Points of Articulation

yo go re

The ToY Awards started back in 1998, when I was just doing reviews on my own. Yes, there were other end-of-year awards around at the time, but most of them focussed primarily on "child safe" toys, handing out praise for educational content, safety in manufacturing, and encouraging non-violent play patterns.

How dull.

I wanted to honor the toys that older toy fans actually liked. ToyFare magazine had a similar year-ender, but when I started, they were nothing but whores to Star Wars. Then they went out of their way to ignore McFarlane. Plus, they had a tendency to include toys to which they as a news outlet had access, but normal collectors did not; things that they had received as samples, but weren't due on the shelf for a few months.

Thus, the ToYs were born. The ToYs are the voice of the real fan community, covering what's really the best of the best. What started out as one "best of" award has grown and expanded to include a few more categories, but still: they're all the best of the best. We've even inspired a few imitators, but when you want the real toy of the year, you head for the Toy of the Year.

• ToY

  Red Sonja

  Boss Fight Studio's Epic HACKS release isn't the first 6" scale Red Sonja, but she's the first to be anything resembling "affordable." No, $60 wouldn't normally be considered affordable, but in a year when Hasbro successfully charged $50 for a mid-tier Spider-Man with a couple extra hands, Red Sonja is easily comparable, especially coming from a smaller company with no mass market support. The figure is incredibly playable, includes alternate heads that are truly alternate, and has enough clothing accessories to create two fully unique looks (or three, if you forego them entirely). Marvel Legends remains the US toy market's baseline for "good," and Sonja has ML-quality sculpt and paint, and better-then-ML articulation and accessories. The packaging is great as well, and there are not only some Sonja variations on the way, there's an entire Conan line coming, too. If buying Maximum Legends versions of Spider-Man, Hulk, or Deadpool made economic sense for you, then Epic HACKS Red Sonja does as well.

  Other nominees included Classifed Budo • the Marvel Legends Rom fans have wanted for years • Age of the Primes The Fallen • buying Maxillius the Harvester will get you a story character, a Grim Reaper, or a plain skeleton, all in one • Skeleton Crew SM-33, with two modes of display • GI Joe Classifed Desert Scorpion .

• Best Line

  Skibidi Toilet

  No shame on you if you actually like this weirdo property, but the fact it got an action figure line is incredibly improbable. Even more improbable than that? The fact the toys have quality nearly on the level of the best mass market 6" figures, despite coming from a company no one's heard of before. There's good articulation and construction, appropriate accessories, and although the colors are far from vibrant, the sculpts are quite detailed. Plus, the packaging is stylish enough that it was even nominated by itself.

  Other nominees included Bandai's Godziburst, with its toyetic variations • Operation Monster Force once again • Storm Collectibles' Street Fighter now that Jada scared them into charging lower prices • Mattel's MotU x Thundercats • Transformers Age of the Primes for doing so many first-time figures with unique molds • NECA's Sesame Street for finally making Palisades' dream come true • the 2025 Star Wars Black Series Halloween Edition figures .

• Best Accessory

  Pochita

  A fully powered-up Chainsaw Man would sell by himself, because he's a cool character with a cool design, but Denji is just a guy in normal street clothes. How do you make that a more desirable toy? By including the show's adorable little mascot, Pochita the chainsaw dog. The accessory doesn't have any articulation or other play features, but with his two handles, Denji can hold him accurately and is poseable enough to do so. Including Pocjita absolutely helped sell that set.

  Other nominees included GI Joe Classified SKRP10N-25 • the softgoods leather coat that came with Casie-Marie Jones • Necronominus' secret head variants • Black Series Bespin platform for Luke and Vader to duel upon • Belualyth came with a skeletal chimera that was a vastly cool inclusion • TMNT Archie Krang • Husk's torn skin • Cheryl Williams' dual-layer sketch pad • Beetlejuice's newspaper, more detailed than any other • Skibidi toilet • Sauron's hypnotic waves, something that's never been done before • Lilith's rose petals or also her Diablo skull • Ghost Viper's ghost effect pieces .

