Five Reasons Why Toy Collecting Isn’t Going Away
A recent post at Action Figure Insider — Action Figure Collecting: The End of Days? -– put forth the suggestion that we’re seeing the end of action figure collecting. Read the article, read Poe Ghostal’s thoughts on the subject, and then decide for yourself what you think will happen to the action figure collecting hobby over the next few years.
I personally don’t see the hobby in any danger of dying. Lines will come and go, sure, but I can think of five reasons why collectors will still be in a year or two.
NOTE: I also take issue with the idea that action figure collecting is pigeonholed into one size category, such as only 6-inch figures. Why would scale dictate the passion? To me, it’s akin to saying there aren’t variations in Georgia and its cultural or culinary scenes — it’s simply not true. So I’m disregarding this limiting perspective on figure dimensions and instead focusing on five lines I believe collectors are truly passionate about. Even if some speculate the market is waning, I’m convinced it’s far from a demise.
1. Iron Man 3
When Iron Man 2 hit theaters in 2010 it brought with it a wave of 3.75-inch scale Iron Man action figures that, over two years later, can still be found in stores. And I’m not talking about clearanced action figures collecting dust; Targets, Wal-Marts, ToysRUs, and even grocery stores here in Austin have 3.75-inch scale Iron Manaction figures just waiting to be purchased. There’s a reason I named this the best action figure line of 2010.
And with Iron Man 3 coming next year there’s no way that Marvel and Hasbro won’t continue to release new 3.75-inch scale – and very likely some 6-inch scale – Iron Man action figures to stores. And just trying to imagine what Hasbro will be able to do with reused tooling, new tooling, and mixes of both leaves me excited to see how many awesome new Iron Man action figures are released. Hell, they’re still reusing 2010 molds; during a trip out toy shopping with Matt Doughty (Onell Design) and Jesse Moore (Rawshark) we came across repainted Deep Dive Armor Iron Man . . . which I grabbed!
There’s no way Iron Man fans are going to skip new action figures to add to their already massive “Hall of Armor†collections.
2. Masters of the Universe Classics
Despite the fear of not getting more toys, the fear of not getting a Castle Grayskull, and the constant complaints about Mattel’s choice for distributor, the Masters of the Universe Classicsline is one series that continues to have a fan base large enough to support “adult collectibles.†Without a movie or new cartoon series I don’t think that this line can continue forever, but I fully expect it to last into 2015. (But by then Mattel may be scraping the barrel with oddness so I hope they manage to get some sort of media action going by 2014.)
And since I haven’t noticed floods of eBay sales of Masters of the Universe Classics action figures I don’t think collectors have abandoned the line. (But once that happens someone please let me know; there’s a few figures I’d love to grab cheap.) No, I think for the foreseeable future Masters of the Universe fans will continue to collect this series . . . and if we see a rise in third party toys and accessories I could see collectors sticking with this for at least a few years after Mattel drops the line.
3. Star Wars
Okay, I haven’t bought Star Wars action figures like I once did, but that doesn’t mean that collectors have abandoned the line. All it means is that my tastes have changed; and even then the Jumbo Vintage Kenner Star Wars action figures from Gentle Giant are starting to interest me more and more. And The Clone Wars has younger kids collecting almost as many toys as the adult collectors; maybe more! (But only Hasbro would know for sure.)
And do we think the action figure collectors will abandon the Star Wars brand with new films coming starting in 2015? The toys may not be for every single collector, but Star Wars is going to remain popular with toy collectors for at least another seven or eight years . . . and probably many more after that if Disney really embraces their new property and starts a new TV series.
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I’ve mentioned how well these are selling here in Austin (posted here) and it’s not just to kids who love the new toys and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons. How many weeks have we seen TMNT action figures listed in the It’s All True review lists? I’ve no idea, but I know that as long as Playmates can keep creating such fun toys then kids and collectors alike will keep buying these.
I know I’m keeping an eye on the shelves to see what’s next and will be trying to get a look at the Playmates booth at the New York Toy Fair in February. So far every action figure in the line I have opened has been a neat design and there’s nothing to make me think the line’s going to die before more cool toys hit the shelves.
