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. 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.

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