• Best Packaging

  movie poster Robocop

  NECA got a little more use out of their existing Robocop molds by doing a "movie poster" variation, painted with red and blue highlights to simulate the classic image of him exiting his cop car. But more than that, the tray inside the box holds him in the same "stepping out" pose, and there's a small cardboard car door that rests in front of the figure, creating a 3D diorama version of the poster before you even open the box.

  Other nominees included Dragon Man, with his box referencing the old <>Fantastic Four Classics packaging, right down to using the same art assets • Transformers Hearts of Steel boxes, covered in steampunk details and opening book-style to showcase both figures inside • Operation Monster Force with sturdy construction and cool art • we may not get cool art any more, but the scenic Easter eggs GI Joe Classified has begun including honor the brand's history • McFarlane's Mortal Kombat boxes now look like the front of an arcade machine .

• Worst of the Year

  Complacency

  We were trying to figure out the best way to word this, but Crush on the message board nailed it: companies, retailers, and fans are all getting complacent, and it's severely hurting the hobby. Mattel thought the He-Man name alone would be enough to get Masterverse into stores; when it wasn't, they asked fans to pay to join a club that would give them the opportunity to later pay again to buy a monthly figure. After several decent lines of He-Man crossover figures (TMNT, Thundercats), the Transformers ones are badly designed and rely on brand recognition more than actual appeal. Hasbro's quality is as consistent as ever, but their prices are raising at the rate of greed rather than the rate of inflation: realistically, Hasbro's 6" action figures are at best $20 offerings; but Hasbro bumped that price to $24, then $25, then $28 or even $30. And just like, years ago, when Mattel was overcharging for MotU Classics, they got away with it because enough fans were willing to pay without thought. Jakks proves that quality 4" figures can be sold for $10; naturally, Hasbro tries $18 and Super7/Funko try $25. Funko overproduced to the point of bankruptcy. Online retailers used the excuse of tarrifs to charge an extra dollar or two on everything, trusting that we fans would be willing to pay it. And like total chumps, we were. At least, enough of us were to ruin it for everyone else. Shame on us for letting the companies get away with it, but shame also on the companies for trying in the first place. So yes, this is really three contenders in one: prices and fees, design, and distribution, but they all fall under the umbrella of everyone just not caring enough to do any better.

  Other nominees included greed of manufacturers and retailers out-stripping natural inflation • the utter failure of the Tron HasLab • the god-awful ugly MotU x Tranformers crossover designs • "deluxe" figures that are really just standard releases with one or two more accessories • the indeterminate design of Shredder as Dracula • the way Zandar falls short of all the other Classified toys • Prima Prime's dull colors and formless altmode. .

• Best Exclusive

  The Ronin & B5-56

  It was entirely unexpected (but not unwelcome) to get real figures based on the Star Wars: Visions anime series. What was even more unexpected was that the Ronin would be a fully unique sculpt with poseable softgoods robes. The droid suffers a bit from mainly having existing accessories instead of all the new ones he used in the cartoon, but the grayscale paint on both toys honors the cartoon, and the packaging is just phenomenal, being held shut by a stiff ribbon, and opening to showcase the figures within. The price was at least close to reasonable, and being available on Amazon meant you might even be able to catch it on sale if you were lucky. Ronin was also eventually made available in the regular Black Series (in color), but the exclusive is better.

  The "Best Exclusive" category is open to every exclusive (convention, store, online, anything) released this year.

  Other top finishers included:
  • Marvel Legends Savage Land Professor X (Hasbro/Target)
  • Transformers Hearts of Steel (Hasbro Pulse)
  • Transfiguration Jesus (D13 Toys/Kickstarter)
  • Figura Obscura Ganesha (Four Horsemen)
  • Legacy United Filch (Hasbro/Walmart)
  • MotU x TMNT 2-Bopsteady (Mattel/Target)
  .

Now that you know what's won this year, you can head on over to see our past winners. The Class of 2025 joined some illustrious ranks, and they're all archived here.