McFarlane Toys is an American company founded by

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

creator

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...

which makes highly detailed model

action figure An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are ...

s of characters from films, comics, popular music,

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

and various sporting genres. The company, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Todd McFarlane Productions, is headquartered in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

. As of 2021, McFarlane featured products with licenses of games and companies such as ''

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

'', ''

Supernoobs ''Supernoobs'' is a Canadian animated comedy television series produced by DHX Media (now known as WildBrain) for Cartoon Network and Teletoon. The series is about four kids who navigate through middle school and fight evil assassins at the same ...

'', ''

Warhammer Warhammer may refer to: * War hammer, a medieval weapon Warhammer media franchise *''Warhammer'', a series of games and related media: ** ''Warhammer'' (game), a table-top fantasy miniature wargame, and origin of the franchise ** ''Warhammer Fan ...

'', ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a v ...

'',

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, ''

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to: * ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He ...

'', and ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

''.

Overview

In 1994, Todd McFarlane was working with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

to produce action figures based on his comic book characters. When the two could not decide on how to make the toys to McFarlane's satisfaction, he reclaimed the toy rights to his characters and started his own toy company. Originally dubbed "Todd Toys", the name was changed in 1995 following pressure from Mattel, who feared that the new company's name would be confused with that of Barbie's younger brother. Production began with action figures based upon Todd McFarlane's ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

'' comic series and has since grown to feature a large number of licensed property lines including ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' and "Movie Maniacs" (which features numerous famous horror icons such as

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...

Jason Voorhees Jason Voorhees () is a character (arts), character from the Friday the 13th (franchise), ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-killer Pamel ...

, Michael Myers,

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...

Leatherface Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murderer ...

, and The Thing), as well as other characters and lines like basketball, hockey and baseball legends, along with characters from video games such as ''

Soulcalibur is a weapon-based fighting video game franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. There are seven main installments of video games and various media spin-offs, including music albums and a series of manga books. The first game in the series, '' ...

'', ''

Onimusha is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom. It makes use of the historic figures that shaped Japan's history, retelling their stories with supernatural elements. Most of the games are of the action-adventure genre, a combinatio ...

'', and ''

Metal Gear Solid is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operat ...

''. Other media such as story book characters from ''

Where the Wild Things Are ''Where the Wild Things Are'' is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several tim ...

'' have been represented. The company has produced original works, giving a grotesque twist to

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

stories such as ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...

'', and historical figures. McFarlane has collaborated with artists like

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

(on Tortured Souls) and

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

to produce other original figures.

Spawn figures

The first line of Spawn toys ever produced was released in 1994 and consisted of six figures, the hero Spawn and his medieval counterpart (aptly named Medieval Spawn) with

Tremor A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving oscillations or twitching movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, fa ...

and the villains Violator,

Overt-Kill The comic book series ''Spawn'', published by Image Comics, and its many spin-offs such as an animated version contain a variety of characters – the allies of main character Spawn and the antagonists. Main character * Spawn / Al Simmons – ...

, and Clown, as well as a Spawn Alley Playset, the Spawnmobile and the Violator Monster Rig. They were notably different from the toys common on shelves at the time because of their level of detail in both sculpting and painting. Other toys utilized only a few colors painted in general areas (a single "flesh tone" for the face, etc.) and were tacked to cardboard backs. McFarlane's figures had individual items such as spikes, teeth, claws, and buttons painted individually and packaged encased by hard plastic which surrounded both the figure and blister card, making them more suitable collectors items. Each toy in the first line came with a regular-sized comic (although with fewer pages than the standard 22), which were individualized to the character. The series would include alternate time periods and different takes on the classic characters with Series 10, 20 and 30 showing homage to the core characters of the books. Prototypes for Series 35 were revealed in 2008 but the series was cancelled before its release. Series 36 was also teased at SDCC 2008 but was also cancelled. Some of the teased series 36 figures were later released at statues. and was called "Robot Wars". It refers to a villainous "Mechanoid Army".

