THOR
ACTION FIGURES
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Thor has been
featured in several different action figure toy lines over the
years, but it wasn't until 2011 that he received a major toy line
dedicated to his world and characters from his universe.
Thor
Mighty Avenger Figures
The
Thunder God received his first action figure toy
line in 2011 in conjunction with his first motion picture -
Thor.
There have been many Thor action figures that have been made
in previous years, but this was the first toy line that
focused and consisted of only figures from the world of
Thor.
Hasbro is the manufacturer of the line and from close
examination they appear to be from the same plant that
produced the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull action figure toy line in 2008. They were later
used to create the Captain America The First Avenger
toy line as well.
The quality of these figures are high and the improved paint
applications are comparable to the Cap figures.
The
product line have been made based on the movie figures at
this time which differ from the Captain America and Iron Man
figures which have extracted characters from the movies,
comic books and concept ideas.
The figures are in the 3.75 to 4 inch scale which is what
Hasbro has been known for years in making action figures
like Star Wars, GI Joe and the very popular
Marvel Universe.
They are
well sculpted and very detailed and are good representations
of the screen characters. The figures of Odin played by
Anthony Hopkins, Loki played by Tom Hiddleston and the many
Thor figures played by Chris Hemsworth are very much like
the real-life actors.
Hasbro loves to produce multiple versions of the primary
characters and this product line is no different so you’ll
find numerous offerings of Thor, Loki and Odin figures.
You’ll even find different versions of the Frost Giant as
well.
Each figure in the line has multiple points of movement.
Depending on the figure most can be adjusted at the head,
arms-some at a couple of points, elbows, wrists-some,
legs-some at a couple of points, knees and ankles. The
figures can be posed for great diorama and display
possibilities.
The Asgardian figures tend to have some sort of action
feature in their swords and other accessories with the
Destroyer figure having light-up eyes with a push of a
button.
There are figures of Sif, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and King
Laufey which provide you the opportunity to assemble some of
the main cast of characters in the Thor mythology and film.
The packaging uses the image of Chris Hemsworth at the top
left of the logo on the card with a clear plastic bubble
affixed which stays consistent for all of the figures in the
line thus far.
Each carded figure can stand freely without assistance and
look great next to one another.
There
are some off-shoot figures that one can consider to be part
of the line such as a talking version which stands
approximately 10 to 11 inches tall and a couple of 6 to 7
inch tall figures, but primarily this line is the
aforementioned 3.75 to 4 inch scale.
This is a fun line to collect and won’t take a lot to hit
anyone’s bottom line to acquire them. I like to go after
the main characters and only a couple of the Thor figures as
some of them really stand out and it’s hard to pass them
up.
The Sword Spike Thor was the main Thor figure that I
liked since it was as closed to the movie version. The
Shield Bash Odin was my favorite for Odin as it was a
good representation of the Anthony Hopkins Odin and the
King Loki is in my opinion the best of the Loki figures
with his classic crown horned helmet. I do like the
Secret Strike Loki version as well.
It’s a fantastic line that
is very
comparable to the
Marvel Universe,
Captain America The First
Avenger, Iron Man 2, DC Infinite Heroes, GI Joe, Star Wars and
other 3.75 action figure toy lines.
If
you’ve missed the initial waves, typically they will
come in again. Eventually though the figures will run its
course at retail stores and Hasbro will have moved onto other product
lines.
Usually I have found in my experience that you essentially have
between 7 to 8 months of the initial release of a particular
wave of figures which for this product
line started to appear on shelves around May, 2011 to get
what you can at retail. Stores like
Target, Walmart, Toys R Us, K-Mart
carry the new figures and are great sources to build up your
collection.
After that you will need to search
sources like comic book shops, comic conventions
before venturing online for figures that are probably past
their shelf life in major retails stores above.
Amazon.com and Entertainment Earth are good
sources as are Big Bad Toy Store and Amoktime
for places to shop online for these figures. Big Bad
Toy Store provide case lots and general lots providing you various assortments so you can get as many
figures in one shot without having to spend too much on per
figure basis. This can really add up in savings for both the
figures and shipping costs.
I've provided direct links to Amazon.com on this page that you can click on to read additional
information on this product line which contain purchasing
information.