5. Transformers
Between official Hasbro and Takara Transformers releases and the entire unofficial, third party Transformers toys this might be the biggest – and most expensive! – like for collectors right now and one strong piece of proof that toy collecting isn’t going to die any moment now. Both Hasbro and the third party makers are getting better at what they do – I love that Hasbro has embraced the Fall of Cybertron game and is bringing us so many Cybertronian action figure designs – and it feels to me like fans are more excited with each new release.
As long as great designs hit shelves (and online stores) and IDW keeps entertaining fans with the official Transformers comics I cannot see this line dropping from collectors’ lists. And add in yet another live action movie and you can see that the entire Transformers franchise is likely to be collected for several more years.
But What Do You Think?
Am I wrong? Will we see the end of toy and action figure collecting in the next few years? Will the increasing cost of toys (see my “Five Reasons Why Action Figures Cost More Today” post) kill collector interest and destroy the hobby of collecting action figures? Are the lines I pointed out as reasons why collectors will keep collecting destined to fail tomorrow?
Leave a comment and let us know what you think about the whole idea of toy collecting vanishing from the catalog of hobbys.
Related articles
- Five Points of Articulation is Plenty for Play (battlegrip.com)
- Action Figure Market Shrinking? (battlegrip.com)
- Affiliate Link – Star Wars: The Ultimate Action Figure Collection: 35 Years of Characters (battlegrip.com)
I think the trouble that faces the toy-collector world is one that confronts many collecting communities: the limits of physical space.
In all but the most opulent households, there is a limit to the amount of physical stuff you can acquire (and — to a lesser extent — appreciate). Once every shelf, counter space, and cubbyhole is full of [whatever is collected], what do you do with More Cool Stuff?
Within the span of 20 years (I peg it around the “Power of the Force” Star Wars releases from the mid-’90s), if feels to me like the market went from “buy 20 to 30 figures a year to stay current in a number of lines” to “buy 20 to 30 figures a month.”
I went through a similar phase with books and comics, where I hit a point where I literally didn’t want to accumulate any more physical items that I had to sort, box/shelve, and find room for. I cut way back, culled, then stopped nearly anything altogether. The rise of digital has reintroduced me to comic- and book-buying somewhat (although nowhere near my “peak”), and it’s resolved my physical-storage problems… but the action-figure market doesn’t have that luxury.
Via my marketplace eyes I’ve seen the collapse of comics, RPGs, trading cards, CCGs, and no doubt a dozen other trends I’m forgetting. I don’t know enough about the action-figure market to know how close it is to collapse, but “lots of periodical expensive product that a limited number of fans have to find room for” has traditionally been a recipe for disaster.
I completely agree with you on the scale issue. I don’t really care about scale. If a toy is cool, it’s cool. Size doesn’t always matter.
As far as toy collecting in general I don’t think it could possibly be going away. As a collector and now a parent I have seen my son really love some lines that I have to admit are great. He is really into the Imaginext stuff (not just Batman but the non-licensed toys as well). He also really likes Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles and the newer kid oriented Batman line that is at retail. He plays with them and loves them and I have to admit that I think they are all great toylines too. I could totally see the Imaginext stuff being a line he goes back to collect when he’s older. I have to believe I’m not the only parent who sees potential collectors in their children.
Ironman sounds like a personal thing. It’s Doing better than hulk or cpt. America but marvel is getting everything to dovetail together. The cartoons are doing very well too. Kids will want collections of marvel characters. Movie hype toys for one character while movie toys have been atrocious does not sound like collection material to me.
I don’t own any 6″ figures. That isn’t big enough to be impressive and it has always been beat by 3 3/4. The whole reason has always been vehicles and playsets. A character should either be big or be able to pilot an xwing, a light cycle, or a skystriker. 6″ is so blatantly neither.
It’s funny, I haven’t bought a Star Wars figure since the 80s yet every time I see the Vintage figures hanging on the pegs, I look through them. Sadly 90% of what I find doesn’t resonate with me though. I want Hans and Lukes and Leias and Walrus Mans not Bim Boms and Flappy the Quanges or Jar Jars.
