How action figures are made

Every joint on a Mattel action figure has to survive a 20-pound pull during testing.

stations: 7
things upstream: 71
raw sources: 22
steps from the ground: 10

The short version

An artist sculpts the figure, and a factory scans the approved sculpt and builds a steel mold from it. Molten plastic is injected into the mold, usually in two main colors. The parts are checked, details such as eyes and buttons are painted through masks or by pad, and the pieces are snapped or welded together and boxed.

Sculpt the master

A sculptor starts from a sketch and works through several rounds of art-directed sculpts. Hair and faces may be sculpted by hand or on a computer.
Scan and test-paint it

The factory takes a 3D scan of the sculpt and runs revisions until the product team is happy. A final prototype is then painted to show what the finished toy should look like.
Build the injection mold

The factory builds a massive steel mold, compared by one maker to a giant ice cube tray. A mold for just one or two heads can measure about 16 inches on a side, and each lasts a year or two.
Inject the plastic

A machine flash-injects molten plastic into the mold. Typically two main colors go in, one for skin and one for the outfit. Harder plastics such as ABS make bodies and softer PVC makes rubbery parts. A production mold cycles in about a minute.

Goes in
ABS plastic PVC Nylon
Check the molded parts

After the plastic cools, pins pop the parts out of the mold, and they are inspected for quality.
Paint the fine details

Copper spray masks, which work like stencils and must be cleaned every 10 uses, lay down color. Tampo machines add printed detail, and each layer has to be aligned by hand. Paint wiped over a sculpt fills the recesses in hair.

Goes in
Paint
Assemble and box

Workers put the figure together by hand with snaps and screws, and sonic welding uses vibration to melt some parts together. Joints get a pull test, and the figure goes into a snug custom box.

Goes in
Screw

End of the lineAction figure

Worth repeating

Hasbro coined the term action figure in 1964 to sell G.I. Joe to boys who refused to play with dolls.
The little indented circles sometimes seen on a figure are marks left by the pins that pop it out of the mold.
Tin soldiers were made in Germany as early as the 1730s by casting metal between two slabs of slate.