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The big two names I'm talking about here are Gears of War and Halo. While the Halo range has grown with another two sets of articulated figures this year, the makers have also branched out into statues, large format figures, headknockers, posters, calendars and various apparel fir the discerning fan. The success of the Halo range has been dwarfed slightly by the sheer demand for merchandise based on the Gears of War franchise.
With a huge sequel now doing the rounds, the demand for Gears Of war items has been steadily growing throughout the year. Thankfully NECA have created some incredible items to keep the fans at boiling point, with some of the best action figures that have been on the market in years. The Gears of war figures are a larger format to most games figures and feature a much higher level of detail as well as better accessories and packaging. The box sets have been hot sellers too, each of the three released so far featuring four separate figures.
Other games that have featured on the action figure hooks in 2008 include Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Brothers and more, proving that older ttiles still carry some clout with the fans.
Star Wars has been present again this year thanks to tie-in merchandise from the new Clone Wars movie and TV series. One surprising thing in this year's run of film and TV related merchandise has been the demand for the 'Classics' range of Doctor Who action figures, which surpassed all expectations and have been snapped up by fans and collectors left, right and centre.
Movie merchandise has seen something of a resurgence too, and a particularly popular item of late has been the 12 inch SAW puppet on Tricycle box set, depicting the infamous Billy doll from the horror franchise, which, of course, had its fifth instalment released in the latter part of the year. Other horror items have included a superb 12 inch version of Jason Voorhees and more, just going to show that the fans still want blood. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight have all had their parts to play this year too, and some fantastic merchandise has been available.
Music fans were treated to new figures of Joey Ramone, Lemmy from Motorhead, two new Elvis Presley figures and two new Elvis headknockers. While the number of new items in the music ranges has been pretty thin on the ground, the demand is certainly there for more.
The market for licensed memorabilia from all corners of popular culture has seen a definite upturn in 2008 despite the economic troubles the world is facing, and these collectibles make perfect Christmas gifts. The merchandise industry is now even more a part of popular culture and the media it is based on that ever, even going so far as being integral to the continued life of the entertainment industry itself to a certain extent. While DVD sales are keeping cinema alive and box office takings slowly raising, the future is looking rather solid for the action figure world, and there are many, many more to be collected in 2009. The winners this year are the video games ranges, and in particular Gears of war, which does appear to have won the battle of 2008.
