Does Jeff Goldblum Have the Most Interesting Action Figure Portfolio?
The most important question of our time.
Jordan. Brady. Williams. Vilanch.
They say longevity is the key to greatness—the ability to sustain excellence in your particular field over years or even decades. For the above pantheon, I’d like to add another: Jeff Goldblum, in the (admittedly narrow) arena of “action figure depictions.”
Does he have the most action figure depictions of his movie or TV roles? No; that would probably be Samuel L. Jackson, who has at least a dozen (!) figures modeled after his likeness. But many of Jackson’s came only in the past couple of decades, when he took on the role of Nicholas Joseph Fury for Marvel Studios and saw roles like Jules in Pulp Fiction finally get their due in toys decades after debuting.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, to his credit, had a flurry of figures during one 15-year period, but tapered off. (Let's call it the "Conan-to-Mr. Freeze Chunk.") Arnie might have Predator, Last Action Hero, and Terminator to revisit between those, but what was a recent character of his to make its way to toy shelves?
Neither has the portfolio of a Goldblum, who has had inspired weird, diverse figures since 1991. Let’s start with that year and work our way to today. We won’t be going through every figure he has (there are multiple variations on Ian Malcolm and David Levinson over the years, and we’re not even counting all of his animated characters), but just this sampling, I’m confident, will build our case here:
1991: Captain Planet: Verminous Skumm (Tiger Toys)
Goldblum originated the fantastically named Verminous Skumm in the Captain Planet cartoon. Whether or not you count animated characters in someone’s portfolio (as one can argue that “likeness” isn’t at play), I had to at least mention him here. Overall, though, his outstanding portfolio doesn’t hinge on the ’toons.
1994: Jurassic Park: Ian Malcolm and baby Gallimimus (Kenner)
OK; here we go. This one’s a lay-up. I can’t tell you why Ian didn’t get a toy until Series 2 of Kenner’s Jurassic Park lines, but the wait was worth it. And come on: the glasses; the vague machinery; the thigh gap. Impeccable vibes. Iconic.
1996: Independence Day: David Levinson (Trendmasters)
Is there anything more ’90s than a figure that comes with a 3.5 floppy disk? And as was the case for many geeky characters depicted in action figure form back then, they gave him a generous amount of muscle mass here.
2000: Movie Maniacs Series 3: The Fly (McFarlane Toys)
McFarlane Toys released a toy based on horror film The Fly in Movie Maniacs' third wave. David Cronenberg's Goldblum-led take on The Fly originally came out in 1986, so this was Goldblum’s first major figure released years after its source material. Here’s a diagram from Movies, Films & Flix that shows how he went from a young, fresh-faced Goldblum to the figure’s final form below it:
2015: Lego Jurassic World
Goldblum made his Lego minifig debut in 2015, with Ian Malcolm officially making his way into the Lego universe via their various JP lines.
2018: Isle of Dogs: Duke (Searchlight Pictures)
Goldblum portrayed Duke, the Alaskan husky in Wes Anderson’s stop-motion Isle of Dogs. These sets, crafted by the same folks who made the puppets for the film, are extremely rare out in the collector world. Fun fact, though: In the U.S., the original proceeds went directly to Best Friends Animal Society.
2019: Thor: Ragnarok: The Grandmaster & Korg (Marvel Legends/Hasbro)
Taika Waititi's casting of Goldblum was revelation for an otherwise dry cosmic character in the comics. Waititi decided to lean into Goldblum’s quirky, hilarious public persona. Here, he’s a fitting package-mate to Korg, who also helped define Thor: Ragnarok’s signature irreverence.
And still, whether it’s recent Jurassic Park anniversary sets or a whole array of Funko Pops, Goldblum’s characters keep inspiring figures today.
But hey, maybe you feel like someone else has a better figure profile that balances quality, longevity, and relevance? Let me know in the comment section!