The term "action figure" was first coined by Hasbro in 1964, to market their G.I. Joe figure to boys who would not play with dolls.

G.I. Joe was at first a military-themed 11.5-inch figure suggested by selling and toy idea-man Stan Weston. It featured changeable garments with numerous uniforms to suit different purposes. In a move that would create worldwide recognition for this kind of toy, Hasbro also approved the product to corporations in other markets.

These different licensees had a mixture of uniforms and accessories that were usually matching to the ones made for the US market by Hasbro, with some sets that were completely unique to the local marketplace. The Japanese had at least 2 examples where a Hasbro licensee also issued sublicenses for related products. For instance, Palitoy issued a sublicense to Tsukuda, a company in Japan, to turn out and sell Action Man accessories in the Japanese market.

Takara also issued a sublicense to Medicom for the creation of action figures. Takara, still with permission by Hasbro to make and sell G.I. Joe toys in Japan, also made an action figure incorporating the approved GI Joe torso for Henshin Cyborg-1, using clear plastic showing cyborg innards, and a chrome head and cyborg feet.

In the oil supply crisis of the 1970s, like many other makers of action figures, Takara was wrestling with the expenses related to making the giant eleven inch figures, So, a smaller version of the cyborg toy was developed, standing at 3-3 / four inches high, and was first sold in 1974 as Microman.

The Microman line was also novel in its use of interchangeable parts. This laid the foundation for the smaller action figure size and the transforming robot toy. Takara started manufacturing characters in the Microman line with increasingly robotic features, including Robotman, a 12" robot with room for a Microman pilot, and Mini-Robotman, a 3-3 / 4" version of Robotman. These toys also featured interchangeable parts, with stress placed on the metamorphosis and blend of the characters.

In 1971, Mego started licensing and making Yankee Wonder and DC comic superhero figures which had very successful sales and are thought to be highly collectible by many adults today. They finally brought the Microman toy line to the US as the Micronauts, but Mego at last lost control of the market after rejecting the license to produce Star Wars toys in 1976. The widespread success of Kenner's Star Wars 3-3 / 4" toy line made the more recent, smaller size the bog standard. Rather than a single character with outfits that modified for different applications, toy lines included groups of characters with special functions.

Controlled by Star Wars-themed sales, collectible action figures quickly turned into a multi-million buck secondary business for film lofts. The 1980s spawned all kinds of preferred action figure lines, many based totally on cartoon series' which were one of the biggest selling tools for toy firms. Some of the most successful to come about were Pros of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, and Super Powers Collection, to name some.

Early in the decade, the expanding popularity of Jap robot cartoons like Gundam also encouraged Takara to reinvent the Microman line as the Micro Androids , moving from the cyborg action figure idea to the theorem of the living robot. This led straight to the Micro Change line of toys : objects that would "transform" into robots.

In 1984, Hasbro approved Micro Change and another Takara line, the Diaclone transforming autos, and mixed them in the US as the Transformers, spawning a still-continuing family of animated cartoons. Today, the adult collector market for action figures is expanding with firms like McFarlane Toys, Palisades, and NECA.

Claimed corporations have given countless flick characters, musicians, and sportsmen their first highly detailed figures. These are commonly meant as statuesque display pieces instead of toys ; child-oriented lines like the Gurus of the Universe revival and Justice League Unlimited still rouse adult collector followings too. Comic firms are also able to get figures of their characters produced, with no regard for whether they appeared in films or animated cartoons. Examples of firms that produce comic figures and product just about exclusively include Toy Biz and DC Direct.