Question #3: from June 3, 2013:

2. I have given up collecting the modern 3 3/4 inch Hasbro line, and have gone back to collecting the vintage merchandise of the 1970s and 1980s. While doing this, I developed a love for the 12 inch line from 1978-1980. From that, I began buying a variety of 12 inch figures produced after that including Hasbro ( 90s) , Sideshow, and Gentle Giant in an effort to simply build a unique and fun 12 inch collection. ( For example, I have one Luke Skywalker - the original from the 70s, and don't buy each brands Luke Skywalker 12 inch). Even though Hasbro gave us those awful 12 inch soap bottles disguised as action figures this year, do you think there's any hope they might tackle a 12 inch line again with limited articulation, but real clothing in the name of fun at a decent price tag? I also like to take mine out of the packaging and enjoy them as toys, as opposed to staring at them like a store shelf.
--Steve

My answer from 2010 With commentary from 2025:

Hasbro will probably never go back to doing 1:6 scale, cloth-outfitted figures until Sideshow decides they are no longer interested in it, and even then, probably won't go back to it. 12-inch G.I. Joe figures have few to no cloth parts, and this kind of figure is something of a dinosaur now. Kids don't buy these, and the production numbers tend to be pretty low - it's possible that the "doll" stigma has kept it lower, combined with the higher prices of an item of this nature. In a toy store's blue aisles, there are very few products like this left and most of those that remain are aimed at an adult audience. I generally like Hasbro's new 12-inch figure initiative, but the thing is Anakin Skywalker (while really well-designed) has a pretty awful head. The figure stands well, sits well, and generally moves just fine, and I'm considering snagging Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Iron Patriot.

It remains to be seen just how successful Hasbro's current 12-inch offerings are, but the main reason they're doing them isn't to provide customers with a high-quality 12-inch action figure - it's to provide them with a very cheap big toy that is cheap. $10 for a 12-inch action figure when 3 3/4-inch carded figures are $9.99 is what this product is about, so you'll probably have to stick with high-price, high-end collector's brands for your cloth outfit needs. Or do some customization, if you can sew, and I can't.

I should also say I'm a little biased - 1:6 scale action figures as toys were pretty much out of vogue for most of my lifetime, as Kenner started phasing them out pretty early during the run of The Empire Strikes Back. Other than a few aborted attempts to bring Max Steel, G.I. Joe, and Action Man at this scale, kids generally didn't get a lot of this kind of figure over the last 30 years and the Kenner/Hasbro offerings were usually targeted at the adult collector rather than a kid who would play with it. (There are, of course, some non-branded 1:6 military toys out there but I don't much count those.)

Hey, I was right! That's always nice.

The "soap bottle" line - or Titan Hero Series - expanded and continues to do quite well around $10-$12, despite inflation. They're a mass-market item, and we've seen plenty blown out at rock-bottom prices. But they come back, and keep selling, and are this kind of evergreen product.

I still haven't picked up a Spider-Man, but probably should. There are some really nice ones this year, including a half-black half-red-and-blue version in the VenomVersus range. I have been picking up odds and ends in Star Wars but, admittedly, have been incomplete since the Disney era kicked off in a big way. I have some - just not everything. I'm really curious if this format will wind up like Mego for future generations - it's a format that achieved real success over the past decade and change.

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FIN

1:6 scale figures are sort of the Ghost of Christmas Future. The original G.I. Joe line was the first action figure series. It's also one of the first lines to be usurped by a younger, cheaper model and was basically replaced. Further, it's a property that failed to keep getting new fans. Transformers has been great at appealing to new kids, Star Wars struggles a bit, but Joe? Joe really needs help.

In the 1990s we started to see 12-inch G.I. Joe get replaced by competitors aiming for collector dollars. Costswald Collectibles, Dragon Models, and 21st Century Toys all put out a product with more articulation and more parts than Hasbro, often for lower prices. They didn't have the brand name, but they were frequently more ornate and did more diverse soldiers. Obviously, nobody else can currently manufacture a 3 3/4-inch Star Wars action figure, but we did see Hasbro's big figures go away after a refusal to adapt to an aging market. By the 40th anniversary, they were pretty much over and done with.

Star Wars 12-inch figures wisely moved to other manufacturers. The big guys - or dolls - tend to appeal to a more affluent and usually older fan, without as much of an emphasis on vehicles, aliens, or droids. The $10 kid figures seem to work great as a mass market item, but like anything they get stale with assortments of 3 figures for a year. Still, Hasbro has found tremendous success with that kind of product.

Right now Hasbro has three different flavors of 3 3/4-inch-ish action figures for us to enjoy. That's good! Will they all last? Probably not. But at least they keep trying, and like 12-inch modern military figures they also pushed up price points and realism to keep older fans on the hook. I kind of prefer Masters of the Universe Origins' simpler, kid-meets-collector approach, but maybe there's still time to try that for the 50th.

--Adam Pawlus

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