You Won’t Believe Some of the Movies That Have Gotten Toy Lines

Don’t be shocked when movie studios try to make money – it’s a business, not a charity. They’re always going to look for ways to promote their films and products.

Some movies lend themselves to merchandise more easily than others. Things like superhero action figures and princess dolls are always popular with kids – and that’s a big reason why movies like Frozen can be huge hits. With every new Star Wars or Marvel movie, you can expect a line of action figures to follow. This merchandise isn’t just about extra profit; it helps promote the films and offset the massive costs of making them.

However, the potential for making money from merchandise can be very tempting for films that aren’t huge franchises like Star Wars or Marvel, or obvious candidates for their own toy lines. Throughout the 1980s, 90s, and even now, some films that really shouldn’t have had toy lines have ended up with complete collections of toys.

Below are 20 surprisingly strange examples, including movies with mature content that were clearly not meant for kids, and some incredibly dull films that just didn’t fit the fun, vibrant world of toys. Be warned: browsing the images might tempt you to buy a few on eBay! Seriously, who wouldn’t want a Judd Nelson Steel action figure? Everyone does!

20 Inexplicable Toy Lines Based on Movies

Dune (1984)

Starting in May 1977, Hollywood became obsessed with finding the next big hit like Star Wars. For the next ten years, countless science fiction movies were made, simply because studios believed anything with spaceships, robots, or monsters would be incredibly profitable. This led to some strange decisions – even movies that weren’t suited for children’s toys, like David Lynch’s Dune, received them anyway. Dune is a bizarre and challenging film, which is part of what makes it good, but it’s not the kind of movie that would normally inspire kids to ask for action figures. Despite this, LJN released a huge line of Dune merchandise, including many action figures and a massive sandworm toy. And, well, looking at a picture of it, you can see how… unique it was.

Aliens (1986)

It’s surprising how many R-rated movies from the 80s and 90s had tie-in toy lines. Often, these films—like Rambo, Police Academy, and RoboCop—could justify the toys because they also had more kid-friendly, PG-rated cartoon series. (While adapting R-rated movies for children isn’t ideal, that’s a separate discussion.) James Cameron’s Aliens, however, was always a very violent and frightening action-horror film. The Aliens toy line from Kenner allowed children to play out the terrifying scene where the Space Marines are destroyed on the planet LV-426.

Demolition Man (1993)

It’s funny how some really violent R-rated movies, like Demolition Man, ended up with toy lines. It just shows how these action movies were often turned into colorful toys for kids. The Wesley Snipes action figure, for example, even came with a “scorching torch-action” feature – basically encouraging kids to ‘burn’ their other toys!

Coneheads (1993)

Playmates, the company known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, also found success creating toys based on popular movies and TV shows like Dick Tracy and Star Trek. They then tried to capitalize on that success with toys based on Coneheads, the movie version of the classic Saturday Night Live sketch starring Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. While the toys themselves look pretty accurate, it’s unclear who they were intended for. Coneheads is about aliens pretending to be humans on Earth, but they don’t really do things you’d expect from action figures – they play golf and eat at Subway! It’s hard to imagine kids wanting toys of that.

Stargate (1994)

You know, everyone’s always talking about rebooting Star Wars, but what about Stargate? Now, that could be something special. Imagine James Spader as the lead! Still not grabbing you? Okay, how about this: picture his action figure – a totally buff Spader, ridiculously muscular, holding a comically oversized rifle. Would that get your attention? Is the hype train starting to leave the station yet?

Waterworld (1995)

I remember being so excited for Waterworld, but looking back, it’s funny to realize it was Kevin Costner’s second attempt at a big toy line in the nineties – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves had a ton of merchandise in ’91! The cool thing about Robin Hood was you didn’t even need to like the movie to enjoy the toys – any kid who loved the story or just wanted a bow and arrow was happy. But Waterworld… well, it was all about Waterworld and, let’s be honest, a very specific image of Kevin Costner. It didn’t have an established story to fall back on, just… wet Kevin Costner. I always thought it was a shame his action figure didn’t come with a little urine recycler, though!

