Hobby market figures exist somewhere in a no-woman's-land between toys and pure collectables -- they aren't meant to be sold in toy shops, or to children, and they aren't usually intended to be playthings. Well, not in the normal sense of the word, anyway. Some are collectables made as "action figures" rather than statues (for a number of reasons, including the "collectability" of action figures; the much lower price that can be put on a plastic figure; and also the understandable desire of creators to have a toy of their character). Some are action figures designed and sold directly to the collector's market through mail or hobby and comic shops (alongside many of the figures on the foreign figure list). Their often adult nature and lack of "toyness" -- as well as their limited, non toy-store availability -- keep them from qualifying as regular figures, but for those of you who'd like to add them to your collection or would simply like to know what was out there, here's what has come out so far.
| Series (Company, Year) | ||
| Figure | size | description |
| BOND GIRLS COLLECTION (Exclusive Premiere) | ||
| Tracy Vincenzo Bond | 6" | She's in her wedding dress -- you can decide if it's pre or post-marriage for yourself. |
| Pussy Galore | 6" | I wish she'd been in her flying outfit, but oh well. |
| Jill Masterson | 6" | a.k.a. the "gold girl"; the girl who is painted in gold in the film "Goldfinger". |
| CHAOS! (M.A.C., 1997) | ||
| Lady Death | 6" | This line of extremely well-sculpted figures has very limited articulation but features amazing detail and comes with great accessories as well as stands -- yes, they actually stand up, even in those high heels! Lady Death variants include glow-in-the-dark and chrome. |
| Lady Demon | 6" | |
| Purgatori | 6" | Variants include metallic (with transparent wings!). |
| CREED (Skybolt Toyz, 1998) | ||
| Mai Ling | 4" | Pretty cute pvc-style figure. Variants include glow-in-the-dark. |
| DC DIRECT (DC Comics, 1999) | ||
| Wonder Woman | 6" | A really nice figure, with an equally nice variant (in gold armor and "Amazon" helmet). |
| DOUBLE IMPACT (Skybolt Toyz, 1998) | ||
| Alexys | 6" | actually a variant of....uh....one of the main characters. |
| China | 6" | variants include "platinum" and "commando" |
| Jazz | 6" | variants include "platinum" |
| GEN13 (Wildstorm, 1998) | ||
| Fairchild | 6" | It's a shame that one of the nicer figures in the hobby market, from one of the most popular books, is actually sculpted wearing one of the most ridiculous, physically impossible, would-be-unbearably-painful-in-real-life outfits I've seen yet. I don't care how "super" a woman is, she could not wear something wedged up that far in all areas. The sculpt makes the original design from the comic look down right prim. Variants include Japanese (slightly metallic paint) and ToyFare exclusive (with non-painful outfit). |
| GHOST (Dark Horse Comics, 1998) | ||
| Ghost | 6" | Beautifully sculpted, totally captures the look of the book's art. Variants include glow-in-the-dark (well, okay, she's a ghost) and chrome (huh?). |
| GOLDDIGGER (Antarctic Press, 1998) | ||
| Cheetah | 6" | variants include stealth and gold. The stealth version is the best of the three. |
| HARI KARI (Bolt, 1998) | ||
| Hari Kari | 6" | She's got the dubious honor of being the first action figure actually released in an adults-only version (with removable top). Also possibly the least attractive figure ever made. |
| HELLINA (Skybolt Toyz, 1997) | ||
| Hellina | 6" | Shoulder articulation only. Variants include "Blood-Spattered", "Platinum", Japanese Diamond exclusive. |
| MARTHA WASHINGTON (Dark Horse Comics, 1998) | ||
| Martha | 6" | variants include bald and long-haired. |
| MARVEL (ToyBiz, 1996-) | ||
| Even ToyBiz got into the act with hobby market figures -- they've put out several lines of figures specifically for the direct market, including the three She-Force sets, as well as several exclusive mail-away figures for various companies. As of now, TB is the only major toy company doing anything significant specifically aimed at serious collectors. | ||
