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Your Guide to Action Figures.
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Stormtroopers from Star Wars. Cobra Troopers from G.I.Joe. Horde Troopers from Masters of the Universe. They’re the nameless, faceless, and exponentially numerous soldiers that the good guys strike down in an effort to save the day. But in the world of action figure collecting, they fall into a category of their own: army builders.

The concept of army building for action figures has been around since action figures became smaller and more affordable. If you were a kid in the 1970’s when Star Wars figures first came out, chances are you weren’t comfortable with owning just one Stormtrooper. You would need at least a few to represent a lot of enemies that your Luke Skywalker or Han Solo figures would have to defeat to save Princess Leia or duel with Darth Vader.

But that’s kids’ stuff. So why are collectors so concerned with building their armies?

Dioramas: Many collectors like taking their action figures and taking the time to painstakingly create accurate, scale dioramas for their action figures and pose them to put them in the thick of a pivotal battle. Whether recreating the Battle of Endor or putting Duke and the other Joes in their toughest position yet, there needs to be a lot of troopers around to make the scene feel more realistic.

Display: Some collectors like creating a scene without building a diorama. Remember when Anakin marches with a legion of clone troopers towards the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the Sith? This simple scene requires one Anakin figure and as many 501st clone troopers as you can find. The same sort of thing can be done with Cobra Commander and a large collection of Cobra Troopers.

Role Playing: While this is much less common since the advent of miniature gaming, for years, several people have used action figures to create adventures in a role playing game (RPG) environment. Obviously, the characters must constantly be placed in peril’s way, and what better way to do that with an army of troopers ready to strike?

As fun as army building is, it’s created a few problems in the collecting community as it’s become more popular.

Hording: With lines like Star Wars and G.I. Joe that consistently have a lot of army builders, several collectors try to get as many of each new army builder that comes out. The problem is that because these collectors are buying multiples of one figure and only one of each of the other figures in a new assortment, the army builder is almost always harder to find. If you like army building, set a goal for how many of a particular figure you will need for a display or diorama, and if you meet that goal or get close enough to it, be sure to let other collectors have a chance at buying the figures.

Inflated Market: Vintage army building is particularly difficult, but it’s something that collectors attempt nonetheless. Even though these figures weren’t made in any fewer quantities than other figures back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, a new generation of army builders is creating a new kind of supply-and-demand situation, and almost all army builders from this era have skyrocketed in value. If you’re planning on creating a diorama with vintage figures or creating some other kind of display, you might want to consider buying them in poor condition and repainting them.

Mint in Package Collectors: For collectors who like to keep their action figures in the original packaging, there is absolutely no need to build any kind of army. The idea of an army of clone troopers coming after your Jedi Knights in action figure packaging is utterly ridiculous. But some mint in package collectors feel the need to buy multiples to either put away for an investment or have trade bait for other figures they need. Unless you know someone who has an immediate need for an army builder action figure, leave it on the store pegs for some other collector or a kid to find. If too many figures become too hard to find, it ends up discouraging a lot of collectors in the process and may hurt the future of the entire toy line in the long run.