A Look Back at Bandai’s Mega Man Cartoon Action Figures

Once upon a time, Mega Man fans– particularly those outside of Japan– had it pretty rough. For a time, if a fan of the Blue Bomber wanted to reenact their favorite adventures through the childhood pastime of pitting plastic action figures against one-another, they were pretty much out of luck (save for the particularly creative sorts).
But then, good fortune came: in 1994, Capcom teamed with animation company Ruby-Spears to create a new animated series based on the original video game series. In addition, the American branch of Bandai was brought into the mix to produce a line of action figures, vehicles, and other toys, all based on the cartoon.

During the line’s short life, there were two scales of figures: larger figures which were around 5 inches tall (fairly standard for the time), each with some modest articulation and an action feature, and smaller two-inch unarticulated figures. And it is the latter which Video Game Memorabilia Museum curator Nightram56 has recently decided to take a look at on his YouTube channel:

Of course, we have come a long way since these were released. This is largely thanks to the advent of the internet, which has kept Mega Man fans not only more informed than ever about what merchandise is available out there, but also a number of ways to obtain them. But even though better versions of Mega Man, Proto Man, and Roll have come along, there are still some jewels to be found in the old Bandai cartoon line that would make fine additions to one’s display. If there are better versions of Guts Man, Snake Man, or Drill Man out there, we’ve never seen them.

TMMN Staff