken of it than there actually was.

Okay, the BEST segment was none other than the incomparable (and incomparably and unfairly cute and sexy) Becky Rampey. She started out in a robe, where you only see her thick calves. I personally would've liked to see this robe segment for an extended period of time - as I find the allure of clothing with tons of muscle underneath to be an avenue few videographers explore completely. But underneath was a sight to behold. She wore a two-piece bikini, and a silly crown of flowers (but she's so cute she can get away with anything!). She rubbed oil on herself after she disrobed (again the disrobing was painfully quick - there could be a whole tape devoted to Becky disrobing and unveiling the uncut gems (and cut gems) of her muscular body underneath - ya thinks I like this gal? Sheesh!). In off-season shape, she showed incredible thickness - you can't accuse this girl of being small. Some segments, in Builtmore tradition, were repeated over and over again. They paid special attention to her left bicep. But I paid special attention to her thick abs.

On the beach, she wore her robe around the waist and there were those interesting upward pics of Becky (from that low perspective again). There were some abs posing, and Becky has an incredibly thick muscular chest in the off-season. Plenty of walking and standing poses galore. Definitely one of the most dreamy women I'd ever seen. If Builtmore did 20 more different videos starring Becky Rampey, I'd buy all 20 of them! Can my praise be any higher? :-)

The next segment was painfully short, because the subject (an unknown to me) was painfully cute. Her name was Delia Cabalo, and she was a very gorgeous sexy not thickly (but definitely enough) muscled Oriental fbb. She did some gym posing in a black and red striped halter top and black shorts. I don't think this girl knows how good she looks. Luckily Builtmore does...

The final segment was a bit of a surprise to me. In a couple pics in WPW magazine, I'd seen someone named Carol Mooney, and I was impressed with her Oriental good looks and upper body thickness. When I heard she was also on this tape, I highly anticipated this segment. Carol wore a black halter top and black and blue striped shorts. Strangely enough her upper body, especially her chest and torso, wasn't thick at all in this footage. But her calves and thighs, while not really big, were very sexy the way they were posed (making a leg lover out of me afterall :-) ). I didn't find her bicep poses all that great here, but her right tricep (thick) and leg poses surely kept my attention fully. In addition to her great thighs (not big, just really cute), she did some crab poses (a favorite of mine) and had incredible hip adductor muscles that Builtmore effectively captured on film.

For a posing video, I found this one plenty interesting.

It starts of with Shannon, who seems like every man's fantasy. Not only is she very good at posing, she also is very friendly and talks with the viewer making them comfortable. My only beef with this segment is that it wasn't long enough. She should have her own video all to herself...

The next segment I don't watch very much, her name is "legs" and it is about 10 minutes of her putting on boots and lotion. I wasn't impressed by her legs, so I fast forwarded through it. It follows with the women of cheta.net/dokrog, which has moved to paradise models. The first woman impressed me very much; a twiggy body, but very strong! She lifts a big guy on her shoulders and wrestles him for a tiny bit. Yes, she flexes, and BIG biceps swell from those tiny arms! Another girl follows; she is a bit bigger and has impressive biceps as well as forearms. A cute blonde does leglifts and she has very toned arms as well, but she doesn't flex (too bad).

The next segment is with "Pillow" a bodybuilder from the earlier era. She really knows how to pose and flex, seemingly "teasing" the viewer with her facial expressions. She is very sexy and flexes everything, especially her biceps! Christine follows with a "cycling" segment. She lays on a couch and does cycling motions with her legs. Another girl that didn't impress me...

Finishing it all of was Yvonne McCoy. Yes, the woman with the HUGE calves. I was impressed only with their size. I thought Shannon's were better because they were "soft" less very feminine. Yvonne's are very vascular and almost scary! If you know what she looks like, then you know she isn't the most attractive woman, so Nercy stays away from her face.

A very good video, but I only watch Shannon, the models, and Pillow. If you have an extra $50, then go ahead and get it, but I don't think that the price is worth those three segments. I am getting legroom 8 next! Shannon is in that one!

Bottome line: Believe me, I'm a hardcore Th-resa Bostick buff (no pun intended), so it's hard for me to objectively review this video, but I will try. Th-resa does alot of glute action (and I do me ALOT). She in my opinion has the best glutes in the biz with Collette Guimond in close second. The only problem is, this video suffers from very low lighting and too many cheese shots and not enough flexing shots. The videographer seemed to be like a newbie to his/her hi-tech video equipment constantly switching to a gray scale repeated shots of her doing her dancing and such, which hurt the video alot due to low lighting. And Th-resa needs to do more flexing. So what saved the video? The subject of course. Th-resa shows off the most outstanding part of her magnificent body....her glutes. This video should've been called "Too much Butt". But believe me, this is a good thing. It flexes, it jiggles, it cuts juilian fries. And, regardless of whether she didn't flex the rest of her body or not, Th-resa is INCREDIBLY THICK in this video. Like a previous admirer in this group announced, her body is the kind a comic book artist would construct. It's freakily huge. Magnificent.

Pros: Th-resa's many MANY glute shots. The red lingerie sequences.

Cons: Too low a lighting. The tub scene with all the bubbles obstructs the view of her muscle...very annoying

But is it worth it: About four months ago when this video came out I was one of the few people in here bitching about it's 100 dollar tag. Too much money even for the whole Godfather collection (which I still watch periodically) so why would I spend it for a fbb video, regardless of whether I like her the most. Mostly, i bitched because you had fbbs just like her (ie Denise Masino) who makes names for themselves and don't have to charge so much for their videos. I talked to Th-resa personally about this and she said it would go down which it did ..in half no less. So for the new price tag, hell yeah it's worth it. Most def. I can't be unbiased in saying this because she's my fave so I will say this: to most of you fbb fans out there, you'll be in two categories. One, the guys who like the constant flexing and able to just get to the muscles bulging and such..this video is not for you. Two, the guys who just like to see their favorite fbb get down, just to see the muscle in action regardless of the activity. You'll love this video.

Glute shots: 60-80 percent , Arms (biceps, forearms, shoulders).: 5-10 percent , Legs: 20-40 percent. Back: 10-20 percent. Abs: 0 percent.

This page was created on Jan. 29, 1999.
Last modified on Dec. 29, 2000.

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