The 10 Best Action Figures of All Time (5-1)
—by Nathan on November 2, 2014—
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about five of the best action figures of all time. Five of my personal favorites in a list of ten amazing action figures. So now I'm here to finish off that list with my Top 5 favorite action figures. As I said, these are all figures that I've played with a lot, or just enjoy having, or maybe have been around for a while. I still like playing with them, honestly. I haven't used action figures a whole lot recently, but I like picking them up from time to time. But if I used any of them the most, they would probably be on this list. Here goes.
Number 5: Mr. Incredible (McDonald's variant)
Why: Oddly enough, I have a McDonald's toy on here. Oddly enough, it's a good toy. Perhaps not your most standard action figure; perhaps not one that's the most flexible or articulated, but it's pretty much the best darn toy that McDonald's ever produced. The thing's a solid hunk of plastic. It's not gonna break or bend or shatter on the ground. I loved The Incredibles at the time this merchandise came out (still do), so the toy was pretty fun to have. Sadly, while the other toys they released can't compete, this one is beyond decent. Also around the same time, I had a bunch of what I considered "smaller" action figures (ones not as big as Marvel toys), figures including Batman, Teen Titan, Superman, and TNMT toys. So I thought "Hey, why not bring some of these guys together? Create my own superhero team?" So I did, and Anna and I spent a lot of time combining that team with some of her toys. This was at the height of our Saturday morning play time. So this action figure is great, and it drums up a lot of great memories.
Number 4: The Green Goblin (Humberto Ramos' version)
Why: The Green Goblin has always been Spider-Man's arch-enemy. The first villain to deduce his identity, the guy who killed Gwen Stacy, the man who continued to terrorize Peter Parker for years...he's Spidey's ultimate foe. So to have him in action figure format to go toe-to-toe up against my own Spider-Man action figure felt pretty awesome. While he's not an exact replica of the comics' version, this Green Goblin has got the basic green-and-purple get-up down, with a sinister smirk that shows just how crazy Norman Osborn's evil counterpart truly is. Plus, he comes with his Goblin glider, one of the coolest vehicles/weapons comics has to offer, which also has a fun missile to fire at the pesky do-gooder Web-Slinger. Like other figures, he looks cool and handles well. Finally, he has dozens of comic moments for me to replicate in action figure format. To bring the insanity and villainy of the Green Goblin to my bedroom is fun to last me hours. A perfect addition to any litany of bad guys.
Number 3: The Sandman
Why: For a long time (and it may still be the case), the Sandman was my favorite Spider-Man villain. Out of all the villains in the Wall-Crawler's Rogues Gallery, he's the most creative. Other villains can fly, flex their muscles, throw fire, but how many can turn into sand? He struck me as original and interesting, a really awesome bad guy. So I got the guy, I bought him. I remember it was a tough decision; I wanted both Venom and Sandman action figures, and something happened where I picked Venom as a gift because he was more expensive (passing a level in swimming, I think...yeah, I was spoiled), so I had to save up for Sandman. He's a great toy. Comes with some detachable hands that can be replaced with various sand weapons. Using that feature was fun...until one of the stubs I attached the hands to broke off (there is nothing more devastating to a child than having a toy break; it still scars me). Paranoid as I was and still am, I learned my lesson and stayed away from the hands. Despite that, he's an awesome action figure. One of Spidey's greatest foes, a member of the original Sinister Six! Like the Vulture in the last blog, the Sandman made me one step closer to collecting that classic lineup. He's fun to use, easy to move around. a great figure all around.
Number 2: Batman (from The Batman animated series)
Why: The Batman animated series is probably my favorite TV show ever. Awesome cartoon, with a ton of classic Batman foes. But the show would be nothing without its title character, and where would I be without a figure of the guy? This show produced one of the best lines of action figures ever, so I needed Batman. And in Florida, my grandparents gave me one. The thing about certain heroes--like Batman and Spider-Man--is that they're one guy facing a whole bunch of bad guys. So no matter what villain(s) I used, I always came back to this one Batman. His grapple hook lets him sail over Gotham City, to battle a hoast of baddies. I didn't use the disk launcher much, but the rest of the figure is great. Batman's my favorite DC hero, mostly because of this cartoon series, and having Batman as an action figure from that series and to start building up my DC action figure collection was really cool.
Number 1: Spider-Man (from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man)
Why: My favorite action figure of all time is Spider-Man. Surprise! This may take a little space, but let me outline the multitude of reasons why this is my absolute favorite figure. One, it was the first superhero action figure I ever got (might've been my first action figure ever...I actually got him as a birthday present the same day I got a Legolas action figure, so it's a tie there). Two, he's amazingly articulated (the box actually calls him "Super-Poseable Spider-Man"), which has allowed me to twist and bend his arms and legs in a variety of moves that gives the full feel of playing as Spider-Man. He can look like he's crawling up walls, swinging through the city, knocking bad guys around. He moves fluidly and easily. Three, he started up an incredible collection of Spider-Man-related action figures (mostly consisting of supervillains, of which I've remarked upon three in these blogs). Heck, as a fourth, it started up a collection of Marvel action figures in general, which has allowed me to create a universe rivaled only by my LEGO minifgure collection. This toy was the first, the foundation, for many fun years of playing to come.
Those are my top 5. The best action figures ever. I'm a huge geek when it comes to toys. I have two sisters who have been very willing to play with me over the years, and a dad who played with me first. I still use action figures and LEGOs and what have you. I'll probably end up keeping a bunch of this stuff to pass down to my own children, cause I think it would be awesome if they could have as much fun with them as I've had with these toys.