Something Spooky Bonus Edition: Our Favorite Recent Scary Action Figures
by Tony Thornley
If you like monsters and things that go bump in the night, it’s a great time of the year. And if you love toys and action figures, hey, there’s tons out there. So come with us as we look at some of our favorite seasonal toys, action figures and statues as we approach Halloween.
Count Dracula (Operation: Monster Force)
Last year over the holidays, the team reviewed the Big Bad Workshop/Fresh Monkey Fiction Operation: Monster Force line. We loved all of them, but my personal favorite is still Dracula. I mean seriously, look at him! This is Dracula in plastic form. It makes me excited for the wave 2 figures that just released a few weeks ago, which I will absolutely be picking up soon.
Weapon of Vengeance AKA Hellverine (Marvel Legends)
The demonically possessed Wolverine (or Akihiro depending on whichever you prefer) is just a fantastic action figure of one of the best designs of the last fifty years of comics. I’m not the biggest Wolverine fan in the world (though I have a surprising amount of Logan action figures) but this was one I had to get on day one. It’s one of my favorites, and doesn’t just get displayed in October. Hasbro’s Marvel Legends team just plain nailed it.
Clone Trooper Halloween Edition (Star Wars Black Series)
Every year, Hasbro creates a fun little Halloween Star Wars figure, whether it’s a were-Wookiee, vampire Inquisitor or Dathomiran witch. The Halloween Clone Trooper is my favorite of the bunch. I mean, it’s just a day-glo skeleton painted on clone armor, and it’s GREAT. Absolutely another win from Hasbro.
Universal Monsters x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NECA)
The TMNT have been crossed over with so many different properties. In plastic, this is probably my favorite though, as it’s just so silly. Legitimately though, the designs are fantastic. My favorites are probably Hunchback Leo and Franken-Raph, but really, none of them are bad. If you want some fun, Google the retro commercials made for these figures too. They’re great.
Alien/Aliens (NECA)
Seriously, it’s hard to choose which NECA Xenomorph is the best. These are genuinely great figures. My favorites might be the modernization of the Kenner Operation: Aliens line, which featured multiple animal hybrids, including the Rhino Alien pictured above.
Crystal Ball (G.I. Joe Classified)
Some people would try to tell you that Hasbro’s G.I. Joe is just a story of an anti-terrorist military task force versus terrorists. I would like to introduce you to G.I. Joe Classified, which has leaned into the series’ sci-fi and horror deep cuts (aside from being Hasbro’s best line of action figures, period). I could talk about the terrifying members of Cobra-La. Or the newly announced Ghost Viper. Or even the Mole Rat- basically a zombie deeply entrenched in Transformers lore. But I think the modern update of the Joes invented by Stephen King and his son — transforming Crystal Ball into an eldritch horror wizard — is the best of the bunch.
Skeletor/Demogorgon (Masters of the Universe Origins)
Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins is legitimately one of the most fun lines in toys right now. It’s where the Turtles of Greyskull line originated, and now has spun into crossovers with the ThunderCats and Transformers, all while steadily releasing amazing updates of classic MOTU designs. But the best crossover easily is the MOTU/Stranger Things crossover, which has given us two two-packs plus a third recently announced. Of the three, my favorite is the Skeletor/Demogorgon pack, which gives fans an incredible figure of the murder-flower monsters at the core of Stranger Things, and the best Origins Skeletor to date.
Terrifier Art the Clown (Seriously anyone)
Look, I’m never going to watch a Terrifier movie. I don’t do horror movies at all, and gore makes it even worse. So yeah … Terrifier is out. But just like everyone else lately, I’m fascinated by the series’ icon Art the Clown. And there are so many new Art figures, from fully posable to Funko Pops, that you can get a good one in plastic no matter what.