The Ultimate Star Wars Action Figure Buying Guide

• Another pick is: Star Wars The Black Series Kit Fisto, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Action Figure (6”), Only At Walmart, which is sadly sold out at the moment.

Regular figures in The Black Series will retail for around $25. Resellers will regularly charge double or triple that for older or hard-to-find figures, but it’s not uncommon to find them on deep discount. Would you pay $9 for an action figure of Werner Herzog holding a 1970s ice cream maker? Because I did.

(See? I wasn’t kidding)

The quality of paint deco and accessories for The Black Series can be hit or miss, but they consistently feature a ton of articulation and are generally quite sturdy. So, while discerning adult collectors are welcome to keep them in the box, they’re also really fun to pose, and can probably stand up to a fair amount of posing, not to mention *gasp* actually being played with.

Until The Black Series came along, Star Wars figures were primarily in 3’¾” scale, and nearly every conceivable character from the first six films has been immortalized in that form. Aunt Beru. The alien fishmonger from whom Jar-Jar shoplifts. A member of the Corscant volunteer fire department. The original concept art for Han Solo that looks suspiciously like George Lucas. George Lucas himself.

The 4-inch figures owe a lot of their success to their small scale. They were (initially) cheaper to produce, and they don’t take up a ton of space. Plus, the small scale allowed for plenty of vehicles, playsets and creatures. Sadly, the same can’t be said for The Black Series. Multiple characters in X-Wing pilot gear have been made, but no X-Wing. A TIE Fighter was released alongside The Force Awakens, but it was the size of an end table and cost about as much.

Though they’re not quite as prevalent as they were in decades prior, Hasbro is still putting out a steady stream of smaller Star Wars figures, though they’ve been fragmented into three different product lines, clearly aimed at very different types of buyers.

A fun-size action figure for $17 bucks a pop might seem a bit steep, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to a $400-500 playset of Jabba’s Sailbarge, the Mos Eisley Cantina, or The Ghost in the same scale, all of which have been produced through Hasbro’s Haslab crowdfunding program; proving there’s still plenty of collector demand for stuff in this scale.

Vehicles and playsets are still available at non-idiotic prices, too. Hasbro also recently revealed a Bantha with real hair, (to help you complete that Jundland Wastes diorama and also practice your French braiding), but it has sold out already!

The line also includes the sort of vehicles you might expect, as well as some you might not, like Darth Vader’s giant mech suit that’s just shaped like a larger version of him. I’m behind on the comics, but I’m guessing that’s not canon.

As gorgeous as the packaging is, it’s comically cumbersome. I’ve bought a couple of these figures at conventions and opted to just open them up rather than try to stuff a boogie board-sized clamshell into my carry-on. But I’m glad I did because they’re really nice toys on their own. Unlike the solid plastic of the toys they’re based on, the Jumbo Figures are hollow vinyl, which means they won’t explode or give anyone a head injury if they fall off a shelf, but their scale makes them a delight to play with and hold.

They’re all really limited edition, and most of the classic stuff has come and gone, so you’re either stuck with deep cut Return of the Jedi characters or original faux-retro sculpts, which may not be a bad thing, depending on what you’re into.

As blasphemous as it might seem to take a $300 action figure out of the box, these are absolutely meant to be posed and displayed (and it’s easy enough to put them back in the box for storage). They’re not designed for any kind of rough play, and have a lot of delicate parts, but they’re excellent candidates for toy photography.

Before Hot Toys came along, Sideshow was the company making high-end 1/6th scale Star Wars figures, albeit for around half the price. These days, Sideshow distributes Hot Toys stateside, but they still make the occasional Star Wars figure of their own, which are also gorgeous, and you can generally buy them everywhere Hot Toys are sold.

Nobody’s going to mistake them for the real thing with all the visible joints, but the sculpts and paint ops are all very clean, and despite some fiddly, delicate little parts, they’re pretty sturdy. (Not sturdy enough that I’d let my 4-year-old play with mine, but not the sort of thing you’re afraid of breaking.)

These are definitely display figures first and foremost. They feature plenty of articulation, but that’s almost mitigated by the amount of armor plating that gets in the way. They’re considerably bigger and heavier than S.H. Figuarts or MAFEX, so getting them to stay put on a shelf is, well, a bit of a balancing act. That said, if you didn’t think The Mandalorian paid enough of an homage to Lone Wolf and Cub, problem solved.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the Star Wars figures out there, but if you’re looking for one of those, JediTempleArchives, Banthaskull and RebelScum are all great resources.

If you’re interested in building your own Star Wars action figures, that’s also an option. Check out the model kit buyer’s guide I put together, which features some Star Wars kits as well as a bunch of other alternatives.

Max Scoville is a senior writer, host and producer for IGN covering video games, movies, toys and collectibles. He has 15 years of experience in pop-culture media, previously writing for and/or appearing on Current TV, Destructoid, Revision3 and StarWars.com. He has been involved with several podcasts, including The Comedy Button, Weird Heat, Podtoid and you can currently find him hosting IGN’s weekly PlayStation show, Beyond.