The Best Toy Lines of the Decade?

December 23, 2009 on 6:07 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

So I see every website and their sister doing best of the decade lists, and I can’t help but wonder – what are the best toy lines of 2000-2009?

I’m not ready for a definitive list yet, but I want to start collecting ideas. Here’s a preliminary list of lines that spring to mind – if you’ve got some more lines you think qualify, leave them in comments, and I’ll do a follow-up post some time in the new year. Get crackin’!

XEVOZ (Hasbro) Anyone who reads ToyFare knows that I have an unhealthy fixation with this late, lamented Hasbro line, which combined great poseability, complete customizability, great character designs and wacky, wacky characters (cowboys! gorillas! robots! ninjas! and much, much more!)

MUPPETS (Palisades) You won’t find another licensed line in the world where the company put so much obvious care and devotion into every single figure. Just typing this makes us miss Palisades.

MARVEL LEGENDS (Toy Biz/Hasbro) Tons of characters, incredible poseability and the introduction of build-a-figures? Legends will be influential for years and years to come.

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (Mattel) All of the above (well, they didn’t invent build-a-figures), plus an amazingly consistent style courtesy of sculpting team the Four Horsemen.

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2002), (Mattel) Speaking of the Horsemen, their reimagining of the classic 80s toy line resulted in some of the most fun designs ever seen on toy shelves.

WORLD OF SPRINGFIELD (Playmates) Before DC Universe Classics had us scratching our head at the obscure characters it included, WoS dared to put even the most minor of Simpsons characters on store shelves, all with a fun talking feature. Thank you, World of Springfield, for our Disco Stu and Stephen Hawking figures.

G.I. JOE 25TH ANNIVERSARY (Hasbro) Fan service done right! Hasbro presented the classic character designs with 21st Century toy design know-how, and Joe fans got the perfect birthday present (that lasted well past the 25th anniversary year).

So, that’s what I got off the top of my head. What else should be considered?