WAXING NOSTALGIC

Chuck Norris is there--brandishing his “Delta Force” firepower, battling Arab terrorists. Sly Stallone is on hand in a triumphant “Rocky IV” pose, wearing his red-white-blue trunks, plus muscles. Arnold Schwarzenegger is coming--in his “Terminator” get-up. And let’s not overlook Gavin MacLeod, wearing his captain’s togs on a gently rocking “Love Boat.”

It’s all in the name of bringing the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park up to date, explains Terry Thrift, museum director of marketing. To make way for the new means getting rid of the old--”stars that people just don’t know anymore.”

Thus, John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore--depicted in a scene from “Rasputin and the Emperor” (the only film that starred the trio)--are headed for cold storage. Their replacements: (Nyuk! Nyuk! Woo! Woo!) the Three Stooges!

“Lots of kids wonder why they aren’t here already,” said Thrift. “Figure, the Three Stooges are on TV every Saturday morning. But who ever sees the Barrymores?”

Others will be heading out the door (“Laugh-In’s” Rowan & Martin will probably go) to make way for the likes of Jonathan Winters, Roger Moore as 007, Mel Gibson as Mad Max (“He’s in leather and he looks great--and Mel’s said he’ll be attending the unveiling”), Sally Field (“We haven’t decided which film we’ll do her from”) and, possibly, David Lee Roth. “Yes, we’re thinking about including some rock people. And he’s so recognizable--we get lots of requests for him.

“We don’t have to have a celebrity’s permission to make a wax figure of them but, in the name of good public relations, we wouldn’t do it without their blessing. Right now, we’re corresponding with Toshiro Mifune.”