McFarlane Toys

McFarlane Toys (formerly Todd Toys) is the fifth largest action figure manufacturer in the United States. The company is not only commercially successful, but has also had a significant stylistic impact on other manufacturers of action figures, raising the bar for the entire industry in terms of sculpting and painting detail. McFarlane Toys also gained a reputation for including props or comic books in their releases.

The company was founded in 1994 by Canadian comic book illustrator, writer, and entrepreneur Todd McFarlane. McFarlane had gained a reputation as a comic book artist in the 1990s, after giving the character Spiderman a complete makeover while working for Marvel Comics. McFarlane Toys was originally founded to produce models for McFarlane's vastly successful independent comic book series Spawn, which revolves around the eponymous character's struggle against the forces of hell. The comic book world of Spawn and its characters have remained a cornerstone of McFarlane Toys' line of production (the 35th Spawn series having been released in June 2008), but the company's horizon has since broadened, and it now produces figures from numerous other fields. These reflect the company's target audience, which ranges from the age of 15 to 30, as McFarlane has stated on several occasions. The figures include a military set, a series called “Movie Maniacs,” which features characters like Halloween's Michael Myers or the Terminator; figures of famous musicians, like members of KISS or Elvis Presley; and sport lines: baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and a now discontinued series of NASCAR figures. Characters from popular culture like Maurice Sen-dak's Wild Things, or characters from television shows like The Simpsons, and characters from movies also continue to be produced.

In addition to licensed figures of both fictional characters and celebrities, McFarlane Toys regularly produces figures of its own invention, such as a series called “Dragons” and their own variations of characters based in fantasy, horror, fairytales, or science fiction. The latter include a controversial set of figures based on L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which portrays a partially dressed Dorothy bound and tortured by the Munchkins and has strong sadomasochistic overtones.

As a result of the company's products often being on the border of mass-market taste (according to the unofficial philosophy that many adolescents like those things best that shock their parents), a number of the figures have been labeled adult only, and big retailers like Toys “R” Us have on several occasions refused to display or sell a number of the company's products. This has not, however, hindered the company's success. It sold over 10 million toys in 2003 and has a cult following, the McFarlane Toys Collector's Club, a club devoted to the collection of the company's action figures with more than 100,000 members worldwide. This is because of both the artistry of the company's products and its founder, who, despite considerable commercial success in various fields, enjoys a reputation of anticorporate independence.

Recently the company has been criticized by fans for moving too strongly into what is perceived as a mainstream direction, focusing on less original and more commercially “safe” figures, such as their “McFarlane's Sports Picks” line, as well as for creating new lines and then discontinuing them. In addition, there have been complaints about the declining build quality of their figures, as well as of a lack of movability, as many of the figures resemble statues more than action figures.

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