This was a great year for action figures, especially with nostalgia from the 1980’s and 1990’s, spread across the industry as this generation that had collected these brands are of age, and have fond memories of these lines and characters from their early years. In this list, we took this into consideration for our top picks, as well as some brand new concepts and characters introduced recently and released this year. This year also is going to be most memorable as some announcements had been made this year that will highlight the next few years for the industry.
First off, we wanted to bring your attention to Super7’s announcement of ThunderCats Classics making its return next year, following the cancellation of the line by Mattel in 2016. There was also Mattel’s announcement of Masters of the Universe making a return in a line called Origins, that saw news from San Diego Comic-Con and Power-Con this year. Mattel also announced a WWE/Masters of the Universe co-brand line called Masters of the WWE Universe, which has WWE superstars geared up with homages from MOTU characters. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gets a modern update from NECA Toys and Super7, which are both focusing on the classic animated series. Next year, Hasbro will be offering Ghostbusters figures that will likely see the photorealistic likeness of the actors, which are surely going to be nice looking figures. These are some of our favorite announcement of the year, and 2020 is going to be such a big year for so many brands.
1. Hasbro Marvel Legends X-Men – 1990’s Inspired Figures
The Marvel team at Hasbro have a passion project going on, and are giving fans some long awaited updated figures to the Marvel Legends line, which some of these haven’t seen a new figure of since Toybiz had the brand, or the early days since Hasbro took the license. A lot of these characters really needed these updates, and the team has now perfected the likenesses while giving you a nicely sculpted and painted figure. Marvel Legends has come a long way in the lines 17 year history, and is now at the top of its peak.
These and more Marvel Legends figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, and Amazon.com.
2. Mattel/Mega Construx – Masters of the Universe Construction Sets and Origins
While next year is the official launch of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe line, which will see a brand new animated series, and there is a lot of great toys coming next year. We’ve already seen some announcements from San Diego Comic-Con and Power-Con this year, and it seems that Mattel is planning a line of at least 150 different characters that they could do for this line, not to mention playsets, vehicles such as the Sky Sled with Prince Adam figure, and many more announcements to come. Next year is going to be just as big of year for the brand as 1982 was, or even bigger now that the brand has established itself into the hearts of fans, and will obtain new fans with all of the entertainment possibilities that the animated series and comics will bring.
Masters of the Universe Construction sets and figures can be found on Amazon.com. The San Diego Comic-Con Origins 2-pack and Battle Bones set can be found on eBay.com.
3. DC Collectibles – DC Essentials Figures
Following the cancellation of DC Icons, which were scaled down compared to the DC Essentials line, DC Collectibles offered this new line of 7″ scale figures, based on classic characters. Already the line seems to be doing better than Icons, and even though we had wished that DC Collectibles released those final figures in Icons, this new style is really well done and are better in scale with other brands such as Marvel Legends.
DC Essentials and additional products can be found on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World, Sideshow Collectibles (statues and busts only – they offer 2.5% back for future purchases) and Amazon.com.
4. NECA Toys – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7″ Scale Figures
There is no denying that NECA is serving Turtles fans a great service right now with their offerings that are based on the classic cartoon and 1990 film inspired figures. Fans have waited a long time for figures like these and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome. It’s interesting that both NECA and Super7 are working on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated figures in similar scales and styles, but NECA is offering these at much more reasonable prices and you can even find some of these in stores as mentioned below. The including of Bebop and Rocksteady this month is a win for everyone, and the amount of detail and likeness on those two is incredible. We’ve waited 30 years for these figures with this type of likeness, and it’s been well worth it.
Target Stores is offering wave 2 including the Bebop and Rocksteady 2-pack starting this week, or next depending on your location.
The TMNT Movie figures were exclusively offered at San Diego Comic-Con 4-pack, and offered again as single figures to GameStop.
The San Diego Comic-Con 2019 exclusive 4-pack can be found at eBay.com.
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The “Turtles In Time” Box Set can be found at Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, and Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles.
5. NECA Toys – Ultimate – Horror Theme Figures
With a company like NECA, it’s almost impossible to pick just one figure or line as everything that they’ve been offering is so detailed and amazing looking. For the purposes of our personal favorites, we’ve chosen the horror themed Ultimate figures, and this year they’ve brought some new characters to the mix. This includes Sam from Trick r’ Treat, Crooked Man, and Michael Myers. We’re hopeful to see even more characters join the line from licenses such as They Live, Pumkinhead, Leprechaun and more.
NECA Toys figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, and Things From Another World.
6. Mattel – Jurassic World Amber Collection 6″ Scale Figures
Mattel’s newly released Jurassic World Amber Collection offers 6″ scale figures of Dr. Ian Malcolm & Velociraptor that are based on the classic 1993 film. These characters are offered for the first-time in this scale, and they look just as good as they did when Mattel had them on display at last years SDCC. A second wave is also coming with Owen and Blue.
The Amber collection figures can be found at GameStop.com.
