The Poppies...
The Best of 2019 as Selected by Industry Judges

Introduction

The time has finally come! Sorry for the delay, but the last month or so has been pretty weird, and even before that I was behind the curve. But now the process is complete, and we can announce the winners of the 2019 Poppies!

I thought I'd give a little background on the process, so it's clear how things work to those not involved in the judging. We have a list of about 150 judges from the industry - company folks, artists, retailers, media types, well known collectors - and starting in the fall, I reach out to them to begin the process. I recruit a few new ones at this time too, and if you think you, or someone you know, would make a great Poppies Judge, drop me a line.

Around late December, we started the nomination process. It was about a month or so late this year, due to my schedule. We review each category, and judges can nominate any items they feel are appropriate. We discuss various topics, like combining, splitting, dropping, or adding categories, as well as the relative merits of individual items. This goes on through email, as well as on a discussion board set up for the specific purpose.

We don't want to miss any late comers, so this process continues into the first week or so of January in normal years. We actually kept voting open into February this time.  If something came out in late December, but the judges feel it didn't get enough distribution to have a fair shake, we hold it over as a nominee for the next year.

Once everything is hashed out, I put together two versions of the ballot. One is for the Poppies, one is for the People's Picks. I open up the voting, people do their thing, and finally, I compile the results. *whew*

We just wrapped up an episode of the HotToyCast that goes over the whole list as well, if you're a fan of listening to Eamon, Jeff, and I drivel on for a couple hours.

Here are links to past year's picks (and this years) for comparisons:

Best Overall Company
Until I put the list below together, I didn't even realize that both the People and I had matched up exactly on our top three for this category.  However, the Poppies Judges felt a little different.

The third place finisher took 15% of the vote. They dropped from silver last year, but were the winners with me and the People - Mezco. They are on a roll that's for sure, but didn't get quite as much love from the judges this year.

The second place winner got 17% of the vote, and therefore the silver medal.  Hot Toys continues to dominate the sixth scale market, so it's no surprise to see them in the three. Not winning might be a surprise to some, but I think the expectations for the company have gotten so high that it's hard for them to surpass them.

The gold medal winner, with a solid 27% of the vote, is an oldie but a goodie - Hasbro. Yep, they weren't in my top three, they weren't in the People's top three, but the judges really responded to their work on Marvel Legends and the Star Wars Black series this last year. Their work on reasonably priced prop replicas probably helped as well.

Best Overall Line - High End
I believe we have a unique situation this time, something that I don't recall happening ever before.  We have the exact same three winners as 2018, in the exact same slots!

Yes, taking third with 13% of the vote is the Hot Toys Star Wars line, taking second with 24% of the vote is the Hot Toys Marvel line, and winning the gold again this year, this time with a whopping 32% of the vote, is the Mezco One:12 Collective! Is this simply because there wasn't a lot of change in the market? No major new lines, no major new announcements, no exciting changes? I suspect so. But Mezco's continued control overall is worth noting.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Hot Toys Marvel	Weta LOTR/Hobbit	Hot Toys Star Wars
Second Place	ThreeZero Game of Thrones	Hot Toys Marvel	Hot Toys Marvel
First Place	One:12 Collective	One:12 Collective	One:12 Collective

Best Overall Line - Low End
We you have a smaller pool of voters, you get more ties. We have our first with the Poppies judges, and it's with both the bronze and silver.

Tying with just 7% of the vote each are the Mythic Legions and the TMNT/DC crossover series.  The voting was spread out quite a bit for most of the lines, at least after you got to the gold winner, and these two are examples of unique ideas that resonated.

Speaking of the spread vote, the silver winners were tied with just a smidge more at 8% each. The Star Wars Black series, picked in this slot by the People as well, and a surprise winner, Fortnite! Jazwares has had a great run with the latter, and I actually have one of the figures here I've been planning on reviewing. And of course, the Black Series continues to crush it, although I do wish distribution was a bit better.

But the winner wasn't even close. Taking a big lead over all the competition with 34% of the vote, Marvel Legends once again dominates. Hasbro is killing it with this series, and collectors have been responding extremely well.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Predator	Pop!	Mythic Legions/ TMNT DC
Second Place	Mythic Legends	Star Wars Black	Fortnite/ Star Wars Black
First Place	Marvel Legends	Marvel Legends	Marvel Legends

Eddie Wires Award for Outstanding Paint
A great sculpt can be rendered invisible with a bad paint job - a mediocre sculpt can be elevated to new heights with a great one. This award recognizes the best production paint work out there, looking for a collectible where the paint took it to a higher level.

