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McFarlane Toys is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures. Founded in 1994, the company was originally dubbed "Todd Toys," but the name was changed in 1995 following pressure from Mattel (who feared the new company's name would be confused with that of Barbie's younger brother).

Exquisite attention to detail is the most defining feature in a McFarlane Toy, though almost always at the expense of articulation, which has been a rather large complaint often made against the toy line with regards to the fact that often the toys produced by the company are unplayable and are more like statues than toys. Others have complained about the poor quality of the assembly and plastic itself, finding certain toys extremely brittle and fragile. Still, the line proves popular especially among young adults, and is arguably the most commercially successful toy line at the moment, and has influenced many other toy lines to try imitating their style.

The line, which originally began with action figures based upon Todd McFarlane's Spawn comic series, has since grown to feature a large number of licenced property lines including The Simpsons and "Movie Maniacs" (which features numerous famous horror icons such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, The Terminator, Leatherface, and The Thing), as well as other characters and lines like Basketball and Baseball legends, video game characters (from Soul Calibur, Onimusha and Metal Gear Solid), and Where the Wild Things Are characters. The toy line has also made original works of their own, giving a grotesque twist to fairy tale stories, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and historical figures, and have also collaborated with people like Clive Barker and H.R. Giger to produce other original figures.

Spawn Figures

The first line of Spawn toys ever produced was released in 1994 and consisted of six figures, the hero Spawn and his medieval counterpart (aptly named Medieval Spawn) and the villains Violator, Overtkill, Clown, and Tremor, as well as a Spawn Alley Playset and Violator Monster Rig. They were notably different from the toys common on shelves at the time because of their level of detail in both sculpting and painting. Other toys utilized only a few colors painted in general areas (a singe flesh tone for the face, etc) and were tacked to cardboard backs. McFarlane’s figures had individual items such as spikes, teeth, claws, and buttons painted individually and packaged encased by hard plastic that surrounded both the figure and blister card, making them more suitable collectors items. Each toy came with a regular-sized comic (although with fewer pages than the standard 22), which were individualized to the character.

Horror Figures

Company owner/founder, Todd McFarlane, had been a long-time fan of the horror genre and decided to produce his own perspective on the classic monsters with the “Todd McFarlane’s Monsters Playsets” line in 1997. Each figure was released as a playset in a clamshell package that featured the character, a background diorama, and (in 3 out of 4) an additional figure, such as the werewolf’s victim. A second series came out 2 years later with approximately the same quality of sculpting and articulation in the figures as well as fully-detailed bases that had two different levels. In 2002, the horror toy line re-invented itself, doing away with the playset idea (and reducing the name to simply “McFarlane’s Monsters”) in favor of creating individual figures with vastly more detail and much more frightening appearances. Among its various sculpts, it featured a decaying mummy with individual muscle sinews and textured wrappings carved in, a half-man/half-bat version of Dracula with wrinkled flesh and covered in chains, and a scantily-clad voodoo queen covered in grass and bones. The figures had the high-quality sculpting that McFarlane had been incorporating into its Spawn figures, which had made them so commercially and artistically successful, and would mark the last time it created versions of the prototypic monsters (mummies, vampires, etc).

Instead, McFarlane decided to continue the idea of generating new versions of classic stories and characters, releasing a shocking line subtitled “Twisted Land of Oz” in 2003, which featured vicious or sadistic versions of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz characters created by L. Frank Baum. Dorothy was half-naked, bound, and blindfolded by mutant munchkins; the Tin Woodman was more akin to a cyborg zombie; and the Scarecrow was a straw-filled corpse being devoured by crows. All toys came with a warning that they were not for individuals under age 17, and an alternative version of Dorothy was released in large quantities (such that it was the more common variant) with a black piece of cloth covering her upper chest to prevent people from viewing the leather belt crossing her bosom. Major distributors such as Toys R Us and Kay Bee Toys, which had carried the previous line refused to stock any of the Oz figures. However, their appeal to collectors was good, and the more-revealing version of Dorothy without the black cloak became the most sought-after of the group.

