The birth of Action Figures

Hasbro first used the term 'action figure' in 1964 when marketing their G.I Joe figure. The 11.5-inch action figure was marketed to boys who wouldn't play with dolls, and featured changeable clothes with various military outfits.

In 1971 Mego began producing DC comic book and Marvel superhero action figures, which proved the be highly popular. These action figures are considered highly collectible today. In 1976 Mego lost control of the market after declining the license to produce Star Wars action figures.

The success of Kenner's Star Wars action figures, which featured 3-3/4" toys made the smaller size the new industry standard. The Star Wars line also featured teams of characters with special functions - after this introduction the collectible action figure industry boomed to multi-million dollar levels.

The evolution of Action Figures

The popularity of Japanese robot cartoons spurred on Takara to reinvent the Microman line as the Micro Robots in 1980. This concept moved away from the cyborg action figure to that of a living robot. This then led to a new line of toys - Micro Change, which could "transform" into robots. After the initial popularity of this line, Hasbro licensed Micro Change and the Diaclone transforming cars (another Takara line) and combined them to form the Transformers in the US. A line of toys that spawned a host of animated cartoons which still continue to this date.

During the 1980's the action figure market grew substantially with cartoon series using them as marketing tools and a secondary profit stream. Towards the end of the 1980's, collectors began to surface, purchasing the toys to keep in their packaging for display purposes - which led to flooding of the action figure market.

One of the most popular action figure lines during the late '80s and early '90s was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, which were produced in such high quantities that the value for most of the figures would never be higher than a few dollars.

During this time popular characters, such as Batman, were becoming increasingly specialized with different versions being released, rather than different characters (such as Neon Armor Batman or Arctic Batman).

Action figures in the new millennium

These days the collector market for action figures is still growing. Some companies, such as McFarlane Toys and NECA are producing highly detailed movie characters, athletes and musicians, which are intended as display pieces rather than toys. There are some lines, such as Justice League Unlimited and Masters of the Universe revival that still interest adult collectors.