There is a gigantic difference between the end of a trend/fad for the overall public, and one losing interest in it.
It is easier for me to process the “death of six-inch argument” when we view history. For instance, if someone was a Mego doll collector, what new product did they have to buy between approximately 1978 and 1997 (those Hasbro attempts that were bigger scale)? If you loved Toy Biz FIVE INCH Marvel figures, what did you do when they switched to Legends scale? (I was one of these people, and I quit at that point)
An article that tries to generalize collectors will always fail because there are too many subdivisions – “I only collect vintage-inspired MOTU Classics even though Vikor is awesome!”
We all quit for our own reasons. Fatigue is constantly mentioned – I think on some level, some of us rebel against being the guinea pigs in a massive marketing game being played by the corporations.
Will six-inch figures go away as a scale? Maybe. That is hard to predict. The next Pokemon could be some seven-inch hollow monster figure line with barcodes you scan with your Iphone to get a chance to win gold or something.
The future of action figures is driven by the corporations involved and the audiences for said items. Mattel could make a 3 3/4 He-Man figure starring John Cena as He-Man and it might break every box office record ever known, inspiring millions of children the world over to buy the toys from the film. If collectors show Hasbro that they should do Hot Toys-level Transformers for $1000 each and we can sell them out, that is where it will go.
Personally, I’m going to push for 3 3/4 to be the most recognized scale as much as possible (at mass market), and for Glyos to be the preeminent quality action figure on the marketplace. Always plans…
#1 reason? I’m still ALIVE. 🙂
I see price and fashion being the two driving issues here moreso than space. Americans have big houses. Its more the high price, double sometimes triple what it was just a few years back. And then the new guard comes in every decade and wants to collect something different.
That article at AFI is kind of silly. But then they are kind of in a bubble of themselves over there anyway. Of course the market for 6″ figures is dying. Its had a long 10 year solid run equivilant to other scale runs like Mego in the 70’s, GiJoe/Star Wars in the 80s, and 5″ Marvel figures in the 90s. Fans themselves priced themselves out of the game, by supporting the DCUC price hikes blindly and online scalpers. Superhero collectors/fans are some of the most fickle, trend-obsessed folks out there. Every decade there will be something new to collect, and fans will move on, drop out, or get LOLd at for collecting “that old junk of a line.” Fans will most definetly dump their Legends and Universe Classics just like they did dump their ToyBiz Marvels in 2001-2003. Right now the standard is 6-7″ but 3.75″ is slowly dominating the newest releases. Everyone from Dc to the BBC have moved full steam to 3.75 in the last year. Which to me is great as that is really 99.9% of what I collect anyway. I can easily see mini 2-inch guys and static Eaglemoss style figures being huge too in the US as they are here in Europe. When the toys get too hard to find or expensive, parents, kids, collectors, we all move on. Why do you think Lego Star Wars is so huge? To buy a vanilla Luke or Han was impossible in the early 2000s so parents moved on and scalpers and collectors followed.
You often see the future of the hobby by looking to Asia. Candy toys and higher priced larger items are where the 80s fans are moving to more and more. Playmobil and that style are huge around the rest of the world right now.
And there is always vintage. I can see a swell of 90s nostalgia products brewing and I think a renewed interest in things like POTF, ToyBiz Marvel, and Jurassic Park being really popular over the next few years. Highly available, wide variety of characters, cheap, and fun…
@the r big: thats a well thought out assessment. 🙂
Truth be told, I don’t collect (or customize) 6″ figures any more. Without really realizing it, all my non-Transformer toys are 7″/8″ scale dominated by NECA, or hybridized customs that can easily pass for that scale. I’m curious about the origins of the 6″ scale, and ideas why it ceased to be a viable toy-size.
I assume 3.75″ began with GI Joe, but who set the standard for 6″, and why?