In 2004 the third series, subtitled 6 Faces of Madness, used historical killers and madmen as its theme, generating vividly-detailed figurines of the 5th century conqueror Attila the Hun, American “wild west” gunslinger Billy the Kid, the “mad monk” Rasputin, the British serial killer Jack the Ripper, the Hungarian “Blood Queen” Elizabeth Bathory, and the real-life inspiration for Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. It similarly carried the “over 17” warning for its viciously gory depictions of all persons, including Jack the Ripper carrying a bag oozing red and Bathory literally bathing in blood near a candelabra with the heads of three women impaled on it. They were more akin to semi-posable statues than action figures, since they lacked all except a few points of articulation and were painted to be displayed precisely as shown on the toy’s package. Again, the line enjoyed commercial success despite some retailers not carrying the figures or not distributing particular ones (notably Bathory) in all markets. It challenged the boundaries for horror figures by the company’s previous standards and mixed in elements and themes reminiscent of the Clive Barker lines (released beginning in 2001), while generating a uniquely imaginative vision of each character.

The fourth and most-recent addition was Series 4: Twisted Fairy Tales. The figures were of classic children’s stories, including Peter Pumpkin-Eater, Hansel & Gretel, Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, & Red Riding Hood, and incorporated many of the gory elements that consumers had come to expect from McFarlane, but with a sense of ironic humor. Red was in a leather bikini, hooded cloak, and thigh-high spiked boots while holding up an eviscerated wolf (whose stomach contents included most of Grandma); Peter had a pumpkin full of human remains, but wore boxer shorts with a jack-o-lanterns print; and Gretel looked like a gothic model with fishnet stockings and tattoos of candy canes and lollipops running up her legs. Due to the sadomasochistic appearance of the female figures and the macabre mutilated bodies in almost every member of the line, it met with some retailers shelving only select figures or selling strictly via their websites rather than displaying all of them in-store. The Twisted Fairy Tales were notable for taking such a shocking approach to what are generally thought of as innocuous children’s stories in order to highlight their violent, sexual, and morbid undertones in images incorporating both the modern and gothic. Thus, they emphasize themes of cannibalism (of Hansel and Gretel by the witch), animal mutilation (Riding Hood), and misogyny (Peter Pumpkin Eater), and have managed to do so in a way that has proven to be both provocative and marketable.

Music Figures

McFarlane Toys did not solely limit itself to creating figures based on Todd McFarlane’s creations. Rather it branched out into other forms of media, capitalizing on the popularity of famous rock musicians with the release of figures based on the rock legends KISS in 1997. The number of music figures produced by the company continued to grow in number, diversity, and quality in the following years as they acquired the action figure rights to famous properties such as the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine (album), Metallica, and Jimi Hendrix.

KISS Figures

The figures were part of an overall marketing deal between McFarlane and the band and included KISS comic books based on their album Psycho Circus. Band members were portrayed with plenty of blades on their costumes and a few rocket-launching instruments in Series 1, which was released in 1997. Series 2 in 1998 saw figures based entirely on the Psycho Circus designs, where each band member became more of a super-hero, with less realistic and more sensational sculpts. They also came packaged with another figure, who was a member of the circus: Peter Criss with the Animal Wrangler, Ace Frehley with the Stiltman, Gene Simmons with the Ring Master, and Paul Stanley with the Jester. The third series, released in January of 1999, were the Tour Edition figures, which were true-to-life sculpts of the band members and they generally appeared on stage during the Psycho Circus tour: wearing their standard black outfits with plenty of giant silver boots/gloves/trim, big black hairdos, and steel instruments. It marked the first time that the figures simply featured the band members and their instruments without any inklings of super-hero status. McFarlane Toys would produce other such ‘unembellished’ figures of musicians in the following years, especially of classic rock icons.

