Very few people have considered just how much work goes into creating action figures. They are not born overnight, it takes months, sometimes years, of lobbying and preparation for action figures to be produced for popular franchises. This article will provide an overview of much of what is involved in the process of action figure production—how these figures go from being just an idea to populating the shelves of Target, Wal-Mart, and so on.

What are the steps of making an action figure?

Making action figures is not as simple as just clicking start on the production line. There is so much groundwork that must be laid before the production process can begin. From the conception of the idea to the manufacturing of a specific action figure to the pre-sale marketing, this section of the article will give you a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes in the action figure industry.

Permission

First of all, you can’t simply start manufacturing whichever characters you like. If you don’t own the intellectual property of a franchise you are going to end up being sued by whoever holds the rights—in many cases this is a huge, multi-million dollar company. If you decided to start manufacturing Spiderman action figures without the blessing of Marvel/Disney they are going to do everything in their power to not only shut you down but bankrupt your business. So, what instead happens is manufacturers like Hasbro will lease the manufacturing rights to a certain character, or franchise, for a set amount of years. Only once this deal has been signed can you move on to the next stage.

Planning

Planning takes part equally before and after the acquisition of manufacturing rights. You likely can’t even purchase the rights unless you have a solid plan in place, and once you do have the rights you need to begin not only planning the action figure but its accessories (if there are any) and the marketing behind it. For example, if you are launching a new Spiderman action figure would it be better to launch it before or after the next Spiderman movie? Almost always slightly before. Finding the right time to launch can be very influential to the action figure’s overall success.

Design

The design of the action figure comes next. This is typically done by artists who do sketches and then 3D models of the figures. The modeling software involved in this process allows the artists to make a 3D representation of not only how the figure will look, but how it will work as well. This means that the number of points of articulation as well as the range of motion each point of articulation will be able to achieve is determined at this stage.

Prototyping

Following the design is the prototyping. In this stage, the first draft of the action figure is created and tested. This version will often be edited a few times before the finished product is ready. This means there is a lot of back and forth between the design and prototyping stages. Prototypes are also often modeled with clay by artists. This is not the case so much now, but historically this is how it was done. These days, more and more prototypes are being 3D printed.

Manufacturing

Next comes the actual manufacturing process. This is done by a combination of automated production lines and human assembly lines. In the case of smaller companies, this can all be done by people. The price is far higher, but so is the quality. Unlike figurines that are typically one part, action figures are often comprised of many different parts. The individual parts of the figures are produced separately. These must all be carefully assembled. It is not always possible for a machine to do this, so human input is needed in some cases.

Manufacturing can be done in a few different ways. Often, plastics are heated and poured into molds. The molds are then left to cool and those individual pieces will be assembled by a machine or person. Alternatively, they could be 3D printed.

Marketing

Lastly, before the sale of the action figures can begin; the marketing campaign must be launched. Whether a marketing campaign is mostly just the release of a new game, comic, movie, anime, etc, or an actual advertising campaign depends on the product. Something wildly popular such as Star Wars doesn’t have to do a lot of specific advertising—even though it does. A very niche character that is less well known may need a more targeted ad campaign.

What materials area action figures made from?

Many people wonder; what action figures are made of? The answer is typically various plastics. Modern action figures are almost entirely plastic, excluding of course the pins and screws that hold certain parts together. Figures may consist of multiple types of plastic, as each type feels slightly different. When it comes to plastic, it is typically ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or PBS (Polybutylene Succinate) plastics. These are selected for a few reasons. First, they are comparatively less expensive yet remain pretty flexible and strong. There is often a trade-off between strength, flexibility, and cost.

Plastics can often be two but not three of those properties. ABS and PBS are both good middle ground plastics. The plastic used for the skin/body of an action figure may be made from a softer plastic such as PBS. This why it is slightly less rigid to touch and generally more smooth/soft feeling. Other components, such as weapons, clothing, or accessories may often be made from ABS. ABS is very strong and far less flexible. This is why it is used for components that likely don’t want any flexibility.

They can also be decorated with paints and stickers, these vary from action figure to action figure. The paints could be cheap and sprayed on by part of the production line. Or, they could be hand-painted by a professional, it just depends.

How Has the Production of Action Figures Developed Over the Years?

Action figures only really came into their element during the 80s. Before 1983, it was illegal to create TV programs based on toys. This meant generating a buzz for an action figure was hard, to say the least. As soon as this restriction was removed there was a huge influx in television programs like “He-Man”. The whole basis of these shows was to sell toys, the shows were lazily made, and the stories generally were pretty simplistic. By today’s standards, these shows were not very good at all, but they served their purpose well. Action figures began to boom in popularity in a completely unprecedented way.

