Destiny is finally getting great action figures you can afford

Destiny is one of the most well-known video games on the planet, but fans of the game don’t have many options if they want to buy Destiny toys.

Mega Bloks offers a wide array of figurines and vehicles, and while they’re well-made and available on the cheap, you may not be into the company’s “baby’s first action figure” aesthetic. On the high end, you have 3A’s incredible 12-inch Guardian statues, which are collectibles with a price to match: nearly $200.

This year, McFarlane Toys is jumping in with some Destiny figures that are more traditional. The company brought the entire lineup to Toy Fair NY this week, and as you can see in the photos below, these are some fine toys — especially at the mass-market prices they’ll be sold for.

McFarlane is producing one 7-inch Guardian figure for each of Destiny’s three classes, and all of them feature specialized armor that players will instantly recognize. The Titan sports his golden raid armor from the Vault of Glass, the set of armor bearing Kabr’s name. The Warlock is clad in his bony armor from King’s Fall, the raid in Destiny: The Taken King. Instead of raid gear, the Hunter is wearing bronze Iron Banner armor, his Iron Companion set from Year 2.

Grid View

• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon
• Samit Sarkar/Polygon

Each of the Guardian figures will cost just $19.99, and each one includes a Destiny-branded base as well as a Ghost and two weapons. The Titan comes with Gjallarhorn and Invective; the Warlock comes with Touch of Malice and Black Hammer; and the Hunter comes with Thorn and Hung Jury. These are proper action figures, not statues, which means they’re poseable.

Chris Council, brand manager at McFarlane Toys, told Polygon that the company recently made some changes to its figures based on customer feedback. People wanted to be able to do more with their toys, so new figures from McFarlane — including these Destiny ones — will feature at least 14 points of articulation. The Destiny figures also exhibit an impressive level of detail: Consider the notches on the outside of Thorn’s cylinder, the embossed Iron Banner sigil on the Hunter’s chest piece, the ossified pieces of the Warlock’s chest armor and helm.

“It really looks like bone,” said Council. McFarlane’s attention to detail applies to the figures’ physical design as well as their eye-catching armor. Council noted that McFarlane worked closely with Bungie, and said that many of the people who helped design the figures are die-hard Destiny players. So the toymakers knew that a Hunter carries Thorn on his hip when he isn’t using it, and they included a placement in that location on the figure for the exotic weapon.

McFarlane is also producing one 10-inch Destiny figure at the moment, enshrining one of the game’s best-known characters (and the star of its most recent expansion): Lord Saladin, overseer of the Iron Banner. The larger toy, which will cost $34.99, comes with two different heads: Saladin with his helmet and without. He’s wearing his usual golden armor and brandishing his massive ax — albeit without the flames seen in Destiny: Rise of Iron. With this higher-priced figure, McFarlane is springing for additional materials beyond plastic: The fur collar of Saladin’s cloak is actual fabric, and the cloak itself is cloth as well.

Samit Sarkar/Polygon

You may have noticed that we’ve been using male pronouns here, and indeed, all four of the aforementioned figures are male characters. Of course, Destiny allows you to play as men or women — whether they’re humans or aliens — but at least for now, the sad realities of the action figure market led McFarlane to this decision.

“We hate this: The female action figures don’t sell as well as the male figures,” said Council, noting exceptions such as toys for iconic characters like Harley Quinn. “We would love to work on a female Guardian in the future.” Council did say that McFarlane plans to produce a second line of Destiny toys, so it’s possible that female action figures will be available eventually.

McFarlane is also working on two Destiny toys that aren’t action figures. One is a model of the Iron Gjallarwing, the special Sparrow featured in Rise of Iron. The $34.99 toy is being made at an appropriate scale to the 7-inch Guardian figures, so people will actually be able to sit them on the Sparrow. Council said that according to the assets that Bungie provides to McFarlane, Sparrows are about twice as long as Guardians are tall in the world of Destiny.

That covers the normal toys in the Destiny line. But there’s one more thing.

Samit Sarkar/Polygon

In case the scale isn’t clear from the photo, that is a life-size (or close to it) replica of Rise of Iron’s Iron Gjallarhorn. Specifically, that’s a prototype that McFarlane produced for a whopping $10,000. The retail version will look similar; the company is still figuring out materials and visual details. Council also told Polygon that McFarlane is trying to argue for an exception to U.S. laws regarding toy weapons so the company could manufacture the Iron Gjallarhorn without the bright orange ring around the muzzle. (McFarlane refers to the toy as a “role play item” — it’s designed for purposes like cosplay.)

The Iron Gjallarhorn will come in three pieces in order to facilitate retail sales. (Few stores would stock a bulky toy that’s 44 inches long.) Anybody who’s obtained the weapon in Rise of Iron will know that that’s also the way it works in the game: The Iron Gjallarhorn mission, “Beauty in Destruction,” is a three-step quest to unlock the rocket launcher. Council promised that the $149.99 final product will be “light enough to cosplay with.”

In addition to looking awesome, the weapon features a speaker on its rear stock that emits four different sounds straight from the in-game Iron Gjallarhorn: targeting, aiming, firing and exploding. (Of course, there are two explosion noises — one for the initial rocket, and a second for the wolfpack rounds.) Council said there will be a trigger on the weapon to, well, trigger playback of the sounds.

The Iron Gjallarhorn, Iron Gjallarwing and Lord Saladin toys are scheduled to be released this holiday season. The three 7-inch Guardian figures will debut in late July and will be widely available in August. For more on McFarlane’s Destiny toys, check out the gallery of photos from Toy Fair NY above.