Movie & TV, Comic, Anime, Video Game Action Figures

The term "action figure" was originally used by Hasbro to describe their G.I. Joe figure range. The action figure came with various uniforms and weapons. The popularity of the line soon became a global phenomena.

In the early '70s, Mego began producing Marvel and DC superhero figures which were very successful and are considered very collectible today. It was Kenner's Star Wars toy line in the mid 70's that set the standard size of an action figure at 3 3/4'. Instead of a single figures with outfits that changed for different scenarios, figure lines were offered as teams of characters with particular functions. The action figure market very quickly became a huge cash revenue for movie studios.

Transformers Action Figures

In the early '80s, the growing popularity of Japanese anime such as Gundam influenced Takara to release a line of transforming robots. The Transformers line is still going strong today with various cartoon shows still being produced as well as a recent big budget movie revitalising the line.

• Kermit Bust
• Sephiroth Statue
• Marvel Chess Set
• Speeder Bike

Collectible Action Figures

During the '80s all sorts of popular action figure lines were released, many based on cartoon series' such as Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Thundercats to name a few. Towards the end of the '80s more and more action figures were being bought by collectors and kept in their original packaging for displaying this also increased the value of the figure for future resale. Ultimately this also led to manufacturers producing certain action figure lines in such huge numbers that their value would never increase.

Massive Range of Action Figures

Today the action figure market is growing with no apparent end in sight, companies like NECA, Sideshow, McFarlane & Kotobukiya produce figures of 1000's of movie characters, comic book characters, pop and rock stars. The figures produced are of a very high standard and tend to be used purely for display. Ultimately if you're looking for an action figure chances are it's out there, it's just a matter of finding it.