Friday, November 3, 2017

Looking Back at Thor Action Figures

It's time for another epic Marvel Cinematic Universe movie release, and this round, we've got very high expectations. With a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Director Taika Waititi hopes the general public in the states will love his take on Thor's little corner of the Marvel Universe as much as critics, and a large chunk of the world, already has. Thor: Ragnarok premieres today, so I thought i'd take this opportunity to celebrate the ever evolving toys we've gotten over the years celebrating the god of thunder. Thor is one character that's always been lucky enough to be immortalized in plastic, time and time again, giving fans many an opportunity to pick their favorite ones, or fill up an entire apartment, like Gollum sitting atop a mound of painted plastics in funny metal hats. Let's take a look at some toys!!

This is by no means meant to be an ultimate check list, but I did dig up quite a few Thor toys from years past and coupled them with pics I've taken, so let's dig in and enjoy!

Let's start at the beginning.. and in the beginning. Marx was the name for Marvel Toys in the 60's. From tin to plastic, Marx made many a Marvel fan's dream come true.




For me, the high point of the Marx toys lineup is this scooter... because Thor on a pink scooter.
I will have this toy one day!


And now, the one toy line everyone associates with growing up with action figures... MEGO!


MEGO is a line so loved, it gets a comeback every few years with new cloth toys from a bunch of different companies. Diamond Select dipped into our retro attraction on more than one occasion and Thor came along for the ride.

Yes, I know we made a big jump forward, but the segway had a mind of its own. Let's step back a few years and remember the first Thor figures Toy Biz gave us.




Yea, believe it or not, amid the truck load of figures Toy Biz put out in the 90's, the Avengers weren't a big part of the equation and when any member was, that member wasn't Thor. SO..three figures it is. One in the early days of Toy Biz, one in an Avengers First Appearance boxed set and the hulking dude you see above, released right before Toy Biz made the transition from 5 inches to 6.

There was also..this...


But we rarely talk about this. It's better that way.

Speaking of 6 inch figures...ever hear of Marvel Legends?





During Toy Biz's Marvel Legends run, only one Thor made it to the pegs. That might seem odd, but at the time, it's likely Thor didn't go through a whole lot of changes in his comics with fans demanding figures in alternate costumes. Any spin on Thor was technically a whole new being, so we did get a Beta Ray Bill, and while he wields the power of Thor..he's not Thor wearing one of those kookie horse heads.

Flash forward to Hasbro's Marvel Legends takeover and their series 2, featuring a bearded Thor, then hop forward to their massive Giant Man Build A Figure wave with a new classic Thor, then jump waaaay forward to the Terrax BAF wave for an armored up Modern Thor, then fast forward to the All-Father BAF series where we get a Marvel NOW Thor and bonus swap out parts to turn that Odin BAF into KING THOR!! Then we jump forward to right now with a brand new(ish) Thor: Ragnarok series of figures which includes Odinson (aka Unworthy Thor) and MCU Ragnarok Thor. There's also a helmetless Thor with Valkyrie in a two figure pack. In between, we've gotten a couple of Thor exclusives with a San Diego Comic-Con lightning charged Modern Thor and this year's big SDCC Thor set with bearded Odinson.






Think that's all the Thors? NO WAY! Somewhere in the middle of all this, the Thor movie happened, and then The Avengers...and then the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe.







 There have been some 3.75 inch figures and Minimates along the way as well...







 My current favorite is this Diamond Select Thor, the first figure to simulate his hammer-spinning action...believe it or not! Diamond has tackled Thor on a few occasions now, with comic accurate and movie based looks right up to here and now with a Ragnarok figure soon to come.




Hot Toys, Mezco, Funko... there are way more Thors out there to snap up if you've got to have every Thor in the world, and as we said, this is NOT going to be the ultimate Thor list, but we hope we covered the best of the best.









 Thor: Ragnarok opens this weekend! 
Hop into the comments and let us know what your favorite Thor toy is! 

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