Toybiz Action Figures Overview
18 Mar, 2023
(edited)
2023-3-18 3:46:43 PM UTC
2023-3-18 3:46:43 PM UTC
The Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson movie Toybiz Action Figure figure range is one of the best Action Figure ranges there has been, which is fantastic for Tolkien collectors. The figures are high quality, a great size, great detail, very accurate and there is a large number of characters.
However, the range is quite hard to navigate, this article will look at some of the aspects to consider about the range. It is quite statistical not a full list of every item.
Please note that this article is looking at the main range of the Action Figures and will not be considering different language variants, and, although it does consider the different movie/colour packaging variations, it does not include any other types of variations such as same packaging differences (I might do a separate article on those).
The range consists of 240 items based around the 3 movies (Fellowship 85 items, Two Towers with 74 items, Return of King with 76 items and there are also 5 non specific General items).
There were different types of items released primarily based on the number of characters and size on the characters included with the item. These can be broken down as single figures packs, double figure packs, triple figure packs, horse/beast and rider packs, large figure packs, multi figure packs and promo items.
So firstly let’s look at the packaging for the items, the first thing to mention is that the items were released to correspond with the movie releases and the packaging of items related to the movie being released, which did not always correspond to the movie the item was for. The packing colour related to the movies promotional colour schemes, these being Fellowship Green, Two Towers Red, Return of the King Blue, Post movies Trilogy and Post movies General. Some movie items were released during a different movie release, which meant that some items packaging colour did not correspond to the items movie. The breakdown of this is as follows:
Fellowship items - Packaging: Green 59, Red 13, Blue 4, Trilogy 4, General 4
Two Towers items - Packaging: Red 59, Blue 8, Trilogy 5, General 2
Return of the King items - Packaging: Blue 63, Trilogy 5, General 7
General items - Packaging: Blue 3, General 2
These are some examples of Fellowship items in different film release colours:
The next aspect of packaging to look at is the style of packing. Of the different types of items, single figures were released in two phases, initially in “Half Moon” packaging and then on Card packaging, double and triple figure set packs were only released in “Half Moon” packaging. Large figures, Horse and Rider and Multi Figure set packs were all released in boxes (of various sizes and formats). The breakdown of items is, Half Moon 82 items, Carded 106 items, Sets 50 items (and there were also 2 promo items in plain box packaging).
The types of items breakdown is as follows:
170 single packs - 64 half moon packaging, 106 carded packaging
14 double packs - all half moon
4 triple packs - all half moon
15 horse/beast and rider packs
9 large figure packs
26 multi figure packs
2 Promo
These are examples of the different types of items:
Although there were 240 items released, a lot of these contained more than one actual figure (the Fellowship with Peter Jackson boxed set contains 10 figures). In fact there were a total of 393 individual figures within the whole range.
It should be pointed out that within these 393 figures there are quite a few different copies produced of the same characters. The characters can be split into 2 categories, the actual named characters (there are 43 of these) and general characters i.e. Orcs, Elves, Rohirrim, Ringwraith, Horses etc. (there are 13 of these). Of the total figures, 318 are named character and 75 general characters.
However, there are also different versions of a lot of the characters, for instance there are 10 versions of Aragorn. Some of the versions of characters are exclusive to a specific multi pack.
There are also multiple copies of each version of a character. These are a; re-issues of the same version in different packaging, and b; the same version included within multi character sets.
For instance there are actually a total of 37 Aragorn figures within the 10 different versions, these are:
Strider - 4 times
Strider at Weathertop - 1 time
Super Poseable Strider - 2 times
Aragorn - 11 times
Helms Deep Aragorn - 4 times
Battle Action Aragorn - 1 time
Council Aragorn - 1 time
Super Poseable Aragorn - 3 times
Pelennor Fields Aragorn - 6 times
Aragorn King of Gondor - 4 times
Here are examples of each of the different Aragorn versions:
Of the 43 named characters, there are 2 with 10 versions, Aragorn and Frodo, and there are 9 with just a single version. Overall there are a total of 135 different versions of the 43 named characters.