Since the 80s-90s action figures have only grown in popularity. Impressively the demand has consistently risen alongside the advances in manufacturing technology, meaning the business has rarely lulled. Efficient computer ran production lines took over increasing not only the speed of production but also leading to figures that better represented the sources material—figures that are more accurate and have a wide range of motion.

Machines became a more cost-effective choice than people, so the price of action figures was expected to fall. Except it didn’t. The demand was only increasing, people were still willing to pay the prices and the prices never dropped as expected. This huge influx of cash made it possible for the design of computer programs and modeling software to improve the design of these action figures. It also played a role in the superhero obsession the world is experiencing today.

How Has the Invention of 3D Printing Affected the Action Figure Industry?

3D printing has only very recently become a viable form of mass production. It is still arguably not quite there. The problem with 3D printing is it is extremely time-intensive. One action figure could take up to and even surpassing an hour to print and then the same again to cool. This means even if the printer is working 24 hours a day it can only produce 12 action figures. You would need thousands of 3D printers to come close to even the smallest of production lines. Also, 3D printers require more maintenance than standard production lines. They are more prone to blockages, breaking and overheating.

That being said, 3D printing is almost there. Even large companies such as D.C comics are beginning to sign huge deals with 3D printing firms. As 3D printers improve their viability as the primary form of manufacturing their use is likely to sharply increase. They also already offer far more customization than mold-made action figures. If you want to change your action figures to have a new facial expression, be slightly taller, or have a new feature this is a matter of programming not rebuilding the molds and production line. You can already see it with companies that will offer to 3D print an action figure of yourself. Very soon action figures will be able to be created far more diversely. Even inserting personal flairs into each figure. For more money, of course.

How Does the Manufacturing of Action Figures Vary from Company to Company?

Not all companies have the same resources available to them. Their market share, budgets, and design ethos vary greatly. This next section will compare the differences between the absolute powerhouse manufacturers and the smaller companies:

The Industry Giants:

Industry giants like Hasbro have a lot of money at their disposal, they also have the rights to the huge markets. They have the manufacturing rights to all the big players, Marvel, D.C (to an extent), and Star Wars. The aim of the game for Hasbro is to produce as many action figures as possible with the bare minimum amounts of quality. This does not make Hasbro bad, they just have a huge order to fill making it simply inefficient and cost-ineffective to do it any other way. If they need to produce 5 million Darth Vader figures alone each year, there simply isn’t time to spend days per unit. They make their money in bulk.

The larger the company also usually means the more popular franchises they will have access to. As mentioned above, Hasbro produces not only action figures but all toys for the most popular brands. They are the only player in the game that can even afford to be in the discussion most of the time. To give you an idea of just how much these brands make, it is important to single out one market. In 1977 the very first Star Wars movie was released. It was an immediate success with people of all ages, it was logical to then assume it would go on to be a popular toy brand too. And it was. In the first year after its release, George Lucas earned $100 million from merchandise sales. This was over 40 years ago. There are billions to be made from selling action figures of popular franchises today.

Because of the obvious value of merchandising rights, it is simply impossible for the smaller players to get their foot in the door. Hasbro can afford to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at Disney just for the right to make their toys for them. How on earth could the little guys compete with that? They can’t.

The Little Guys:

Conversely, the smaller companies have to get their edge in other ways. They are never going to be able to out-produce companies such as Hasbro, so they must beat them at the finer details. These companies fair far better by spending more time per action figure ensuring all of the finer details, the improved quality, and the better packaging is there. They have to compete with the quantity over quality mindset of the larger companies. This is why more niche action figures are going to be far more expensive. Neither the bigger players or the little guys are wrong. Just different.

The biggest edge a smaller company has is their ability to pay more attention to smaller clients. If you take a less popular franchise, one that only has a few popular characters and a small but dedicated tv/comic following they are looking for a manufacturer that will prioritize them. Hasbro simply isn’t going to pay them the attention they need. If you always feel like you are on the back burner and Disney, D.C, etc are the focus of the major manufacture’s attention, you’re going to look for alternatives.

What then happens, is a smaller manufacturer will swoop in to work closely with these smaller franchises. This is why the action figures are typically higher quality, more accurate to their source material, and of course more expensive. The trend is easy to see. The bigger companies and franchises pair up, as do the smaller ones. It isn’t just dollars and cents, the smaller franchises may not want to mass-produce their products. Quality and quantity are prioritized differently by different companies.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has given you a good insight into what goes on behind the scenes in the action figure world. There is often an under-appreciation for how much work goes into it. From the initial design, to the prototyping, to the mass production phase, and even the marketing—there is so much that goes into this that we really don’t think that much about and often take for granted. The human energy and creativity that goes into this process is truly remarkable.

Related Articles