Hot Toys: The Collector's Guide to 1/6 Scale Figures, Quarter Scale and Cosbi

Hot Toys make the action figures that people who don't collect action figures mistake for photographs. Put a good one on a shelf, take a picture on your phone, and somebody will ask you when you met the actor. That realism is the whole point, and it's also why the price tags make grown adults sit down.

So before you spend three or four hundred pounds on a 30cm plastic person, here's what you're actually paying for, what all the series codes mean, which version to buy, and how to make sure the thing in the box is real.

1/6: Joel Miller1/6: Han Solo1/6: Skeletor

Who are Hot Toys?

Hot Toys is a Hong Kong company, founded in 2000 and based in Kwun Tong. The man most associated with it is Howard Chan, a collector who worked in a small toy shop in Causeway Bay before setting up on his own. The early releases were 1/6 scale military figures and a "Famous Type" series that looked suspiciously like certain film characters without saying so.

The licensed film work started in 2003, and that's where the reputation was built: sixth scale figures of film, TV and game characters with head sculpts so lifelike they became the yardstick for the entire hobby. Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Alien, Predator, Terminator and RoboCop are all in the back catalogue, and the line has since grown to cover quarter scale, life-size pieces and tiny blind-box figures.

The ranges, explained in plain English

Every Hot Toys box carries a series code. It looks like a serial number, but it tells you exactly which line you're buying from.

• Movie Masterpiece Series (MMS): the flagship. Fully articulated 1/6 scale figures, roughly 30cm for a human character, with fabric costumes, interchangeable hands and a display base. Monsters and aliens can be taller: the Alien Big Chap is about 36cm. Film figures such as the Alien Big Chap (£329.99), Predator 2.0 (£329.99) and RoboCop 2 RoboCop (£319.99) sit in the £300-plus bracket at the time of writing.
• DX series: a smaller selection of sixth scale figures given a "deluxe" treatment. The Terminator 2 T-800 Battle Damaged 2.0 (£429.99) is one of these.
• Television Masterpiece Series (TMS): the same 1/6 approach, for characters from TV and streaming shows. The Mandalorian lives here.
• Video Game Masterpiece (VGM): 1/6 figures from games. The Marvel's Wolverine figure is £309.99 standard or £407.99 Deluxe. For other gaming characters, we also list Fortnite's Jonesy The First 1/6 at £435.99.
• Quarter Scale (QS): 1/4 scale, which launched in 2012 with a Dark Knight Rises Batman. Most human characters stand around 45cm or more. Our Book of Boba Fett 1/4 Boba Fett Deluxe is 45cm and £449.99.
• Life-size pieces: for the small characters, life-size is genuinely achievable. The Mandalorian & Grogu life-size Grogu stands 38cm and costs £289.99.
• Cosbi: Hot Toys' blind-box line, launched in 2021. Small, stylised, collectable figures sold in sealed boxes so you don't know who you've got until you open it. We sell full displays: Star Wars Dark Side or Mandalorian (8 boxes, £89.99) and Marvel Avengers: Doomsday (8 boxes, £137.99).

DX: Black AdamVGM: WolverineCosbi: Star Wars blind boxes

Why does a 1/6 Hot Toys figure cost what it does?

Fair question. You can buy a 15cm action figure of the same character for twenty-odd quid. Here's where the other few hundred goes, using the Terminator 2 T-800 Battle Damaged 2.0 as the worked example, because it's a good one.

The head sculpt

• This is the headline act. Hot Toys sculpt and hand-paint faces to match the actor's likeness, down to skin texture and the slightly glassy look of real eyes.
• The T-800 comes with two heads: a newly sculpted battle-damaged face with a rolling eyeball system (so you can change where he's looking), and a second head exposing the endoskeleton, with a battery-powered light-up red eye.
• Licensed figures go through rounds of research and approval with the rights holder. That back-and-forth takes time and money, and you're paying for it.

The tailored outfit

• Hot Toys clothes are cut and stitched to fit a 30cm body, which is harder than it sounds. At that size a normal seam looks like a rope.
• The T-800 has two genuine leather jackets (one with a shredded sleeve), leather trousers, a printed T-shirt, a belt and a bandolier. Yes, actual leather, on a doll. We said it was a lot.
• Chan himself has talked about this: a convincing figure needs more than a good face. Body proportions, hair and correctly scaled accessories all have to be right too.

The articulation and hands

• The T-800's body has over 30 points of articulation, hidden under the clothes.
• Rather than one pair of hands that sort of grips everything, you get eight interchangeable hands sculpted for specific jobs: relaxed, gun-holding, fists, a thumbs-up for the obvious scene.

The accessories and base

• A machine gun, rifle, pistol, grenade launcher, bullets and a long metal rod, all scaled correctly, plus a detachable damaged arm.
• The base is a lit, steel mill-themed diorama with a nameplate. Bases like this aren't an afterthought; on the bigger releases they're half the display.

Add hand painting, low production runs compared with mass-market toys, licence fees and shipping something heavy across the world, and the price starts to make sense. It doesn't make it cheap. It makes it explicable.

Shown: Hot Toys Terminator 2: Endoskeleton (Battle Damaged Version) 31cm

Standard or Deluxe: is the extra money worth it?