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7. Hasbro – Transformers War For Cybertron: Siege Figures
Hasbro’s latest Transformers line starts a new trilogy of figures this year, all paying homage to the 1980’s legendary toy line that many of you reading this probably grew up playing with and owning. These figures have everything, from great detail to excellent character choices and likenesses. Transformers War For Cybertron: Siege line is one of our personal favorite updates to G1, and it seems that more great things are coming. Hasbro made toy history this year with their HasLab Unicron figure, which was priced at an astonishing $600, and with one extension of the deadline, they got more than 8,000 backers that they needed to fund this project. Supposedly, now that Unicron was funded, Sharkticons are supposed to be next.
Transformers products can be purchased on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, and Amazon.com
8. DC Collectibles – Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2-Packs
GameStop gets the new Batman Vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Figure 2-Packs by DC Collectibles, which are based on the new animated movie. These animated inspired figures are a different style than previously seen for either franchise, and works well together. While the cartoon didn’t live up to our expectations, the figures more than make up for it, and you should definitely be picking these up.
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9. Jazwares – Fortnite 4″ and 6″ Figures
Jazwares has been stepping up their game with their Fortnite action figure line that is offered in the 4″ and 6″ figure scale, and based on the video game. What makes this line work so well is that former employees from Toybiz are working on this, which as you know this means they worked on lines such as Marvel Legends. Each figure is highly detailed and comes with accessories as seen in the game, and each one is sculpted and painted with all of today’s great detail. The characters that they’ve been putting out are some great choices and if this is any indication, there are still many characters to do. Hopefully they’ll tackle Peely next year.
Jazwares figures can be purchased on BigBadToyStore, Amazon and Wal-Mart.
Note – We collect a small commission on referred sales and would great appreciate it if you clicked off our hyperlinks above before you shop. Thank you in advance.
10. Mattel – DC Comics Multiverse 6″ Figures
This year was the end of DC Multiverse figures by Mattel, but they managed to finish the line strong with characters like Alfred Pennyworth, KG Beast, Katana, Batman Beyond and Lobo. If you’ve been collecting these 6″ scale DC figures going back all the way from 2006 and all sculpted by the Four Horsemen, you have 13 years of great figures in your collection.
Mattel DC Multiverse figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, and Amazon.com.
11. DC Collectibles – Batman: The Animated Series Figures
DC Collectibles continues their line of Batman animated figures this year and they have been doing an incredible job capturing the likeness from the series. If you had watched the series back in the 1990’s, this has been a treat to have updated figures of these characters aside from the figures that Kenner had offered. Make sure you’re doing your part and continue to buy these and pre-order them once solicitations go live. We’re hoping to have a few more years with these figures, and there are still some great characters to get too.
DC Collectibles figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World, and Amazon.com.
12. Mattel WWE Ultimate Edition Figures
Mattel’s WWE Elite figures got an update this year with their new Ultimate Edition figures, which offered more detail, articulation, accessories and paint applications than the WWE Elite figures. The likenesses have also improved with this upgraded line, and we really like how these came out. If you had not done so yet, make sure to grab these figures this holiday season.
WWE figures by Mattel can be found on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles and Amazon.com.
13. Diamond Select Toys Marvel Select 7″ Scale Figures
Marvel from the 1990’s has been a growing trend lately and many fans that grew up in the 90’s and read the comics consider this to be one of the best era’s of character design. Many toy companies are offering collectibles inspired from this era, which is also our favorite era’s. This year saw some great characters in the Marvel Select line, including X-Men and Spider-Man, and DST has done a great job on this. Hopefully, they’ll get to some of our most requested characters, including Archangel, Iceman, Storm, Mr. Sinister, Shocker, Doctor Octopus, Scorpion, and Kingpin.
Marvel Select figures are available on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, Things From Another World and Amazon.com.
14. Disney Store Exclusive – Marvel & Star Wars Toy Box Figures
The Disney Store continues their line of Toy Box figures, which are based on the Disney: Infinity game designs, and are re-engineered and articulated. This line has all of these characters interacting in the same universe, including Disney and Pixar characters. Just recently, Disney Store just released all of these figures pictured here, and we’re going to be reviewing some of the new one’s soon. The line is really that good to be mentioned here, and we’re so happy to see these characters make the cut sooner rather than later.
Grab these now at the Disney Store.
Note – We collect a small commission on referred sales and would great appreciate it if you clicked off our hyperlinks above before you shop. Thank you in advance.
15. Panda Mony Toys – Alter Nation Figures
Panda Mony Toys released the first wave of their Alter Nation figures, which are a new toyline of mutants that were created by a secret government experiment that mixes animal genetics with human genetics to create better soldiers. Think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and these figures have action gimmicks and features just like toys did in the 1990’s. Panda Mony Toys have released several cartoon episodes on their YouTube channel, and a partnership with Dark Horse Comics to offer comic books. Alter Nations will only grow in popularity, and we’re very happy for Ryan, Curtis, and the team behind this project. Good things from this are to come.
You can order these now at the Pandamony Store. At this time, you can use coupon codes ToyHypeUSA or toyhype for 10% off until January 31st, 2020
Honorable Mentions:
These companies were just launched on Kickstarter this year and have new lines coming out and planned for next year. All of these have some original concepts and these are definitely something to look forward too in 2020.
- Valaverse – Action Force 6″ Scale Figures – Kickstarted Funded
- Creative Beast Studio – “Beasts Of The Mesozoic” Ceratopsian Series – Kickstarter Funded
- Lone Coconut – Plunderlings Pirate Goblin Figures – Kickstarted Funded
