the difference between an action figure and a doll?

[melancholymecha]

I collect various fashion dolls(Barbie, Disney, Begoths, Takara Jenny, Dollfie Plus) so this subject is of interst to me.
They tend to blur the line I guess...its funny I can consider the 12 inch Gi Joes to be dolls (& the 2 main 12 inch "do-it-yourself" doll companies, Volks & Obitsu, offer options to make both fashion dolls and more action oriented Gi Joe type dolls)

but the smaller action figures that are all hard plastic I find hard identifying as a doll, yet there are fashion dolls that are smaller than the usual 12 inch (like Bratz, Strawberry Shortcake.)

often it depends on how the company that makes the dolls want to market themselves as. Mattel, Integrity, Bleeding Edge make "fashion" dolls, Hot Toys, Dragon, Gi Joe make "action figures" but there's really no difference b/w the Uhura Barbie doll & the Joker Hot Toys 12 inch action figure.

 

[Casi]

I've been wanting to bring up the Volks and Dream of Doll lines myself. Now, BJD's are, obviously dolls. I mean...it's in thier title. And yet the more you customize one, the more like an action figure it can become. I guess I'm just at a loss as to where the line really is. Maybe we should just start making a chart on which toys are, and are not, action figures.

 

[dru]

There was an actual legal case having to do with importation as I recall. It was determined that action figures were, in fact, dolls. It was around '86 or thereabouts.

 

[Extrocomp]

Okay. I went ahead and did the obvious thing. Here's what the dictionary says:

Doll-a small figure representing a baby or other human being, esp. for use as a child's toy.

Action Figure-a toy doll representing a person or fictional character known for heroic or superheroic feats

Your dictionary is wrong. As someone mentioned before, a doll doesn't have to be human. Barbie frequently disguises herself as fairies mermaids, superheroes, and on rare occasions even supervillains. That throws the whole Toy Biz v. United States decision out the window. Villainous action figures are just as common as heroic ones. I've got an Alien Queen action figure accompanied by the corpse of a chestburster victim.

Here's another idea: If there's a series of toys that includes a toy with realistic hair, then all toys in that series are dolls, unless one of toys is a monster, in which case they're all action figures, even the one with the hair.

Does anyone know if dolls are made of the same type of plastic as action figures? There's something about dolls that just looks different. I thought it was the smile, but maybe it's the plastic.

 

[captcalhoun]

There was an actual legal case having to do with importation as I recall. It was determined that action figures were, in fact, dolls. It was around '86 or thereabouts.

se my post upthread.

 

[Smiley]

It's just like in those Venn diagram scenarios. All action figures are dolls, but not all dolls are action figures. It is purely marketing and indoctrination that determines when a doll with action features becomes known as an action figure.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

There was an actual legal case having to do with importation as I recall. It was determined that action figures were, in fact, dolls. It was around '86 or thereabouts.

se my post upthread.

Which AIR gave me a chuckle, because Hasbro got the slap down about ten years earlier when they couldn't claim GIJoes as plastic models anymore and had to declare them as dolls.

 

[Extrocomp]

New Topic, Same Theme

When does an action figure stop being an action figure and become just a plastic statue?

My McFarlane Alien Queen claims to be an action figure on the box but it's too heavy to play with and it has little things on the soles of its feet to stick it to its display base. It also has very limited articulation: shoulders, secondary arms, hips, a neck that can only bob up and down, and a bendable tail. Is it really an action figure or a plastic statue?

Are the Star Wars Unleashed toys action figures or plastic statues?

 

[Casi]

I've wondered that myself. I used to work at Midtown Comics and we constantly had to rearrange the upstairs portion because of differen't "action figures" coming out that we had to instead find room for in our statues cases. I think if you can't PLAY with it, it's neither a doll nor an action figure. And yours in particular can't possibly be an action figure, in my opinion, simply because it doesn't really meet the "action" part, does it?

 

[melancholymecha]

also if it costs over 50 bucks, I wouldnt want to play with it anyway, even if its advertised as an action figure...

 

[Extrocomp]

I have another question related to action figures. Most action figure have a hole or a hook-shaped curve at the top of the package, so they can hang from a metal wire at the store.

Does this hole or hook have a technical name?

 

[Casi]

I'm not sure if it has a name, but Dolls have them too. I saw a bunch of Barbies at the store the other day all hung up like that. Mostly the fairy/mermaid line versions.