Feature - Action Figures & Collectibles

A piece of the action

Action figures – the perfect way for fans of brands and franchises to immersive themselves in the worlds of their heroes, to display their love of a chosen TV show, film or game, and to role-play the excitement and adrenaline of the death defying rescues and ‘taking down the bad guy’ action seen on-screens both big and small. Rachael Simpson-Jones looks at the licences dominating the category this year and asks a selection of leading suppliers how stockists can grab a piece of the action for themselves.

The Action Figure category is inextricably linked to the Character Licensed Toys category, with suppliers and manufacturers leaning heavily into evergreen or on-trend TV, film and gaming licences. In 2024, this means they can tie into some major anniversaries for steady, evergreen brands as well as a few that are enjoying a major resurgence thanks to new content.

Let’s start with the evergreens. According to Martin Rowe, senior Marketing manager at Hasbro UK & Ireland, 2024 is set to be a huge year for Transformers, with the brand turning 40, the highly anticipated Transformers One movie dropping in autumn, and an array of marketing activations taking place throughout the year. Hasbro revealed its new Transformers One action figure line-up in April, to a very positive reception: readers love the highly toyetic style of the figures and the variety offered by the range. The Transformers Studio Series Deluxe Class Optimus Prime figure is joined by the 11” Mega Changer figures and 5” Prime Changer figures, as well as two 9.9” figures that convert to wearable role-playing masks.

“Many of our action figure ranges are supported with integrated marketing and retail activations,” says Martin. “For example, for Transformers we will be kicking off a global campaign on 17th September - International Transformers Day - which marks the official 40th birthday of the brand. From this date, we’ll be ramping up towards the movie release on 11th October with a fully integrated marketing campaign, in collaboration with Paramount. The movie will delight kids and adults alike and puts us in a great position to build sales momentum going into peak season.”

Transformers isn’t the only franchise celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also marking four decades since the heroes in a half shell first appeared in comic book form. Since then, the property has spawned a raft of games, TV series and films, the most recent of which – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – will be followed this summer by Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The new content has been bolstered by a strong line of action figures, not least of which is Playmates Toys’ range. Distributed in the UK by Character Options, 2024 additions include figures with interchangeable heads and limbs. Blind-bag collectibles specialist Mighty Jaxx is also enhancing the toy selection on offer for fans with its brand-new Arcade: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection, which brings a touch of gaming nostalgia to the market with its 8-bit pixel style.

Fresh content is also breathing new life into other existing franchises, and in turn leading to the launch of multiple new action figure ranges. Disney continues to churn out Star Wars content on Disney+, with Star Wars: The Acolyte, Star Wars Skeleton Crew and (maybe) Andor Season 2 all arriving this year. Anyone who celebrated ‘Star Wars Day’ on May the 4th will know that Hasbro supported the annual fan event with a raft of new action figures across its across its Black Series, Vintage and Retro lines. And Flair GP’s action figure range for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - the critically acclaimed 2004 blockbuster from Warner Bros. - has been highlighted by multiple retailers this month as a bright spot in an otherwise challenging few months, including by Toy Barnhaus and Howley’s Toymaster.

Heathside, meanwhile, has been named European distributor for Syndicate Collectibles’ Fallout range, following huge demand for product from fans of the new Amazon Prime TV live-action series. (Amazon is the latest studio to bet big on a high-profile console-to-TV adaptation, with Paramount+’s Halo first airing in 2022 and Netflix’s highly anticipated Horizon series slated to air in 2026.) Heathside has reacted quickly to this demand – which is to be expected from a company that bills itself as a ‘go-to destination’ for action figures, prides itself on its extensive product knowledge and aims to always stay abreast of pop culture trends. Max Nelson, Sales director at Heathside, told Toy World: “We continuously update retailers on the hottest properties, even if we don't have licensed products ourselves. Having this relationship with our customers is really important to us as pop culture experts.”

“Heathside focuses on strategic pricing and a compelling product presentation for all our launches, emphasising volume sales,” adds Max. “Our focus on hot properties reduces the reliance for extensive marketing spends, as the properties are widely regarded and sought-after. As we gear up to enhance our marketing efforts, our exciting, licensed products stand out on-shelf, enticing customers with their value and appeal.”

Alongside Fallout, Sonic the Hedgehog, South Park and other licensed ranges, Heathside is seeing success with the likes of Hatsune Miku and Dragon Ball Z. Indeed, anime remains a major subsector within the action figure category, particularly when it comes to collectibles. Mighty Jaxx’s MD of Europe, Alex Neale, tells Toy World: “One Piece is on fire, further fuelled by the Netflix live-action show, with our recent Luffy Gears series the No. 1 selling product in many large retail chains both in Europe and the US and our new Jujutsu Kaisen line already sold out purely on preorders.”

Bandai UK’s Ciaran Chivers-Procter, Collector & Hobby Brand manager, says anime licences have been a real standout over the past few years, and that sales of anime toys show no signs of slowing this year.

He says: “With Netflix expanding its anime library, properties such as SpyxFamily and My Hero Academia have kicked off the year generating significant buzz. Additionally, the increasing popularity of One Piece, celebrating 25 years since its debut, along with the anticipation surrounding the upcoming Netflix Live Action series and new anime re-imagining, make it one to watch. Meanwhile Dragon Ball, arguably the most recognisable anime of all time, is also gearing up for another new series at the tail end of the year with Dragon Ball Daima, which has a lot of exciting surprises in store for both new and old fans alike.”

