griffin's T3 (Total Transformers Toy) checklist/counting method.

[GoktimusPrime]

And if you are counting 'action figures', an action figure would be any toy with articulation, and last I checked, Robot Heroes, Robot Replicas, and even small Titaniums have articulation. Often to the same level of articulation of a number of early Gen1 toys...

That's true... it makes me think about whether those toys count as action figures or miniatures, or are they a hybrid of both?

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History of Action Figures
Action figures evolved from dolls. In 1963 a toy designer (Stan Weston) saw the success of Barbie for girls and came up with the idea of making a military themed line of dolls for boys. He pitched the idea to Hasbro who accepted it and thus G.I. Joe was born, along with the term "action figure" for obvious marketing reasons. Takara later adapted G.I. Joe as Henshin Cyborg, even using the same torso mould as G.I. Joe. Henshin Cyborg was then reduced to a 10cm scale and released as Microman Zone - and we all know the link between Microman and Transformers.

History of Miniatures
Miniatures are basically toy soldiers. Military figurines date back to ancient times with tin soldiers dating back to 1730s Germany with the British introducing hollow-casting in 1893 making them far cheaper and lighter, which in turn would lead to things like Army Men. The earliest example of a miniatures war game was Little Wars by H.G. Wells. This image shows the English novelist playing miniature war games with his friends despite being a renowned pacifist (he argues that war gaming is cathartic).

"This Warhammer cost me 40k!" - Gryphon Rider (Warcraft III)

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[Golden Phoenix]

"This Warhammer cost me 40k!" - Gryphon Rider (Warcraft III)

LOL

[Hot Rodimus]

LoL how true...... and this is coming from someone who only painted mini's that he liked and instead of building an army for game use.