Of the total 318 named character figures, there are 11 named characters with 10 or more figures (Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gandalf, Gimli, Gollum, Sam, Boromir, Pippin, Bilbo and Merry). There are 9 named characters with only 1 figure (Celeborn, Denethor, Gamling, Gorbag, Grima, Mouth of Sauron, Shagrat, Shaku and Theodred).
Of the 13 general characters there are 75 individual figures made up of 1 Army of the Dead, 1 Easterling, 4 Elves, 1 Fell Beast, 6 Gondorian, 4 Haradrim, 14 Horses, 11 Orcs, 14 Ringwraith, 3 Rohirrim, 5 Trolls, 10 Uruk-hai and 1 Warg.
Within the 13 general characters there are 39 different versions of the characters. The most versions are of the Orcs, with 8 versions, and there are 5 which only have 1 version (Army of the Dead, Easterling, Fell Beast, Rohirrim and Warg).
These are the Orc versions:
Orc Warrior
Orc Overseer
Moria Orc
Moria Orc Archer
Isengard
Isengard Orc Captain
Mordor Orc Lieutenant (exclusive to Pelennor Fields multi figure pack)
Morannon Orc
There are a few other things worth mentioning, firstly that there were 26 exclusive items, featuring 58 figures. These items were only available in some countries (UK, Australia, Canada, Spain and Korea). They are made up of 2 Singles Half Moons, 6 Singles Carded, 7 Doubles, 4 Triples, 2 Large, 2 Horse and Rider and 3 Multi figure packs. Some of these are the rarest and most collectable of the whole range. These are exclusive items, all of the figures in them are available in other items.
As an example, these are the 6 Canadian exclusive carded Return of the King figures, note that these have dual language packaging:
Another interesting example is the Canadian Carry Case (classed as a multi pack) which came with 8 figures.
There were also 2 promo items. These were a mail-away from Burger King. The first was an exclusive Uruk-hai figure, however, after a time, they ran out of these and sent a standard Lutz figure replacement. These figures came in a plain white box.
The final thing to mention is the Balrog. Toybiz did not produce a Balrog figure as part of their range, however NECA did produce a one off Balrog action figure to the same scale and this is often referenced alongside the series. The Balrog was a limited edition and did not come in any themed packaging, just a plain cardboard box.
However, the range is quite hard to navigate, this article will look at some of the aspects to consider about the range. It is quite statistical not a full list of every item.
Please note that this article is looking at the main range of the Action Figures and will not be considering different language variants, and, although it does consider the different movie/colour packaging variations, it does not include any other types of variations such as same packaging differences (I might do a separate article on those).
The range consists of 240 items based around the 3 movies (Fellowship 85 items, Two Towers with 74 items, Return of King with 76 items and there are also 5 non specific General items).
There were different types of items released primarily based on the number of characters and size on the characters included with the item. These can be broken down as single figures packs, double figure packs, triple figure packs, horse/beast and rider packs, large figure packs, multi figure packs and promo items.
So firstly let’s look at the packaging for the items, the first thing to mention is that the items were released to correspond with the movie releases and the packaging of items related to the movie being released, which did not always correspond to the movie the item was for. The packing colour related to the movies promotional colour schemes, these being Fellowship Green, Two Towers Red, Return of the King Blue, Post movies Trilogy and Post movies General. Some movie items were released during a different movie release, which meant that some items packaging colour did not correspond to the items movie. The breakdown of this is as follows:
Fellowship items - Packaging: Green 59, Red 13, Blue 4, Trilogy 4, General 4
Two Towers items - Packaging: Red 59, Blue 8, Trilogy 5, General 2
Return of the King items - Packaging: Blue 63, Trilogy 5, General 7
General items - Packaging: Blue 3, General 2
These are some examples of Fellowship items in different film release colours:
The next aspect of packaging to look at is the style of packing. Of the different types of items, single figures were released in two phases, initially in “Half Moon” packaging and then on Card packaging, double and triple figure set packs were only released in “Half Moon” packaging. Large figures, Horse and Rider and Multi Figure set packs were all released in boxes (of various sizes and formats). The breakdown of items is, Half Moon 82 items, Carded 106 items, Sets 50 items (and there were also 2 promo items in plain box packaging).
