The year is nearly over, and our wallets have spent much of it being drained by all the cool new toys we added to our collection in 2025. How cool? Well, io9’s resident toy collectors banded together and took a look back at our favorite justifications for all that wallet draining—here are our picks for the very best additions to our collections.
Hasbro Star Wars Black Series Anakin and Obi-Wan Mustafar Duel
Hasbro went all out for San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Wars exclusive this year, giving us not just brand-new figures of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s Revenge of the Sith appearances for the film’s 20th anniversary, but a litany of brilliant accessories, paired with a lavish display platform of the Mustafarian lava platforms and droids their final duel climaxes over.
Sure, it was great Hasbro eventually sold the figures separately so everyone could at least enjoy the best iterations of these characters the company has made so far, but the single-carded releases lost a lot of the accessories that made this release such a fantastic celebration of the film.
Funko Pop Vinyl Wild Robot Roz
We know that the general consensus on Funko Pops in general isn’t great, but one way the brand excels is by giving us toys for things we might otherwise not have toys of. Case in point, The Wild Robot was our favorite film of 2024. It was an award-winning box office hit and has a sequel on the way, but there was very little merchandise and certainly no toy line. That’s where Funko came to the rescue with this perfect little version of Roz along with Brightbill, and it made us cry all over again.
Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy
It might not be all too fair to put an entire set from a collectible card game into a list of best toys (even though you do collect and play with them), but Magic‘s riskiest Universes Beyond set yet paid off with a wildly inventive and gloriously celebratory tribute to one of the greatest fantasy game series of all time this summer with such good style, it reignited our love of playing the venerable card game.
Great cards, a clever translation of iconic Final Fantasy mechanics and moments, and worth the nightmare scramble it was to get cards to chase and build decks with.
Mattel Jaws 50th Hot Wheels Orca
There was no shortage of Jaws merchandise to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary, but our favorite was one of the smallest. Mattel released this perfect, tiny little Matchbox-sized version of the Orca, as well as Bruce the Shark. The detail was fantastic, the packaging was awesome, and it just beautifully captured the essence of the film.
Goodsmile Figma Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Link DX Edition
Figma’s Legend of Zelda legacy is strong, with some truly great Link figures inspired by retro-classic designs from Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess, but Link’s modern look, embodied by Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, got the figure the smash-hit duology deserved this year.
A delight to pose and packed with a ton of fun accessories (especially so in the deluxe edition, giving Link Zonai gear and effects, his glider, and more), this was the ultimate action figure celebration of not one, but two great games.
Disney Racers Die-Cast Cars
We’re huge fans of Disney Parks, and any way to keep that magic going at home is always welcome. This year, Disney found a fun way to do just that with Disney Racers. It’s a mashup of Disney theme park rides and cool hot rods in the form of small, die-cast cars. Are they meant for small children? Without a doubt. But where else can you get an Indiana Jones or Space Mountain-themed toy car? Plus, it’s the closest we can get to the incredible Japanese toys we discovered this year, so we’ll take what we can get.
Lego Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D
The first official Lego Star Trek set was a long time coming, and even with the sharp intake of breath upon realizing that we very much don’t live in the post-scarcity utopia of the Federation when we saw its price tag, the set itself is a wonderful tribute to the iconic Starfleet flagship.
The minifigures are a delight, the Galaxy-class is replicated almost spot-on with tons of clever building techniques, and it’s so good that it has us yearning that Lego will boldly go into a whole Star Trek line that could rival its Star Wars output for breadth and scope.
Spin Master DC Universe Batman Forever Figures
For many of us, the toys released around the 1990s Batman films are burned into our memories. The packaging, the karate chop action, the accessories. They let us relive those wonderful films again and again, long before the VHS arrived. So, when Target teamed up with DC to release brand new figures based on 1995’s Batman Forever, it was like traveling back in time.
Bandai Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX HG Model Kits
Say what you will about GQuuuuuuX, the mecha designs were great, and everyone loved them. Okay, okay, Gundam fans love to argue: say what you will about the GQuuuuuuX mecha designs, we can (hopefully) broadly agree that they made for some absolutely remarkable gunpla kits this year.
The standard High Grade line leveled up again this year, topping the brilliant Witch from Mercury series with the sheer, wild intricacy of how it managed to adapt the lithe, intricately detailed aesthetic of GQuuuuuuX‘s mechanical design into 1/144 scaled model kits that looked great and didn’t immediately collapse if you looked at them funny. The whole line has been great so far, but a special shoutout to Sugai’s Gelgoog and the Red Gundam for being top tier in a series of bangers.
Hasbro Haslab Ghostbusters Plasma Series Ecto-1
Arriving just in the nick of time, we are in awe of Hasbro’s new Haslab of the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters. Have you ever held a toy in your hand and been like, “I can’t believe this thing exists?” That’s what the massive, sixth-scale Ecto-1 feels like. It’s truly one of the most impressive toys we’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. Just please don’t judge us if we sit on the floor and vroom-vroom it around like we’re 10.
Lego Game Boy
We all love Lego’s grand and elaborate sets even as much as our wallets fear their price tags—we’ve already put one of them on our list this year. But sometimes, small-scale is what works best with the company, and its latest Nintendo console replica nailed that perfectly with the Game Boy.
Almost spot on to the actual size of the handheld, so many clever building techniques and inventive uses of Lego parts faithfully recreated the classic to a tee, and that was before you got to the fun additions like the lenticular screens depicting scenes from the two included buildable game carts, Link’s Awakening and Super Mario Land.
Nintendo Amiibo Metroid Prime 4 Samus Aran and Vi-O-La
Are Amiibos actually toys? We can save that philosophical debate for another time. We just know that after waiting almost 10 years for Metroid Prime 4, actually holding Samus Aran in your hands, complete with a new suit and her very own motorcycle, was just wonderful. She was finally back and as excellent as ever. The fact that it also gave you some fun new skins for Vi-o-La in the actual game was just a bonus. We need many, many more toys of Samus in this suit.
Hasbro Marvel Legends Daredevil: Born Again Daredevil
The man without fear leapt back onto our screens this year, which means Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock got to leap back onto our toy shelves too with a remarkable upgrade on his first action figure iteration. The new MCU Daredevil is one of the best Daredevils Hasbro has made, full stop, regardless of whether he’s from the screen or the comics, with brilliant sculpting and minimal but perfectly picked accessories that make him an absolute joy to pose and play with.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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