Action figures have been around since the 60's. It all started as a popular toy way back in 1965 when Hasbro, Inc came up with a line of G.I. Joe Action Soldiers line of toys. It quickly gained the acceptance among young boys as a toy to have for a gift. The action figure slowly became a very popular toy that eventually spread you to include superheroes, popular movie and comic book characters as well as animals and robots on its list.

The action figures became collectible items in the 1970's when more and more people began having their own action figure collection. People then began to make such a hobby quite a serious endeavor that clubs and communities that deal with action figure collecting began to sprout up. Nowadays, with a wide variety of action figures available, large and small, old and new, people are still on the lookout for the next action figure to come out and make it a part of their collection.

Collecting action figures may be as simple as collecting a number of such toys off the shelf from the neighborhood department store. But for the serious ones out there, there may be different other outlets where they may be able to get their action figure collectibles. And for the serious collectors, value is given more importance as well as the quality. Serious collectors become more particular with their collection by this time.

When it comes to value, collectors need to know the different ways how some action figures are produced and marketed. This will give collectors the idea of the value of a certain action figure and consider them a worthy item to add into their collection.

For collectors, the limited edition action figures seem to hold a value as a worthy collectible. These are action figures that may have limited production especially in a popular toy in order to enhance collector appeal. Such action figures are not meant to be sold in large quantities and in the same reason, made them a valuable collectible for many action figure collectors.

Prototypes of future action figures are also quite a valuable find for most collectors. Prototypes are usually test molds of newer action figures to help show the detail of the action figure before they are being placed for mass production. Most prototype figures usually come unpainted and may look unfinished since they are just meant as a testing model. Usually, such prototypes never leave the production area. Yet there are some instances that some of them might slip out and be sold in secondary markets. But some collectors may avoid pursuing such collectibles since they can be easy to fake. It takes a very knowledgeable collector to spot a fake from an authentic one.

Another action figure collectible that most collectors pursue are the exclusive models. Exclusives are usually items that are produced for a certain retailer that cannot be found in other retailers. This is especially available for large scale retailers who can afford to buy toys in massive quantities from a toy manufacturer. Such retailers may be able to request exclusive toys made only for their stores to attract customers. Such exclusive action figures make attractive collectibles for most collectors.