I Miss McFarlane’s Game

I’ll never forget the moment my concept of what an action figure could be changed. It was the late 1990s. I was walking around either a Spencer’s, Sam Goody, or something equally of the era, and saw something on the shelf I’d never seen before. It looked sort of like an action figure, but it was larger and far more detailed. This wasn’t something for kids. It was beyond that. Something for collectors who were a little past playing with toys, but not above buying them.

In that store, what I saw was called a Movie Maniac. First released in 1998 by McFarlane Toys, Movie Maniacs were 6″ figures based on famous characters from horror films. Specifically, among the first few were Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Leatherface. Each came with the associated weapons and even a cool little mini-display of their movie poster. Which, in 2026, sounds kind of normal. But this was 1998. You couldn’t just buy official figures from horror movies, especially not in a shopping mall. That just wasn’t a thing. And so when I pulled that plastic package off the peg, my life was forever changed.

What Movie Maniacs did, at least for me, was act as a bridge from childhood to adulthood, in terms of collecting. This wasn’t a $5 G.I. Joe or Star Wars toy, nor was it a $500 high-end statue. These figures were around $20 and, for that, you got a beautifully detailed, R-rated display piece. They also gave you the opportunity to show off your fandom in a decidedly unique way. Growing up, I definitely knew plenty of people who likedFriday the 13th orA Nightmare on Elm Street, but no one who had and would display toys of it. Maybe they had a Freddy shirt or a Jason poster. But that was about it.

Today, figures like this are everywhere. McFarlane Toys itself, the company that made Movie Maniacs, still makes Movie Maniacs, though they are no longer exclusively horror-themed. In its place, companies like NECA (whose Cult Classics series carried the torch admirably), Factory Entertainment and Super 7 have more than adequately picked up the slack from the original line, making figures in all sorts of sizes, genres, and varying levels of specificity. Often, modern figures are weirder and cooler than Movie Maniacs ever were. But Movie Maniacs got there first.

Even Star Wars andG.I.Joe, two brands that in the 1980s and 1990s were primarily making classic 3 3/4″ figures, now also make higher-end 6″ figures aimed at older collectors, called the Black Series and Classified Series, respectively.

Is of that directly a result of me (and others) walking into a store in 1998 and finding this incredible toy line? I like to think so. I’m no toy expert, and this isn’t an article about the history of Movie Maniacs. I just know that, in my experience, Movie Maniacs totally changed how I went on to collect toys, and it’s a trend I still see around today.

McFarlane’s Movie Maniacs went on to run for several years, and I remember scooping up as many as I could. Eventually, they even got off horror and moved into sci-fi, making even more toys for franchises I never, ever thought I’d own toys of Aliens, RoboCop, and Terminator 2. Today, you can buy toys from those at any Target. But that wasn’t the case in 1998.

So this Halloween, as we pop on our favorite scary movies to celebrate the season, appreciate that if you own an affordable, awesome collectible from one of those films, it might be because of the most incredible toy line ever: McFarlane’s Movie Maniacs. You can see the full line at this link.

Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.