13 Valuable Action Figures from Our Childhood

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: What makes an action figure the holy grail of your collection? Is it a grail because you personally want it or is it a grail because generally speaking most collectors of that toy line want that action figure? On this episode we're going to go through a list of some of the most well-known and some unknown action figure grails of the 80s and 90s. Welcome back guys, it's Thomas and on this episode we're going to explore some grails of some vintage toys that I am always fascinated by because either I didn't know about them when I was younger and now that I do know about them they're way too expensive for me to actually go out and buy but I do like to look from afar and I'm sure diehard collectors want their hands on some of these action figures. I don't really feel like the grail term really applies to modern day collecting because for the most part things are more accessible now. For example, a long time Marvel Legends collectors wanted the Sentinel so the original Toy Biz Sentinel was a grail until HasLab did come out with the Sentinel and then Galactus and Giant Man. And for my modern day collection I still have grail pieces that I want, they just have not been made yet. I'm still waiting for the perfect Tim Drake Robin from the 90s. Lots of companies have tried or come close but have missed the mark so for me I guess that is a personal grail. And before we get into this list I had a few rules. No playsets, no vehicles and it had to be sold at retail. This couldn't have been something that was a prototype and never released to the public. So you had to have had a chance to get your hand on this at some point or be on shelves. And I'm going to go in order from least expensive to the most expensive at least from what I'm seeing on eBay today. So let's get into this list of 13 action figure grails of the 80s and 90s. Hook starring Robin Williams is one of my favorite movies of all time. Some people really don't like it but I enjoyed that movie. We had the whole line of toys or at least I thought until we got a little older. And there were figures released from the movie that I learned about later like Smee. Then there was variations of Peter Pan. There was a learn to fly Peter Pan, a food fight Peter Pan and I can't find those anywhere. And a figure I would have loved to have was an additional lost boy named Thudbutt. And I would say most of the figures in the original Hook line are not super expensive. Peter Pan I'm seeing sealed, new for about $80, which is not too crazy for a vintage toy, especially a mainline character. But this side character is fetching a lot of money on the aftermarket. You could probably grab him for around $85. If you wanted him new, on card, sealed, you're looking at about $300 to $800. I'm seeing one product up on eBay right now for $300 sealed in package. If you wanted the autographed version of that actor, then that one is the one selling for $800. So a little pricey if you were looking to kind of complete your hook display, which I don't know how many people are trying to complete their hook display. But that'll go on the list as probably one of the more unknown action figures. Batman the Animated Series, probably one of the best Batman cartoons ever made. Probably some of the best Batman media ever made. Also came out with an amazing toy line. And I would also argue this is probably one of the best Batman toy lines to ever be produced. Because at least for the mainline characters, heroes, and villains, they looked like exactly what you saw on the screen. And a surprising grail for this Batman line is Batman. It's the combat belt Batman. It's the only original Batman from the toy line that had the normal costume. Every other Batman figure released after this one had some sort of gimmick or color change to their costume. But this was the original one based from the show. And it's extremely hard to get right now. By hard to get, it's accessible. You can go on eBay and buy it. But it's a little pricey. If you were looking to pick this figure up loose but complete, has all the accessories with him, you're probably looking at about $85 to $120, which isn't too bad. But if you do want this Batman on card sealed, you're looking at anywhere from $375 all the way to $800. This one kind of confuses me because you could have just kept releasing the mainline costume Batman. And I'm sure it would have sold. It would have been evergreen on shelves. But for some reason, they only released it once. And it's probably one of the most valuable ones from that toy line. Next on the list is really not my wheelhouse. So I'm sure there's more expensive figures from Transformers. But I'm going to put the original G1 Megatron as next on the list as a grail piece. I do know this is well sought after from Transformers collectors if they don't already have it. But to pick this up either loose and complete or sealed in package is going to cost you a pretty penny. I've seen listings for this Megatron action figure. Loose but complete anywhere from $180 all the way up to $300. But if you are looking to pick this up sealed new in box, it can go anywhere from $1,000 all the way up to the thousands of dollars. So definitely an expensive figure, but I don't think they'll ever make this one again just because it was Megatron turning into a gun. The gun sort of did look like a realistic gun. Either way, it's still probably one that most collectors want in the collection. I love Captain Planet, and I bought this one as a gift to myself for getting a new job. But he was already pretty pricey, about $80 to $120, which is more than I'd like to spend on a toy. But some of the villains are super expensive on the secondary market. So if you are a Captain Planet fan, one of the most expensive figures that I'm actually seeing is Captain Pollution. Flash has Reverse Flash, Darkwing Duck has Mega Duck, and Captain Planet has Captain Pollution. So this character looks super cool. He has all these funky colors and all this toxic waste all over him. And from what I see, it is the one that is asking for the biggest price. If you're looking for this figure loose, it's probably going to cost you around $400. And I'm seeing listings on card sealed for about $2,600. I think I'll stop at my Captain Planet. I don't need to spend $2,600 on a figure, but it is cool to know that they actually did make it. And it's available if you do want it. Going back to Transformers, if you do want that Megatron, you probably do want a G1 Optimus Prime. Now, I've seen some listings going into the tens of thousands of dollars. I don't know what that's about. But if you just want a G1 1984 Optimus Prime, what is that going to cost you? From what I'm seeing, you can pick one up loose but complete anywhere from around $285 up to $500. But if you do want to pick up a sealed version of a G1 Optimus Prime, it's probably going to cost you anywhere from $2,200 all the way up to $5,000. At least with this version of Optimus Prime, there's been so many different remakes or redos of it. So you can get a version of Optimus Prime if you just want him on your shelf. Now, some figures are rare because they were released on toy shelves, but maybe not where you're from. And that's the case with Mattel's Secret Wars Marvel line. I know that there's a few figures that were released outside the United States that do cost quite a bit of money on the aftermarket. But the one I'm seeing that costs the most is Iceman. From what I can tell, this is the most expensive Secret Wars figure. There might be another one, but I'm only seeing this figure available on card. So I don't even know what the cost is if you did want it loose. But if you did want it sealed on card, you're looking at anywhere between $1,200 and $2,700. Heading over to Mattel's Street Sharks line from the 90s. And one of those figures was Space Force Ripster released in 1996. I am seeing different versions of this figure released loose, or you can purchase it complete on eBay. If you want to just purchase this figure loose, you're looking at about $1,600. And if you want it new in package, it's going to cost you about $2,800. Being a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collector, the one thing that's kept me from collecting vintage toys is not being able to get my hands on some of the TMNT grails. The first of those grails would be Hotspot. If you wanted Hotspot loose, but with all his accessories, you're looking at about $600. But if you want Hotspot sealed, that's going to cost you about $3,000. Going over to the DC Superpowers line, I'm going to put Cyborg on this list. There's a few other mail-aways that could be considered more grails. But I think this Cyborg, because of the nature of the paint, he had vac metal. He had three different accessories, interchangeable hands. If you could find one loose with all of those accessories, and the vac metal is in pretty good condition, it's going to cost you about $750 to $900. Now, if you want Cyborg sealed in this package, I've seen prices go anywhere from $1,200 to $3,200. Back to the 90s and back to Street Sharks, there's another figure that costs more than the one that we talked about before. And that is the Hydrofire Jab. If you want this figure loose, he's fetching about $600. If you wanted him new, sealed in box, you're looking at about $3,200. Next, we are talking about one of my favorite toy lines of all time, Dick Tracy. They were made by Playmates. They had the same kind of feel as an Ninja Turtle. They were so colorful. They were really fun. And you can go and pick up the entire collection for probably close to like $500, except one figure. Famously, the blank was pulled from retail release because they didn't want the figure to give any spoilers to the movie. The blank, or Breathless Mahoney, was played by Madonna, and the big reveal at the end was that she was the blank the whole time. The figure did reveal that there was an unmasked look where you would see Madonna's face, and this one goes down in infamy, I think, as one of the most expensive figures from maybe a not-so-popular movie or toy line. I wasn't able to find any listings that had this figure loose but complete, but just the figure alone is asking for about $1,800. Now, what if you want this figure mint on card? That's going to cost you about $6,000. Back to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm sure you knew this had to be on the list, but we're talking about Scratch the Cat. This is one that I at least have the Super 7 version, and that fills a void on my shelf. Loose but complete, you're looking at about $2,000 to $2,700. If you want this Scratch new in-box, you're looking to spend about $7,000. Talked about the blank from Playmates, Hotspot, and now Scratch. One of the biggest misses on Playmates' toys, releasing all these retro TMNT figures, is not releasing Hotspot and Scratch. I really think if they were to put those up as a two-pack, I don't even care, sell it for $100 each, I'd still buy those because there's no way I'm going to get close to $3,000 for Hotspot or $7,000 for Scratch. And it would be weird, but it would be cool if they would release the blank as a single release, or maybe an online exclusive only. And even if that was a few hundred bucks, I'd still pick it up because then I'd go back and purchase the rest of the original Dick Tracy line. And at the top of the list, and it's going to the top because it's the most expensive, goes to Hasbro's WWF 123 Kid. The last wave was the green carded wave, and in that set was the 123 Kid. This was the last set of wrestlers from Hasbro to be released at retail. There was a couple of mail orders that are pretty pricey, but this is the one that was last on toy shelves that's going to cost you the most amount of money. To purchase the 123 Kid loose, you're looking at about $1,600. And if you were looking to pick this figure up, carded, graded, all that good stuff, I've seen prices go as high as $10,000. So the 123 Kid is making up at the top of my grail list. And there you have it, folks. There is my list of 80s and 90s action figure grails. Hope you enjoyed this one. Of course, there was tons left off this list. I was trying to keep the video short, but maybe we'll come back and do a round two. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed this episode. And until the next one, we'll catch you next time. [00:13:02] Speaker ?: We'll see you next time.