Mission: Impossible (1996)

A successful toy line based on the Mission: Impossible movies could be made if the toys realistically swapped Ethan Hunt’s face with different disguises. That’s actually what the original Mission Impossible toy line from the 1990s tried to do, but the results weren’t great. The disguises, and even Ethan Hunt’s normal face on the toy, look pretty bad.

Steel (1997)

Steel is a DC Comics superhero inspired by Superman, and Superman merchandise consistently sells well. However, the Steel movie isn’t like a high-tech action film such as Man of Steel. In fact, looking at a photo of Shaquille O’Neal as Steel, he appears more like someone who’s down on his luck and hastily put together a superhero costume for a party. Interestingly, one of the action figures featured in the movie is actually a repurposed Judd Nelson figure, known as “Shell Shock Burke.”

Austin Powers (1997)

McFarlane Toys launched an Austin Powers line of action figures in 1999 with the release of The Spy Who Shagged Me. The collection featured characters from both the first movie and the sequel, eventually growing to include around two dozen figures. They even made some unusual choices, like figures of Fat Bastard and a Fembot! Recognizing how popular the movies’ quotes were, McFarlane included a display stand with each figure that played sound clips.

Starship Troopers (1997)

This is another hard-edged, mature movie (from director Paul Verhoeven) that surprisingly got a lot of related toys. Thankfully, they didn’t release a toy set based on one of the more explicit scenes.

Armageddon (1998)

Hot Wheels created a toy line inspired by Michael Bay’s Armageddon. While most of the toys were vehicles from the movie – spaceships and rovers – they also made larger-than-usual dolls of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck dressed as astronauts. Interestingly, the Ben Affleck doll’s packaging advertised it came with an “’Exploding’ Nuclear Device!” – a strange feature for a children’s toy. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming A House of Dynamite toy line takes a different approach.

Mystery Men (1999)

It’s not surprising to see action figures based on superheroes, and a Mystery Men line makes more sense than, for example, Coneheads toys. However, Mystery Men was a pretty unknown superhero property when its movie came out – and it didn’t become well-known afterward either. While the movie wasn’t a blockbuster, it’s hard to envision a scenario where it was popular enough to warrant creating a William H. Macy action figure.

Wild Wild West (1999)

This isn’t a Magic 8-Ball that came with a Will Smith action figure from the unsuccessful Wild Wild West toy collection. It’s actually a full-sized billiard ball, referencing the pool scenes in the movie Wild Wild West. I’m not sure why it’s so large instead of being small enough for the action figure to hold. But the Kenneth Branagh figure, which is a mechanical spider, is really cool!

Virus (1999)

Back in 1999, a strange craze for the show Virus seemed to take over the country. For fans, that meant you could finally buy Virus action figures – including Kelly Foster and Steve Baker! Kids especially loved the Captain Everton figure and couldn’t get enough. The toys themselves were surprisingly detailed and creative, but it really makes you wonder who actually requested them!

Little Nicky (2000)

McFarlane didn’t just create action figures of Adam Sandler’s character from Little Nicky; they also made figures of the supporting characters. One particularly memorable figure was of Kevin Nealon’s character, the Gatekeeper, who had breasts on his head. It’s easy to imagine the awkward conversation a parent might have with their child after that purchase at Toys R Us!

Battlefield Earth (2000)

Everyone agrees that Battlefield Earth is a really bad movie, and the toys and vehicles released with it weren’t much better. But honestly, I find myself strangely wanting to collect one of the John Travolta action figures – even though it’s famously poorly made, with awful hair and six fingers!

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

The success of the Austin Powers toy line clearly motivated McFarlane to try the same approach with Napoleon Dynamite toys a few years later. Like the Austin Powers figures, the Napoleon Dynamite toys weren’t really designed for play – they were more like poseable statues. McFarlane’s designers focused on accurately capturing the actor’s likeness in a recognizable pose from the movie. While limited in terms of playability, they were meant to look good on display, which appealed to the target audience at the time.

