Todd McFarlane founded McFarlane Toys, which produces highly realistic toys of icons from movies, comic books, popular video games and music as well as many sporting categories.
The company is based in Tempe, in Arizona, and is a division of Todd McFarlane Productions. McFarlane had items with licences from games and corporations like Warhammer and Disney as of 2021.
This article will discuss McFarlane toys, the company’s history, and where the toys are manufactured.
The History Of McFarlane Toys
Todd McFarlane teamed up with Mattel in 1994 to create action figurines modeled on the comic book heroes. McFarlane seized the copyrights to his figures and formed his own toy firm because the two couldn’t agree on exactly how to construct create the toys to his satisfaction.
The name “Todd’s Toys” was altered in the year 1995 due to advice from the company Mattel, which was concerned that the young company image would be mistaken with the younger sibling of Barbie .
Movie Maniacs and figures from The Simpsons which featured various iconic horror characters such as Jason Voorhees, The Terminator, The Thing, and Michael Myers among others. These action figures were among the first licenced property lines to be produced.
Other figures included video game icons like Soulcalibur Metal Gear Solid, as well as characters from basketball, hockey, and baseball. Other media have been portrayed, such as monsters from Where the Wild Things Are.
The firm has created creative works that provide a macabre spin to fairy tales and historical personalities, like the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. McFarlane has created original figures in collaboration with artists such as H.R. Giger and Clive Barker.
Spawn Toys
The first Spawn toys were launched in the year 1994, and included the Spawn character with accompanying mediaeval version (aptly dubbed Medieval Spawn) and also featuring the antagonists Clown and Violator.
Because of the amount of precision in both sculpture and painting, they stood out among the other toys in stores. Other toys were affixed to cardboard backs with simply a few colours decorated in obvious places (a particular skin color etc.).
Individual teeth, spikes and claws were painted separately and shipped wrapped in hard plastic that encompassed the action figure and the blister cards, rendering them more appropriate collectors goods.
In the original line, each toy accompanied normal-sized comic books that were personalised to the icon. The range would span multiple periods of time and feature new interpretations of iconic characters while paying tribute to the novels’ main characters.
Horror Toys
McFarlane had always been a lover of horror films, and in 1997, he decided to create his own take on legendary creatures with a “Todd McFarlane’s Monsters Playsets” collection.
In 2003, McFarlane released a frightening line called “Twisted Land of Oz,” which featured cruel or sadistic interpretations of the Wizard of Oz icons.
In the year of 2004, the 6 Faces of Madness, focused on lunatics and killers, producing beautifully rendered toys of characters such as Billy the Kid and Jack The Ripper.
Twisted Fairy Tales was the fourth series. The figurines, which included Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and Humpty Dumpty contained the grisly characteristics that McFarlane’s fans had enjoyed before, but with an ironic sense of humour.
Music Toys
McFarlane Toys didn’t just make music toys modeled on Todd McFarlane’s works. Rather, it expanded into other types of media, seizing on the appeal of well-known rock bands with the 1997 introduction of figurines based on KISS.
In the following years, the company received toy rights to well-known bands such as Ozzy Osbourne, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Metallica – increasing the number, diversity, and quality of the company’s music figures.
Sports Toys
Todd McFarlane was a big sport enthusiast, and this is reflected in McFarlane Toys’ designs of prominent members among the main American games (baseball, basketball, football, hockey).
The business owns legal licence rights to the sports’ major professional leagues, and the Sports Picks line was launched in 2001.
Television Toys
The Walking Dead and Lost are two popular TV shows that McFarlane Toys created lines for.
McFarlane Toys first introduced a range of construction kits for the Game of Thrones TV series in 2015, supplemented by a series of 6″ figurines in 2019. Stranger Things-themed action figures are also available from the firm.
Star Trek Toys
McFarlane Toys signed a contract with the famous Star Trek brand in 2017 to make figurines and other goods. When the business’s Star Trek phaser product was canceled only weeks before its planned release period, it sparked outrage.
McFarlane Toys claimed that the item was canceled owing to differences over toy gun safety requirements in the U. S.
The initial action figures in the collection, Picard and Captain Kirk, were launched in early 2019, and the new action figures, Spock being one of them, are now in production.
Video Game Toys
Soulcalibur, Metal Gear Solid, Destiny, Halo, Call Of Duty and Borderlands are just a few of McFarlane Toys’ video game-based items.
In 2018, McFarlane Toys released a line of action figures based on the popular video game Fortnite, that included 18 levels of articulation, a significant improvement over the company’s prior figures (which had little mobility).
The toys were a hit, so Todd McFarlane eventually revealed that the improved articulation scheme will be standard in all of the company’s products going forward.
Where Are McFarlane Toys Manufactured?
The company is based in Tempe, in Arizona, and is a division of Todd McFarlane Productions. McFarlane Toys items can be found in a variety of stores, both large and small, as well as online.
On online marketplaces, toy trade exhibitions, swap meets, and online auctions, most of the older products can be acquired. You can contact the customer service department if you have any further queries about a figure by visiting McFarlane Toys website: https://mcfarlane.com/
How Long Does It Take To Manufacture A McFarlane Toy?
If everything goes perfectly, it should take about ten months from start to completion. That incorporates clearance time frames for ideas, moulds, painting models, and packaging, as well as a five-month manufacturing lead time.
Final Thoughts
McFarlane Toys, a company founded by Todd McFarlane makes a huge range of action figures and toys based on various movies, TV programs, sports, and music in popular culture. The company is based in Tempe, in Arizona.
You can find out more about McFarlane Toys by visiting their website and reading product reviews online.
Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming