Missing in Action: Toylines That Didn't Make the Cut in 2025

 

   Since 2015 I've followed up my Top 10 Toylines of the Year list with Missing in Action (no relation to the Chuck Norris film), a look at what lines made the list in the prior year's best of list but fell off for this year. This list is somewhat of a reflective piece as I'm looking back at the Top 10 Toylines list from the year before and giving my reasoning for why some of the lines from that year failed to return for the current year's list.  2025's top 10 list had seven lines returning from 2024's list, which is a fairly high number, so this year's Missing in Action list is shorter. I always think it's kind of fun to look back up at the lines that failed to show up again in order to diagnose why they went missing. Sometimes I'm also just complaining and griping a bit, which might be part of the reason this list is so much fun. There's a bit of saltiness here, though not always. Over the years I've compiled a list of reasons why a toyline might make this list:

Missing in Action: This is a toyline that gets cancelled, ends, or just didn't have any releases during the year. It happens,  unfortunately, and often to some of my favorites it seems, though not as much as in the past. There do seem to be more longer running toy lines today than, say, a decade ago. About half of my Top Ten list this year had been on my list for more than 4 or 5 years. 

Demoted: Sometimes a toyline just gets outdone by others. This isn't specifically related to the quality of the demoted line and is instead more reflective of the quality of the lines that supplanted it or of my interests shifting to other things. You can be demoted simply because of me getting fascinated by something else.

Sunk: This is when a toyline has a severe drop in quality, becomes stale, or suffers an exorbitant price hike that causes it to fall off my radar. While most toylines get better as they go, some do indeed get worse and worse due to cost cutting, mismanagement, and quality control issues. Sometimes the price just outpaces the value, making a once impressive toyline now seem like a shell of its former self. With the crazy price hikes of the past year, I'm sure many lines have "sunk" off of the radar for some collectors.

Ready to gear up and see who went Missing in Action in 2025? Then join me after the break...

Action Force by Valaverse- Demoted!

   I like Action Force quite a bit (one of the figures made my "Best of the Rest" list) but 2026 was a bit of a dull year for the line. There were figures I liked, sure, along with excellent accessory packs and a lower price point, but I think a decrease in unique characters definitely curbed my interest a bit. Don't get me wrong, I still really liked "Day of the Dead" Sidewinder and "Night Ops" Senshi, but I wanted to see more figures like those and fewer generic troop builders. Maybe those troops are what butter Valaverse's bread, but I like the unique characters best. It's also possible the line had a slower year due to tariffs and Valaverse was waiting to see what would happen before rolling out more product.

Figura Obscura by Four Horsemen Studios- Demoted!

   Figura Obscura is a line that really fluctuates from year to year as it draws characters from such a wide variety of different cultures, literature, folk tales, mythology, and more. That being said, 2023 and 2024 featured characters from books and stories I really love. 2025's three releases (Ganesha, the Jersey Devil, and the Mouse King from "The Nutcracker" just didn't appeal to me enough to pick up any of them. I'll admit, to, I'm still a bit salty that we didn't get another character from A Christmas Carol. Hopefully 2026 is more to my tastes. They're still nice figures, I just wasn't terribly excited by the character choices and the Jersey Devil looked a bit underwhelming. 

Turtles of Grayskull by Mattel- Demoted/ Missing in Action

   Turtles of Grayskull, Mattel's collaboration with MOTU and TMNT, ended in 2025. It was overall a fairly strong line though it did drag a bit at the end with fewer interesting releases, lots of redos, and some figures at the end that were just a pain to find. Mattel went on to a MOTU and ThunderCats mashup and a MOTU and Transformers mashup, but this year they seem focused just on the upcoming movie product.


Well, those are the three lines that went "Missing in Action" on my 2025 best of list. Did any of your favorite toy lines fall out of favor with you in 2025? Did any end, go missing, or just get no new releases? Let me know in the comments below.

2026 has just started but, looking at last year's list, there are a few lines I'm worried about not making my inevitable Best of 2026 list...

DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys- I think this line could still pull out another year, though with 2026 being the final year of product before Mattel takes over, it's going to be interesting to see how much really interesting stuff McFarlane can get out. I have picked up a few new figures already this year (reviews coming soon), so we'll have to see what happens. 

Masterverse by Mattel- Mattel's official word at Toy Fair was that Masterverse is "On Pause." It's never a good thing to be On Pause in the toy industry; that's just time to lose shelf space and consumer interest. 2026 is all about the upcoming movie lines (with some figures already being found in stores or sent from Mattel customer service). I don't think any Masterverse product has been revealed yet for this year other than the straight up vintage styled Walmart exclusives, so this line very well may be Missing in Action for 2026.

Toony Terrors: Unless NECA gets some more Universal Monsters stuff announced or really gets into some properties I care about, I could see this line dropping off. I just wasn't overly impressed by much I saw at NECA's 2026 Toy Fair booth.

Universal Monsters/ Classic Horror Collection: This has been one of my favorites and I'm afraid that NECA is going to let it fade away. The Imperial inspired Classic Movie Monsters set is coming soon but at Toy Fair the only thing NECA showed that I can recall was the black & white Masque of the Red Death Phantom. I want NECA to go deeper into both Universal and Hammer's classic horror films but I just don't think that's going to be the case. Maybe there's just not the interest from consumers?