Action Figures

Articulated figures, anime statues and loose vintage toys:

are the three ways a figure gets made, and each is collected for a different reason. Articulated lines such as Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series and Bandai’s S.H.Figuarts are built to be posed, with swap-out hands, faces and effect parts in the tray. Banpresto’s anime statues hold a single pose, have no joints and cost less, which is why so many Dragon Ball and One Piece shelves are built from them, often next to a binder of trading cards. At the top end, Hot Toys work at sixth scale, with fabric costumes and finely painted head sculpts. Eighties He-Man, G.I. Joe and Kenner Star Wars are a market of their own, closer to antiques than to new toys.

A figure to pose or a piece for the cabinet:

it comes down to what you will do with it. If you like setting up a fight on the shelf, buy articulated and stay within one line, because figures from different makers rarely look right side by side even when the boxes claim the same scale. If it will stand in one spot for years, a statue gives a better sculpt for the money and has nothing to work loose. A Hot Toys figure wants a deep shelf behind glass and no children nearby.

Marvel Legends on a Guatemalan shelf:

set the ceiling for most used figures. A standard one sells new for around Q400 to Q450, so while the same character is still in the shops a loose one, however clean, has to come in clearly below that, and every missing hand or effect part pulls it down further. Once a figure is retired the picture flips: a sealed one can pass its old shelf price, and an opened one with every accessory holds most of its value.

Stress marks, a missing Tamashii seal and perished leg bands:

are what to look for before any money changes hands. On a modern figure, move every joint: thin white lines at the shoulders or hips are stress marks, and a loose ankle means it will no longer stand on its own. White and light-grey plastic yellows in the sun, which shows first on Stormtroopers. Bootleg S.H.Figuarts are common enough to check every one. Genuine recent boxes carry the Tamashii Nations Quality seal, which on newer boxes shows a different design when tilted, Dragon Ball boxes add a Toei sticker, and the figure itself has a Bandai stamp, often under a foot. Blurred box printing, glossy paint and a price that undercuts everyone else are the usual tells. Vintage figures fail in their own ways. He-Man’s legs hang on internal rubber bands that perish, so a figure doing the splits needs new ones, and eighties G.I. Joe figures have a waist O-ring that snaps. Reproduction weapons are sold openly for both lines and for Kenner Star Wars, so ask which accessories are original. Star Wars figures were also made in Mexico by Lili Ledy, with different paint, and collectors treat them as a variant rather than a lesser copy.

Every hand and blaster laid out on a table:

is the photo buyers want, so empty the tray and shoot each accessory, then both sides of the box with its stickers in view. Say whether the figure was displayed or played with, whether it sat in sunlight and whether the box has ever been opened. For vintage lots, state which legs and waists are still tight and which weapons are reproductions, and decide whether the collection goes as one lot or figure by figure. Someone driving up from Escuintla for a box of childhood He-Man figures will want to stand each one up and twist its waist before paying, so have them out of the bag and on the table when they arrive.