Anime figures

McFarlane Toys has produced licensed figures based on various Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

and

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

properties. Series McFarlane have merchandised include '' Akira'', ''

Tenchi Muyo is a Japanese anime, light novel and manga franchise. The original series began with a six-episode OVA called created by Masaki Kajishima and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, and released in Japan on September 25, 1992. The series was relea ...

'', ''

Tokyo Ghoul is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Sui Ishida. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Jump'' between September 2011 and September 2014, and was collected in four ...

'', ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as ...

'' and ''

Naruto Shippuden ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. Th ...

''. In 2019, it was announced that the company had also gained the rights to create figures based on ''

One-Punch Man is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who, because he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. One wrote the original webcomic manga v ...

'' and ''

My Hero Academia is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into ...

''.

Horror figures

McFarlane had been a long-time fan of the horror genre and decided to produce his own perspective on the classic monsters with the "Todd McFarlane's Monsters Playsets" line in 1997. McFarlane continued the idea of generating new versions of classic stories and characters, releasing a shocking line subtitled "Twisted Land of Oz" in 2003, which featured vicious or sadistic versions of the '' Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' characters created by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

. In 2004, the third series, subtitled 6 Faces of Madness, used historical killers and madmen as its theme, generating vividly detailed figurines of the 5th-century conqueror

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

, American "Wild West" gunslinger

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

, the "mad monk"

Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...

, the British

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

, the Hungarian "Blood Queen"

Elizabeth Bathory Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, and the real-life inspiration for

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most imp ...

. The fourth series featured Twisted Fairy Tales. The figures were of classic children’s stories, including Peter Pumpkin-Eater,

Hansel & Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hanse ...

, Little Miss Muffet,

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...

, &

Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brothe ...

, and incorporated many of the gory elements that consumers had come to expect from McFarlane, but with a sense of ironic humor. Series 5 featured McFarlane's Twisted Christmas. Like the previous series, the figures all are twisted variations of Christmas, including a hunchback and obese

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

who hides a lifeless skull under a gasmask-like headpiece and wears contraptions on his hands similar to the glove of

Movie Maniacs

In 1998, McFarlane introduced the Movie Maniacs line of figures. Series One began as a line of horror and science fiction based figures that had been licensed from influential and financially successful

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

s such as ''

A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...

'', ''

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, ...

'' and ''

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

''. The second series of figures expanded the character base for the line into the realms of cult and action cinema, with a figure based on the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

to ''

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

''. Series three would further push the boundaries of character selection into fantasy, with ''

Edward Scissorhands ''Edward Scissorhands'' is a 1990 American fantasy romance film directed by Tim Burton. It was produced by Burton and Denise Di Novi, written by Caroline Thompson from a story by her and Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Anthony Mi ...

'', straight action with '' Shaft'', and back into cult/sci-fi with ''

Escape from L.A. ''Escape from L.A.'' (stylized on-screen as ''John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.'') is a 1996 American Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter, co-written and p ...

''. These conventions would continue, with character selections in future series frequently containing a mix of many, or even all of these various

film genre A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...

s, much to the chagrin of a small section of fans and collectors who, incorrectly, saw the line as being meant to be horror specific.

Music figures

McFarlane Toys did not solely limit itself to creating figures based on Todd McFarlane's creations. Rather it branched out into other forms of media, capitalizing on the popularity of famous rock musicians with the release of figures based on the rock legends

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

in 1997. The number of music figures produced by the company continued to grow in number, diversity, and quality in the following years as they acquired the action figure rights to famous properties such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

's mascot

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

KISS

In 1997, action figures were part of an overall marketing deal between McFarlane Toys and the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

, with both toys and comic books based on their album ''

Psycho Circus ''Psycho Circus'' is the eighteenth studio album by American rock band Kiss and the first to involve all four original members since 1979's ''Dynasty.'' While touted as a band effort, Peter Criss only played drums on the Ace Frehley-penned trac ...

''. Release of new KISS products from McFarlane continues to the present day.

The Beatles

The second musical property that McFarlane released was based on

, featuring figures of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

as they appeared in their 1968

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

'' Yellow Submarine'', as well as their appearance in the 1965 ABC cartoon show also titled ''

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

''. Despite three figure series based on cartoon versions of the band (two incarnations of the Yellow Submarine figures in 1996 and 2004), no figures of the real-life band members have been created by McFarlane Toys.

Sports figures

McFarlane Toys reflects Todd McFarlane's love of sports in its creations of popular figures from all five major North American sports (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

). The company has official licensing rights to the major professional leagues of all of these sports, and began this line, officially known as McFarlane Sports Picks, in 2001.

Television figures

In January 2007, McFarlane Toys announced plans for a line of '' 24'' action figures. Other series figures have included ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'' and '' The Walking Dead''. In 2015, McFarlane toys launched a line of construction sets based on HBO's popular ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' TV series, followed by a line of 6" action figures to be released in 2019. The company also produces action figures based on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

''.

The McKenzie Brothers

Released in September 2000, the figures were based on the characters of '' SCTV'' and ''

Strange Brew ''Strange Brew'' (also known as ''The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew'') is a 1983 Canadian comedy film starring the popular '' SCTV'' characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, portrayed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who also served a ...

'' fame,

Bob and Doug McKenzie Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a Sketch comedy, sketch which was introduced on ''Second City Television, SCTV'' for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980 ...

. Originally portrayed by

Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer and producer. He appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and several Hollywood (film indu ...

and

Dave Thomas Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * Dave (film), ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * Dave (musical), ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital ...

, respectively. The figures were sold separately and each came with half of the diorama from the ''Great White North'' set. Each had a sound chip with famous lines from the film and various extras to complete the scene.

''The Simpsons''

In 2005, McFarlane acquired the rights held by rival manufacturer Playmates Toys to produce figures based on the popular

Fox TV The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...

series ''

''.

''Star Trek''

In 2017, McFarlane Toys inked a deal to produce action figures and role play items based on the popular ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' franchise. Controversy ensued when the company's '' Star Trek: Discovery'' phaser toy was cancelled just months before its scheduled release date. In a statement, McFarlane Toys said that the product was cancelled due to disagreements regarding the safety regulations around toy guns in the United States. The first action figures were released in early 2019, with

James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...

and

Jean-Luc Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the captain of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''T ...

serving as the inaugural entries in the line while the next figures Michael Burnham and

Spock Spock is a Character (arts), fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterprise ...

is in production.

Video game figures

McFarlane Toys has produced a number of products based on video games, including ''

'', ''

Soulcalibur II is a 2002 fighting game developed by Project Soul and published by Namco and the third installment in the ''Soulcalibur'' series of weapon-based fighting games. It is the sequel to ''Soulcalibur'', which was released in July 1998. Originally in ...

'' (The

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

version of which featured McFarlane's own Spawn as a

guest character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in ...

), ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

'', ''

Five Nights at Freddy's ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a media franchise created by Scott Cawthon. The first video game of the same name was released on August 8, 2014, and the resultant series has since gained worldwide popularity. The main series consi ...

'', ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'', ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'', ''

Cuphead ''Cuphead'' is a run-and-gun video game developed and published by Studio MDHR. The game follows the titular Cuphead who, in a deal with the Devil after losing a game at the Devil's casino, is sent on a quest to repossess the souls of runaway ...

'', ''

Borderlands A borderland or borderlands are the geographical space or zone around a territorial border. Borderland or borderlands may refer to: Places * Borderland, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia * Borderland (ele ...

'' and ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...

''. In 2018, McFarlane Toys launched a series of ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...

'' action figures, which differed greatly from the company's previous figures (which were often statue-like and had very limited movement) by including at least 18 points of articulation each. The toys proved very popular, and Todd McFarlane later announced that the increased articulation scheme would become standard in the company's product from then on, including their upcoming line of ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise and a sequel to 2015's ''Mortal Ko ...

'' figures.

