Old Action Figures That Are Worth A Fortune In 2025

Toys and action figures are not exclusively for children. Admittedly, they are typically designed as playthings for kids at the beginning, of course. But as they age, they can become time capsules with price tags that make you gasp. Examples worth a ton of money include certain 1990s Beanie Babies, McDonald's Happy Meal toys, and WWE toys such as the "Undertaker," as well as Star Wars collectibles and other iconic toys from the 1980s. What changed? Fans of the toys did. They grew up, and those "toys to play with" from the 1960s through the 2000s are now objects of nostalgic devotion. Collecting childhood treasures works on a few simple rules. First, scarcity: limited runs, mail-away exclusives, and odd factory errors. Second, condition: most kids tore the blister pack open and played hard, so finding a sealed, pristine, and unpunished action figure is like spotting Bigfoot in your yard. And third, cultural pull: tiny sculptures of heroes and villains that shaped an era.

Before game consoles ruled the living room, action figures let children build their own universes. No preset levels, no scripted cut scenes –– just imagination. That's part of the magic. When collectors have a figurine in their crosshairs, they're buying a story as much as the figure. It's about the Saturday morning cartoon, the blockbuster summer, late-night game rounds, and the friend who had the rare one but wouldn't share. The below vintage action figures command serious money in 2025. If you've got one in a shoebox –– or know someone who does –– don't shrug it off. You may be sitting on a small fortune.

Not all mega-valuable action figures hail from the distant past. Some are modern, like the surprise hit from 2008, the Cloverfield Monster figurine. Yes, the gigantic, gangly creature from J.J. Abrams' film "Cloverfield" got its own plaything. Hasbro produced a 14-inch tall, highly detailed Cloverfield Monster as a limited edition through its online store. It wasn't sold in retail shops; you had to pre-order it sight unseen, which only the most dedicated monster movie fans did. At the time, it cost around $100 (expensive for an action figure). Because of its high price and the fact that Cloverfield was more of a cult than a mainstream franchise, only a few of these big beasts made their way out of the cage.

But as usual, the secondary market interpreted it differently: the Cloverfield Monster became a legend. The figure's scarcity, along with the lack of any subsequent merchandise, transformed it into a hot collector's item. The Kaijuologist notes that a figure that originally sold for $100 these days commands between $1,500 and $2,750 on sites including eBay, with some sellers even asking more if the toy is new in box. It's not quite in the five or six figures like some vintage toys, but for a 21st-century piece to reach multiple thousands is pretty astonishing. When Hasbro put the figure out, many thought, "Who's going to pay triple digits for a monster from an oddball movie?" The answer ended up being: a handful of very smart fans, and now the rest are kicking themselves.

Among the legends of action figure mythology, few are as bizarre and intriguing as Wonder Bread He-Man. The name alone invites confusion. Did He-Man fight Skeletor with enriched white bread? Not quite. This model is a mysterious variant of the iconic Masters of the Universe (MOTU) hero that never saw the shelves. In the early 1980s, Mattel ran campaigns to spark interest in the MOTU line. According to fan stories and some old-timer recollections, a promotion involved "buy three, get one free" on a He-Man figure. But the He-Man offered was not the usual version. He had brown hair instead of blonde and featured black armor and weapons from the character Zodac. For some crazy reason, rumors swirled about a partnership with Wonder Bread –– though Mattel never confirmed the bakery tie-in.

But as the figure lacked an official name –– and the bread myth had already gone viral and stuck –– years later, collectors dubbed him "Wonder Bread He-Man" or sometimes "Savage He-Man." Another fable says this action figure was originally destined for Conan the Barbarian, but since Mattel considered that wouldn't work well, it repurposed the toy as He-Man. In fact, if you pay attention, it looks more like Conan than MOTU's He-Man. Anyhow, the very existence of this figurine reached the status of an urban legend. In 2021, a rare example of those mysterious action figures sold at auction for about $3,200, and that one was loose (no package). You might say this rare version of He-Man is the best thing since sliced bread.

By the early 1990s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was winding down its original toy line. Playmates Toys had pumped out dozens of wacky characters, and store shelves overflowed with Ninja Turtles variants. In 1993, as the last wave of figures arrived without much fuss, a character slipped through the cracks –– a little-known feline burglar named Scratch. If you've never heard of Scratch the Cat, you're part of the crowd. He wasn't in the cartoon or movies; he was a one-off character: a prison-uniform-clad cat with a ball-and-chain accessory. Kids in '93 grew more interested in video games or Power Rangers, so Scratch barely got ordered by stores. Thus, its figures were produced in low numbers.

