Glossary of Figure/Collecting Terms

If you're new to the hobby, or maybe just fooling around and don't know if you want to get involved or not, like any community and hobby collecting action figures can seem like it has a whole other language. Here are some terms that will hopefully make things a little clearer.

### Figure Anatomy Terms

When you're new and unfamiliar with the various parts of an action figure, some of them can be hard to visualize without illustrations. Several years ago, DC posted to their blog DC Collectibles 101: Anatomy of an Action Figure. It shows with a drawing a partially exploded view of a figure and labels the joints like a schematic. There is an excellent series on joints with photos at the archived Articulated Discussion website. (Unfortunately, the Wayback Machine doesn't have the full series. Here is Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6.)

**Ab Crunch:** A torso joint that allows for a figure to flex or "crunch" at the midsection

**Accessories** (AKA Tchotchkes): Things that come with a figure that are usually intended to be used by the figure (weapons, etc.), but are sometimes intended for the purchaser as a "bonus/free gift." When buying figures loose, they will be more valuable if they have all their included accessories.

**Alternate Head (and/or Hands):** A figure may come with one or more heads and sets of hands to create different looks or poses. In some cases, particularly with female figures, the **alt head** may create an entirely different character without the need of packaging one. (Hasbro is notorious for this.) Head interchangeability makes it easier for customizers to create new looks.

**Ankle Rocker** (AKA Ankle Pivot): A hinge-and-swivel system that allows the ankle to move side-to-side as well as front-to-back, allowing figures to have greater poseability and stability while standing.

**Articulation:** The joints and points of movement a figure has by which it can be moved and posed.

**Ball joint:** A kind of articulation joint (exactly like it sounds) that allows a great deal of rotation. It's often used in a figure's shoulders, but sometimes at the neck, or hip joints. Usually hinged from the ball into the torso.

**Ball-and-socket joint:** Similar to the joint above, without the hinge.

**Bicep Cut:** A swivel joint, usually with a mushroom peg or ball joint, that allows the arm to move from the middle of the bicep. It's usually practically invisible until the bicep is swiveled, and then the sculpted musculature of the arm and/or paint is then no longer aligned which can look awkward when posed. Some bicep cuts are not true "cuts" but actually molded around the musculature so they are more invisible when swiveled.

**Buck:** A generic body that is used again and again for many figures. Tooling is expensive, and to keep costs down, the same tooling is often used more than once. So if you see a figure and think it looks familiar... it might be! There are male and female bucks, it's not a gender-specific term.

**Build-a-Figure (BAF):** Purchase an entire wave of figures, which all contain a piece of an exclusive figure, which you then assemble yourself once you have all the pieces. These figures are often larger than the regular figures, or sometimes more obscure than having their own spot in the line over more popular figures. BAF is the Hasbro term, though adopted by others; Mattel uses **Collect & Connect (C&C)**. These pieces are often available on the secondary market for as much or more as an entire figure costs. Figures that were purchased just for the BAF piece and then sold are typically listed "no BAF."

**Butterfly joint:** Pivot joints located (usually) at the shoulders of a figure that allow more natural-looking movement/posing. Pegs at the top and bottom fit into the torso (or back) and allow the joint to swivel like a wing flaps.

**Double Elbow / Knee:** A pair of hinge joints connecting upper and lower limbs that are more like actual human anatomy, allowing for greater and more natural poseability.

**Dumbbell joint:** Similar to a ball joint, but the ball that sits in the socket is attached to a short peg attached to another ball that then attaches to the limb. It doesn't have the range of motion that a ball joint has. Also called a **barbell joint**.

**Flocking:** Fuzzy stuff glued to the surface of toys to make it feel or look furry – if you have ever seen flocked wallpaper, it's basically the same sort of thing. If flocking is worn off (and it does wear off!), it can affect the value of a figure.

**H-joint:** A particular style of articulation used in the DC Universe Classics. The hips have the range of movement of a ball joint, but are flush against the "groin" so it has minimal impact on the sculpted design.

**Hinged joint:** A style of articulation where two prongs fasten to an anchor on another part of the limb, allowing front/back, side/side movement. Typically seen on knees and elbows.

**Mushroom joint:** A small mushroom-shaped peg fits into a hole, allowing circular movement around the peg. Assuming there's nothing blocking it, this joint allows true 360º movement. While it was once the common standard joint, it is more typically seen in modern figures in the wrist and waist. (Also known as **cut joint**, **peg joint**, and **swivel joint**.)

**POA:** Points of articulation. How much "action" does that action figure really have? The more points of articulation it has, the more poseable it is. Smaller figures are usually much less articulated than larger ones, because when you scale down tiny joints, they break, making them lousy toys.

**Scale:** Scale refers to the size of the figure in relation to the real world. The classic Star Wars figures are 3 3/4 inches tall; they are less than 6% of "life size" – 100% life size being 72 inches.