Kiss Series 4 (Sept 2000) combined both these aspects, creating the best-sculpted and most-realistic KISS figures produced at that time and based it on a famous photo from the KISS Alive! (album) tour, taken in 1976. All members were sculpted, with few points of articulation, to be exactly posed as they were in the photo and the detail included painted-on chest hair, precise facial expressions, and minutely-detailed costumes. The most recent series of individually-released KISS figures (Series 6) was released in 2004 with the “Creatures” (based on the album Creatures of the Night) theme, and was highlighted by incredibly detailed sculpts of the figures based on photo-references from the band’s concurrent tour. The band members’ names were not listed on the figures in leu of using nicknames for each person, such as “The Demon” for Simmons and “Space Ace” for Ace Frehley. The toys included a greater amount of articulation, primarily in the arms, than McFarlane figures generally have, which made them poseable in a larger variety of positions. Furthermore, individual seams, buttons, knobs, buckles, strands of hair, etc were carved into and fully-painted onto the figures, achieving a level of realism that surpassed even McFarlane’s previous standards.

In August 2004, a 4-figure set based on the cover of the band’s album Love Gun was released with a stage base and three scantily-clad female groupies, which serves as a forerunner of some of the company’s most recent toy lines that are designed to be 3-D album covers. Finally, in October of 2005, boxed-set three packs were released, each containing three different previously-released versions of either Simmons or Stanley, which displayed the evolution of their costumes as well as McFarlane’s renditions of them.

The following is a list of all figures in McFarlane KISS Action Figures lines; all figure names, descriptions, and release dates have been verified from McFarlane Toys website

KISS (Series 1, June 1997):
  • Peter Criss
  • Ace Frehley
  • Gene Simmons
  • Paul Stanley

KISS (Series 2, June 1998): Psycho Circus
  • Peter Criss With Animal Wrangler
  • Ace Frehley With Stiltman
  • Gene Simmons With Ring Master
  • Paul Stanley With The Jester

KISS (Series 3, Jan 1999): Tour Edition
  • Peter Criss
  • Ace Frehley
  • Gene Simmons
  • Paul Stanley

KISS Special Edition (Jan 1999)
  • The Demon (Gene Simmons from Psycho Circus) in Display Case, 6-inch figure – Spencer’s Gifts exclusive

KISS (Series 4, Sept 2000): Alive
  • Peter Criss
  • Ace Frehley
  • Gene Simmons
  • Paul Stanley

KISS Special Edition (October 2001)
  • The Demon (Gene Simmons from Alive!) in Display Case, 12-inch figure

KISS Collectable Statues (March 2002) – 6-inch mini-busts
  • Peter Criss
  • Ace Frehley
  • Gene Simmons
  • Paul Stanley

KISS (Series 5, July 2002): Creatures
  • The Demon (Gene Simmons)
  • The Fox (Eric Carr)
  • Space Ace (Ace Frehley)
  • The Starchild (Paul Stanley)
  • Kiss Creatures Deluxe Boxed Set (All 4 figures, instruments, and stage base)

KISS Special Edition (Aug 2002)
  • The Demon (Gene Simmons from “Creatures”) in Display Case, 12-inch figure

KISS Special Edition (March 2004)
  • The Demon (Gene Simmons from Destroyer) in Display Case, 12-inch figure

Love Gun Deluxe Boxed Set (Aug 2004)
  • Seven 6-inch figures: one of each band member plus 3 groupies

Music 3-Packs (October 2005):
  • Gene Simmons (The Demon): Boxed set of three 6-inch figures
  • Paul Stanley (The Starchild): Boxed set of three 6-inch figures

The Beatles Figures

The second musical property that McFarlane released was based on the immensely popular pop-culture icons, The Beatles, featuring figures of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as they appeared in their 1968 animated movie "Yellow Submarine." The figures were produced in 1999 to coincide with the film’s 30th anniversary as well as the advertising campaign marketing its re-release. Each musician comes with a character or object from the film, making each item essentially a two-pack: George with the Yellow Submarine, John with Jeremy the Nowhere Man, Paul with the Glove and Love Base, and Ringo with the Blue Meanie. Additionally, a version of Paul with Old Fred was marketed exclusively through Musicland stores. Since they were based on the simple, basic-shape animation style of the movie, the figures were vastly less detailed than the normal McFarlane fare and had only seven points of articulation. The series ended up to be a best-seller for the company and a second series was produced the following year featuring the animated band members dressed in their “Sergeant Pepper” costumes. These figures followed the same basic idea as their predecessors, one figure of each band member packed with a supporting character from the movie: George with the Snapping Turk, John with the Bulldog, Paul with the Sucking Monster, and Ringo with the Apple Bonker. In 2004, the company re-released all the figures from series one in individual clamshell packages and a Musicland exclusive boxed set with all four figures plus the submarine.

