Coolest 80’s Action Figures
More Than Meets the Eye
This is a list of the coolest 80’s action figures that ever existed when I was kid!
Some of the figures on the list are toys I had as a kid, and others are ones I got to play with at friend’s houses.
Having action figures in the 80’s usually meant you had a couple, not the whole collection.
All of these figures are obviously just my opinion, but it’s my site, so suck it Star Wars toys! /s
#1. Transformers
Transformers were awesome! I had a couple, a few cars, a dino and a jet (iirc). I’m pretty sure I had Skywarp, Headstrong, Sideswipe, Slag, Optimus Prime and some minis. In fact, kudos mom & dad… that’s pretty awesome looking back on that!
Transformers we cool because, well they could transform, duh! But not all were created equal. Some had really elaborate transformations that took you several days to remember as a kid so you didn’t end up breaking your new awesome toy. Other were simple like a card that basically folds in 2 spots and becomes a robot. Either way, these were awesome toys!
Transformers Gen. #1 Toys (Identification Pictures)
The History of Transformers: Generation 1
#2. G.I. Joe
Growing up I had a couple G.I. Joe figures and one or two small/medium sized vehicles. My best friend had a ton of figures with all sorts of cool vehicles including the Cobra Night Raven and the U.S.S. Flagg
I remember playing with the U.S.S. Flagg in his Livingroom and it being as long as their coffee table. My favorite figures were actually Cobra, because they tended to have way cooler looking soldiers. I also really liked the mini jet that was part of the Night Raven.
The Combative History of GI Joe: A Real American Hero
#3. Voltron
I somehow managed to pickup a few of the original Voltron metal lion toys. Pretty sure I got them from a garage sale or something. I had almost enough to make Voltron but I think I was missing the red or lion.
Voltron was really cool because the toys were well made. For some reason I remember the lions being metal of maybe just really heavy. The sword was crazy big too. Once you assembled the full thing it seemed like it was about a foot tall in the eyes of a kid.
The Story of Voltron: Defender of the Universe
#4. He-Man & Masters Of The Universe
I acquired a huge collection of He-Man figures from garage sales. One in particular.
Looking back I recall the good Christian lady across the street selling me figures at a garage sale one at time until she had all the money from my piggy bank.
Later in life, I learned most people typically offer you a deal if you are buying an entire box of toys at a garage sale.
The Story of The Masters of the Universe
#5. ThunderCats
Yet another toy I acquired from garage sales. (We grew up in a fairly large suburb in Florida with lots of garage sales during the summer.) I recall having each figure in this image except Cheetara.
I feel like I remember a one toys eyes lighting up, perhaps the bad guys and Liono having a switch on his back that made him swing his sword arm.
The History of the Thundercats
#6. M.A.S.K.
I never had any M.A.S.K. figures. Two friends I had growing up had several vehicles and figures. I always really liked the Jeep that shot the Speedboat out of it.
My friend who lived across the street had most of vehicles pictured above with the exception of 2 or 3 of them. Not sure which action figures he had.
While the vehicles were the main appeal, the figures where cool because while they were small they had the masks you could pop on and off. But the masks were the first things kids lost when they’d play with these figures.
#7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were my jam when I was kid. I remember when the cartoon came out and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Since the toys came out in 1988 they were never really at garage sales. I saved up all my allowance to buy TMNT figures. I remember have all the figures pictured here with the exception of the Mousers. I really loved the brown ninja weapons and Donatello was my favorite turtle.
The History of TMNT: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
#8. Inhumanoids
I didn’t have any Inhumanoids as a kid, but my friend across the street had Decompose and Tendril (the two on the left).
I loved that Decompose’ chest cavity opened up and you could trap figure in it. He also had squishy insides. And Tendril’s tendrils would light up when sun shone on a spot on his head. Pretty awesome!
The Forgotten Horror of The Inhumanoids
#9. Battle Beasts
Battle Beasts were another amazing 80’s figure I wished for as a kid but never got. My friend across the street had these though and I loved playing with them at his house.
They had a hologram on their chest that would reveal itself when you pressed your finger on it showing their element for battling other beasts, but the thing I loved most was just the cool designs. All kinds of mutant type animals decked our in serious armor. Great figures!
#10. M.U.S.C.L.E.
M.U.S.C.L.E. was yet another cool series of mini rubber figures but these guys were based on a Japanese manga/anime, which no one knew about back in the 80’s.
The coolest thing about M.U.S.C.L.E. figures aside from all wild designs were that they came in a translucent clear trashcan. So we you bought a pack of 10, you could almost see the figures but not quite. So it was kind of like opening baseball cards where you never knew what you were gonna get.
The History of MUSCLE (aka M.U.S.C.L.E.)
#11. Super Naturals
Super Naturals were figures that I think were a knock off of Visionaries except I don’t remember them having their own cartoon.
Super Naturals were actually my favorite. I remember spending some of my allowance on them at a Walgreens in Land O’ Lakes coming home from school. The thing that made them so cool was their holograms would change depending on the angle you help them at (iirc – see the image above). They also had little ghosts with full body holograms that were about 1/2 the size of the normal figures.
Kids won’t understand today but back in the 80’s holograms were mind blowing magic! The fact that these had awesome monster holograms, glow in the dark weapons and were action figures to boot made them a no brainer for a kid like me.
The Ghostly History of Super Naturals
#12. Captain Power
Captain Power was another figure / toy line I never had but my friend across the street did. I actually don’t remember playing with it more than I remember watching the show.
The picture above doesn’t really do it justice, but the toys had vehicles and turrets that would shoot lasers at the show on your TV allowing you to either score points or get ejected from the vehicle?
Like I said, I was more into the show. I had an amazing CGI robot bird-man enemy that was the height of 80’a CGI at the time. The whole thing just really made an 80’s kid feel like you were living in the future.
The History and Controversy of Captain Power
#13. Robotech
An awesome toy-line couple with an awesome cartoon. Once again I’ll say no one in the 80’s really understood that anime was this thing coming out of Japan. As far as we knew this was just some awesome cartoon we watched in the mornings in the US.
The toys themselves were kind of a mix between Star Wars and Transformers with vehicles that transformed from jets to robots and character figures that were largely *meh*.
Somehow I got my hands on a Veritech Fighter that either a friend let me borrow or gave to me or… sorry buddy, I was a kid, survival of the fittest! My friend also had the 2 types of Invid figures and possible a Cyclone. (His brother also had all the series up to New Generation on VHS which was mind blowing at the time.)
#14. Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
Visionaries was another hologram based action figure. The thing I remember most about Visionaries was the cartoon. It was fun to watch and had a cool sci-fi meets magic premise.
These toy line relied more on the figures themselves being cooler or more posable than Super Naturals because their holograms were a lot less interesting. However the holograms on the visionaries vehicles were actually pretty cool! Anything with a hologram in the 80’s was an instant win.
#15. Monster In My Pocket
My final memory of some of the really rad action figures we had in the 80’s. Monster In My Pocket was another small rubber figure toy like M.U.S.C.L.E or Battle Beasts except these came in wild solid colors and were more likes a who’s who of Universal Monsters. In fact, they are probably partially responsible for my love of classic horror monsters to this day.
The thing that made Monster In My Pocket such a cool toy line was the wide variety of figures like with M.U.S.C.L.E. There were a lot of monsters to collect and they were all fairly detailed and fun!
The History of Monster In My Pocket
(These were technically from 1990, but they were one of my last great memories of figures I had as a kid.)