Hot Toys Thor Figures
One
of the
most highly detailed and movie accurate Thor figures produced
are the ones created by Hot Toys.
Their figures
are in the 12 inch (1/6th scale) and feature a large amount of articulation
providing collectors the most poseable figures on the market.
The
company produces primarily figures based on movie properties that
they call the Movie Masterpiece Series. The Thor movies and
Avengers movie that Thor has been featured in, Hot Toys has
produced figures based on those representations.
Thor's father Odin and evil step brother Loki have been produced for
the first Thor film and Avengers movie, all containing heads of the actors who portrayed each
character -
Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hiddleston. Hot Toys' refined
sculpting technology make the faces so uncannily similar to the real
person making it difficult to tell in some cases if you're looking
at a photo of the actor or the figure. They also appear that
way in person.
Chris Hemsworth who portrays Thor in all of the films has his
figure's likenesses incredibly lifelike as well.
All
Thor related figures come with a wide variety of accessories such as removable
helmets, capes, hammers, staffs, multiple hands and
display stands.
The
figures are heavily detailed with gorgeous paint jobs. Most
figures have armored plastic and where appropriate have cloth
costumes. They come in very nice packaging that
are a collectible in itself with great-looking photos and graphics.
A
lot of collectors for whatever reason enjoy collecting the brown
shipping mailer that Hot Toys ships the figure's packages in. The box simply is a regular
cardboard box like any other shipping package from
any manufacturer and has the typical text consisting of the name, model number and
country of origin
of the product.
If
you decide to collect Hot Toys figures, then its worthwhile to hang
onto these boxes as well if you ever decide to sell or trade them later.
They'll take up a lot of room if you own several Hot Toys items, but
will be beneficial to you in the future.
The
figures are typically in the $200+ range when they are initially
available for pre-ordering by various online retailers and
sell out fast. They will regularly sell for more than its original retail price on the after market.
It's
a good idea if you see a figure you're interested in during its
initial pre-ordering phase to place your order early otherwise you risk
missing out and will be faced with those after market prices.
Some
of the retailers that carry Hot Toys figures are the US distributor
Sideshow Collectibles, Big Bad Toy Store, Alter Ego
Comics, Amok Time and Amazon.com.
I
have added some banners and listings which are direct links to some
of these retailers that currently offer Hot Toys figures for sale whether
its for the pre-orders or after market.
With
Amazon.com there will be many retailers and sellers that have their
own e-stores on their site marketing Hot Toys figures.
Ebay is another source with many different sellers
putting up their auctions and or store listings. I do find some
good deals from time to time here as well.
Other Thor Figures
There are other figure lines
over the years that contain Thor figures like
Marvel Famous Cover,
Marvel Legends,
Marvel Legends Icons,
Marvel Select,
Marvel Showdown,
Marvel Universe,
Avengers #1 Gift Set,
Avengers Assemble, Toy Biz Marvel
Superheroes,
re-launch of Marvel
Legends Wal-Mart exclusive and San Diego Comic Convention
exclusive,
Mego
World’s Greatest Super Heroes
and Hot Toys 12 Inch figures.
A couple of these lines include Loki, Beta Ray Bill and Destroyer figures.
There are several
sources to find these other lines of Thor figures such as Amazon.com,
Big Bad Toy Store, Amoktime and Ebay.
You can do a search on Google for additional sources.
Amazon.com and various sellers who have eStores offer a great selection of Thor figures
at some very affordable prices.
Ebay is a great source as well. There’s
a lot of collectors/sellers/dealers on Ebay always
looking to move in and out of product and use Ebay as
their avenue.
Be careful to check out the auctions and or Buy it Now
listings carefully. Some sellers’ terms are not right for
everyone and sometimes the items are not what you expect.
If condition of the package is important to you, then be
sure to ask a lot of questions. If you don’t get the right
kinds of answers you’re looking for, then move on and try
another listing.
Always check out the seller’s profile to see how their past
selling has been. If they’re new to selling and have only
been buying, ask questions.
You always want to be comfortable with the person you’re
potentially going to be buying from and you really need to
know what it is you’re getting.
Happy Collecting!!!
Johnson's Collectibles
