How are action figures made?

The process to make an action figure has changed radically in recent years, where much of the 3D design work is done using modeling software. The process below is a general overview of the process, and it’s important to note that each company may not follow each of the steps outlined below, but it serves as a rough outline to the general process.

What is a toy prototype?

The items that were created as a result of the steps listed here are often referred to as “prototypes” or “pre-production” items, and have become incredibly desired within many collecting circles.

Reference Materials and Specifications

The earliest of stages in creating any toy or action figure would be the original specifications. This documentation can be found in various forms and stages- including hand drawn blueprints and engineering diagrams. These specifications would establish requirements for both sizing and articulation. In this stage, designers would receive both the specifications and additional reference materials (generally photographs and other print media showing the intended design elements for the figure). This documentation would the be provided to a sculptor to create the first 3D prototypes. In some cases, if they were available, sculptors would even use the movies (or shows) as reference material.

Clay Sculpts

Oil-based clay was often used to create the earliest forms of a 3D representation. These are generally referred to as ‘clay roughs’ as the sculpt does not contain a significant level of detail- in most cases the figure shape would be recognizable, but final details would not be added until later in the sculpting process. The clay rough would serve as a foundation in which the very earliest of molds could be created. Sculptors would then use these molds to create wax casts, where the real detail would be sculpted in (or in some case, added on).

Wax Sculpts

Not every figure would start with a clay rough, some were created entirely from wax. At this stage, sculptors would use their preferred wax – in some cases, like Kenner, the wax was created in house and provided to sculptors. Others would obtain wax from companies like Mattel or Westwood Ceramics, and in some cases would even create their own recipe. Sculptors use a variety of tools to create detail within the sculpt- often times sculptors would create their own tools using thick wire, dental picks, or really anything that they felt would help obtain the level of detail required for the sculpt. In some cases during the sculpting process, wax would need to be added- in this case, a tool called a ‘waxer’ would be used to heat and shape the wax additions.

In cases where sculptors couldn’t achieve the desired level of detail in sculpting the figure at 1:1 scale (the same size as the final version), other scales would be used. A 2:1 scale, or “2 up”, was most often used in this case- this allowed sculptors to add detail to a model that was twice the size of the final product. Another example would be Kenner’s Micro Star Wars, which were sculpted at 4x the size (4:1) of the final version, which are referred to as “4 ups.” In these cases, a pantograph machine would later be used when creating the steel molds to reduce the size by 50% in order to retain the final desired dimensions.

When a sculptor was finished, the wax sculpt would be used to create a rubber or silicon mold to be used to cast a more sturdy version of the sculpt in urethane.

Wax Casts

It’s important to note that in many cases, sculptors would use the molds created in the steps above to create wax casts. These casts would have been created for a variety of reasons- experimentation, backup copies, and in some cases, a cast from a formerly sculpted figure would be used as a starting point to modify the sculpt to fit a new figure. These casts, while still produced in very low quantities, are slightly less desirable than their hand sculpted counterparts, which are often a one of a kind item. Final waxes will contain the highest level of detail of the figure.

How can I tell the difference between a cast and a sculpt?

Since the number of variables may vary, it can be difficult to tell the difference between an original wax and a casting, Below, I’ve listed a few items to look for, but it’s important to note that these aren’t always the end all be all. For example, it’s possible that a casting was made, altered slightly, and then used as the final design for the figure- in this case, the item would indeed be a cast, but also a final wax.

A final sculpt will not have air bubbles, whereas a wax cast may (noticeable in the picture above on the boot straps)

An original sculpt will have plastic discs embedded into the wax at the points of articulation (arms, legs, head, etc).

Originals may have pencil or markings denoting the parting lines for the mold

Other Sculpting Materials

It’s also important to note that while wax was generally the go-to for sculpting purposes, other materials were also used. Most notably, a renowned sculptor named Bill Lemon was known for his use of Acetate, which is a significantly harder material than wax.

Silicon / Rubber Molds

Since wax is very fragile, a durable prototype of the figure would have to be made in order to create the steel injection molds. From the final wax, a silicon mold would be created. This mold would retain much of the sculpted detail. These molds would be used to create a urethane / resin version of the figure, leaving a durable copy of the wax sculpt.

Resin Hardcopies

The urethane / resin versions created from the silicon molds are most commonly referred to as hardcopies. These hardcopies would ultimately be used to create the steel molds used for injection molding the final production toys. Hardcopies would also be used for a wide variety of other things, including final design considerations (things like paint applications, etc), used for final licensing approval, and also used to promote the upcoming toy line at industry events such as Toy Fair.

Steel Molds

In order to go into mass production, multiple steel injection molds would need to be created. These molds were incredibly durable and could withstand the injection molding process required to create hundreds of thousands (or more) of the figures. In most cases, a pantograph machine was used to scale the 3D hardcopy and create the steel molds. After this, the molds would often be tooled by hand to include any additional detail not included on the hardcopy, such as copyrights and dates. Then, the mold would be polished and prepared for production.

First Shots / Test Shots

After creating the injection molds, the molds would be tested with relatively small batches. These batches happened throughout the mold making process, including before and after the mold was hand tooled- for instance, many first shots can be identified by a lack of dates and copyright markings vs. their production counterparts. Often times, these test shots are found in colors that were not used in the final production versions (known conveniently as ‘non-production colored’) – at this stage, the tests were simply of the mold itself, and these tests would utilize whatever plastic was already in the injection mold. These test shots can vary wildly, with some being painted via the standard paint masks, others are handpainted, and plenty are unpainted.