The big two names I’m talking about here are the Gears of War and Halo franchises. While the Halo range has grown with another two sets of articulated figures this year, the makers have also branched out into statues, large format figures (the rather awesome ‘Legend’ series of figures), headknockers, posters, calendars and various apparel for the discerning Halo fan. The success of the Halo merchandise has been dwarfed slightly by the sheer demand for official merchandise based on the Gears of War franchise.

With a huge sequel to the first game now doing the rounds, the demand for the Gears Of War items has been steadily growing throughout the year. Thankfully NECA have created some incredible items to keep the fans at boiling point, with some of the best action figures that have been on the market in years. The Gears of war figures are a larger format to most games figures and feature a much higher level of detail as well as better accessories and packaging. The box sets have been hot sellers as well, each of the three released so far featuring four separate figures. The first box set is now no longer available, but the second and third are being snapped up by fans left right and center.

Other games that have featured on the action figure hooks in 2008 include Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Brothers and more, proving that older titles still carry some clout with games fans, and let’s face it, there’s plenty of them around. Lara Croft also made a comeback with the excellent figure of her from the latest Tomb Raider game, Underworld.

Star Wars has been present again this year thanks to tie-in merchandise from the new Clone Wars movie and TV series, despite the lukewarm reception to the film version. One surprising thing in this year’s run of film and TV related merchandise has been the demand for the ‘Classics’ range of Doctor Who action figures, which surpassed all expectations and have been snapped up by eager Whovians everywhere. The first series of TORCHWOOD figures finally saw the light of day in december, way past the original September release date.

Movie merchandise has seen something of a resurgence too, and a particularly popular item of late has been the 12 inch SAW puppet on Tricycle box set, depicting the infamous Billy doll from the horror franchise, which, of course, had its fifth installment released in the latter part of the year. Other official horror based items have included a superb 12 inch version of Jason Voorhees and more, just going to show that the fans still want blood. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight have all had their parts to play this year too, and some fantastic merchandise has been available.

Those who are into their rock music action figures this year were treated to new figures of Joey Ramone, Lemmy from Motorhead, two new Elvis Presley figures and two new Elvis headknockers. While the number of new items in the music ranges has been pretty thin on the ground, the demand is certainly there for more, and we’re eager to see who comes next. Personally I think we need to get some Dimebag figures.

The market for licensed memorabilia from all corners of popular culture has seen a definite upturn in 2008 despite the economic troubles the world is facing, and these collectibles make perfect Christmas gifts. The merchandise industry is now even more a part of popular culture and the media it is based on that ever, even going so far as being integral to the continued life of the entertainment industry itself to a certain extent. While DVD sales are keeping cinema alive and box office takings slowly raising, the future is looking rather solid for the action figure world, and there are many, many more to be collected in 2009. The winners this year must be the video games ranges, and in particular Gears of War, which does appear to have won the battle of 2008.

Onto 2009, and the joys of merchandise from WATCHMEN!

Thanks for a great 2008 you guys, it’s been a blast.

COMING SOON: The STARSTORE ROUNDUP OF 2008.