* 3 3/4" = 1:18 scale
* 5-6" = 1:12
* 7" = 1:10
* 12" = 1:6
* 18" = 1:4
* 72" (6') = 1:1

**Swivel:** One of the basic articulations an action figure can have. It is very often at the waist, allowing the figure to swivel at the torso, but also at the bicep and thigh, allowing for the arms and legs to have greater poseability.

**T-Hook Joint:** Classic GI Joe figures used metal barbell ball sockets shaped like inverted Ts. The socketed joints were used for the legs, and the upper part of the inverted T had a hook that had an O-ring that held tension between the torso and crotch pieces, holding the figure together.

**Thigh Cut:** A swivel joint, usually with a mushroom peg or ball joint, that allows the leg to move from the middle of the thigh. It's usually practically invisible until the thigh is swiveled, and then the sculpted musculature of the leg and/or paint is then no longer aligned which can look awkward when posed.

### Collecting, Customizing Terms

**Army Builder:** A "generic" sort of figure, often a soldier, that can be purchased in quantity to create an army especially for assembling dioramas.

**Bio/graphy:** A brief description of the character represented by the action figure. Sometimes, as with the GI Joes, these were actually outlined with dashed lines to cut out and save like little mini dossiers.

**Blister or bubble:** The clear plastic that holds and displays the figure and accessories on the cardboard backing. Condition of the bubble can affect the value of the figure even if the card is pristine. Plastic can and does yellow with age or exposure to certain conditions, and it's easily scuffed or crushed.

**Boxed:** Figure is still in the original box.

**Buy / Sell / Trade Abbreviations**

* FS: For sale
* FT / TT: For Trade / To Trade
* WTB: Want to buy
* WTT: Want to trade
* NFS / NFT: Not for sale / trade

**Card:** The cardboard backing for an action figure. It usually has bright graphics of the character and logos from the toy line it's part of, and if it's from a live action movie or tv show, may have photos of the actor(s). Most modern cards will have the copyright information somewhere, as well as proof of purchase. Some will have images of other toys available in the line, and a bio of the character. Card condition is important in grading.

**Carded:** Figure is still on the original backing card.

**Case/casepack:** The typical contents of a box of action figures that is sent from the manufacturer. For example, the Marvel Legends Avengers 2021 case has one of everything except Captain America (x2), in a case of 8.

**Clamshell:** Instead of a cardboard backing, the figure is completely encased in plastic, with an insert that is usually paper serving the same purpose as the card.

**CNP:** "Complete no package" – same as complete

**Combiner:** This is a specific term to Transformers toys, where several robot toys are combined to form one large robot.

**Complete:** If a figure is loose, but has all of its accessories, it is considered complete. Small pieces get lost easily, so especially for vintage figures, to be complete can really raise the value of a figure.

**Con Ex:** Convention exclusive

**Condition:** All of these terms are matters of opinion, even if it was professionally graded, it was still someone's opinion. If you're buying, it's up to you to decide whether or not the price and the condition you can see are worth it to you. Sellers sometimes err on the side of inflating the quality to gain a sale, so look closely at any photos if you're buying online.

* M: "Mint" – brand new condition
* NM: "Near mint" – the figure is still in the package but the package is showing wear
* VG: "Very good"
* G: "Good"
* F: "Fair"
* P: "Poor"

**Custom:** A figure that was created by an artist through a variety of techniques (combining parts from other figures, sculpting, painting, etc.) to make a figure that didn't exist, or to improve on one that did. Custom figures can sell for amazing amounts of money and there are incredibly talented artists out there.

**Diorama:** A scene produced in miniature scale using action figures and props. Might be used to recreate a scene from a movie or comic book, or a just a cool scenario that the artist thought of. Model train sets that move through scale towns and scenery are dioramas.**Ex:** Exclusive

**FS:** Factory sealed

**Graded:** Like anything collectible, action figures have appraisers who will "grade" a figure and assign a number value to it based on the condition of the package/figure. Action Figure Authority is one option for getting figures graded.

**HTF / VHTF:** "Hard to find" / "Very hard to find" – This can be exaggerated too, so buyer beware. Perceived scarcity drives up the price.

**Haul:** Used in the context of a toy shopping expedition. Picking up more than one figure at a time, or in one trip. (My haul at the toy show last weekend was eleven new figures.)

**Import:** A figure that has been imported from outside your native country.

**Kitbash:** A kind of figure customization that utilizes the pieces from more than one disassembled figures and their accessories to create a new figure. It doesn't always involve repainting or resculpting, so this form of customizing may be less time-consuming (depending on how complicated the disassembly was).

**Knock-Off:** Sometimes popular toy lines inspire cheaply-made wannabes. There were several She-Ra knock-offs.

**LE:** Limited edition

**Loose:** If you're buying from an online auction and a figure is listed as "loose," that means it's no longer in it's original packaging, or probably any packaging at all. Look at any provided photos carefully before making any bids/purchases.