Interestingly, there was very little agreement in this category between the three groups.  With 9 potential picks, there were 7 different choices.

This year's winners are all great examples. Let's start with bronze, a medal won with 12% of the vote. I actually used his photo earlier for the Mezco win for Best High End Line - it's Freddy Krueger! Mezco is really doing some amazing stuff in the 1/12 scale with production paint, and the scarred, burned face of Freddy was a chance for them to show it off.

The silver medalist received 15% of the vote - Shuri from Hot Toys. She was my top pick, so it's nice to see I wasn't completely crazy.  Hot Toys did some terrific portraits this year, but I thought she was the best.

The gold medal winner was a HUGE surprise to me - Amphibian Man!  NECA did some amazing work on their Del Toro movie line, but it was this figure from The Shape of Water that takes the top honor here. The sculpt is great, no doubt about it, but it's the intricate paint work that makes it stand out from other 7" figures.

(image courtesy Action Figure Barbeque)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Batman Family	Aragorn at Amon Hen	Freddy Krueger
Second Place	GoT White Walker	Freddy Krueger	Hot Toys Shuri
First Place	Hot Toys Shuri	Sovereign Knight Batman	Amphibian Man

Best Male/Female Figure - 18" and up
NECA is still my go-to company in this scale, but Hot Toys produced enough this year to sweep with the Poppies Judges.

Their Ledger Joker took 17% of the vote and the bronze medal. This was my personal favorite for the year, but I can understand if some folks had a bit of 'been there, done that' feeling.

They also got the silver medal, with 24% of the vote. The Poppies Judges surprised me by putting the  Iron Man MKIII in second, but there's no doubt that reissuing and creating more Iron Man versions has been a sweet spot for the company.

The big winner is none other than Darth Vader, the Sith to end all Sith. I'm pretty happy with the 1/4 scale Vader I have, but if you hadn't gotten one yet, your patience was definitely rewarded with this release.

(image courtesy Hot Toys)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Hot Toys Vader	NECA Shredder	Hot Toys Joker
Second Place	NECA Pennywise	Hot Toys Joker	Hot Toys Iron Man
First Place	Hot Toys Joker	Hot Toys Vader	Hot Toys Vader

Best Male Figure 12 - 17"
This category is usually dominated by Hot Toys - but they didn't sweep this year.

The did get the bronze medal with their terrific Count Dooku. I didn't pick up him originally, but he's one I'm considering going back and buying. I'm not a huge prequels guy, but they really nailed the likeness on this figure. 15% of the voters agreed.

A big surprise was the silver medal winner - Skeletor from Mondo!  I have been enjoying their sixth scale animated BTAS stuff, and I've heard nothing but good things about their MOTU releases as well. Skeletor took 16% of the vote.

But Hot Toys jumped back in here to take the first place spot. Just like the People, the Poppies Judges went for the Stan Lee figure from GOTG2. He is pretty damn sweet, and was one of my favorite Hot Toys releases in 2019.

(image courtesy Hot Toys)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	White Walker	Count Dooku	Count Dooku
Second Place	Bucky Barnes	John Wick	Skeletor
First Place	STTOS Scotty	Stan Lee GOTG2	Stan Lee GOTG2

Best Male Figure 5 - 11"
In 2017, Mezco dominated this category. Last year, they won, but only took the gold. With a win in the Best High End Line category and a bronze in Best Company, you'd expect them to crush it here too, but alas, this was not their year.  The competition was just too strong.

The bronze medal had two winners. The Marvel Legends WWII Captain America tied with the Hellboy from 1000toys, each getting 10% of the vote.  I don't own either, but can appreciate both. I'm particularly interested in the Hellboy, a figure I completely missed out on.

Coming in second is the One:12 Collective Toy Fair Gomez. He snagged 11% of the vote to get the silver.  Their Toy Fair exclusives are always fantastic, but this one really stepped it up with the accessories.

The big winner took home 13% of the vote, making this one of the overall closest races! But Hasbro (and Disney) have struck gold with the Mandalorian, and their Black Series release was well loved and much sought after.  And yes, I'll be buying him again when they do the obvious variants.

(image courtesy Hasbro)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Kronnaw	Mandalorian	WWII Captain America
Second Place	BTAS Scarecrow	One:12 Punisher	One:12 TF Gomez
First Place	One:12 TF Blade	One:12 TF Gomez	SWB Mandalorian

Best Male Figure under 5"
The tiny figures aren't quite as prevalent these days, which makes it all the more important for the ones that do get released to kick ass.