Indeed, Action Figures is one toy category that really caters to both ‘new and old’ (or should that be young and more mature?), with the kidult pound continuing to account for a substantial percentage of sales. So, is the category at risk of being taken over by the grown-ups? Max at Heathside doesn’t think so: he says that while he’s witnessed a surge in adult collector spending, the opportunity to sell action figures to children is still huge. He adds: “We try to adapt our approach based on licence: mass market licences can easily appeal to both demographics, boosting sales volume. Balancing appeal between kids and adults maximises both the market reach and product uptake.”

Martin at Hasbro, meanwhile, says that while the Action Figures category over-indexes on adult purchases, the majority of purchases are still made by kids. “In our experience, the split between adult and kid purchase varies by brand and in some instances, adults are the majority purchaser,” he explains. “Our action figure offering caters to fans of all ages, from pre-school all the way up to adult collectors, and our insights show that the way consumers play with action figures changes as they get older. Our product ranges cater to all milestones.”

The Action Figures category is benefiting from new formats that are providing even more choice to all collectors. For Star Wars, Avengers and Spider-Man, Hasbro is introducing the 4” Epic Hero Series, which lets kids collect their favourite heroes in a new scale and bring their stories to life with action-packed vehicles, play sets, and accessories. Jazwares showcased the latest additions to its Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron range at London Toy Fair and Spielwarenmesse 2024. The line brings Star Wars fans 1” scale action figures and detailed, highly collectible vehicles and ships at accessible price points. Funko’s Bitty Pop! line also continues to bring fans collectibles in micro scale, including the most recent addition to the range, Lord of the Rings Bitty Pop!. The company is also introducing display solutions for collectors seeking fresh ways to show off their collections: readers can find out more about this on p. 52.

At the other end of the size spectrum, Spin Master has gone big with its new DC Giants action figures. Although the typical 12” in height, the figures are super-chunky, easier for smaller hands to hold and perfect for role-playing battle scenes between Batman and King Shark. Elsewhere, gaming continues to make its mark on the category. PMI Kids’ World continues to be a leader when it comes to collectible figures based on big-name games. This year, the company is launching its much anticipated Minecraft range, which includes blind-bag figures and figure sets, as well as its new Stumble Guys range of Mr. Stumble Caps, newly designed 2-figure blind boxes based on the iconic green hat worn by Mr. Stumble himself. Mattel’s Minecraft range is expanding with the introduction of the Mini assortment, including the Mini Mode Spawn Egg Assortment and Mini Mode Mini Mining Pack, as well as the 3.25" Feature Figure Sniffer. Meanwhile, Simba Smoby’s Jada range is launching a new range of 6” Street Fighter Deluxe Collector Action Figures, based on the iconic arcade game.

With so much to get behind this year, fans are certainly spoilt for choice and retailers have much to keep an eye on in the coming months (not least of which is Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which is expected to fuel huge demand for licensed toys, including new action figures from Hasbro). While choice is a great thing for consumers, it can pose something of a headache for retailers, which – as Ciaran Chivers-Procter notes – have to both keep abreast of the latest trends and be reactive to emerging properties. For indies, that means knowledge is power.

“HMV, for example, has done very well at pivoting its business to have a greater focus on pop culture and collectibles and has proven to be very reactive and open to new brands and products,” he says. “I think keeping an open dialogue with manufacturers and distributors, as well as looking at what is working in the more niche retailers, can help inform specialist toy retailers as to what is resonating with consumers. Enhancing the retail experience with in-store displays, activations and activities really resonates with consumers positioning retailers as an authentic destination for their favourite brands.”

Mighty Jaxx works with just about any kind of retailer, including independents who buy direct from the company or via one of its distributors. Alex would like to see toy retailers is to expand their vision beyond what they've always sold to try something different, particularly if they hope to become destination stores for action figures and collectibles. Mighty Jaxx might be new to the UK market, with just one full year of trading behind it, but it’s been running for over 10 years internationally – very successfully - and the blind box category accounts for billions of dollars each year in South East Asia.

He says: “We’re way earlier in the lifecycle in Europe, so whoever gets on board now is going to enjoy the ride for longer. We may not (yet) be a household name, but we're certainly a brand for retailers to look out for over the next 12 months - we have some incredibly exciting releases coming up.”

He adds: “We appreciate that many retailers remain unconvinced by blind box products or associate them with low-priced, lower quality specs. To change this mindset, we’ve taken a different approach and tried to put a unique twist on every product we release. We also make it easy to trial new lines with low MOQs and offer POS materials, such as FSDUs or display cases, for those retailers with enough space to accommodate them.”

To help support stockists, Hasbro works closely with them on release timings, ensuring retailers can meet fans’ needs with the latest product information and the tools to offer global pre-order and on-shelf dates. The company also collaborates on in-store and online activations, with value added promotions such as ‘Buy 3 and May the 4th be with You’ helping them celebrate Star Wars Day, or Gift with Purchase opportunities making these stores a top destination for action figures.

Martin Rowe tells Toy World: “We recognise that across the fan channel, each retailer appeals to different types of fans and collectors. We prioritise range optimisation to ensure they have the best product for their shoppers, working with them on retail activations for key moments, marketing support and promotional tools to drive sales and encourage consumer purchase.”