Friday, February 1, 2019

Black Action Figures: Just the Ladies (Almost)

There are not many black characters in pop culture. People of color (POC) are vastly underrepresented in the media we consume to entertain us. Certainly, there have been some inroads to inclusion, but there are still wide chasms to bridge. (And I won't even get into the pay gap; I am so not qualified to talk about that.)

Since today marks the first day of Black History Month, and the truly wonderful #28DaysOfBlackCosplay, it got me thinking about dearth of black action figures (that goes hand in hand with the lack of black characters), which made me wonder how many I had in my collection. Sadly, this won't take that long...

Aveline de Grandpré: Assassin's Creed
McFarlane, 2014
This was the first female playable assassin in the game. Some fanbois lost their shit because cooties.
Domina: Spawn Reborn
McFarlane, 2003
This is a repaint of an earlier figure that is white. The character in the comics also appears to be white. The repaint is one of McFarlane's many reissued, repainted figures for that cash cow.

Fatality: Green Lantern Corps
DC Direct, 2002
I debated including this one. She's an alien, not from Earth, but the way she's drawn and colored she looks like she could be black, and she dated black Green Lantern John Stewart (who also destroyed her planet; comics are complicated).
Gamora – played by actor Zoe Saldana: Guardians of the Galaxy
Hasbro, 2014
Saldana self-identifies as black, so here she is! Even if she is painted green...
Misty Knight (Heroes for Hire)
Hasbro, 2015
I have to kinda wonder if Knight's character (first app. 1975) was inspired by Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, et al.)...
Garona Halforcen – played by actor Paula Patton: Warcraft (movie)
Jakks Pacific, 2016
This was another one I wasn't sure to include or not. Patton's father is African-American, but I don't know how she, personally, identifies. I'm erring on the side of Barack Obama and including this figure.
Guinan – played by actor/comedian Whoopi Goldberg
Playmates, 1994
There were a few different versions of Guinan's character. This one is from Star Trek: Generations Basic Series.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee: Starting Lineup/Timeless Legends
Kenner, 1996
Florence Griffith-Joyner: Starting Lineup/Timeless Legends
Kenner, 1996
These are both reasonable likenesses, but they're not "action figures." There is very little articulation, and what there is is pretty meaningless. They are basically small plastic statues, that have a tiny amount of movement.
Lily [Sloane] – played by actor Alfre Woodard: Star Trek: First Contact
Playmates, 1996
On the card, she is merely "Lily, Zephram Cochran's Assistant," but in one Star Trek source, she is DR. Lily Sloane.
Maggie: Evolve
Funko, 2015
I don't know anything about this game. The fandom wiki page says her surname is Lumumba. She looks pretty badass.

Martha Jones – played by actor Freema Agyeman: Doctor Who
Character Options, 2013
Martha was available singly and in box sets. The one above is from the Companion Box Set.
Martia – played by Iman: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Playmates, 1995
This character is another alien, a Chameloid, so her attractive appearance portrayed by Iman is not her "true" form. But that's the action figure they made and how many people get to boast their own action figs, eh? (Plus I kinda love her character in the movie.)
Michonne – played by Danai Gurira: The Walking Dead
McFarlane, 2013
Michonne has a few different iterations of her character, this one is the TV Series 3 version.
Monica Rambeau: A-Force
Hasbro, 2017
This character has had a few different names in the comics, including Captain Marvel! Currently, we are set to meet her mother Maria "Photon" (Photon is one of her other aliases) Rambeau in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie. w00t!
Nakia – played by actor Lupita Nyong'o: Black Panther
Hasbro,  2017
This particular series of action figures was a Build-a-Figure for Okoye: buy the 5 required figures, and assemble the character played by Danai Gurira. There is a forthcoming Wave 2 of Black Panther figures than includes a Dora Milaje with three different heads.
Niobe – played by actor Jada Pinkett Smith: The Matrix Reloaded
McFarlane, 2003
I love the detail in this figure, it's a good likeness of both the actress and the character. I hate that the pose is baked in. There's not much *action* in this action figure.
Onyx: Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones
Galoob, 1984
This was a "knockoff" of the Mattel She-Ra line. Great figures with real metal shields. The metallic coating on their capes have an unfortunate tendency to shed with age, though.
Patty Tolan – played by actor/comedian Leslie Jones: Ghostbusters
Mattel, 2016
The figures are great, a little monochromatic, but faithfully rendered. The packaging was cheap as hell, though, and when I bought mine all the boxes in the store were crushed, every one of them. Not only cheap, but ugly. So Mattel didn't commit to the packaging, didn't commit to the lame-ass build-a-fig Rowan ghost that came with buying all four. Kinda like how a lot of people didn't commit to the movie, and how awesome it really was.
Rue – played by Amandla Stenberg: The Hunger Games
NECA, 2012
Another really nice rendering of a character. NECA generally does well with their figures. Rue doesn't have a whole lot of articulation, but she looks like her character. If you've read the books or seen the movies, having this one in your collection will just make you sad and angry a lot.
Sasha (Williams) – played by Sonequa Martin-Green: The Walking Dead
McFarlane, 2017 (Walgreens exclusive)
This is an exclusive figure that was available only from Walgreens drug stores. Like most McFarlane figures, it's a good likeness of the actor. Incidentally, in order for an action figure to have a likeness of the actor, that person has to sign off on it. People have rights to whether their likeness is used (or NOT used), and if you see an action figure that looks nothing like the individual it portrays, it might be that person refused the use of their likeness.
(Future) Shard: X-Men
Toy Biz, 1997
I wasn't sure about including this character. According to her bio, Shard Bishop is the daughter of indigenous Australians. Some of these people refer to themselves as black, some don't. I honestly don't know how Marvel intends her to be perceived.