The bronze medal is won by Lando Calrissian in his Skiff Disguise. Hasbro keeps cranking out the figures in this line, and more often than not, they are excellent. Lando is a particularly nice sculpt, especially for this scale and price point. He took 12% of the vote as well.

With 13% of the vote, the nifty Nenderoid Doctor Strange wins the silver.  This is the 'deluxe', with a ton of cool extras that really make the figure.

And the big winner, with 18% of the vote, is the Ultimate Chucky!  NECA really killed it with this two pack of Chucky and Tiffany, creating the definitive versions of both characters. Don't be surprised when you see Tiffany get a mention in the female version of this category.

(image courtesy of NECA)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Injustice Batman	Elder Predator	Lando in Skiff Disguise
Second Place	Ultimate Chucky	Lando in Skiff Disguise	Nenderoid Dr. Strange
First Place	Nenderoid Dr. Strange	Ultimate Chucky	Ultimate Chucky

Best Female Figure 11" - 17"
Hot Toys normally dominates this category with the Poppies Judges. In fact, it's odd for them not to sweep. Get ready for odd.

The bronze medal goes to one of my personal favorites - Brienne from Game of Thrones.  ThreeZero is doing a bang up job on their series, particularly with the last few releases. Brienne is a great sculpt, with a terrific outfit and accessories. She got 10% of the vote.

The silver medal winner took 16% of the vote and is also NOT Hot Toys. Red Sonya from TBLeague surprises us all - or at least me - with a big jump into this category.

But Hot Toys does win, with no doubt. Their terrific Shuri from Black Panther took a commanding 34% of the vote, and is undoubtedly the best female figure in this scale for 2019. This is one of the few times in the results for 2019 where all three of us - me, the People, and the Poppies Judges - are in complete agreement.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Katherine Johnson	Red Sonya	Brienne
Second Place	Brienne	Arya	Red Sonya
First Place	Shuri	Shuri	Shuri

Best Female Figure 5 - 11"
There were plenty of great choices, a real change in the landscape since 10 years ago.

The third place spot received 10% of the vote - Hela from Mezco. She was easily my favorite, and I'm surprised she didn't do better, but perhaps it's the age of the movie that's working against her.

Of course, if that were really true, you wouldn't think the One:12 Collective Classic Wonder Woman would have beat her, taking the silver with 15% of the vote. But some fans weren't as happy with the movie themed Wonder Woman (although she won this category last year), and getting a comic based version was something they really responded positively to.

The gold medal winner, with 20% of the vote, was the bronze medalist for both myself and the People. It's Cara Dune from The Mandalorian, part of the Star Wars Black Series of figures. I told you that license was hot - can you imagine the demand for a sixth scale version?

(image courtesy Action Figure Barbeque)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Cara Dune	Cara Dune	One:12 Hela
Second Place	Katara	One:12 Hela	One:12 Classic Wonder Woman
First Place	One:12 Hela	One:12 Classic Wonder Woman	Cara Dune

Best Female Figure under 5"
If you were paying attention to the male category, I bet you have a hunch who won here...

But let's start with the bronze, where 13% of the vote got the medal. The Nenderoids have done well in the Poppies that last couple years, and the Futaba Sakura gets on the podium here. If you haven't checked out this line by Good Smile, you really should.

Another 18% of the voters checked in with their pick - Aughra, from the Dark Crystal. That was enough to get the silver, and she was my favorite out of the overall wave of figures based on the new show on Netflix. Funko doesn't do a lot of action figures - a lot of Pop! figures, but not a lot of action figures - but when they do, they can bring it.

The gold medal winner grabbed 29% of the vote, a healthy win by any measure. Chucky took the male category, and now his Bride, Tiffany, takes the female!  This Ultimate two pack certainly lived up to the name.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Aphra	Black Widow	Futaba Sakura
Second Place	Astrodite	Wonder Woman	Aughra
First Place	Wonder Woman	Star Wars Aphra	Tiffany

Best Build-A-Figure
This was pretty much the year of Mattel and Hasbro when it comes to this category.

But it was nice to see entries from both companies make it into the top three. The bronze goes to Mattel for their Killer Croc, part of their Multiverse series.  He's a great looking figure, and one I was glad to pick up. 14% of the voters agree with me.

Another 26% of the voters went for a rather small BAF - Thor. That's 'fat' Thor, but he's not quite as fat as most BAF's. Still, getting this particular variant as a regular release was highly unlikely, so I'm glad Hasbro found a way to make it happen.

The gold medal winner grabbed 30% of the vote. Hasbro finally gave the fans a terrific Kingpin in their Marvel Legends line, and they were extremely grateful.

