Super7 Figures: ReAction, Ultimates, Deluxe and Vinyl Explained for Collectors

Super7 make the toys you'd have had as a kid if the 1980s had been a bit cooler. Retro cardbacks, chunky five-point figures, Godzilla in every era he's had, ThunderCats that actually look like the cartoon, and a five-headed dragon big enough to frighten the cat.

It's a brand built on nostalgia, but not the lazy kind. A Super7 figure might be a £14 retro carded figure, a £24 Deluxe, a fully loaded Ultimate or a hand-painted Japanese vinyl, and the same character often turns up in more than one of them. Knowing which line is which is how you get what you're actually after.

Deluxe: Lion-OUltimates: Godzilla Minus OneReAction: Godzilla (Marusan Tin)

Who are Super7?

Super7 was founded in San Francisco in 2001 by Brian Flynn. It started life as a magazine about vintage Japanese toys, which tells you a lot about where the taste comes from. It soon moved into making toys, opened its first shop in San Francisco's Japantown in 2003, and has since grown into a pop-culture design house making figures, vinyl and apparel.

The house style comes from Flynn's own interests: science fiction, giant monsters, comics, punk, skateboarding and robots. In practice that means Godzilla and the Toho monsters, ThunderCats, Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, Universal Monsters, G.I. Joe and a long tail of licences most toy companies wouldn't touch.

The ranges, explained in plain English

• ReAction: 3.75-inch figures in the style of 1980s Kenner toys, with five points of articulation (head, shoulders, hips) and a vintage-style cardback. At the time of writing our Toho ReAction figures, such as MOGUERA, are £13.99. Several ReAction ranges also come as blind-box displays of 12, roughly £135.99 to £158.99.
• ReAction+: the same 3.75-inch size and retro look, but with elbows, knees and better shoulders, so they can actually pose. Back to the Future and G.I. Joe ReAction+ figures start at £13.99 with us.
• Deluxe: 7-inch scale (about 18cm), super-articulated, with fewer accessories and no swap parts. Built to stand alongside Ultimates for much less money. The ThunderCats Deluxe figures (Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, Monkian) are £23.99.
• Ultimates: Super7's flagship collector line. 7-inch scale, highly articulated, with swappable heads and hands and a full load of accessories, in a window box. Our Godzilla Toho Ultimates mostly cost £56.99 to £77.99, and at the time of writing the Transformers G1 Ultimates are Tracks at £18.99 and Megatron at £31.99.
• Super Kaiju: Super7's kaiju vinyl figures. Our Godzilla Super Kaiju pieces are £23.99 to £36.99.
• Vinyl: Super7's own characters in vinyl. Their limited-edition Japanese vinyl (sofubi) is handcrafted, painted and imported from Japan. Mummy Boy, one of their best-known originals, is £39.99 with us.

ReAction+: Marty McFlyVinyl: Mummy Boy

ReAction vs Deluxe vs Ultimates vs vinyl: which Super7 is which

This is the bit that trips people up, because the same ThunderCat or Godzilla can turn up in three or four lines. Here's how to tell them apart and choose.

ReAction: the retro toy

• The line launched in 2013 at San Diego Comic-Con with Alien figures based on Kenner's 1979 prototypes, which never made it to shops. That's the idea: the toy that should have existed.
• Five points of articulation is deliberately basic. These are meant to feel like a 1983 toy-shop find, not to win a posing contest.
• Buy them if you want carded nostalgia on the wall, or a cheap way to collect a whole cast.

ReAction+: retro with knees

• Same size, same look, but with elbow and knee joints and hinged shoulders. Inside, it uses the O-ring construction many 1980s 3.75-inch lines used.
• Buy them if you like the vintage aesthetic but want to actually play with or pose them.

Deluxe: the budget 7-inch

• Same scale as Ultimates, fully posable, but without the swap heads, extra hands and accessory pile.
• Buy them if you want the full ThunderCats team on a shelf without paying Ultimates prices for every member.

Ultimates: the collector's 7-inch

• Window box, swappable portraits and hands, and accessories drawn from specific episodes or films. Super7's Transformers Ultimates, first revealed in January 2021, are based on the G1 cartoon and are deliberately non-transforming. They're display figures, not converting robots.
• Buy them if you want the definitive version of one character and you'll actually use the extras.

Vinyl: the art toy

• Soft-vinyl figures in the Japanese tradition, made in Japan in small runs. Super7's roots are in Japanese toy culture, and the vinyl is where that shows most.
• Buy them if you collect objects rather than characters, and you like your shelf a bit weirder than everyone else's.

ReAction: Godzilla 1989Ultimates: Godzilla '54

The packaging is half the point

Super7 put real effort into making the box look like it came from a different decade. ReAction cardbacks copy 1980s Kenner layouts. The ThunderCats Vintage Collection nods to LJN, who made the original ThunderCats toys between 1985 and 1988. The Mumm-Ra's Tomb 2-pack (£30.99) is named after one of that line's playsets, and the LJN version is now a serious collectors' item.

