Todd McFarlane got his start as a comic book artist. His incredible run on Amazing Spider-Man defined him as one of the premiere artists of his generation. Later,
he, with a group of other comic book creators, formed Image Comics. Image took the comic book world by storm and was the imprint that introduced Spawn, a character totally owned by McFarlane who he could license and market
as he saw fit. One of the very first marketing strategies McFarlane explored was action figures. He took his cast of characters from Spawn and made incredibly faithful toy representations of them. They were hailed for
their attention to detail, articulation, and collectibility. With the success of the Spawn toy figure line, McFarlane branched out to other properties and got licenses for Kiss, Beatles, contemporary horror
films (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Crow), other comic book properties (Sin City), video games (Metal Gear Solid, Fortnite), sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL), and TV shows (Simpsons, Game of
Thrones). Star Trek is the latest toy line McFarlane has released and there are plans to create figures from the entire franchise (movies and TV).
Captain Kirk |
Captain Picard |
McFarlane Toys continues to bring new brands to the marketplace. This latest toyline is based on the 1960's Batman TV show starring Adam West. The action figures are incredibly detailed, and the
likenesses of the actors who portrayed the characters are especially noteworthy. Of course, if this Batman series is going to be produced as a toyline it wouldn't be complete without the iconic
Batmobile!
Batman |
Robin |
Joker
Batmobile
Catwoman (Eartha Kitt) |
Catwoman (Julie Newmar) |
Penguin
I bought these a long time ago, and they've been sitting in the garage until I dug them out recently. McFarlane Toys has been producing action figures of sports heroes for a long time. Both of these are
from the early 2000's.
Joe Montana (2006 - Series 2) |
Frank Gore (2007 - Series 16) |