Shonti: Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic
Mattel, 1995
Fallon: Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders
Hasbro/Kenner, 1995
Both of these figures came out about the same time, and were based on Magical Girl cartoon series. I have not seen either series, but the figures are cute. However, neither series caught on the way She-Ra did 10 years earlier. And neither had the popularity of Sailor Moon.

Shuri – Letitia Wright: Black Panther (basic series)
Hasbro, 2017
There are two versions of this character, one based on the movie and the actress, and one based on the comic book character that came in a Toys R Us exclusive 2-Pack with Klaw. I bought the 2-pack and returned it when I saw the one above, so she would be more harmonious with the other movie Black Panther figures. The one that comes in the 2-pack does look cool though, I have to admit.
Stass Allie (foreground) – played by Lily Nyamwasa: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones/Revenge of the Sith
Hasbro, 2005
Luminara Unduli (background) – played by Mary Oyaya: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones/Revenge of the Sith
Hasbro, 2013
There are multiple versions of both these figures, but Luminara Unduli has more variations than Stass Allie.

Storm: She-Force Series 2
Toy Biz, 1996
Until the batteries wear out (or corrode), the lightening bolt on her chest lights up. This same figure came in a silver chrome, silver paint, and white versions as well as the black. There have been many Storm figures. She's the one black superhero that pretty much everyone can think of even when you ask non-comic fans, along with Blade (probably).
Lt. (Nyota) Uhura – played by Nichelle Nichols (and Zoe Saldana in the reboot): Star Trek
Playmates, 1995
Uhura has several variations of her character. The one above is from the Classic Movie Series, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I liked it because she wasn't wearing that stupid impractical miniskirt.
Valkyrie – played by Tessa Thompson: Thor: Ragnarok
Hasbro, 2017
This figure came in a two-pack with the short-haired Thor from Ragnarok. He's out of the frame here, but Tessa is dragging Chris in sparkly net I made from sacrificed fishnet tights. Worth it.
Wanda II (Simmons): The Art of Spawn
McFarlane, 2005
This is a non-articulated figure, but it's so pretty I couldn't resist. If you plan to get this one for yourself, something to be aware of: the candlesticks are a fairly soft plastic, and warp easily. Mine arrived looking half-melted. I might be able to use a hair dryer to straighten them, but I haven't tried.
Zoë Washburne – played by Gina Torres: Firefly
Funko, 2014
A good likeness of the actor. The Funko figures are sometimes hit and miss with their joints and swivels. This one was a bit of a miss for me. Her thigh swivels are kind of obnoxious, and her head barely moves because of the hair.
Okay, that's it for the ladies in my collection, even the ones I haven't unboxed yet. That was 32 female characters that are either black, are aliens played by black actors, or aliens that appear as black.

I have one dude displayed who's black. I don't typically display male figures, even if they come with the female ones, but Ty and Tandy are kinda literally codependent. They need each other, so they're displayed together.

Cloak: Cloak and Dagger box set
Toy Biz, 1997
This was a collector's set that came out way before the tv show. This pair has been in another 2-pack, and separately as 6-inch and 3 3/4-inch figures.
So including my codependent guy, 33 black characters (more or less). That is pitifully small, when you consider my collection is edging up on 700.

If you love diverse media, support it. If you want to see diverse characters, demand them from the studios that create them. Hollywood saw, clearly, that a black superhero movie could succeed, beyond their dreams of avarice. Black Panther shattered records, and good for them! Let's see more of that, please!

For another resource, totally dedicated to this kind of thing exclusively, visit: Black Action Figures.