Three months later, in December 2004, a line of figures based on the 1965-67 Beatles TV cartoon show was released, with each band member sold along with his instrument and a small base piece that connected with the other three. Again, the toys were true to the look and feel of their cartoon character origins, with little fine detail and few points of articulation, but having smooth, stylistic sculpting. A boxed set of all four figures, plus a cartoon alligator, was released in October 2005. They mark the most recent line of Beatles figures the company has produced, and, to date, the company has not announced intentions to generate any further series. It is interesting to note that, despite three figure series based on cartoon versions of the band, no figures of the real-life band members has been created by McFarlane Toys.

The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (Series 1, September 1999)
  • George w/Yellow Submarine
  • John w/ Jeremy the Nowhere Man
  • Paul w/ Glove and Love Base
  • Ringo w/ Blue Meanie
  • Paul with Old Fred (Musicland Exclusive)

The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (Series 2, October 2000)
  • George w/ Snapping Turk
  • John w/ Bulldog
  • Paul w/ Sucking Monster
  • Ringo w/ Apple Bonker

The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (Series 1 Re-Release, September 2004)
  • George w/Yellow Submarine
  • John w/ Jeremy the Nowhere Man
  • Paul w/ Glove and Love Base
  • Ringo w/ Blue Meanie
  • Yellow Submarine Boxed Set (Musicland Exclusive - Four band members plus Yellow Submarine)

The Beatles: Saturday Morning Cartoon (December 2004)
  • George
  • John
  • Paul
  • Ringo

The Beatles: Saturday Morning Cartoon Boxed Set (October 2005)
  • Boxed Set: All four band members and instruments plus alligator

The Simpsons Figures

In 2005, McFarlane acquired the rights (previously held by fellow manufacturer Playmates Toys) to produce figures based on the popular Fox TV series “The Simpsons.” The first toy, produced in 2006, was a motorized statuette entitled “Ironic Punishment” based on the Treehouse of Horror IV episode where Homer Simpson sells his soul to the devil (Ned Flanders) in exchange for a donut. Homer is sent to hell and force-fed donuts as ironic punishment for his gluttony, although he ends up enjoying his fate immensely. The figure features a rotund Homer swallowing stacks of donuts from a large machine run by a blue demon; plastic donuts fall from the machine into Homer’s open mouth. The second figure was the “Family Couch gag,” based on the opening sequence of each episode where the family rushes into the living room and performs a 3-second sight gag. The toy features the entire Simpsons family plus their pets, which are stackable into a ‘human pyramid’ via connectors on their heads, feet, etc. A third boxed set is based on the Treehouse of Horror VI episode where Homer steals a giant metal donut from the Lard Lad (a parody of the Big Boy), and includes figures of Homer, Lard Lad, and a diorama background. Released concurrently with the Lard Lad is another Treehouse of Horror set based on the thirteenth such episode, called The Island of Dr. Hibbert (a parody of H. G. Wells’ The Island of Dr Moreau). It features the family and Comic Book Guy as animalistic creations of Dr. Hibbert.

On June 23, 2006, McFarlane announced the first line of actual Simpsons action figures, rather than statuettes or boxed sets, which will be released in 2007. All figures will depict specific episodes or events in the show as opposed to the previously-manufactured Playmates figures, which merely depicted general characters and environments. According to a company press release, Simpsons Series One will include a boxed Itchy and Scratchy “Spay Anything” set as well as six figures: 1. Homer and Bart Simpson as Pie Man and Cupcake Kid, 2. Krusty the Clown and Homer from an episode when Homer attempted Clown College, 3. Treehouse of Horrors: The Raven (based on the poem of the same name by Edgar Allen Poe), 4. The classic scene of Homer strangling Bart, 5. Kamp Krusty, and 6. Treehouse of Horror: Belly of the Boss.

