I grew up on action figures of American-made cartoons (even though I live in Malaysia), such as M.A.S.K, Transformers, Ninja Turtles and some He-Man.

I don't buy action figures anymore (although I may wanna buy a brand new Modulok figure from He-Man to replace the one I lost so long ago due to misplacing it).

I was wondering if action figures are still going strong in the US.

Action Figures as a toy? I'd say. It's hard to compete with what kids have now-a-days.

Action Figures as a collectors item? Not a chance, they're cool memorabilia.

In terms of high quality toys made for the niche adult collectors market, there's more than ever before. Especially in japan but there's a growing western market as well. Near enough anything mildly nerdy will have decent collectables.

For kids I'm not sure, but they've made successful toy lines based on minecraft and youtubers if that's anything to go by.

Right now there does seem to be less "badass" cartoon characters to make toys of but maybe shows like TMNT or Transformers will make a comeback in animation.

At 11/11/16 11:44 AM, yurgenburgen wrote: last week i wanted to buy a yo-yo. i went to wal mart and they didn't have any. do kids these days not play with yo-yos any more?

Yeah and whatever happened to spinning tops? Did beyblades kill them?

Action is a fickle genre and making a toy along with that genre is even harder

Hell no
I

Haven't you seen any of the latest Hot Toys figurines?

They're not dead, plenty of action figures are still being made. Sure, older action figures were way cooler and better, but action figures are still a thing.

Action figures were never alive. They're made of plastic.

I never had an action figure when I was a kid.
My mom thought that even Power Rangers was too violent for me.
Back on topic I think action figures are done.
Parents these days just give the kid a fucking tablet.
My kid won't have his own tablet until at least ten.
Jesus fuck no wonder millennials are suck pansies.

From today's business perspective, figures that can perform "action" are not cost effective. No, we definitely need more of those hideous, do-nothing Funko Pop Vinyl dolls, or produce something similar in hopes of recreating that undeserved success.

Figmas aren't half bad, I suppose. Kinda neat to see my favorite characters recreated. As for anything else, I still see commercials for various action toys, though most don't seem as flexible and durable as the older stuff was. I'd have to play with them to know for sure, because I don't like forming an opinion without personal experience to back it up, but they seem to rely more upon the "move them with your imagination" design in mind. I don't like having figures in my home anyhow. Creepy-ass humanoid toys, sculptures and even pictures/paintings give me the chills.

At 11/11/16 06:15 AM, Goldsickle wrote: I was wondering if action figures are still going strong in the US.

Every time I look for something for my nephew's birthday, I take a look at the action figures just for the hell of it and it does seem like there's less and less every year.

They will never be obsolete.

Not sure, I don't look into it much. I will say using it as a means of bragging rights (a collection) is a waste of space and money, imo. I really don't see how an adult would use them unless it's for an animation (<3 Seth Green), use of reference, or for a bigger display. But that's just me.

At 11/15/16 09:52 PM, Kayleeee wrote: They will never be obsolete.

those arent really action figures.

At 11/15/16 10:12 PM, Joestar wrote:

At 11/15/16 09:52 PM, Kayleeee wrote: They will never be obsolete.

those arent really action figures.

Please define action figure for me.

Action Figure Therapy is for you, friend.

Stupid shit like Pop Vinyl is what's killing creativity for Action Figures.

I do like Anime Mechas though, if the US could make some fucking incredible looking robot figures, they might win.

Do Real Dol...ahem, Real Figures count?

Not yet they're not! I could see the quality in certain series go up. My favorite Figures to this day are the Square Enix's Play Arts Kai! The size, detail, and articulation on the figures amazes me! There's also GamingHeads Statues which I found out about a few years ago--Hopefully these qualify as figures! The statues are pricey, but I have to admit they are something to brag about once you have them!

Feel free to pick apart the rest of what I'm going to say if it's wrong. It's not research, just some observations...

I think figures only feel like a dying breed here in the west because they don't seem advertised as much as they used to and the quality for the one they do advertise don't seem like that big step in terms of quality. I think here in the U.S. we also emphasis the actual 'play' of the toy rather than just its aesthetic, which isn't bad, but people-- specifically children--grow out of that. On the other hand, everyone likes to have things that are visually appealing, so even if a kid bought some really cool detailed statue or figure then I can guarantee you that one way or another they will.

You do see action figures from time to time, but when people realized that some of them were valuable and were targeted by collectors, you get the idea. Now with figmas and nendoroids which are specifically designed for collecting are out there, there is less demand for regular action figures for kids.

Then there are the Funko Pops, which I honestly have no idea what they're supposed to be or who are they targeted towards. About the only thing I could think of is for those who are either too cheap for figmas or are hardcore collectors of a certain show or game.

At 11/11/16 06:15 AM, Goldsickle wrote: I grew up on action figures of American-made cartoons (even though I live in Malaysia), such as M.A.S.K, Transformers, Ninja Turtles and some He-Man.

I don't buy action figures anymore (although I may wanna buy a brand new Modulok figure from He-Man to replace the one I lost so long ago due to misplacing it).

I was wondering if action figures are still going strong in the US.

Action figures are too lifeless in terms of noawdays' standards. You need to have something additional or ppl/kids won't find it interesting anymore. A good example is the Amiibo product from Nintendo. If they had no memory chips built in to become playable in certain WiiU games as an NPC then nobody would have ever bothered to buy these.
Normal action figures are just that little figurines that offer too little features, so I'd say that _these_ action figures are indeed dead.

They're still a thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were a smaller bit of the market than they use to be. With technology and other bullshit toys, you know the ones. Like they aren't even really toys but just chunks of plastic junk but the kid needs all of them...