Custom Action Figures

We started life as a high quality collectible toy company with a specialty in custom action figures, dolls and figurines. While we've grown since then, designing and manufacturing action figures remains a fun passion of ours.

We've created original action figures for all kinds of everyday heroes: bosses, IT experts, HR people, geeks, money types, working moms and insurance pros. Together with our client-partners like Yahoo!, McAfee, Safeco and Merrill Lynch, these toys have been gifted to all kinds of people and business professionals - with exciting results for our clients.

Just like our custom toys and other original products, each custom action figure is designed from the ground up - just for you, your brand, your clients, and your message.

To learn more about our custom dolls and original action figures, read on. or skip ahead by picking a link below.

Custom action figures = Mini marketing superheroes
Creation process
Action figure & doll capabilities
Custom dolls and figures - Accessories
Technical tidbits
Heroic packaging
Order quantities
Next steps

Custom Action Figures = Mini Marketing Superheroes

Our custom action figures are made from scratch, designed to celebrate a profession, industry or person.

We've worked for a variety of companies in different industries, creating toys for a range of uses, with one common result: their custom action figures are always a hit - and they hit big. Here's why:

They’re instantly recognizable. Action figures and dolls remind people of themselves and people they know. When action figures take on human forms, people connect with them.
They’re heroic. Traditional action figures celebrate comic and movie heroes like “G.I. Joe”, “‘Wonder Woman” and “Superman”. We create custom action figures to celebrate heroic workers, people and professionals.
They’re collectable. The action figures we create are designed to be played with over and over, and displayed forever.
Action figure branding goes deep. Your marketing message and brand are embodied in every part of the finished product: the character, the toy’s name, its bio, its accessories, and its packaging.
They’re provoking. The toys we create with our clients are engaging, unusual and provoking. They’re designed to stay in their recipients hands, on their desks and most importantly, in their minds.
They're retail quality. All of the action figures and dolls we’ll create together are retail quality, because we make toys for retail, too!

Creation Process

We can create just about anything – but we never create just anything. Each custom action figure is designed from the ground up with your marketing messages in mind.

Together we’ll imagine the original toy concept from your branding and marketing goals. Depending on the action figure or doll and your needs, we’ll use our illustration, sculpting and design services to bring the action figures to life (in plastic form, at least!) We’ll work together during every step of the way to create the best toys possible.

Turning your marketing into a fun, heroic promotional product – the kind that stays in your prospect’s hands, on their desk and in their mind - takes innovation and creativity. And we pack lots of both into everything we make. We set high ROI, quality and safety expectations on every custom toy project we complete.

More about our custom action figure creation process.

Action Figure & Doll Capabilities

Since each figure is completely customized, we have the ability to choose their look and capabilities, depending on your needs.

If you imagine creating your own custom G.I. Joe, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, He-man or another classic figure, we can take inspiration from these classic super heroes.

Some of our figurines and statues remain still, while others have 15 articulation points or more (poseable joints that move, rotate or disconnect).

We’ve created some interesting and novel toy parts over the years, including:

Replaceable action figure heads and faces to play up multiple moods and personalities
Tiny briefcases and toolboxes that open and close
Changeable hands and shoes
Custom toy stands
Re-sealable clamshell packaging to erase life’s ultimate toy dilemma… preserve the package or play with the toy?

Custom Dolls and Figures - Accessories

Every great action hero and heroine totes their own trusty accessories that compliment his or her super powers. We’ll work together to create accessories that are right for your custom character and brand.

While most accessories are made of plastics, others are created with fabric, metal, magnets, cardboard, and any other imaginable material.
Custom action figures and custom dolls can have any number of accessories. Some are created without accessories and others have a few, 5, 10 or even more trusty tools of the trade.
All accessories are engineered alongside the toys to be completely compatible.

Technical Tidbits

We work with a variety of plastics and paints to create custom action figures and custom dolls. Everything’s completely customizable, and we’ll design the best toy medium for your message:

For plastics, we select from common toy materials like vinyl or PVC (poly vinyl chloride), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PS (polystyrene) and others depending on the item and its function.
Any imaginable combination of colors can be used to create the plastic and paint for your custom doll. Paint is usually applied by hand with a stencil by skilled painters.
Logos and graphic designs can be applied to any part of the toy, its accessories and packaging.
Our most popular figures stand 6 inches tall, but we’ll customize the size to fit your needs. Other common action figure and doll sizes are:
- 1.5 to 3” for custom mini figures
- 3 ¾” for custom Star Wars figures and “G.I Joe: A Real American Hero” figures
- 8” for custom Mego action figures
- 11.5” for custom Barbies
- 12” for custom G.I. Joes (traditional) figures
- …and any other size imaginable.

Heroic Packaging

Custom action figure packaging is as strategically designed and manufactured as the toy itself. We can help you and your creative team with heroic copy, to make the package the perfect compliment to your custom doll. Some of the packaging types we’ve used include:

Custom designed blister cards
Clamshells / full blisters, including re-sealable varieties
Window boxes
Custom printed polybags
Clear acrylic display boxes

Packaging Options

We can customize the action figure packaging to the smallest detail so that your original dolls hit the mark perfectly. This includes options like:

Direct mail - creating complete direct mail pieces, tightly integrating the custom action figure and mailer box
Trade shows - tailoring the package and custom doll so it’s easy to wear or carry around a trade fair floor
Retail options - including common retail product options like hang tabs or dangling tags, UPC codes, stickers, and point-of-sale displays
Marketing literature - including reply cards, brochures and sales rep business cards either attached to, inside, or as part of the packaging

Order Quantities

We work with companies who want to create between 1000's and 1 million figures. Tthere are a few things to keep in mind:

The fewer toys we create, the less effective pricing becomes
For reasonable pricing, we prefer to create figurines, action figures and custom dolls in the 1000’s
Creating more toys the first time around is less costly than having to repeatedly order extra toys later on. The custom action figures we create together will have an impact. Normally the uses and demand for the toys is greater than originally anticipated.

Next Steps

If you’ve got a custom action figure in mind, and are a good match with Happy Worker – contact us with your ideas and we’ll get started.

Because the original action figure creative options are so limitless, it's often tough to imagine all the possibilities and pick out the best ideas. We can help. We’re as excited as you are to put your brand into action.