Me Buying Action Figures

The Tenacious website is an ever-changing and vibrant selection of limited-edition collectibles that is unmatched anywhere else. When we buy or produce toys, we focus our efforts on the larger, more limited and high end art toys and imported action figures.

me buying action figures

Instead, some manufacturers are creating pop culture statuettes based on popular movies, television shows, musicians -- and of course superheroes -- to take a bite out of an action figure market that generated sales of $1.2 billion last year, according to the NPD Group, an organization that tracks toy industry data.

McFarlane uses the example of one worker passing by the desk of another worker who has decorated his cubicle with a Dana Scully action figure, the character played by Gillian Anderson on \"The X-Files.\"

The company built a reputation as the gold standard for adult-oriented action figures, and has now expanded its toy-making business beyond \"Spawn,\" winning licenses from Major League Baseball, \"The Matrix\" films and other major properties.

Still, smaller companies like Palisades Toys and Mezco Toyz are jockeying for sales amongst the industry's adult clientele. Palisades produces action figures based on properties like \"The Muppet Show,\" \"Alien\" and \"Predator\"; Mezco lists Al Pacino in \"Scarface\" among its products.

We have been buying and selling vintage G1 Transformers toys, action figures, and boy toys for three decades. While original G1 Transformers toys are our forte, we also buy and sell many other action figures.

Always read labels to make sure a toy is appropriate for a child's age. Guidelines published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other groups can help you make those buying decisions.

I have seen quite a few reactions to what he said. Of course, there are the extreme sides. "What an appalling thing to say!". "Oh, he was clearly joking." "Well, he is right- female action figures DON'T sell!". And it is that last one, the crux of Todd's whole argument, that really irked me. The figure business is one of the strangest going right now in the collector realm. The entire business is built upon the lie that kids buy action figures when if you really talk to people in the industry, they know the truth. We, adults, are the collectors, and the number of kids buying action figures is shrinking every year. The figure game is a collectors market now, with kids gravitating towards mystery boxes, LEGO sets, app-enabled gimmicks, and things of that nature. It is the adult collectors who are still here, buying figures because that is what we grew up doing, and we are stuck in the endless loop of nostalgia and reliving our childhood.

Companies like Hasbro, Mattel, NECA, and yes, McFarlane Toys know this. They also know that they have ignored an audience and a social movement over these last few years, asking, "Where the hell are the female superheroes, wrestlers, and action figures? A few years ago, the hashtag #WheresNatasha went viral when Avengers: Age of Ultron was released, and Black Widow was largely left out of figure waves and merchandise for the film. It was around the same time the WWE was having its own revolution, as the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance also went viral. In one instance, the WWE listened, and women's wrestling took off in a way it may never have before, but things kinda remained the same in the other instance.

Todd McFarlane is also not the only one who feels this way about female hero figures either. His customers, or at least a vocal part of them, feel the same way. The same narratives he spewed in that video are repeated on social media constantly, and frankly, it is tiring. The same people who complain have no problems snatching up the hot figure from the latest wave of a figure line, and guess what? For years, that has tended to be the female figure. Guess what? Not all figures are made for boys or girls; a vast majority of collectors want them all. Maybe the problem is not the myth that "Boys don't want female action figures"; perhaps the problem is, they aren't getting enough of them, and the industry isn't giving them to the people clamoring for them.

I took a deep dive into the numbers or what figures came out in 2021 in five of the most popular lines of figures on the pegs right now: Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series from Hasbro, Masters of the Universe and WWE from Mattel, and yes, the DC Multiverse line from Todd McFarlane's McFarlane Toys. I added up every figure released in the calendar year, including exclusive releases and online exclusives, to see what percentage of figures released in the various lines were female releases. Let's start with Hasbro.

Of those nine, six were different versions of Wonder Woman, and two were Harley Quinn. Well, hey, that's just one year. They have made figures for two years now. It gets no better if you factored in the start of the line in 2020 and what has been released so far in 2022 and revealed to be coming this year, either.

That's right. Besides DC Multiverse figures, only three female action figures were released in 2021 by McFarlane Toys: Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride, Belle from the Disney Multiverse line, and Katara from Avatar. For those keeping score at home, that means McFarlane Toys produces the least amount of female action figures on the market compared to some of the most popular figure brands on the pegs, and by a wide margin.

It is not too big a leap to suggest that companies investing more effort to get more female figures on the pegs are seeing success. I also say that knowing that DC Multiverse was the top-selling action figure line of the year in 2021, at least to retailers. But think about what your sale would be if you didn't just take one group of people into account when deciding what characters need to be released.

Todd McFarlane can be a nice guy, and he has been in the interactions I have had with him. But he is severely wrong here, and to say these things in a public forum and evidently hold them close as a business model is antiquated and disgusting. Even if that was a poor attempt at humor, there is no place for that in this hobby, or at least there shouldn't be. All that rhetoric does is give credence to these false narratives. So, put your money where your mouth is, Todd. How could you know unless you try?

Do a four or five-figure wave of only female figures. Prove what you are saying is true. Here is a partial list of all the female DC characters you have ignored so far in this line: Starfire, Zatanna, Terra, a comics version of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Supergirl, Mera, Black Canary, Huntress, Stargirl, Hawkgirl, Power Girl, Raven, Donna Troy, Lois Lane, Killer Frost, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Jade, Cheetah, Amanda Waller, Talia al Ghul, Renee Montoya, Nubia, Wonder Girl, Batwoman, Big Barda, Jessica Cruz, Katana, Star Sapphire, Mary Marvel, and plenty more that I am forgetting, that is just off the top of my head.

You honestly are going to sit there and tell me that if you did a five-figure wave at regular retail of Catwoman, Zatanna, Poison Ivy, Supergirl, and Power Girl, that they would just sit there? So do it then. And not just Todd McFarlane either. In any of the lines discussed above, there hasn't been a single full wave of female figures ever offered. None and these companies are always wondering how to attract more people to these lines; why not actually try and do this and foster great change here? It is way past time. Nothing at all is stopping you.

While Star Wars and G.I. Joe led the charge for small action figures, LJN's wrestling figures went big. Standing about eight-inches high, they're about twice the size of the average G.I. Joe figure from the time. Also, most action figures could bend and came with a growing number of accessories. LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars are as stiff as a King Kong Bundy punch. Most figures came without accessories save for maybe a hat or cane. 041b061a72