Fast forward to "Turtle-mania" among collectors, and Scratch has emerged as the rarest Ninja Turtle figure to find. Every TMNT enthusiast who wishes a complete set needs this elusive cat, and here's where the prices skyrocket. Scratch has been valued at around $4,000 to $6,000 for a mint-on-card example, and even a loose one (without packaging) can fetch over $1,000 provided it has all its little accessories. In May 2023, a flawless Scratch figure reportedly sold for about $5,999, setting a new benchmark. Cowabunga! Not bad for a toy which, if you'd found it at KB Toys in '93, would have cost $5 on clearance. A joke for this situation could be, "Nobody owned that toy as a kid, but everybody wants one as an adult." Scratch symbolizes the end of an era: the last vintage TMNT figure.

"In space, no one can hear you scream." Yes, sure, but in the collector's market, everyone can see the price tag and whistle in awe. Riding high on the success of Star Wars toys, Kenner agreed to produce merchandise for a very different sci-fi movie: "Alien." Remember that film? It was the terrifying, R-rated horror flick with an extraterrestrial monster confined in a spaceship with Lt. Ellen Louise Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Impressively designed for its time, the Alien's 18-inch Xenomorph featured a creepy extendable inner jaw, a clear skull dome showing its brain, and spring-loaded arms. But parents and kids weren't too keen on it –– too scary, they said. Indeed, some stores pulled it after complaints from freaked-out customers.

Soon, Kenner canceled the entire Alien line. Most unsold units were likely disarmed or on clearance, shifting into a bizarre footnote in toy history. But the creature didn't stay hidden forever. Collectors realized that a pristine 1979 Alien's 18-inch Xenomorph was a rare gem. For instance, in 2025, a boxed, AFA-graded specimen sold for $7,139 at Hake's auction. Perhaps the blister-sealed Alien was ahead of its time; people weren't prepared for a toy like that. An action figure deemed "too frightening for kids" became a nostalgic relic for grown-ups with fond memories of being terrified by a living thing coming from a sci-fi nightmare.

In 1979, the Mego toy company decided to jump into the "stretchy toy" craze. Kenner, the manufacturer of Star Wars action figures, had "Stretch Armstrong," a gel-filled doll that stretched like taffy. Mego's idea? An elastic Batman you could yank by the arms and legs, twist into knots, and then watch spring back into shape — a wild concept. In a stroke of bad luck for Mego, Kenner filed a lawsuit for essentially copying Stretch Armstrong's gimmick. To make matters worse, the figurine's latex rubber skin and the goo inside tended to degrade and crack over time. In short, few Elastic Batmen survived the 1980s. These days, hobbyists believe only a handful might remain in any condition. This scarcity has driven prices into the bat-stratosphere.

In recent years, collectors have paid up to about $15,000 for an Elastic Batman in decent shape. That's right — for a toy that cost $16 in 1979. Still, beat-up ones, with some cracks can fetch surprising sums because a repairable specimen could be the only chance a collector has to own one. For many, this elastic action figure is a legendary piece of Batman toys because it was a failed experiment Mego quickly abandoned. The irony here is that this character, known for his strength, was created so fragile that almost none of the figures survived. There's an anecdote of a collector finding an Elastic Batman stuck in a permanently stretched pose, yet intact — it was like discovering a relic. Speaking of relics, if you're a staunch Bat-fan, you might be interested in another rarity: the Ideal Super Queens Batgirl, which is worth even more than this flexible version.

Tiny and shrouded in mystery, this other Star Wars model could fund your next vacation. In the original 1978 Star Wars action figure line, the Jawa (a glowing-eyed scavenger from Tatooine) was at first released with a stiff vinyl cape. However, the story goes that Kenner, the manufacturer, assumed that the plastic cape made the Jawa look, well, too cheap for its $1.99 price. After all, the Jawa was half the size of other figures but sold for the same price. So, in early 1978, the designers switched the Jawa's outfit to a cloth cape (a little brown hooded robe). The swap happened at the beginning of the production stage, meaning vinyl-caped Jawas barely hit the shelves.

Soon collectors realized that a genuine vinyl cape Jawa is one of the hardest figures to find from Star Wars. If you happen to have a Jawa still wearing such a glossy vinyl cape, you're sitting on a treasure worth thousands. Back in 2016, its value hovered around $2,000, but recent high-grade examples have blown past that. In a 2024 Heritage auction, a mint-condition vinyl cape Jawa (sealed on its card) sold for about $30,000. Not bad for a figure literally shorter than a clothespin. Even loose, a vinyl Jawa in nice shape can easily hit five digits among dedicated connoisseurs. What's the appeal? Part of its rarity and part of its charming backstory. This is the case where a last-minute corporate decision ("Let's upgrade the costume") inadvertently created a collector's dream.

Children everywhere were fascinated by the Transformers –– robots that could change from vehicles into warriors. From the broad range of figurines, one of the most impressive toys from the original line was Devastator, a giant robot formed by six smaller construction vehicles (the Constructicons). Each Constructicon was sold separately or in a special boxed gift set, which included all six in the same package. That stunning bundle topped a boy's birthday list. However, the Devastator set didn't have a large stock. It was a high-priced item. As a result, finding an authentic 1985 Devastator, especially a specimen that wasn't opened and played to death, became quite challenging as the years went by.