The A-Team (2010)

The popular 1980s TV show The A-Team inspired a line of toys, so it’s not surprising the blockbuster movie got the same treatment. If you’re a collector, you can own action figures of Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, and Quentin “Rampage” Jackson – and display them on your shelf forever. (Though, it’s a bit of a mystery why anyone would want to do that!)

Real Steel (2011)

Does the movie Real Steel ring a bell? I honestly don’t remember it, but it featured Hugh Jackman as a retired boxer in a future where robots fight instead of people. While Jakks Pacific didn’t make an action figure of Jackman, they created toys based on other characters from the film, clearly hoping to appeal to fans of classic robot boxing games like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.

World War Z (2013)

That Brad Pitt action figure is honestly one of the worst likenesses I’ve ever seen. It looks like it was designed by someone who’d only seen a zombie! The rest of the World War Z toy line included soldiers, people at risk, and different kinds of zombies. These figures were everywhere in stores for months in 2013, but now you can usually find them on eBay for under $20.

Here are some other unusual movie-based toy lines: Congo, The Green Hornet, Hook, Independence Day, Police Academy, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, RoboCop, The Shadow, Super Mario Bros., and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Beloved Franchises That Desperately Need a New Sequel

Alien vs. Predator

The most recent movie featuring both Alien and Predator was Alien vs. Predator: Requiem released in 2007. Since Disney bought the rights to both franchises, they’ve successfully created new Alien and Predator content for both film and television. However, they haven’t revisited the Alien vs. Predator (AVP) series, which was quite popular in comics and video games before the first movie came out in 2004. While the two Alien vs. Predator films aren’t considered masterpieces, wouldn’t it be interesting to see a new take on the concept from Dan Tractenberg? It feels like a series with a lot of untapped potential for exciting movies.

The Before Trilogy

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke previously had a reliable pattern: every nine years, they’d create a new film in the Before series, following the developing relationship of Celine and Jesse, who fall in love across long distances. However, it’s been three years since the last installment, and the team doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to make another one. They’ve talked about ideas, but want to ensure they have a concept everyone is excited about – and that’s understandable. No one wants a sequel made without genuine passion. Still, many fans who’ve followed Celine and Jesse for years would love to see what happens to them next, and hope the story isn’t over for good. Their most recent film together was Before Midnight (2013).

The Fly

David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly is a must-include on any list of the best horror films from the 1980s. This unsettling and visually striking sci-fi movie follows a scientist (Jeff Goldblum) whose experiment goes horribly wrong, turning him into a human-insect hybrid—a truly nightmarish scenario. While a less impressive sequel about Goldblum’s son was released in 1989 (The Fly II), the original tapped into deep-seated fears and feels ripe for a modern reimagining. In late 2024, reports surfaced that Nikyatu Jusu is developing a new project set within the world of Cronenberg’s film, and it seems like the perfect time for a fresh take, whether it’s a spinoff or a continuation of the story.

Friday the 13th

My most recent movie watch was Friday the 13th (2009). Jason Voorhees was a remarkably prolific killer in the 80s, appearing in eight films within a decade – he really took his job seriously! However, Jason’s been less active lately. After the 80s, there were only four Friday the 13th movies over 35 years, and none since the 2009 reboot. For the past 15 years, rumors of new sequels or reboots have circulated, but nothing has materialized. There’s a prequel TV series, Crystal Lake, coming to Peacock, but it’s unclear when – or if – another Friday the 13th movie will be released in theaters.

Jason Bourne

I recently rewatched Jason Bourne from 2016, and it really got me thinking about the whole franchise. The thing is, Bourne is so tied to Matt Damon’s performance – it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Universal has tried to expand the world beyond just Jason Bourne, drawing from Robert Ludlum’s novels, but honestly, The Bourne Legacy and the Treadstone series just didn’t hit the same way. Those first three Bourne films with Damon were something special. With all the conspiracy theories floating around these days, it feels like there’s room for another Bourne movie, but it really feels like it needs Damon to come back and reprise the role for it to truly work.