Other figures

DC Multiverse

At the tail end of 2018, news broke that Mattel had lost the rights to create figures based on the characters of the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

to Spin Master Studios after 15 years of producing DC merchandise. In February 2019, it was announced that McFarlane Toys had secured the rights to create 6"-12" collector figures based on the various comic books, movies, cartoons, live-action TV shows and video games featuring DC's characters. Dubbed

DC Multiverse In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a "cosmic construct" composed of the many fictional universes the stories of DC take place in. The worlds in this multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure has changed several times in the h ...

, the line will be aimed at adult collectors, in contrast to the all-ages oriented DC toys produced by Spin Master. In a subsequent interview with ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'', Todd McFarlane confirmed that the new figures will target the same collectors who bought other 6" superhero toy lines, such as Mattel's

DC Universe Classics DC Universe Classics was an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe (toyline), DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. They were 6-inch scale figures based on the fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The entire line was scul ...

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

Marvel Legends Marvel Legends is an action figure line based on the characters of Marvel Comics, initially produced by Toy Biz, then by Hasbro. This line is in the scale, with spin-off lines in the , , and scale. The line initially began as a spin-off of ...

. He also revealed that the figures will use the new articulation system first seen in the company's ''Fortnite'' toys, meaning that they will all include between 18 and 24 points of articulation.

McFarlane's Dragons

McFarlane's Dragons are a line of action figures which were launched in 2005 under the "Horror, Fantasy and

Sci-Fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

Action Figures" section of McFarlane Toys. These figures were released biannually. This set features several highly detailed six inch dragon action figures and a slightly larger and more expansive "boxed set" figure. For the first five series, the figures were broken into these clans: Eternal Dragon Clan, Fire Dragon Clan, Komodo Dragon Clan, Sorcerer's Dragon Clan, Water Dragon Clan, and Berserker Clan. Series Six includes new clans: Fossil Dragon Clan, Hunter Dragon Clan, Ice Dragon Clan, Scavenger Dragon Clan, and Warrior Dragon Clan. In addition to these highly detailed dragons, McFarlane released a part of the dragon's history with each dragon set; some had a piece of the story with each dragon, and some had whole chunks of the story in one boxed set.

McFarlane's Military

The company launched a "toy soldier" range in 2005 with McFarlane's Military. The figures did not depict actual people so much as it did their professions, named simply by their job descriptions, such as "Army Ranger" or "Navy SEAL." All were of stern-looking males in full military gear, with highly detailed weapons and accessories modeled after the exact materials each soldier would be carrying in real life.

''Where the Wild Things Are''

In 2000, McFarlane Toys produced figures based on

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

's classic children's book ''

''. Figures include Max, Goatboy (packaged together), Moishe, Emil, Bernard, Aaron and Tzippy. Each character was sculpted with the same crosshatch style from Sendak's original illustrations.

DC Direct license

On July 27, 2021, McFarlane Toys announced that it would take over management of any remaining

DC Direct DC Direct was a Division (business), division of WarnerMedia that sold collectibles based on DC Comics characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.). Prior to 1998, merchandise sold by DC Comics was branded with the DC Comics logo rather th ...

inventory and that it would continue to make statues, busts, and other collectibles (such as action figures) in DC Direct's previous merchandise lines. The company anticipates releasing new products in 2022.

Controversies

A number of McFarlane's figures have attracted criticism and led to boycotts for the subject matter they depict, such as Death Row Marv, which depicts the central character from the graphic novel ''

Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51� ...

'' in the electric chair, which includes a toggle switch that allows the user to "execute" the character, who shakes and speaks as if being electrocuted when the switch is flipped. Others, such as the company's

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced an ...

action figure, were criticized for risque language in their sound chips and packaging.

References

External links

*
Stashmatic.com
Movie Maniacs collection tracker (with images)
Four Horsemen Toy Designs' website – former McFarlane Toys employees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcfarlane Toys Action figures American companies established in 1994 Toy companies established in 1994 Toy companies of the United States Companies based in Tempe, Arizona Toys based on comics Image Comics Spawn (comics) Todd McFarlane 1994 establishments in Arizona