Is Jazwares The Toy Company Action Figure Collectors Have Been Waiting For?

[JayC]

We had a lot of new stuff thrown at us during the New York Toy Fair this past weekend, but I think the company that impressed me the most was Jazwares.
 

Now Jazwares is not new to the action figure ball game with lines like Mortal Kombat in the past, but I think they have really stepped up their game in the last several years. It started with their new line of Fortnite figures which they launched in 3.75” and 6.5” scale. That they did both scales is something becoming less and less common in today’s action figure world, but more impressive than the dual scales is that they executed both very well. They managed to give us detailed and articulated figures with a fair amount of accessories, all at an affordable price. In the larger 6.5” scale, that is not terribly uncommon. But in the smaller 3.75” scale, more and more we are told that just isn’t possible.
 

On top of all that, the Jazwares Fortnite stuff is something I have found to be easily obtainable at various major retailers. Imagine that, being able to go into a store with a reasonable expectation of finding what you are looking for.
 

Now in all honesty, Fortnite is a property that I personally have little interest in, something I think might be true with many adult action figure collectors. After all, the line is based on a video game property that is hugely popular with young kids more than adults. Even though the line itself seems to have been well done in multiple scales and released in large numbers at affordable prices, it may not have really entered the radar of those who collect action figures. This year, that might change.
 

Jazwares is expanding their action figure portfolio with several new properties, all of which should register more with adults. The first line includes figures from the new AEW wrestling league (which airs on TNT), the new competitor to WWE. Now for me personally, I don’t watch much wrestling anymore and have yet to watch a single episode of AEW. So I have no personal attachment to this line, however I was blown away with the detail when I saw their new figures in person. The likenesses were uncanny, and the designs and articulation looked really good. Wrestling figures can sometimes be difficult to make look good, because the characters don’t generally wear a lot of clothing to hide things like joints. I think Jazwares knocked these out of the ball park, so much so that I am actually tempted to go start watching AEW wrestling for the first time. They are also doing an incredibly huge wrestling ring for these guys to fight in, bigger than any ring of this type I have seen done before. If you are a wrestling fan, this is a line I think you will want to pay close attention to.
 

Next up is UFC. Similar to the AEW stuff, these figures, while still in early prototype phase, looked pretty good as well. I can’t wait until everyone gets to see these.
 

Finally comes Halo, another video game based line. Unlike Fortnite, this is a game series more appealing to adults. Like with Fortnite, Jazwares will be doing figures in both 3.75” and 6.5” scales.
 

Also like with the Fortnite, the figures in both scales seem to be well made with a fair amount of articulation and will include decent accessories. We are even getting vehicles right out the gate with the 3.75” stuff, a cool looking Halo buggy that is decently sized and only costs $30. Makes you wonder why other companies are releasing similar sized stuff at twice that cost??? Besides vehicles, the 3.75” figures are said to be in actual scale with one another so that they aren’t all the same size and they will come with connecting figure diorama type stands to help re-create scenes from the game.
 

Now since none of these newer figures have yet to be released, I can’t speak on availability. But my guess is they will be as widely available as the Fortnite stuff.

All-in-all I think it’s safe to say Jazwares is really firing on all cylinders right now. While they still might not be working with many of the super popular properties that are out there, I think everyone should take notice of what they are doing and how they seem to be accomplishing things that other companies say just isn’t possible anymore in today’s turbulent retail environment.

Check out more images for upcoming Jazwares products that were shown off during Toy Fair last weekend in the GALLERY below.

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[SpiderS]

I wish they would get legendary comic heroes type license, now that would be awesome even tho really hard to get. 

[FigureKingdom]

Jazwares really caught a lot of collectors off guard and came in STRONG. AEW and UFC are the lines that I can see going strong for years. It feels different, unique, and cool. I will be supporting them for sure! 

[Nerdyeggroll]

Yeah that pentagon jr figure looks sick. I wish the fortnight figures were alittle bigger to fit in with legends because I never picked up the royal flush gang cause the were a tad too small 

[Asterix]

>fortnite

>Halo

>wrestling

 

ugh. well certainly not the company that THIS collector has been waiting for. 

[cvg_1345367589]

They will be the company to watch. They look like the modern day toybiz. They have stepped up their game big time. The naysayers can say what they want as this will open doors for JW now. This stuff looks pretty impressive. There are other licenses other than dc and marvel btw.  Halo looks pretty impressive w the vacume formed reflective visor. 

[yojoebro82]

Well there is this bit about them getting the GI Joe license as well.  

https://news.hisstank.com/2020/01/05/jazwares-acquires-hasbro-g-i-joe-license-67547?fbclid=IwAR33rXAY1Bvq1iZTgcT7iLxeiJjrFshJyMFh3YINInbKRVZP_f8R_aJlFp0

 

I'm intrigued particularly when it comes to the 3.75" stuff.  Because Hasbro's 6" stuff so far is not knocking my sox off.

