It is ironic really that the more you find out about something the more you want to know about it. That’s what happened with this collection for me. Whilst not really understanding what they were I decided to start chasing a completed McFarlane “Color Tops” set after I found I had already purchased quite a few of them in my collection. I was looking for something new to collect so I started researching and finding more information on these Color Tops figures. I wanted to find out what they were about and why they existed.
Being so random in nature, and having so many different character figures across a broad range of media and platforms, some I have never heard of, popular TV shows, film, games even anime characters, I must admit I still do not fully understand the whole idea behind this series or what in particular makes them a ‘Color Tops’ figure ( most do have a similar type stand ), I’m not sure that McFarlane knows any more either, the manufacturer behind this series, it seems they gave up on this line in 2018 after releasing the official figure #47 figure plus they made a couple of variant figures with different paint job making 49 figures they made all up before abruptly stopping.
Possibly a testament to the pitfalls of juggling the licensing for action figures with the pre-marketing premonitions required to build up the hype (I am guessing here), even today on their website McFarlane’s alternative marketing materials are different than the reality (which is why I do believe they got lost on direction for this collection).
Logos featured on their own Color Tops marketing include Star Trek, Stranger Things, One Punch Man, Hello Neighbor however none of those made the collection.
The McFarlane Toys web site does have most of the Color Tops figures correctly described but whilst researching the whole set I was thrown off track early because of their marketing, it includes figures that were not Color Tops figures, figures that were never made, such as the #17 Jesus figure in the picture (#17 is actually Jester from Titanfall), and some with wrong numbers on some of it’s current marketing (I don’t think 34A really existed either).
Anyway it is done and any collector will tell you that it is all about the chase. I am so very pleased to say after many months of chasing this set, now becoming an expert on this collection I now have the entire set, at least one of every Color Tops figure McFarlane released. Some came cheaper than others.
In the meantime for posterity purposes and with the benefit of hindsight and some free time, using material from McFarlane’s site and having the actual figures to refer to, I put together a few information pages with the correct information on the final Color Tops figure collection, where you can investigate more about each figure before purchasing.
The picture above with all the boxes laid out in order demonstrates how many extra figures you end up with when you go hunting for a particular set or collection. That is because sometimes you have to buy a bundle of 2 or 3 figures to get the 1 item you need so you end up with duplicates, 2 or even 5 of one item and this is why I made my web site to help me sell the extras. Now they are all up for sale these figures are available for sale in my shop now and once they are gone they are gone.