(image courtesy Marvelous Toy News)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Caliban	Lobo	Killer Croc
Second Place	Lobo	Fat Thor	Fat Thor
First Place	Killer Croc	Kingpin	Kingpin

Best Vehicle
This category was a run away for the winner.

The bronze medal was picked up with just 9% of the vote, but it's for the terrific BTAS Batcycle by DC Collectibles. Their BTAS line is very underrated, and is one of the richest and deepest BTAS lines ever produced.

Squeaking by with 10% of the vote is the Hover Chair for Professor X. I love these character/vehicle packs that Hasbro is producing in the Marvel Legends line, and this is one of the best from 2019. Don't be surprised when you see Squirrel Girl and her bike popping up on the next ballot.

But it was a landslide - 44% of the judges picked the Sail Barge from Hasbro. Jabba woud be proud, and I hope we see Haslab do some additional unique items that we might not otherwise get.

(image courtesy of Hasbro)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Steve Hearsell	BTAS Batcycle	BTAS Batcycle
Second Place	Captain America's Motorcycle	Prof. X's Hover Chair	Prof. X's Hover Chair
First Place	BTAS Batcycle	Jabba's Sail Barge	Jabba's Sail Barge

Best Play Set
Jabba had a very good year in 2019.

But so did Bowser. He got the terrific Bowser's Castle, a play set any kid would absolutely love. This thing is huge and complex, with plenty of play value. 12% of the voters agree on that one.

Another 27% of the voters went for the NECA Street Scene. This is the play set that also won in 2018, but in 2019 they re-released a stripped down, basic version that takes the silver.

With a whopping 37% of the vote, Jabba gets another medal to wear around his greasy neck - he gets the gold for the Jabba's Palace Vintage Set. While this is very much a collector's set, it's also perfect for kids with a ton of play value.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	TMNT Street Scenes	Imaginext Batcave	Bowser's Castle
Second Place	Jabba's Palace	Jabba's Palace	TMNT Street Scene
First Place	Door of Habadashery	TMNT Street Scene	Jabba's Palace

Best Statue
The selections on the ballot were all outstanding for 2019! The vote was reallyl spread out too.

So much so, that two of them tied for the bronze, each with 9% of the vote.  They both come from Sideshow as well. The Premium Format Green Arrow and the gorgeous Juggernaut garnered exactly the same number of votes.

Silver was won by a single nominee, with 11 % of the vote. That nominee would be Optimus Prime, by XM Studios. This is a beautiful piece, well worth it for the Transformers fans.

But the winner was a real surprise to me. Yea, I loved it, but I hadn't expected the same sort of reaction from the majority of Poppies Judges. A total of 12% - just enough to get past the second place spot - went for the Batman Family statue by Quantum Mechanix. They created their own material for this and other statues, and I'd expect to see it in use with other companies as well.

With all the terrific work being done on the statue market, it's nice to see three different companies all on the podium together.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Drogon	Samus Aran	PF Green Arrow/ Juggernaut
Second Place	Juggernaut	Batman Family	Optimus Prime
First Place	Dark Phoenix	Aragorn at Amon Hen	Batman Family

Best Bust
Where have all the busts gone? While Gentle Giant is still putting out a few, it's nothing like it was ten years ago.  But the 1:1 busts have really taken off, and many were on the ballot this year.

In the more traditional size, we have our bronze medal winner. With 14% of the votes, it's the Iron Giant by Diamond Select. They've been doing reasonably priced busts for quite some time, and the clean lines and simple elegance of this release make it stand out. It helps that the character has had his own resurgence in popularity the last couple years.

The silver medal goes to a 1:1 beauty - the Terminator by Queen Studios. They do a bunch of these huge busts, and every one of them is truly art. But the T-800 holds a special place with at least 20% of the Poppies Judges.

But our gold medal winner edged him out with 21% of the vote - the 1:1 scale Venom from Sideshow. The huge, milky white eyes; the massive fangs; the long, creepy tongue - he's a nightmare of artistic beauty.

(image courtesy Sideshow)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Terminator 1:1	Ashoka Tano	Iron Giant
Second Place	Amanaman	Terminator 1:1	Terminator 1:1
First Place	Venom 1:1	Venom 1:1	Venom 1:1

Best Designer/Vinyl Figure
This was another surprise for me - a pleasant one.

The bronze medal winner garnered 10% of the vote. We forget that Mezco has done and continues to do a lot more than merely One:12 Collective figures, and their Michael Myers gets the third place podium spot.

You know Funko would make itself known in this category, and they get the silver medal and 13% of the vote for their GOTG2 Stan Lee. Everybody loves Stan Lee, and this is easily a favorite cameo. It also is a rather unique looking Pop!, standing out from the myriad of others.