The Muppets

The Muppets haven’t had much success lately. While the 2014 film, Muppets Most Wanted, received good reviews, it didn’t perform well in theaters, especially compared to the earlier Muppets movie. The TV show The Muppets was canceled after only one season, and Muppets Now lasted just six episodes on Disney+. Disney even closed the popular Muppet*Vision 3D theme park attraction, making it seem like these iconic characters are fading into obscurity.

However, the Muppets themselves are still funny and entertaining. It’s unclear why they’ve struggled to regain popularity, but with the right team behind a new movie, Kermit, Gonzo, and the gang could easily be a big hit again.

National Treasure

I’m still baffled that Disney stopped making National Treasure movies after just two films! They’ll milk any successful idea, but this one, starring Nicolas Cage as a fun, history-obsessed treasure hunter, was just too good to stop. They did bring the idea back with a Disney+ series, National Treasure: Edge of History, but it wasn’t the same. Let’s be real, people loved seeing Nicolas Cage’s unique energy in those films – it was pure entertainment! I’ve never understood why a third movie never materialized, and honestly, if Nicolas Cage was up for it, I don’t see why it still couldn’t happen!

Ocean’s

My most recent movie watch was Ocean’s 8 (2018). All three Ocean’s films directed by Steven Soderbergh are fun, lighthearted heist comedies, and the quality remains consistently good throughout Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen. A fourteenth film never materialized, likely due to the difficulty of coordinating such a large cast or a lack of interest from Soderbergh. Sadly, some of the original cast members, like Carl Reiner and Bernie Mac, have passed away. However, a new Ocean’s movie with most of the surviving actors and a strong script would likely be very successful. George Clooney hinted in late 2023 that a script is currently being developed.

RoboCop

The latest RoboCop movie came out in 2014. Considering how much our world now resembles the grim future RoboCop imagined, it’s surprising we haven’t seen another installment. The core idea – and the character himself – feels like it could thrive even without the original director, Paul Verhoeven, or star, Peter Weller, as proven by the earlier sequels, cartoons, and comics. Unfortunately, the 2014 remake wasn’t successful, and aside from a few video games, the franchise has been dormant for over ten years. But with everything happening in the news, now seems like the perfect time for a RoboCop 2.0.

Stargate

The latest installment is Stargate: Continuum (2008). The Stargate universe is undeniably a bit over-the-top – it’s got sci-fi, wormholes, Egyptian gods, ancient aliens, and a wacky take on history. But that’s also what makes it so enjoyable! It was popular enough to run for many seasons on TV after the original movie came out in 1994.

Once a series moves from movie theaters to television, it’s tough to bring it back to the big screen, and Stargate never did. However, with enough time having passed and a wave of nostalgia for the original Stargate film starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, now might be the perfect time for a brand new theatrical release.

Star Trek

The most recent theatrical Star Trek film was Star Trek Beyond (2016). While a Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh, was released on Paramount+ in 2025, it felt more like Guardians of the Galaxy than traditional Star Trek, and isn’t the sequel fans are really waiting for.

The rebooted Star Trek films truly hit their stride with Star Trek Beyond, successfully blending exciting action with the character-driven stories and thought-provoking themes of the original series. Paramount has explored many ideas for a fourth film, but none have been quite right. A long-running sequel series like the original Trek cast enjoyed seems unlikely now. However, there’s still an opportunity to create a fitting send-off for Chris Pine’s Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s Spock, Zoe Saldana’s Uhura, and the rest of the current Enterprise crew – they deserve a proper conclusion, similar to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

X-Men

The most recent X-Men film was Dark Phoenix, released in 2019. Since Disney acquired Fox and the rights to the X-Men over five years ago, Marvel has hinted at including X-Men characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most recently bringing back Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman for Deadpool & Wolverine. However, a full-fledged X-Men movie within the MCU isn’t expected until after Avengers: Secret Wars in late 2027. There’s some progress, though – reports indicate Marvel has hired a director to begin work on an X-Men film.

2025-10-28 21:09