Simpsons Boxed Sets (2006)
  • Ironic Punishment (April 2006)
  • Family Couch Gag (July 2006)
  • Lard Lad (November 2006)
  • The Island of Dr. Hibert (November 2006)

Simpsons (Series 1, 2007)

  • Simple Simpson - Pie Man (Homer) and Cupcake Kid (Bart)
  • Homie the Clown - Homer and Krusty
  • Treehouse of Horrors: The Raven
  • Why You - Homer and Bart
  • Kamp Krusty
  • Treehouse of Horrors XV: Belly of the Boss
  • Cape Feare: Spay Anything - Itchy and Scratchy (Boxed Set)

Sports Figures

McFarlane Toys reflects Todd McFarlane's love of sports in its creations of popular figures from all four major North American sports (baseball, football, basketball and hockey). The company has official licensing rights to the major professional leagues of all of these sports, and began this line - officially known as McFarlane Sports Picks - in 2001 with the release of the NHL Series 1 and NFL Series 1 & 2.

NHL Hockey

Series 1 (2001)

Series 2 (2002)

Series 3 (2002)

Series 4 (2003)

Series 5 (2003) Canadian Exclusive
''Series 5 was unique in that it featured only players on Canadian NHL teams. The figures were available only in Canada, however the McFarlane Toys Collectors' Club allowed limited numbers of the figures to be released in the United States. The Patrick Roy figure and blue jersey Sakic were exclusive to Wal-Mart while the Mark Messier and white jersey Sakic were exclusive to other retailers such as Toys R Us, Real Canadian Superstore, Loblaws etc...

Series 6 (2003)
  • Anson Carter, New York Rangers
  • Nikolai Khabibulin, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Mario Lemieux (2), Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
  • Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks
  • Patrick Roy (2), Colorado Avalanche
  • Teemu Selänne, Colorado Avalanche
  • Steve Yzerman (2), Detroit Red Wings - this figure featured Yzerman hoisting the Stanley Cup, celebrating Detroit's Cup victory in 2002.
  • Suprise Figure: Teemu Selanne (Winnipeg Jets - this figure was produced in 2 different versions. a vast majority were produced with the #8 after his rookie season but only 13 were made featuring his debut number 13 when he broke the NHL record for most goals scored by a rookie (76).)
  • Suprise Figure: Patrick Roy (2) (Colorado Avalanche 3rd Jersey)

Series 7 (2004)

Series 8 (2004)
  • Ed Belfour (2), Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Chris Chelios, Montreal Canadiens - this figure was the same sculpt as Chelios' Series 7 figure, but featured Chelios in the uniform of his former team, the Canadiens.
  • Patrick Lalime, Ottawa Senators
  • Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks
  • Gary Roberts, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles Kings
  • Suprise Figure: Trevor Linden (Vintage Canucks)
  • Suprise Figure: Gary Roberts (Calgary Flames)
  • Suprise Figure: Luc Robitaille (Vintage Kings)

Series 9 (2004)
  • Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
  • Martin Brodeur (2), New Jersey Devils
  • Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
  • Sergei Fedorov, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
  • Brian Leetch, Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins
  • Joe Sakic (2), Colorado Avalanche
  • Mats Sundin (2), Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Suprise Figure: Sergi Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)
  • Suprise Figure: Brian Leetch (New York Rangers)
  • Suprise Figure: Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues)

Series 10 (2005)

Series 11 (2005) Canadian Exclusive

Series 12 (2006)
With the exception of Crosby and Kariya, each figure in this series is a rerelease of an existing sculpt updated to the new teams the players signed with following the 2004-05 NHL Lockout.
  • Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
  • Peter Forsberg (2), Philadelphia Flyers
  • Paul Kariya (2), Nashville Predators
  • Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Chris Pronger, Edmonton Oilers
  • Jeremy Roenick, Los Angeles Kings
  • Suprise Figure: Jeremy Roenick (Phoenix Coyotes)