But the surprise arrives at the gold, where 24% of the voters went for the 2001 Astronauts from Star Ace. These are part of their new Defo-Real series, and are very well done.  It might help that the film has gotten very little in the way of quality collectibles over the years.

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Michael Myers	Balrog	Michael Myers
Second Place	Kang and Kodos	Stan Lee	Stan Lee
First Place	Pennywise	Michael Myers	2001 Astronauts

Best Prop Replica
Hasbro has become a dominant force in this category, thanks to their cheap yet quality replicas.

But other companies are still producing some nice stuff. NECA gets the bronze medal with 13% of the vote for their nifty Mutagen Canister. Leave it to them to find creative ways to make the most of the TMNT license.

Hasbro swoops in for the silver, taking 30% of the vote. Their helmets are really something, and the Luke Skywalker Battle Simulation helmet was one of the best they produced in 2019. The judges certainly loved it!

But it was their Iron Man Gauntlet that took the top place with 33% of the vote. Last year, their Thanos Gauntlet won, so it seems fitting that this new version would take the same honor. While the Thanos one is cool, I have to admit that the Iron Man version may just be better.

(image courtesy Hasbro)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Punisher IM Helmet	Luke's Helmet	Mutagen Canister
Second Place	Mutagen Canister	Punisher IM Helmet	Luke's Helmet
First Place	Emperor's Scepter	Iron Man Gauntlet	Iron Man Gauntlet

Best Building Set
Pretty much every year, Lego sweeps this category. That shouldn't be any real surprise - they are the kings of building blocks. So it was quite the surprise to see that no, this year they did not sweep.

They took the bronze with 20% of the vote. It went to their huge, impressive, shelf killing Imperial Destroyer. This thing is a beast, and a true center piece of any Star Wars build display.

But they didn't take the silver, not this year. That honor went to the Mega Castle Grayskull! A decent 24% of the vote went to this fun packed set, perfect for kids and collectors alike.  I hope we see more of the Mega sets contending for the top three in the coming years.

They did manage to sneak in that gold medal win, however. Lego grabbed 26% of the vote with their 1989 Batmobile set, edging out the competition.  I love the final look of the vehicle, and it's one of the greatest Batmobile designs, but why did they include regular sized figures? I think skipping the figures would have made a lot more sense.

(image courtesy Lego)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Steamboat Willie	Castle Grayskull	Imperial Destroyer
Second Place	Imperial Destroyer	Imperial Destroyer	Castle Grayskull
First Place	Flintstones	1989 Batmobile	1989 Batmoblie

Best Misc
We usually have some real odd balls in the Misc category, which always makes it one of my favorites.

In second place is one of those oddballs -the Alien Xenomorph Letter Opener. This thing is wicked looking. Put it on your desk at work, and I can guarantee no one is ever going to give you crap again. A solid 19% of the voters went for it as well.

The gold medal went to another dinosaur. None of the other action figure categories really fit animals, and there aren't enough of them produced in any one year to warrant their own category. So the Jurassic World Brachiosaurus ended up in the misc category, and won it with a huge 40% of the vote. Clearly, he (or she?) spoke to the judges.

(image courtesy Mattel)

Place	My picks	People's Picks	Poppies
Third Place	Alien Letter Opener	Mosasaurus	Mosasaurus
Second Place	Star Wars Lunch Boxes	Alien Letter Opener	Alien Letter Opener
First Place	Lego Masters	Brachiosaurus	Brachiosaurus

Conclusions:

It might just be me - I haven't confirmed it - but it seemed like there was less agreement this year overall between the People's Picks and the Poppies. This was due to some really interesting and unique choices on both sides, with the voters and judges sometimes picking the less than obvious to win. Personally, I like that - it's fun to see things get mixed up a bit.

Of all the surprises, the Lego non-sweep was perhaps the biggest. It's nice to see Mega finally finding their place and getting some props for the work they are doing.

It was strange to me to see Mezco win Best High End Line, but the One:12 figures not win their respective male and female categories. I suppose the allure of the new Mandalorian was just too strong, with figures from the show taking both categories.

Hot Toys has certainly lost much of their dominance. While they remain strong in the 1/4 scale category, as well as both the Best Male and Best Female in the 12 - 17" scale, those are the obvious wins for them. In past years, we've seen them win in Best Company, Best Overall Line High End, Best Vehicle, Eddie Wires, and even Best Bust. Things are balancing out a bit in the overall collector market.

I hope you enjoyed this year's results, and thanks to all that voted in the People's Picks, as well as a huge thank you to all the Poppies Judges!