Toybiz Pre-Marvel Legends Guide

Welcome to THE definitive guide to all loose Toybiz Marvel figures and variants from the "Pre-Marvel Legends" era! This site takes you right up to the transition of a larger scale figure to the time that greater articulation began to develop. Due to the overlap as the industry transitioned into a larger more articulated scale, this site makes a few judgment calls as to where it stops cataloguing. For instance, I've included larger scale figures like Marvel Collector Editions lines including the Blade films, the Silver Surfer Anniversary line, and Hulk Transformations, but I left out figures such as very large scale Spider-Man figures, despite having potential limited articulation. The focus is clearly on the 5-inch scale that dominated at the time and was briefly resuscitated years later in some extremely rare appearances despite "Classics" and "Marvel Legends" lines becoming the established leader. 

How to use this site:

Figures are sorted by their core comic character name. For instance, you will find "NINJA PSYLOCKE" under "PSYLOCKE", which is her core comic character name. Once you look up a character, you will find every known figure and variation of that character. I tried to parse out identities such as "Bruce Banner" and "Peter Parker" as unique listings separate from "Hulk" and "Spider-Man". 

The character pages are then arranged in order of "unique molds" and each unique mold is designated by the number that follows the name. Within each "unique mold" there are "variations". Each "variation" is designated by a letter. 

For example, Beast 1A would be an example of a "unique mold" for Beast (identified by the number "1") and a unique "variation" (identified by the letter "A"). Beast 1B would be a second variation but using the same mold as 1A. 

It is important to understand what this site defines as a "variation". Variations are a unique version of the same mold by either a difference in the paint or appearance of the figure or the change in a figure's accessories; all without a change in the figure's unique mold. If the mold itself had undergone a physical change, this was a change in mold...not a variation. Take a look. You'll figure it out pretty quickly. To catalogue something so vast as the Toybiz library there needed to be pretty specific criteria. 

I hope you enjoy and I hope this site becomes the definitive resource for this era of Toybiz figures.

About me:

I love these figures. I bought hundreds of them when they first came out back in the 90's as I started to have my first paying job while in High School. Of course action figure collecting was not nearly as socially acceptable as it is today, but that didn't stop me then and it doesn't stop me now. As great as they were, all the Toybiz figures I owned were sold over time as newer toys came out...and of course available space began to shrink.

Take me to today. In October of 2020, I started revisiting sites that showcased Toybiz during the pre-Marvel Legends era. I started to really appreciate the simplicity of these figures and their overall evolution as they progressed through the following years. From the most simple to the details to the absurd, there was something in this line that everyone could appreciate, and from growing up in the He-Man era I could also appreciate the often re-use of parts and repaints. What was difficult though, was finding sites that really showcased the multitude of variations that existed in these figures. Sure there are sites that cover a majority of the lines but with new variations still only being discovered thirty years later, nothing quite covers all of the variations that are actually out there...and so began my journey.

Starting that October, I started buying and researching, researching and buying. I am a loose collector but this collection (as most of my toys are) needed to be purchased sealed and then opened to ensure three points: one, that the toy is unplayed with, two, that it is complete, and three, that it is original. It also allowed me the flexibility of buying cheaper figures that were in poor packaging. While I held onto most card backs, the plastic, the ties, and the large boxes could be discarded (I know, I know). I visually scrutinized tons of figures, Googled daily, and reached out to several long-time collectors who have already been around the block and helped point out some very unique variations. I'd like to thank Diego Zuñiga Urmeneta and Brian Peregrina for their X-Men and Spider-Man expertise. I'd also like to give a shout out to the following, who without knowing, assisted quite a bit at putting the database together:

ToyShiz:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ToyShiz/about

https://www.instagram.com/toyshiz/?hl=en

Action Figure Resource:

https://www.action-figure-resource.com/toy-biz-spiderman-action-figures.html

The Figure In Question:

https://thefigureinquestion.com/tag/toy-biz/

Figure Realm:

https://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure?action=manserieslist&id=196

Spider-Man Animated Fandom:

https://spiderman-animated.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Man:_The_Animated_Series_Action_Figures

Raving Toy Maniac:

http://www.toymania.com/archives/xmen/

http://www.toymania.com/archives/ironman/

http://www.toymania.com/archives/spidey/

Toybiz Spider-Man Figure Archives:

http://www5c.biglobe.ne.jp/~spa-girl/35910034/

The Action Figure Archive:

http://figure-archive.net/index.htm

The Toybox1138:

http://thetoybox1138.blogspot.com/search/label/Toy%20Biz

Figure Collections:

http://figurecollections.com/line.php?id=790

http://figurecollections.com/brand.php?id=6

As an assist, I did add pages of Series, Assortments, and Waves in the first tab titled "The Toybiz Collection". There you will see how those have been broken down. I hope that this site is useful, helps to finish someone's collection and lights the spark for those who choose to start collecting something new. 

Enjoy.

Toyjesus