Series 13 (October 2006)

NHL Legends Series 1 (2004)

NHL Legends Series 2 (2005)
  • Jean Béliveau, Montreal Canadiens
  • Mike Bossy, New York Islanders
  • Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins
  • Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers
  • Wayne Gretzky (4), Edmonton Oilers
  • Wayne Gretzky (5), Los Angeles Kings
  • Suprise Figure: Phil Esposito (New York Rangers)

NHL Legends Series 3 (2006)

NHL Legends Series 4 (2006)

Other Hockey Figures
  • 12-Inch Series - 12" high (regular figures are 6") sculpts debuted in 2003. Featured players include Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy (2 figures), Wayne Gretzky (3 figures), Steve Yzerman and Martin Brodeur. All of these figures are up-scale versions of existing 6" figures of these players.
  • 3-Inch Series - 3" high figures debuted in 2004. These are sold in twin-packs and feature down-scale versions of existing 6" figures. Featured combinations are Roenick/Hull, Sakic/Modano, Brodeur/Thornton, Lemieux/Giguere, Forsberg/Sundin, Koivu/Iginla, Messier/Smyth, Yzerman/MacInnis, Nolan/Shanahan, Belfour/Chelios, Théodore/Kovalchuk and Stevens/Naslund. Early editions of the Koivu/Iginla set became collector's items after it was revealed that Koivu got the darker skin wash meant for Iginla, who has been called the NHL's first Black Canadian superstar.
  • Team Canada - McFarlane Toys celebrated Team Canada's gold medal win at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with two four-pack sets (Set 1: Chris Pronger, Curtis Joseph, Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux; Set 2: Eric Lindros, Martin Brodeur, Joe Sakic, Paul Kariya). In 2005, another Team Canada set was released commemmorating Canada's win in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey featuring Canadian international players past and present (Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Martin Brodeur, Vincent Lecavalier, Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla and a 12" Gretzky).
  • 3-Pack Team Sets - Three-figure packs have been released of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Mats Sundin, Curtis Joseph, Alexander Mogilny) and Detroit Red Wings (Curtis Joseph, Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman).
  • Other Multi-Figure Sets - Selected 6" figures have been sold in packs of two. These include: Thornton/Théodore, Salo/Koivu, Shanahan/Rob Blake, Roenick/Marty Turco, Messier/Brodeur, and a special two-pack commemmorating the Heritage Classic outdoor game in 2003 featuring Théodore and Oilers captain Jason Smith. Théodore's figure depicted the goaltender wearing a red, white and blue tuque over his goalie mask, just as he wore in the game. The newest Canadian Exclusive two Packs showcase a representative player from each of the teams in Canada. The two packs are, Captains Courageous – Mats Sundin 2 vs. Daniel Alfresson 2, The Battle of Alberta – Ryan Smyth vs. Miikka Kiprsoff and Unfinished Business – Markus Naslund vs. David Aebischer 2. Following the two packs are a set of team based three packs representing the Toronto Maple Leafs (Mats Sundin 2, Tie Domi & Tomas Kaberle), Edmonton Oilers (Jason Smith, Ales Hemsky & Chris Pronger) and Montreal Canadiens (Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder & David Aebischer)

NFL Football

Series 1 (2001)

Series 2 (2001)

Series 3 (2002)

Series 4 (2002)

Series 5 (2002)

Series 6 (2003)

Series 7 (2003)

Series 8 (2004)

Series 9 (2004)

Series 10 (2004)
  • Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers
  • Trent Green, Kansas City Chiefs
  • Randy Moss (2), Minnesota Vikings
  • Terrell Owens (2), Philadelphia Eagles
  • LaDainian Tomlinson (2), San Diego Chargers
  • Adam Vinatieri, New England Patriots
  • Ricky Williams (2), Miami Dolphins
  • Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys

Series 11 (2005)

Series 12 (2005)
  • LaVar Arrington, Washington Redskins
  • Drew Brees, San Diego Chargers
  • Corey Dillon, New England Patriots
  • Brett Favre (3), Green Bay Packers
  • Marvin Harrison (2), Indianapolis Colts
  • Kevin Mawae, New York Jets
  • Donovan McNabb (3), Philadelphia Eagles
  • LaDainian Tomlinson (3), San Diego Chargers

NFL Legends Series 1 (2005)

Other Football Figures
  • 12-Inch Series - 12" high (regular figures are 6") sculpts debuted in 2003. Featured players include Brett Favre (2 figures), Michael Vick (2 figures), Ricky Williams, Randy Moss, Donovan McNabb, Peyton Manning, Brian Urlacher, Priest Holmes, Steve McNair, Tom Brady, Jerome Bettis, Terrell Owens, LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, John Elway and Troy Aikman. All of these figures are up-scale versions of existing 6" figures of these players.
  • 3-Inch Series - 3" high figures debuted in 2004. These are sold in twin-packs and feature down-scale versions of existing 6" figures. Featured combinations are Rice/Pennington, Favre/Brady, McNabb/Emmitt Smith, Shockey/Ray Lewis, Harrison/Holmes, Alstott/Ricky Williams, Vick/Alexander, Urlacher/McAllister, Randy Moss/Bledsoe, Favre (2)/Gonzalez, Garcia/Owens, and Delhomme/Faulk.
  • Super Bowl - Since 2003, McFarlane Sports Picks has commemmorated the Super Bowl each year by issuing at least one (usually two) figure(s) of a player from the host city's team. Releases in this line include: LaDainian Tomlinson and Junior Seau (Super Bowl XXXVII, San Diego); David Carr and Eddie George (Super Bowl XXXVIII, Houston); Byron Leftwich and Fred Taylor (Super Bowl XXXIX, Jacksonville); Barry Sanders (Super Bowl XL, Detroit).
  • Twin Packs - The NFL line of McFarlane Sports Picks features several figures sold in packs of two. Many times, an existing 6" figure will be teamed with another figure not available as a single sale. These two are often placed together in an action pose, such as a defender attempting to sack the quarterback. Combinations include: Brian Urlacher/Brett Favre, Rich Gannon/Derrick Brooks, Ed McCaffrey/Zach Thomas, Donovan McNabb/Michael Strahan, Clinton Portis/Ray Lewis, Peyton & Eli Manning, Michael Vick/Brian Dawkins and Deion Sanders/Jerry Rice.
  • Other Figures - As well as his twin-pack figure (in which he is depicted in his Dallas Cowboys uniform), Deion Sanders has had four figures released in both home and away colours of his other two teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens (all four of these figures are the same pose, only the uniforms change) ... former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe has been released in two figures, both the modern and retro Broncos uniforms (again, repaints of the same sculpt) ... Clinton Portis was depicted in his 2004 Pro Bowl uniform; this figure was produced in limited numbers and sold only through Portis' official web site ... Cleveland Browns running back William Green was released as a special issue, depicted in the Browns' alternate (orange) jersey, to commemmorate the 2003 Pro Football Hall of Fame class ... New York Giants running back Tiki Barber was first released as a figure in 2003 at that year's National Sports Collectors Convention.

Rare Figure Variants:

This is an incomplete list of rare or hard-to-find figure variants from many different McFarlane toy lines and series. While McFarlane is known for producing many variations on their figures, particularly when re-releasing them, the rare variants are initially shipped along with the more common variant and are considered more valuable by collectors because of their relatively low quantity in relation to the common variant as well as the other figures in the series. Collectors should always check a legitimate industry trade magazine (such as Toyfare) for prices and actual notes on the style and identification of rare variants before making a purchase.

Spawn, Conan, McFarlane Monsters
  • Belit (Conan: Series 1) She wears a Viking-style outfit with a twisted metal belt, which either has a black line painted in-between the links or simply shows her skin. In contrast to the Tiffany figure from the Spawn 26 line and the Dorothy figure from The Twisted Land of Oz, the rare variant of this figure is the one that shows less skin (i.e. the one with the black painted-in belt).

