The Ultimate Star Wars Action Figure Buying Guide

• Another prime is: Star Wars The Black Series Kit Fisto, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Action Figure (6”), Only At Walmart, which is sadly sold out astatine the moment.

Regular figures successful The Black Series volition retail for astir $25. Resellers volition regularly complaint treble oregon triple that for older oregon hard-to-find figures, but it’s not uncommon to find them connected heavy discount. Would you wage $9 for an enactment fig of Werner Herzog holding a 1970s crystal pick maker? Because I did.

(See? I wasn’t kidding)

The prime of overgarment deco and accessories for The Black Series tin beryllium deed oregon miss, but they consistently diagnostic a ton of articulation and are mostly rather sturdy. So, portion discerning big collectors are invited to support them successful the box, they’re besides truly amusive to pose, and tin astir apt basal up to a just magnitude of posing, not to notation *gasp* really being played with.

Until The Black Series came along, Star Wars figures were chiefly successful 3’¾” scale, and astir each conceivable quality from the archetypal six films has been immortalized successful that form. Aunt Beru. The alien fishmonger from whom Jar-Jar shoplifts. A subordinate of the Corscant unpaid occurrence department. The archetypal conception creation for Han Solo that looks suspiciously similar George Lucas. George Lucas himself.

The 4-inch figures beryllium a batch of their occurrence to their tiny scale. They were (initially) cheaper to produce, and they don’t instrumentality up a ton of space. Plus, the tiny standard allowed for plentifulness of vehicles, playsets and creatures. Sadly, the aforesaid can’t beryllium said for The Black Series. Multiple characters successful X-Wing aviator cogwheel person been made, but nary X-Wing. A TIE Fighter was released alongside The Force Awakens, but it was the size of an extremity array and outgo astir arsenic much.

Though they’re not rather arsenic prevalent arsenic they were successful decades prior, Hasbro is inactive putting retired a dependable watercourse of smaller Star Wars figures, though they’ve been fragmented into 3 antithetic merchandise lines, intelligibly aimed astatine precise antithetic types of buyers.

A fun-size enactment fig for $17 bucks a popular mightiness look a spot steep, but it’s a driblet successful the bucket compared to a $400-500 playset of Jabba’s Sailbarge, the Mos Eisley Cantina, oregon The Ghost successful the aforesaid scale, each of which person been produced done Hasbro’s Haslab crowdfunding program; proving there’s inactive plentifulness of collector request for worldly successful this scale.

Vehicles and playsets are inactive disposable astatine non-idiotic prices, too. Hasbro besides precocious revealed a Bantha with existent hair, (to assistance you implicit that Jundland Wastes diorama and besides signifier your French braiding), but it has sold retired already!

The enactment besides includes the benignant of vehicles you mightiness expect, arsenic good arsenic immoderate you mightiness not, similar Darth Vader’s elephantine mech suit that’s conscionable shaped similar a larger mentation of him. I’m down connected the comics, but I’m guessing that’s not canon.

As gorgeous arsenic the packaging is, it’s comically cumbersome. I’ve bought a mates of these figures astatine conventions and opted to conscionable unfastened them up alternatively than effort to worldly a boogie board-sized clamshell into my carry-on. But I’m gladsome I did due to the fact that they’re truly bully toys connected their own. Unlike the coagulated integrative of the toys they’re based on, the Jumbo Figures are hollow vinyl, which means they won’t detonate oregon springiness anyone a caput wounded if they autumn disconnected a shelf, but their standard makes them a delight to play with and hold.

They’re each truly constricted edition, and astir of the classical worldly has travel and gone, truthful you’re either stuck with heavy chopped Return of the Jedi characters oregon archetypal faux-retro sculpts, which whitethorn not beryllium a atrocious thing, depending connected what you’re into.

As blasphemous arsenic it mightiness look to instrumentality a $300 enactment fig retired of the box, these are perfectly meant to beryllium posed and displayed (and it’s casual capable to enactment them backmost successful the container for storage). They’re not designed for immoderate benignant of unsmooth play, and person a batch of delicate parts, but they’re fantabulous candidates for artifact photography.

Before Hot Toys came along, Sideshow was the institution making high-end 1/6th standard Star Wars figures, albeit for astir fractional the price. These days, Sideshow distributes Hot Toys stateside, but they inactive marque the occasional Star Wars fig of their own, which are besides gorgeous, and you tin mostly bargain them everyplace Hot Toys are sold.

Nobody’s going to mistake them for the existent happening with each the disposable joints, but the sculpts and overgarment ops are each precise clean, and contempt immoderate fiddly, delicate small parts, they’re beauteous sturdy. (Not sturdy capable that I’d fto my 4-year-old play with mine, but not the benignant of happening you’re acrophobic of breaking.)

These are decidedly show figures archetypal and foremost. They diagnostic plentifulness of articulation, but that’s astir mitigated by the magnitude of armor plating that gets successful the way. They’re considerably bigger and heavier than S.H. Figuarts oregon MAFEX, truthful getting them to enactment enactment connected a support is, well, a spot of a balancing act. That said, if you didn’t deliberation The Mandalorian paid capable of an homage to Lone Wolf and Cub, occupation solved.

This is by nary means a broad database of each the Star Wars figures retired there, but if you’re looking for 1 of those, JediTempleArchives, Banthaskull and RebelScum are each large resources.

If you’re funny successful gathering your ain Star Wars enactment figures, that’s besides an option. Check retired the exemplary kit buyer’s usher I enactment together, which features immoderate Star Wars kits arsenic good arsenic a clump of different alternatives.

Max Scoville is simply a elder writer, big and shaper for IGN covering video games, movies, toys and collectibles. He has 15 years of acquisition successful pop-culture media, antecedently penning for and/or appearing connected Current TV, Destructoid, Revision3 and StarWars.com. He has been progressive with respective podcasts, including The Comedy Button, Weird Heat, Podtoid and you tin presently find him hosting IGN’s play PlayStation show, Beyond.

Originally posted:

May 2, 2025 10:46 pm