The types of items breakdown is as follows:
170 single packs - 64 half moon packaging, 106 carded packaging
14 double packs - all half moon
4 triple packs - all half moon
15 horse/beast and rider packs
9 large figure packs
26 multi figure packs
2 Promo
These are examples of the different types of items:
Although there were 240 items released, a lot of these contained more than one actual figure (the Fellowship with Peter Jackson boxed set contains 10 figures). In fact there were a total of 393 individual figures within the whole range.
It should be pointed out that within these 393 figures there are quite a few different copies produced of the same characters. The characters can be split into 2 categories, the actual named characters (there are 43 of these) and general characters i.e. Orcs, Elves, Rohirrim, Ringwraith, Horses etc. (there are 13 of these). Of the total figures, 318 are named character and 75 general characters.
However, there are also different versions of a lot of the characters, for instance there are 10 versions of Aragorn. Some of the versions of characters are exclusive to a specific multi pack.
There are also multiple copies of each version of a character. These are a; re-issues of the same version in different packaging, and b; the same version included within multi character sets.
For instance there are actually a total of 37 Aragorn figures within the 10 different versions, these are:
Strider - 4 times
Strider at Weathertop - 1 time
Super Poseable Strider - 2 times
Aragorn - 11 times
Helms Deep Aragorn - 4 times
Battle Action Aragorn - 1 time
Council Aragorn - 1 time
Super Poseable Aragorn - 3 times
Pelennor Fields Aragorn - 6 times
Aragorn King of Gondor - 4 times
Here are examples of each of the different Aragorn versions:
Of the 43 named characters, there are 2 with 10 versions, Aragorn and Frodo, and there are 9 with just a single version. Overall there are a total of 135 different versions of the 43 named characters.
Of the total 318 named character figures, there are 11 named characters with 10 or more figures (Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gandalf, Gimli, Gollum, Sam, Boromir, Pippin, Bilbo and Merry). There are 9 named characters with only 1 figure (Celeborn, Denethor, Gamling, Gorbag, Grima, Mouth of Sauron, Shagrat, Shaku and Theodred).
Of the 13 general characters there are 75 individual figures made up of 1 Army of the Dead, 1 Easterling, 4 Elves, 1 Fell Beast, 6 Gondorian, 4 Haradrim, 14 Horses, 11 Orcs, 14 Ringwraith, 3 Rohirrim, 5 Trolls, 10 Uruk-hai and 1 Warg.
Within the 13 general characters there are 39 different versions of the characters. The most versions are of the Orcs, with 8 versions, and there are 5 which only have 1 version (Army of the Dead, Easterling, Fell Beast, Rohirrim and Warg).
These are the Orc versions:
Orc Warrior
Orc Overseer
Moria Orc
Moria Orc Archer
Isengard
Isengard Orc Captain
Mordor Orc Lieutenant (exclusive to Pelennor Fields multi figure pack)
Morannon Orc
There are a few other things worth mentioning, firstly that there were 26 exclusive items, featuring 58 figures. These items were only available in some countries (UK, Australia, Canada, Spain and Korea). They are made up of 2 Singles Half Moons, 6 Singles Carded, 7 Doubles, 4 Triples, 2 Large, 2 Horse and Rider and 3 Multi figure packs. Some of these are the rarest and most collectable of the whole range. These are exclusive items, all of the figures in them are available in other items.
As an example, these are the 6 Canadian exclusive carded Return of the King figures, note that these have dual language packaging:
Another interesting example is the Canadian Carry Case (classed as a multi pack) which came with 8 figures.
There were also 2 promo items. These were a mail-away from Burger King. The first was an exclusive Uruk-hai figure, however, after a time, they ran out of these and sent a standard Lutz figure replacement. These figures came in a plain white box.
The final thing to mention is the Balrog. Toybiz did not produce a Balrog figure as part of their range, however NECA did produce a one off Balrog action figure to the same scale and this is often referenced alongside the series. The Balrog was a limited edition and did not come in any themed packaging, just a plain cardboard box.
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