**Mail Away:** Figure was an exclusive offer that could only be obtained by mail from the toy's manufacturer or some promotion.

**Manufacturer Abbreviations:**

* BBI: Blue Box Industries, AKA Blue Box Toys. Used to be a prominent 1:6 scale military figure company
* HAS: Hasbro
* KEN: Kenner
* MAT/Matty: Mattel
* ML: Marvel Legends, from Hasbro or Toy Biz
* MS: Marvel Select
* PAK: Play Arts Kai, figure line licensed under Square Enix
* SHF: Bandai's SH Figurarts
* SLU: Starting Lineup, from Kenner and later Hasbro (under the Kenner logo)
* SWTBS (or TBS): Star Wars The Black Series, from Hasbro
* TB: Toy Biz

**MIB / MIP / MOC:** "Mint in box" / "Mint in package" / "Mint on card" – Sellers overuse these terms a lot. The item itself may be mint, but the box or card may be in sorry shape. If package condition is something you care about, look out for "MOMC" – mint on mint card (or box, whatever) – and look closely at the photos.

**NRFB / NRFP:** "Never removed from box / package"

**Pegwarmer:** A figure that didn't sell well, and gathers dust, waiting for someone to slap a clearance sticker on it.

**Punched (Unpunched):** The hole in the card used to hang the figure on a peg in stores has been (has not been) punched out.

**Repaint:** A rerelease of an action figure that is identical in every way, except for the paint. McFarlane does this a lot. Toy Biz used to repaint figures and claim they were different characters.

**Retail:** Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy – these are all retail sources. The prices may vary from one to the next, but they are still at least close to the manufacturer's suggested retail price.

**Retailer Abbreviations:**

* BBTS: Big Bad Toy Story (online)
* EE: Entertainment Earth (online)
* HLJ: Hobby Link Japan (online)
* TRU: Toys R Us
* WG: Walgreen's

**Retool:** Retooling takes pieces from figures already designed (remember, tooling is expensive), and uses pieces from a few different figures to create a new version of an old figure, or a new figure altogether. EG: A torso from one figure, the arms from a second, a new head sculpt, and legs from a third, and accessories from a forth; it's just thrifty and keeps costs down.

**Scalpers:** Individuals who purchase action figures with the express purpose of flipping them on the secondary market for large profits.

**Secondary market:** eBay, toy shows, antique shops, thrift stores – these are the secondary market, and the prices can vary wildly.

**Shortpacking:** Shortpacking is when you have a figure that is packed one to a case, making it hard to get, and subject to scalping by people who work in the stores (who know that it's been shortpacked), and by dealers who then sell on the secondary market for huge markups. It's often for the shortpacked figure to be the female in a line, who may already be the only one in the group. (It's honestly better than it used to be.)

**Variant:** Action figures are sometimes released with limited variant editions. The variants might be a subtle color change, "blood splattered" in the case of some horror lines, or they might be all one color like silver or gold. For completists, variants are an absolute bane, because they can be hard to track down when they're really limited. Sometimes the variants are convention exclusives, making them even more hard to get and valuable on the secondary market.

**Wave:** Typically the figures pictured on the back of the card (where applicable) make up a wave, or **series**, in the toy line. They are released as a set, and sometimes they are numbered sequentially if you can locate the assortment/product number on the packaging. Sometimes lines will have more than one wave, like Star Wars, but not always.

### Intellectual Property Abbreviations

There are *so many* comic and movie properties out there with action figures. It can be really hard to keep all of them straight when the titles all get abbreviated in message boards and social media online. The list below should get you started.

**ANH:** A New Hope (Star Wars)

**BTAS:** Batman the Animated Series

**CW:** Clone Wars (Star Wars). Can also be used for Combiner Wars for Transformers.

**DCEU:** DC Extended Universe

**DCU:** DC Universe

**DCUC:** DC Universe Classics

**EP1:** Episode 1 (Star Wars)

**ESB:** Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars)

**FF:** Fantastic Four

**JOE:** G.I. Joe

**LOB:** Legends of Batman

**LOTDK:** Legends of the Dark Knight (Batman)

**LOTR:** Lord of the Rings

**MCU:** Marvel Cinematic Universe

**MOTU:** Masters of the Universe

**MOTUC:** Masters of the Universe Classics

**POTF:** Power of the Force (Star Wars)

**POTJ:** Power of the Jedi (Star Wars)

**PR:** Power Rangers

**RES:** Resolute (G.I. Joe)

**ROC:** Rise of Cobra (G.I. Joe)

**ROTJ:** Return of the Jedi (Star Wars)

**ROTS:** Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars)

**SLU:** Starting Line Up

**SOTE:** Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)

**SW:** Star Wars

**TMNT:** Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles