What were the best action figures of the nineties?

[thoriron]

stra wars 12 inch(the best for me is darth vader electronic)
famous covers (the best is iron man)
toy biz 12 inch marvel collector (the best is dr octopus)
medicom 12 inch cap harlock (albator) and batman return

[Sandman9580]

The 90's was a pretty lousy decade for action figures.

Huh?? The 90s was a great decade for action figures!

That was when companies really started embracing the adult collector, which - for better or for worse - led directly to the explosion of toys we're all enjoying right now. There were definitely hiccups along the way (like the Playmates 1701 fiasco) and some terrible-looking stuff (Exclusive Premier ), but we also had the return of Star Wars and the meteoric rise of McFarlane. Both of those injected a lot of energy into the hobby (and got me collecting again). Then you had "classic" toys like Playing Mantis' stuff and lines like G.I. Joe 12-inch and Famous Covers. I think those first tentative steps into "retro" act as a kind of prologue to the current reMego renaissance.

And, there were some great mainstream kid's lines in the early part of the decade, too, like the oft-mentioned Batman: TAS, the not-so-oft-mentioned Batman movie toys, and the very imaginative and (in my opinion) hugely underrated TMNT figures. Some of my favorites from that time are the Dick Tracy, Addams Family, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves lines. (Which, disparage it as people may, managed to greatly improve Star War's Endor playset by adding green foliage to the tree tops.) Also, the first two series of McFarlane's Monster playsets, which is actually one of my favorite toy lines of all time. I didn't get into Spawn all that much, but the thought of seeing new Movie Maniacs would actually compel me to walk faster toward the action figure aisles. It seemed like every few weeks there was something cool coming out, from some company or other....

So, yeah, thumbs up to the 90s!

[samurainoir]

It was Kenner's Aliens that got me into Toy Collecting.

Yeah, some of them were pretty goofy, particularly animal-Aliens like the Bull Alien, but prior to MacFarlane's revolution in sculpting, Kenner really pulled out the stops on this line.

I couldn't believe how detailed the Queen was. BIG as well for a figure at that time next to all the other five inch scale stuff surrounding it.





I wasn't too fond of the Marines, particularly since they weren't as movie-accurate as I would have liked. Although I thought the Alien disguise armour was pretty inspired fun.


Plus Alien vs Predator! Way before the movies (based on the comic series from Dark Horse).

[torgospizza]

stra wars 12 inch(the best for me is darth vader electronic)

That's in my Top Five All-Time Favorites, for sure. Good call!

[kingdom warrior]

Batman TAS
McFarlane's Spawn were great....

[EmergencyIan]

Those KISS figures.


- Ian

[Jason73]

GI JOE Masterpiece figures and the Return of Star Wars.

[babycyclops]

stra wars 12 inch(the best for me is darth vader electronic)

Yes! another vote for this toy. Talking 12" Vader with removable helmet is an impressive toy. The Emperor and Red Guard stand beside mine, too.
Famous Covers for me too, Dr Doom is my fave.
Star Wars re-releases.

[The Toyroom]

Hasbro's WWF....Loved that series!

[Den82]

The first 2 series of TMNT are good. After them, that line jumped the shark but good and I think a lot of those figures are so corny, they're annoying to even look at.

New Adventures of He-Man also gets my vote.

Aside from that, in the 90s I collected the WWF Hasbro figures and also Terminator 2 figures. Those were kind of cool too.

I think the re-launch of Star Wars was terrible, terrible cash-in garbage. The sculpt of that first Leia figure was horrible.

Regardless, since I've built a nice vintage collection already, I'm thinking of buying only very select POTF2 figures, of characters who didn't originally get figures, like Aunt Beru.

[galaxyexplorer42]

In the nineties I had Toy Biz Spiderman, Playmates Star Trek, Famous Covers, Spawn and the Kenner Alien figures. I really liked them all. In retrospect, none of em were perfect, but I never thought about that then. Come to think of it, until I discovered the Museum here, I never ever thought about toys as a "good quality" or not kinda products. They were just toys, and kinda neat to have. Someday we'll probably look back at the 90's action figures similarly to how we look at Megos now. This is a good thread..

[Den82]

I forgot about the ToyBiz Marvel stuff. I collected that too. I'd like to start collecting those again, actually. Luckily you can still find them on the card for dirt cheap.

[MIB41]

The re-release of Captain Action...

[david_b]

Wow, I can't believe I'm the first to mention this one (maybe I shouldn't), but for me the Star Wars revamp lit the fires for me. The hunt was a ton of fun trying to track down the illusive "next wave" before the greedy toy mongers gobbled 'em up. Plus it seemed that with the Star Wars revamp more and more dealers were coming out of the woodwork at flea markets and "giant" flea market shows. Mind you this is before ebay and seeing most of the stuff that dealers were unearthing was a blast for me.

I remember that for the 3 3/4" Next Gen Playmate figs (early on..). I did a lot of traveling, so it was always pulling over at some Target off the expressway or interstate, wondering whether they had some elusive figure. This was way before the HUGE GLUT occurred.

The 90s were great for action figure production; for collecting them, it was a mixed bag..:

On the one hand, you had a HUGE resurgence of interest in vintage Joe and C/A figures, sky-rocketing the price of any figures/accessories/vehicles/you name it. Most MIB or MOC in-demand items became priceless.. (i.e, the C/A Spiderman), when only a few years earlier I heard reports of them at flea markets for $20-$50..

On the other hand, with 'great collector re-interest came great industry investment'.., with all the new lines, re-rolling out old lines, etc..

[tay666]

The only stuff I have from the 90's is the Conan stuff from the cartoon series.

Though, down in the basement, I am still holding on to my son's
TMNT
Power Rangers
and WWF stuff.

Figure when he gets a little older, settles down, and finally stays in one place for a while, he might want to have them back.