That matters for a simple reason. Plenty of Super7 buyers never open the box. If you're a carded collector, look after the corners, store it out of the sun and keep it in a protective case. If you're an opener, enjoy the guilt-free freedom of a ReAction figure that cost less than a takeaway.

Shown: Thundercats Vintage Collection Action Figures 2-Pack Mumm-Ra's Tomb 14 cm

The big licences: ThunderCats, Godzilla and Transformers

• ThunderCats: Super7's ThunderCats Ultimates began in 2019, and the cheaper Deluxe line came later. Our Deluxe wave includes Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara and Monkian at £23.99 each. Not quite Ultimates, but much closer than the price gap suggests.
• Godzilla (Toho): covers every era, from Godzilla '54 and '74 to Kiryu and Minus One. The Ultimates cost £56.99 to £77.99 and the ReAction figures £13.99. If you're a kaiju collector, this is a very deep pool.
• Transformers: G1 cartoon-accurate Ultimates such as Tracks and Megatron. They don't transform. If you want Transformers that do, see our Hasbro collectibles guide, and for premium posable robots try our threezero guide.
• Dungeons & Dragons: the Ultimates Tiamat is based on the 1983 animated series. She's made of soft vinyl with 20 points of articulation spread across her legs, wings, tail and all five necks, and measures around 50cm long. At £299.99, she's the five-headed elephant in the room.

Ultimates: MegatronUltimates: Tracks

So which one should you buy?

If you're buying a first Super7 figure

• A Toho ReAction figure at £13.99. Cheap, cheerful and the purest version of what Super7 does.

If it's a gift for an '80s kid

• ThunderCats Deluxe Lion-O at £23.99, or the Mumm-Ra's Tomb 2-pack at £30.99 for proper nostalgia.

If you want a shelf centrepiece

• Tiamat at £299.99. Nothing else in the range takes over a room like she does.

If you're a kaiju fan

• Pick your era with a Godzilla Toho Ultimate from £56.99, then fill in the background with £13.99 ReAction monsters.

If you're a G1 Transformers fan

• Megatron Ultimates at £31.99 and Tracks at £18.99, as long as you're happy with display-only robots.

If you're on a budget

• ReAction and ReAction+ from £13.99. The ThunderCats Deluxe figures at £23.99 are the best 7-inch value in the range.

Shown: Dungeons & Dragons Ultimates Action Figure Tiamat 50cm

How ordering works with us

A few Super7 figures are on our shelves, but most are pre-orders we bring in especially for you from our European distributor. You order, we order it in, and it ships to you when it lands. New waves are genuine pre-orders with release windows. Some figures come back around as later runs.

Check each product page for its availability and timing. For limited vinyl and popular Ultimates, pre-ordering is how you avoid paying secondary-market prices after release. Upcoming releases are in our collectibles pre-orders.

The honest bit: what we'd swerve

• Paying Ultimates money for accessories you won't use: if the extra heads and hands are going straight back in the tray, buy the Deluxe.
• Expecting Transformers that transform: Super7's are figures in robot mode. Lovely ones, but if you want the car, you're in the wrong aisle.
• Expecting modern articulation from ReAction: five points is the whole idea. If that bothers you, get ReAction+.
• Blind-box roulette for one figure: a sealed display of 12 is great if you want the set. Buying single blind boxes to chase one character is a fine way to end up with four of the wrong ones.
• Flipping vinyl: buy sofubi because you love it. Small runs don't guarantee anyone else will pay more for it later.
• Sun-faded cardbacks: if you collect carded figures, direct sunlight will ruin the artwork long before anything else does.

The short version

• Super7 was founded in San Francisco in 2001 by Brian Flynn, starting as a magazine about vintage Japanese toys.
• ReAction is 3.75-inch retro with five points of articulation. ReAction+ adds elbows and knees.
• Deluxe is 7-inch and posable without the extras. Ultimates is 7-inch with everything.
• The Japanese vinyl is handcrafted in Japan, featuring Super7's own characters like Mummy Boy.
• Transformers Ultimates are G1 cartoon-accurate and don't transform.
• The retro packaging is part of the appeal, so carded collectors should protect it.
• Most Super7 with us is bring-it-in-for-you, so check each product page for timing.

Browse everything in our Super7 collection, or jump straight to ThunderCats, Transformers or Dungeons & Dragons. If you're shopping around, all our action figures are in one place.

Final thought: Super7 sell you the toy your childhood should have had, at whatever price suits your nostalgia. Start with a £13.99 ReAction figure. If you catch yourself wanting the 7-inch version, that's when you know.

Further reading: if Tiamat has you thinking about dice, try our Arcana Unleashed D&D guide, and for more poseable robots see our threezero figures guide.