Many Hot Toys figures come in two flavours. The Deluxe usually adds extra heads, more accessories, an alternate outfit or a more elaborate base. Sometimes that's transformative. Sometimes it's one extra hand and a bit of rubble.

• Predator 2.0: £329.99 standard, £359.99 Deluxe. A £30 gap is reasonable if the extras are things you'll actually display.
• Marvel's Wolverine: £309.99 standard, £407.99 Deluxe. That's nearly a hundred pounds more. Look at exactly what the Deluxe adds before you click, and ask yourself whether you'll swap those parts in, or whether they'll live in the box forever.

Alien Warrior: standardAlien Warrior: Deluxe

Our rule: buy the Deluxe when its extras change the figure into the version of the character you actually wanted. Don't buy it because the word "Deluxe" is on the box.

So which one should you buy?

If it's your first Hot Toys figure

• Pick the character you'd be gutted not to own, not the one with the best resale chatter. A figure you love is worth the money; a "smart buy" you're lukewarm on isn't.
• A classic film figure is a safe bet: the Alien Big Chap (£329.99) or RoboCop 2 RoboCop (£319.99) both make an immediate impression on a shelf.

If you want a gift that won't break the bank (relatively)

• A Cosbi display is the cheapest way into Hot Toys: Star Wars Dark Side or Mandalorian at £89.99 for eight blind boxes.
• For a Marvel fan, the Avengers: Doomsday Cosbi display is £137.99 for eight.

If you want a shelf centrepiece

• The Terminator 2 T-800 Battle Damaged 2.0 (£429.99) or T2 Endoskeleton Battle Damaged (£444.99) are made for this, light-up bits and all.
• Go bigger with the Book of Boba Fett 1/4 Boba Fett Deluxe (45cm, £449.99). Quarter scale has real presence, but measure first.

If you're a Star Wars fan

• The life-size Grogu (38cm, £289.99) is the one people stop and stare at. It's not an action figure so much as a small green housemate.

If you're a gamer

• Marvel's Wolverine in standard (£309.99) unless the Deluxe extras genuinely grab you, or Fortnite's Jonesy The First (£435.99).

If you're a Marvel film collector

• The Avengers: Doomsday Magneto Deluxe 1/6 (£435.99).

Fortnite: Jonesy The FirstMMS: Magneto Deluxe

If you like sixth scale but want something more mechanical, our threezero guide covers their Transformers and robot figures.

How ordering works with us

A handful of Hot Toys pieces are on the shelf, but most of the range is listed as pre-orders we bring in especially for you. You order from us, we order it in from our European distributor, and it ships to you when it lands.

New releases are genuine pre-orders with a release window, and that window can be a long way off, so order with patience. Some popular figures come back later as re-runs. Check each product page for its current availability and timing. Pre-ordering is how you get a figure at its normal price rather than paying whatever someone on the secondary market fancies charging once it's sold out.

You'll find everything we can get in for you in our pre-order on demand collection, and new announcements in collectibles pre-orders.

The honest bit: what we'd swerve

Fakes and bootlegs. Hot Toys are among the most counterfeited collectibles going, because the price gap makes it worth a bootlegger's while. Signs to look for:

• The price: a brand new figure at half what everyone else is charging isn't a bargain. It's a warning.
• The paint: fakes often fall down on the face, especially the eyes. Compare against official product photos side by side.
• The size and finish: bootlegs are often copied from a genuine figure, so they can come out slightly smaller, with cheaper fabric and sloppier detail.
• The box: collectors have spotted fakes from small printing differences, such as barcodes printed differently from the genuine packaging. Again, compare to known-good examples.
• The seller: buy from a proper shop with a real address, not an anonymous marketplace listing with stock photos and a suspiciously generous returns policy.

Unrealistic expectations of articulation. These are posable, but a fabric-clad figure won't do the splits like a cheap superhero toy. Leather and armour restrict movement. Pose it once, carefully, and leave it.

Sunlight and dust. Direct sun fades paint and fabric over time, and dust settles into every fold of a 1/6 costume. A glass-fronted cabinet out of direct light is the best home for anything this expensive.

Buying something you don't have room for. A quarter scale figure on a big base takes up far more room than you'd think. A life-size Grogu needs its own spot. Measure the shelf before you order, not when the courier arrives.

Shown: Star Wars The Mandalorian Action Figure 2-Pack 1/4 The Mandalorian & The Child 46 cm

The short version

• Hot Toys are a Hong Kong company, founded in 2000, famous for lifelike 1/6 scale figures.
• The series code tells you the line: MMS (films), TMS (TV), VGM (games), QS (quarter scale), DX (deluxe treatments), Cosbi (blind boxes).
• The price buys you realistic head sculpts, tailored clothes, dozens of points of articulation and properly scaled accessories.
• Deluxe editions are worth it when the extras change the figure, not when they're just more stuff.
• Cosbi displays are the cheapest way in; quarter scale and life-size pieces need proper space.
• If the price looks too good to be true, it's a fake.

Browse the full range in our Hot Toys collection, or widen the net with our collectible figures, Star Wars and Alien collections.

Final thought: a Hot Toys figure is the closest most of us will get to owning a bit of the film. Buy the one you'll look at every day, check it's genuine, and keep it out of the sun.

Further reading: if you're after something smaller-scale and more affordable, try JoyToy Warhammer Figures: The Collector's Guide to the 1/18 Range, or see our Star Wars Funko Pop release dates.