  • Dorothy (Twisted Land of Oz): Rare variant has her full body visible, showing her breasts bound with a leather strap. Common variant comes with a black piece of cloth over her upper torso, effectively censoring the toy for mass distribution.

  • Elizabeth Bathory (McFarlane Monsters Series 3): The “blood queen” figure is bathing naked in a pool of blood and has a rare variant where her right breast is partially exposed above the blood, showing a nipple, whereas the common variant has both breasts covered.

  • The Ogre (Spawn 11): Variant has a giant mace in the right hand while common has no weapon

  • Tiffany (Spawn 26): The versions of the angel Tiffany from this series differ by the style of underwear that the character is wearing, which is visible by looking at the toy’s backside. The more common variant is wearing bikini-style underwear that shows less skin, while the rare variant bears a thong that is more revealing.

  • Lotus Angel II (Spawn 28): Variant has no covering over the upper portion of her chest. Common variant has a red and green covering with a small skull on it around her neck that obscures her bust.

  • Zombie Spawn II (Spawn 28): Variant has three skulls chained together and attached to right arm, while common has no chain of skulls.

  • Grave Digger (Spawn Regenerated): The figure’s base has two arms coming out of the grave, whereas the common variant base is just a pile of dirt

McFarlane Sports Picks: NFL
Note on identifying variants: Variants are usually (but not always) a change in the player’s jersey color (home vs. away jersey) and occasionally the subtraction of a towel that is hanging from the player’s belt. The common figure versions are pictured on the back of the figure’s packaging, while variants are not. Thus, if the packaging shows a figure in a black jersey and the figure in the package has a black jersey, it is the common variant. However, if the figure wears a black jersey on the package’s picture, but the actual figure in the package has a white jersey, the figure is most likely a rare variant.

=Series 1
=

=Series 2
=

=Series 4
=

=Series 5
=

=Series 6
=
  • Emmitt Smith: “Retro” Cowboys jersey – common figures are in Arizona Cardinals uniform
  • Emmitt Smith: “Retro” Cowboys jersey with number “22” written on gloves – common figures are in Arizona Cardinals uniform
  • Mike Alstott: White Kansas City Chiefs jersey instead of red
  • Rich Gannon: “Retro” Kansas City Chiefs uniform – common figure has Oakland Raiders jersey
  • Stephen Davis: Carolina Panthers uniform variant
  • Priest Holmes: Red Kansas City jersey with white pants instead of white jersey and red pants
  • Shaun Alexander: Uniform is all blue, whereas the pants on the regular figure are white
  • Tiki Barber: National Sports Collectables Convention Exclusive – Labeled as such on packaging
  • Deuce McAllister: Black Saints jersey instead of white
  • Drew Bledsoe: White Buffalo Bills jersey instead of blue
  • Joey Harrington: White Detroit Lions jersey instead of blue
  • Brett Farve: “Retro” Atlanta Falcons jersey
  • Brett Farve: Black hand-warmers on belt and “Retro” Atlanta Falcons jersey (extremely rare)

=Series 8
=
  • Tim Brown: Black Jersey without towel on belt
  • Steve McNair: White Tennessee Titans jersey instead of Blue. Note that the common figure has blue jersey and white pants, while the rare variant has white jersey and blue pants.

=Series 9
=

=Series 10
=
  • Terrell Owens: Uniform is ‘retro’ 49ers jersey, not the modern jersey

=Series 11
=
  • Tom Brady: White Patriots jersey instead of navy
  • Tiki Barber: White New York Giants jersey instead of blue
  • Joe Horn: White Saints jersey instead of Black
  • Willis McGahee: White Bills jersey instead of navy
  • Ben Rothlesberger: White Pittsburgh Steelers jersey instead of black

=Series 12
=

External links

See also

Action figures | Toy companies of the United States

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "McFarlane Toys".

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