Regarding the much-referenced idea that companies are producing small figures because of plastic costs: I decided to check this out at Walmart yesterday. after my visit, I was ,eft wondering if has anyone walked down a toy isle that isn’t the ‘6-12’ boys toys one recently. Childrens toys, girls toys, and all those inbetween are still large, and typically very solid in terms of plastic/ABS quantity. Are there other reasons why 6″ scale started, and stopped being the go-to “toy standard”?
Blayne: 3.75″ started with Star Wars, a good four years before G.I. Joe (80s iteration).
Yeah; collecting isn’t going anywhere. At this point we’ve got a whole subgroup of fans who go after high end collectables, which there is DEFINITELY a market for. Look at how well HotToys is doing and how they keep snatching up licenses. ThreeA has a pretty hardcore following too. And then of course you have how the Internet’s allowed us access to the Japanese collectable market, to the point where the American market is fueling the Dragonball SH Figuarts line (Tamashii Nations has said on several occasions we’re the reason it’s still going) as well as getting official releases from lines with ZERO supporting media in the US, like Kamen Rider. And that’s to say nothing of the high end Transformers items – Masterpiece has just gone through another renaissance and then there’s the fact that I’m at the point where I’m having to pick and choose which high end third party Transformers I want just because there’s so MUCH good stuff out there.
And as for the death of the 6″ line…. having always been a 3 3/4″ guy myself, I’m starting to be drawn more and more to larger figures. Part of it is my small collection of Figuarts, figmas, and other import figures, and part of it is space – I’m sure I have a couple hundred 3 3/4″ Star Wars, Marvel, and GI Joe figures in storage, with no hope of ever finding the room to display them in my apartment. Plus, it’s a LOT harder to display 3 3/4″ stuff well, while the larger figures have more visibility and stability while standing.
The days of the thrill of the hunt at toy stores, that said? Those are definitely on the way out – most of what I get these days is online, in part thanks to the strong Canadian dollar and the slower trickling of toylines up north. But stuff like seeing the TMNT toyline sell like gangbusters makes it clear those stores aren’t going away.
Agree with Steven, I’ve been seriously collecting action figures for the past 3 years and just recently realized that I have tons of them on storage because of the lack of space. Though I wanted to control myself by sticking to DCUC, DC Direct, ML, and MS, I always find myself whoring on other lines like TMNT, Mcfarlane NBA, and other toylines that were once a part of my childhood. There’s a part of me that seriously wants to quit or lessen my Toy diet but awesome figures from other lines just seem to beckon me to buy them (most notably the nicktoons TMNT). Lately I’m kinda addicted to Sentai and Kamen Rider shows so the scarcity of my primary toylines has forced me to whore on these. For the coming year I want to slow down on my Toy collecting, the recent moves by DC and Marvel will help me control my toy purchase but my dilemma is other toylines seems to be releasing more and more awesome figures.
Yeah new starwars can be awkward. I bought a new xwing and realized I wanted a Kenner. I have a nice bespin Luke but it isn’t the oddly chubby vintage one with the yellow paint rubbed off the head. I never thought about buying prequel toys, that’s disturbing.
Before starwars every liscense was done by mego in 8″ starwars came out in 3 3/4 and the bandwagon was full swing. Mego was crushed so fast they bought micronauts from takara trying to compete. Hasbro was doing some weird captain action bulletman sublines of G.I. Joe around the same time as six million dollar man. They where weird and need some documentation on the net. The 3 3/4 joes started in 82.
I realized that I have my action team mixed up. There was another line at the time where the main character had wolf heads tattooed on the top of eachchromed a chrome gun in a shoulder holster. The bad guy was like man e faces with a really nice red cape. Does anyone know what line that was? I was 4 at the time, too fuzzy for me.
It was big Jim. Origin of the battle cat mold. I also don’t think it’s paranoid to say that I see a little something else that carried over to the motu line. Not that there is anything wrong with that. 😀
Yeah, Palitoy (the UK licensee of GI Joe) released the ”weird” GI Joes like Bullet Man, Atomic Man (IIRC – the bionic guy) and Tom Stone, the first black Action Man, alongside the Intruder, who always seemed more like a Super Joe/8” scale figure to me (and probably was – you know how different territories borrow and re-brand from other lines!)