[Biggbubb]

8 hours ago, SpiderS said:

I wish they would get legendary comic heroes type license, now that would be awesome even tho really hard to get. 

That’d be great. I’d like them to do public domain characters like the original Daredevil and the Black Terror in 6” scale

[Biggbubb]

I’m still heartbroken they’re not doing Danger Mouse anymore . They had some great stuff lined up.

[bgiles73]

I would love to see Jazwares get a license for Star Trek. It would be really cool to have an expansive line of 3 3/4” Star Trek figures covering all the different eras and the many alien species. 3 3/4” would allow for cool playsets and Star ships. I also would not mind if they gave us a line of mini-ships.

[yojoebro82]

27 minutes ago, bgiles73 said:

I would love to see Jazwares get a license for Star Trek. It would be really cool to have an expansive line of 3 3/4” Star Trek figures covering all the different eras and the many alien species. 3 3/4” would allow for cool playsets and Star ships. I also would not mind if they gave us a line of mini-ships.

I would pay attention to ANY company that does an expansive Star Trek line.  Unfortunately the "expansive" part seems to be the trickiest thing.  Whenever a company says they're doing Star Trek, it's basically Kirk, Sock, and done.  

[bgiles73]

1 hour ago, yojoebro82 said:

I would pay attention to ANY company that does an expansive Star Trek line.  Unfortunately the "expansive" part seems to be the trickiest thing.  Whenever a company says they're doing Star Trek, it's basically Kirk, Sock, and done.  

Maybe what would work is to just do some cool looking characters from across all the franchise. I know a good part of the appeal in the Star Trek Online game is being able to make up a character from different species, timeframes etc. I guess time will tell if Discovery and Picard era fans can support toy lines going forward but there is quickly building up new areas to draw ideas from. There’s still a whole lot left to come including some directly marketed towards that younger Fortnite audience so maybe in the not to distant future the tables will turn. Do I think we will ever get expansive like Star Wars? I think not, but in saying expansive here I meaning to at least be inclusive of what’s come before where it makes sense.

[supermancrotch]

My family and myself love Jazwares

 

They have a super fantastic distribution they are available every where in my country, quality productos, great articulation, great paint, great sculpt, good prices, great franchises

I LOVE THEM

[mako]

12 hours ago, yojoebro82 said:

I would pay attention to ANY company that does an expansive Star Trek line.  Unfortunately the "expansive" part seems to be the trickiest thing.  Whenever a company says they're doing Star Trek, it's basically Kirk, Sock, and done.  

Joe! Where ya been? I thought you kissed this place off a long time ago.

As to Trek, I can kind of understand keeping Trek "lean and mean." With the exception of DST (probably due to their business model at the time), everyone from Mego to Playmates who tried to do an "expansive" Trek line met with failure. Seems counter-intuitive given Trek's unique position in the pop-culture lexicon, but there it is.

It's like raising the Titanic. Sure, they COULD, but who wants pour millions into a project that's just gonna fall apart the second it sees daylight?

As for Jazwares, I've been a fan for years. They never had the highest profile, but they always plugged along and managed to roll out the most interesting lines. I think the first time I took notice of them was around the time they busted out those "economy"" versions of Sota's (remember Sota?) Street Fighter figures.

[Belmont13]

I'm not sure if it's the toy company collectors have been waiting for as I feel that's kind of a blanket statement. That said, they have improved a lot over the years and they are coming up with some nice looking figures like the AEW ones but it's not like they are breaking new ground.

[JayC]

13 minutes ago, Belmont13 said:

I'm not sure if it's the toy company collectors have been waiting for as I feel that's kind of a blanket statement. That said, they have improved a lot over the years and they are coming up with some nice looking figures like the AEW ones but it's not like they are breaking new ground.

I think some are kinda missing the point and focusing on the specific properties. I personally have little interest in Halo, AEW or Fortnite, but when you see what they are accomplishing with those properties. Giving us nicely articulated and detailed figures in both 6" and 3.75 along with vehicles that are all reasonably priced and widely available, I think that is something to take notice of. Is AEW "groundbreaking", not really but they are def nice looking figures. Again its not about a specific property, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to walk into your local retail store and have a reasonable expectation of finding what you wanted without paying outrageous prices? Figures that look good, have decent accessories and good articulation for both  6" collector and 3.75" collectors??? Isn't that what ever collector wants no matter what property it is that interests them personally? 