| Black Queen | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 1) Repaint of the White Queen from GenX |
| Dazzler | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 2) yes, the disco Dazzler! IW4 body, Black Cat head Reviewed! |
| Elektra | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 3) White outfit. |
| Feral | 5" | (White's Guide exclusive) Black cat body; Deathbird head, redecoed. |
| Firestar | 5" | (ToyFare mail-away figure) Medusa repaint Reviewed! |
| Jean Grey | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 1) Nice Domino repaint. |
| Marvel Girl | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 2) The X-Force version. Spiderwoman repaint. Reviewed! |
| Marvel Girl | 5" | This mail-away figure (from NeoGenesis) featured Jean in her green mini-dress and yellow mask. |
| Ms. Marvel | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 1) Repaint of Medusa -- not what I'd've picked! |
| "young" Ms. Marvel | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 2) Not Carol Danvers, but the second Ms. Marvel (this couldn't have been called, say, "Ms. Marvel 2"?) Phoenix repaint. Reviewed! |
| Kitty Pryde | 5" | (ToyFare mail-away figure) Invisible Woman IV repaint. |
| Shanna the She-Devil | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 3) IW4 repaint. |
| "FF" She-Hulk | 6" | (ToyFare Subscriber premium) She-Hulk repaint, in case you hadn't guessed. |
| "Savage" She-Hulk | 6" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 3) ditto on the repaint. |
| Silver Fox | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 3) |
| Tigra | 5" | (Hall of Fame-- She-Force 2) The highlight of this set. Black Cat repaint. Reviewed! |
| Viper | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 3) |
| Wolfsbane | 5" | (Hall of Fame -- She-Force 2) Deathbird repaint. Reviewed! |
| MERCY (Rendition) | ||
| Mercy | 5" | Variants include: standard, gold. |
| NIRA X (Skybolt Toyz, 1997) | ||
| Nira X | 6" | Actually one of the cuter direct market figures, and one of the handful based on a character that's been around more than five minutes. Variants include: "Platinum", glow-in-the-dark, series 2 w/ wings, Japanese Diamond exclusive (purple and gold outfit w/ wings). |
| PANDORA (Avatar Comics, 1998) | ||
| Pandora | 6" | Variants include: all-blue outfit, gold outfit, black/white outfit and "chrome" metallic outfit. |
| PUPPET MASTER | ||
| Leech Woman | 6" | Variants include: standard pink dress; gold dress and black dress. |
| SINTHIA (Skybolt Toyz, 1998) | ||
| Sinthia | 6" | Variants include: gold, glow-in-the-dark, Japanese Diamond exclusive. |
| SUPERMAN (Kenner, 1998) | ||
| Supergirl | 4 1/2" | At last, Supergirl!! Yay!! Too bad she couldn't come out to toy stores, but at least she got made. |
| STAR TREK (Playmates, 1997) | ||
| Dax in Dress Uniform | 5" | This figure was offered as a Spencer's exclusive figure you had to order. The direct market seems a viable option for figures in the Star Trek universe that collectors would like but toy stores wouldn't. It remains to be seen if they attempt to release anything else this way. |
| STAR WARS (Kenner) | ||
| Oola | 5" | This figure was offered as a Star Wars Fan Club exlcusive, although available to the general public by mail order. |
| WARRIOR NUN AREALA (Antarctic Press, 1997) | ||
| Areala | 5" | The very first direct-market figure. Actually quite articulated, if kind of, well, ugly. Variants include: white nun, "gold" nun, and "chase" version (with "gemstone"). |
| Areala (anime version) | 5" | This "anime" version is an entirely new sculpt, and a great improvement over the original. Cuter face and molded skirt improve her appearance 100%. Variants include crimson. |
| Lilith | 5" | This "demon princess" is actually extremely cute, large assets and all. |
| Shotgun Mary | 5" | An addition to the Areala line. Variants include: repainted outfit, leather jacket. |
| WIDOW (Rendition) | ||
| Widow | 6" | Variants include: standard, gold, black and red. |
