While the list of
My Top 10 Toylines of 2025 might be considered as the most prestigious of my annual lists, making it on might be just as impressive if not even more so. What is The Best of the Rest? It's a careful selection of my top 10 favorite individual toys of the previous year that were not part of a larger toyline that ended up on My Top 10 Toylines of 2025 list. While I tend to collect toylines that offer huge rosters of characters that span multiple years, I also love to grab random figures here and there that just appeal to me. The Best of the Rest is my way of acknowledging smaller lines, single releases, or that odd figure that's cool enough for me to grab from a larger toyline I really don't even collect. Who is eligible? Most any toy or collectible released in the past year (2025). Who isn't eligible? Any toy from a line that was features on the list of My Top 10 Favorite Toylines of 2025. Remember that these are always listed alphabetically and not in order of merit. This list is always pretty interesting to me as while you could probably guess most of my favorite toylines by looking at what I tend to review the most, these tend to be a bit more offbeat and sometimes not even figures I had the chance to review. Many of the figures I picked this year were from properties with limited characters released, import figures I ordered out of curiosity, or a particularly impressive figure from a toyline line that just didn't make the cut this year. This one is a tricky one to select as I started with a massive list and whittled my way down. Ready too check out the Best of the Rest for 2025? Then join me after the break...
(Note: I do these by individual releases, so a two-pack or a figure with a vehicle, animal companion, etc., would count as a single entry.)
I love random and fun stuff like these MrBeast Lab Hybrids. Honestly, I would have gone all in on these except that most of them are blind boxed, something I just despise, so I only grabbed a few. Mostly just these sets that aren't mystery boxes. They're cool figures and this set of a killer robot with an old-fashioned TV inspired head and a radiated dinosaur skeleton was my first set and certainly was my favorite, too. These have a swappable action feature that works quite well, but they're just solid and all around impressive little action figures on their own as well. Seriously, if it weren't for the blind boxed aspect turning me off (once I get a duplicate I dump blind boxed lines), I would have probably tracked down all of these.
NECA is really just trickling out the Evil Dead releases these days and it feels like they sometimes go years between giving us something new. When we get a new figure, though, they're usually quite good. That was definitely the case for this two pack of Ash and Cheryl Williams. It's a two-pack that really shows some hardcore sibling rivalry! Great likenesses, grotesque sculpts on Cheryl the deadite, lots of blood, and cool accessories made for another welcome figure from NECA. The first movie barely gets any collectibles made from it so this was a huge surprise. I wasn't thrilled with many of NECA's 2026 New York Toy Fair offerings this year so I try to really celebrate when they release a horror figure that I am interested in.
Chainsaw Man: Chainsaw Man- The Movie: Reze Arc from S.H. Figuarts: Chainsaw Man by Bandai Namco/ Tamashi Nations
As of this writing, this movie version of Chainsaw Man is sitting on my desk waiting to be photographed fully for an upcoming review. I'd had him for a couple months now and he's just incredibly fun to mess around with. I was fascinated by Chainsaw Man and got into it after finding the first few volumes of the manga at Loganberry Books in Cleveland, OH. After that I grabbed some of the toys. I've watched the first season of the anime but not the movie yet, though I've read past the arc where this Denji comes from. It's a wonderfully posable action figure that really captures how wild and unhinged Denji becomes in his Chainsaw Man form.
I like Valaverse's Action Force line quite a bit but, if I'm being honest, I purchased far more of their accessory kits in 2025 than I did figures. Their accessories are both top notch and economical and they have a great selection of gear and firearms. I still purchased a few figures this year and while a couple really stood out to me (Night Ops Senshi and Day of the Dead Sidewinder), this Crimson Shadow Infantry really shows what Valaverse does best: Cool gear, cool camo, and cool weapons that make a neat "tactical" troop builder. I'd love to see more unique characters, though this guy's ties to the vintage Action Force concepts and that great pattern just made him too much fun.
'Gun Girl' Jessica Aster (Deluxe) from Onwæcnan by Romankey X Cowl
The deluxe version of 'Gun Girl' Jessica Aster is another figure I never got around to reviewing. Interestingly, the deluxe set netted me two separate figures of the same character with some incredibly different looks and multiple accessories. Seriously impressive accessories! This is one of those unlicensed figures that is based on another character (Rebecca from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners) and she just looks so cool and wild that I had to pick her up. With two bodies included and multiple portraits, hands, and outfit pieces, you really can make two separate characters. If you're into the cyberpunk aesthetic, this is a really impressive 1/12th scale import at an excellent price.
I only purchased one figure from Four Horsemen Studios this year and it was this one: Kurnn Ray from Cosmic Legions. I definitely looked at the new stuff as it came to a store near me but Kurnn Ray was a figure I had my eyes on ever since she was announced. This is incredibly cool and represents what I like most about Cosmic Legions and most sci-fi properties: These seedy, fringe characters who are just doing their thing while wearing a mishmash of grungy, weather beaten clothing and gear. A fantastic color scheme, a swappable unmasked portrait, cool gadgets, impressively tailored and weathered soft goods, and one of the best portraits of the year just makes Kurnn Ray a masterpiece. She looks like someone's elaborate, assemblage custom, so it's incredible you can buy her from the shelf of your nearest collectibles retailer who carries Four Horsemen product. She's a sight to behold!
Lin Fengjiao from Record of Distinction/ Zhen Yi Lu by Mental Agent Co.
I'm always down for a character who fights monsters, demons, devils, and spirits, so this figure of Lin Fengjiao really appealed to me. I don't know much about her nor had I even heard of Mental Agent Co. before, but this is a very cool figure of a demon hunter with a distinctly Chinese flair. While she's a bit taller than I originally thought (she's 1/10th scale, not 1/12th, I've still got her hanging out around my Operation: Monster Force figures. Besides just looking quite lovely, she's also packing a demon slaying chainsaw, a tape gun loaded with stickers with various spells and enchantments on them, and a case for carrying all of her gear.
This was the first 2025 action figure release I reviewed last year and it somehow ended up on my Best of the Rest list; imagine that? I don't buy a ton of Mezco One:12 Collective figures these days but I definitely had to jump on this one. It's a pretty loaded set that nicely goes with Hasbro's Adventure Series. Toht is fantastic, his melting effects are very grotesque, the Ark of the Covenant is extremely impression and better than Hasbro's (which I didn't get), and the inclusion of the Ark ghost just puts this one over the top. An incredible set from one of my two favorite films. It's too bad that Mezco seems to have left the Indiana Jones license behind.
As a huge
Halloween fan, I'm really excited that NECA is releasing more Michael Myers figures. Sure, Michael Myers doesn't vary as much from film to film as some characters do, but there are minor differences in the costumes and masks. There are also some neat props that NECA throws in and it's largely those accessories that set this version of Michael apart from the others. The Strode realty sign, the "Michael Myers" Halloween decoration, and the LED Jack o' Lantern really hit hard. There are plenty of other little extras, too, like runes, candles, and a nice assortment of sharp and pointy weapons.
Another Mezco One:12 Collective figure? Yes, indeed. I never purchased any of Mezco's One:12 Collective versions of Count Orlok from Nosferatu before but this black & white edition really appealed to me, especially because of the crazy coffin. This is an impressive figure that allows you to recreate most of Count Orlok's looks from the original film and some new ones with the new portraits that are more reminiscent of the older Silent Screamers figure that's now about 25 years old. This guy is a great addition to the my silent horror collection and really impressed me in hand. He's just such a creepy and fun figure and I can't recommend him enough.
Well, there's my list! Were there any random gems you picked up last year? Talk about them in the comments below!