[bgiles73]

I agree with what you are saying JayC! Definitely a dream come true to have multiple scales on the affordable end. As to Hasbro subbing out GI Joe to Jazzwares for 3 3/4” I can’t wait to see that and I hope the same thing could maybe happen for Dungeons and Dragons! I’d love to see that line in stores again!

[JHS1988]

Jazwares definitely showed off some great looking figures this past weekend. I am definitely looking forward to their lines they showed off. I can’t wait to see the UFC line. Also they seem to be big on accessories with figures which is I think is awesome.

[DylanRaven055]

Gotta say, as a Halo fan, this company is really kicking it out of the park for me. I don't know anything about their other properties, but all of them look very nice. I've even recently bought one of their 6" Fortnite figures just to check them out, and it looks awesome. There's a ton of articulation and accessories. Really looking forward to what they will offer in the future.

As for them getting other more mainstream properties, only one I see kinda possible would be DC, and only if McFarlane figures happen to do badly in the long run. Really a company I'll be keeping an eye on, especially since Mattel now doesn't have anything that interest me.

[yojoebro82]

On 2/28/2020 at 9:05 AM, mako said:

Joe! Where ya been? I thought you kissed this place off a long time ago.

 

I have been reduced to lurking for the most part.  Mainly just staying busy with work, child, and dealing with my basement (aka figure display room) that got flooded out last year.  It has been a long, long road, but the end is in sight.  Repairs are almost done and will hopefully be able to get the figures put back on display within the month!

[Zerzar999]

On 2/28/2020 at 9:27 AM, JayC said:

I think some are kinda missing the point and focusing on the specific properties. I personally have little interest in Halo, AEW or Fortnite, but when you see what they are accomplishing with those properties. Giving us nicely articulated and detailed figures in both 6" and 3.75 along with vehicles that are all reasonably priced and widely available, I think that is something to take notice of. Is AEW "groundbreaking", not really but they are def nice looking figures. Again its not about a specific property, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to walk into your local retail store and have a reasonable expectation of finding what you wanted without paying outrageous prices? Figures that look good, have decent accessories and good articulation for both  6" collector and 3.75" collectors??? Isn't that what ever collector wants no matter what property it is that interests them personally? 

This is spot on. You may not be fans of the specific properties but you have to respect what they've done with them and at the same price point of companies that do much less. They are much like Toybiz when they broke out and the company does employ talent from TB, Mattel and McFarlane. This is both an advantage and a weakness because as their quality and performance versus cost ratio starts to expose other companies like Mattel and Hasbro I fear they will all just team up on the little guy once again and put them out of business as they did TB. That's the real story. Anything on Wikipedia is nothing but a watered down diversionary fairy tale.

As for the properties I'd like to see, I would love for DC to give them a crack at a 6" line. I am not a fan of the way McFarlane insisted on doing a 7" line and I've not collected a single DC figure since it started. And to be honest, they look good but I'm very unimpressed by the articulation and accessories. It seems that since McFarlane sticks to the 7" scale that the license may allow a 6" line to be awarded to another company under another name like DC Gold or DC Prime rather than the DC Multiverse that was awarded to MFT. With both MFT and Jazzwares having rights to same properties like Halo and Fortniteat 6" and 7" scales respectively, I don't see why they can't do it with DC as well.

All due respect to DC toy fans who've been quick to MFT's defense as they are either truly happy with the 7" scale or have convinced themselves they are okay with the 7" scale, but I think it was a mistake on MFT's part and a big mistake on DC's part to allow them to take it to 7". I know for a fact that they are losing out on a big chunk of the fan base by not making the figures compatible with Marvel Legends and other lines. Many people consider ML the standard and like it or not many fan of DC and non-fans alike were counting on finally having a quality DC line to go toe to toe with what Hasbro's done with Marvel and there are a lot of non DC fans that still collected Mattel's DC Multiverse just so they could Batman and Captain America or Thor and Superman duke it out. I know they've lost my money and I've moved on to Jazzwares' Fortnite figures just for their cool designs, superior articulation and awesome accessories. This could have been DC's action figure future.

[abnuggler]

Ive never really been a huge fan of the jazzwares figures, and even though they seem to be doing some really decent job with their properties I dont see what the fuzz is all about, at least to me the properties they are doing arent that intresting (I know thats just a personal opinion) but the figure tooling/paint/articulation/design/deatil is just as good as most massive retail figure companies I dont see them really doing something worth a praise over any other (again thats just me) same goes for mcfarlane (both seem like they are doing good and have been doing better things lately but none have really done anything in the line of being a game changer IMO) I dont fault them in any way I just think theyre doing as much as can be expected from them and nothing out of the ordinary so I dont think they are quite "the action figure company we've been wanting for" at least not yet