Right now, collectors revere the Devastator gift set as one of the crown jewels of Generation 1 Transformers collecting. In fact, an unopened, graded Devastator gift set broke records in 2019 when it sold for $40,000 — more than an actual used bulldozer or cement mixer. Ironic, isn't it? What drives the price of this figure? Transformers action figures are worth a ton of money because they were often played hard. As you might remember, they transformed, combined, and battled. So, a lot of sets are missing pieces or have broken parts. A complete Devastator loose is one thing, but a never-opened unit is another level of scarcity.

May 25th, 1977, was a sunny, 70°F day in Los Angeles — the day "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" hit the screens. In late 1976, the film got its first teaser trailers showing a sneak peek of George Lucas's space fantasy, with the main marketing push beginning in early 1977. Premiered in a limited number of theaters — 20th Century Fox had deemed it a financial risk — Star Wars emerged as one of the most acclaimed, popular, and enduring cultural phenomena worldwide. Following the movie's explosive success, Kenner rushed to produce its debut line of action figures. Among the most coveted stood Luke Skywalker, the Force Awakener, featuring a lightsaber. Every child wanted to have a lightsaber.

Early buyers of the action figure discovered something special: Luke's lightsaber wasn't one plastic segment — it featured two sections, mimicking the effect seen in the film. Wow! Yet, the mechanism proved very fragile for rough play; thus, Kenner redesigned it into a single, solid piece. Too bad, so sad. It happened so fast that most children never spotted the double-telescoping version in stores. Today, finding an intact double-telescoping Luke sealed on its original card feels like unearthing a mythical treasure. One rare Luke Skywalker sold for around $25,000 at a Sotheby's auction in 2015, but prices have only climbed since. In 2025, a high-grade example of a double-telescoping Luke was valued at about $100,000 at LCG Auctions. It seems this vintage Luke Skywalker could use the Force to reach a value of $1 million or more in the next 20 years.

This prototype indeed set in motion the $100 billion action figure industry and proved that boys, not just girls, would have fun with posable figures. Before action figures existed, boys played with stiff toy soldiers and girls with Barbies. This changed when Hasbro introduced G.I. Joe, dubbed "America's Movable Fighting Man." Everything started in 1963, when toy designer Don Levine crafted the first G.I. Joe by hand: 11.5 inches tall with wire-spring joints, a hand-painted head, and a meticulously sewn uniform. A radical idea at the moment, such a sample was used to pitch the concept of an articulated soldier doll for boys. By 1964, G.I. Joe hit store shelves, and an entire era of action figure history was born (Hasbro ultimately sold 375 million G.I. Joe figures in the following decades).

For a long time, this one-of-a-kind model remained in a plain cardboard box in Levine's Rhode Island home, appreciated by only a few insiders. Forty years passed, and that very prototype resurfaced and hit the auction block in 2003. Collectors knew this was basically "the first action figure ever." Despite an initial auction listing, the G.I. Joe prototype was eventually snapped up in a private sale for a hefty $200,000 as per CBS. It should have been more because of what the toy represented. After getting the figurine, the buyer, Stephen Geppi, was in seventh heaven. "My God, I can't believe this. This is like a precious item," he said to CBS News. He even compared its cultural importance to a gallery artifact, noting, "This is a piece of Americana that belongs in a museum."

Owning this figure is comparable to holding the Mona Lisa of action figures. In 1979, Kenner, the company that made the original Star Wars action figures, offered fans a Boba Fett with a backpack and a small, spring-loaded rocket on top. The idea was to press a button and fire the missile. But the toy remained unavailable in stores, as it was a promotional, mail-away figure to build hype for the character before his official big-screen debut in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. To get one, kids needed to collect "proof-of-purchase" seals from other Star Wars toy boxes and send them. But at the last minute, Kenner decided to change the design due to concerns about potential choking hazards from the small projectile. Toy companies had grown wary after a child's death with a similar object.

So, Kenner permanently glued the rocket to the backpack. The rocket-firing Boba Fett was never released. What a disillusionment for those expecting a toy firing a rocket but receiving one that could not. Fast forward to today, Boba Fett's reputation as a galactic bounty extended to the collector's market. Only an estimated three examples of this version survive in the wild, instantly recognizable by the small missile on its back that actually launches. One of these ultra-rare figures, still in pristine condition, went up for auction in 2024 and fetched an astronomical $1.34 million, setting a world record as one of the most expensive Star Wars toy ever sold. Yes, over a million for a 3.75-inch piece of plastic. It happened even though Boba Fett didn't have the caliber of the main characters, namely Luke Skywalker or Han Solo, but kids were enthralled by his cool armor and, perhaps, personality.