Which are the most valuable figure(s)?
 

I've looked at a price guide before for the late 70s/early 80s Star Wars figures and found that "Walrus Man" was the most or one of the most valuable figures. He wasn't a send away or comic con exclusive, but rather a regular store shelf figure who was for one reason or another, rarer than the others. I don't really know which figs to look for in other toy lines. I remember the rubber WWF Ricky the Dragon Steamboat was harder to find than the others, but I'm not sure if he was the rarest? I also remember from experience than "The Blank" was hard to find from the Dick Tracy line, but I don't have any actual price guide info to back either of these up. I know the vehicles/playsets are always valuable, but I'm just looking for the normal figures that are worth more than the others.

Star Wars
GI Joe
Thundercats
Transformers
Go-Bots
Dick Tracy
WWF
He Man/Motu
Ghostbusters
World of Wonder "Germs"
Army Ants
Barnyard Commandos
Food Fighters
Dino Riders
Mask
Silver Hawks
Sectaurs
Inhumanoids
Black Star
TMNT
M.U.S.C.L.E.
Centurions
Battle Beasts
Dick Tracy
DC Super Powers
Marvel Secret Wars
Power Lords

If you only know the valuable figs from one line or all, post whichever you're familiar. I can look through a box of Atari 2600 or NES games and pick out the ones that are worth $20+, but I want to be able to do the same with action figures. Any info would help, thanks!

Off the top of my head for Transformers, these all seem to be in the "holy grail" category for a LOT of collectors

Raiden
Metrotitan
Dia Atlas
Fort Max
Grand Max
Black Zarak
Liokaiser
Overlord

I think your best bet is to go to eBay and do a search for each of those lines, and set your search preferences to most expensive first. That should give you an idea of what some of the most expensive/rare figures are.

If you don't know what figures to look for then why look for them? I only look for the things I know about. I once found a real gold ring mixed in with a box of fake jewelry. You'll have better chances of making money with gems and precious metals. It's cool though if you just want to hunt for toys for fun. I would be happy to help you identify action figures from the '80s if you find any but to make a list would be exhausting.

For TMNT, the top two commercial releases are:

Next Mutation Camo-Blitz Leo
http://myteefinestuff.com/product_in...32c6e14a806086

Next Mutation Camo-Hydro Skimmer
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles including TMNT weapons and the TMNT action figures.

Sadly I have neither of these, but I would kill for just the loose figures (I'm not a big vehicle guy).

The next one, which is a grail for most collectors, is Scratch, the mutant cat prisoner. He can go for as much as $600 carded

Lumped in with the rest of the "big grails" that go for over $100 carded (and sometimes much more, depending on flux) are Hotspot, Warrior Chrome Dome, and Warrior Rocksteady. The latter of these is almost impossible to find in good condition, as literally every one I've seen in the past 10 years has had its paint chipped off - even on card.

From other countries, there's a variant of Super Shredder in Europe with purple armor that sometimes goes for a pretty penny. It's also tough to find in good condition, as the plastic for its armor and the paint used is inferior. Some of the Japanese-only figures, especially those from the anime (Saint Turtle, Devil Shredder and Dark Devil Shredder are the big ones) also go for like $125 sealed. I haven't seen any in a while, but the UK-exclusive Alien Hunters figures might be worth quite a bit now. EDIT: Oh, I forgot the solitary one from the 2003 series that goes for over $100 carded, Quarry.

I'm sure there's more, but this is all that I can think of off the top o' my noggin.

SECOND EDIT: Shogun Triceraton and Shogun Shoate are usually rather sought after, as well.

i think these two might be the most valuable for ML

Dragon man
http://marvellegends.net/FantasticFo...ragonMan01.jpg

and Deadpool

http://marvellegends.net/MarvelLegen...Deadpool01.jpg

i think it may have changed with some others , but i'm not 100% sure if BAF's we're included so i put single carded but i think these two might be the rarest

^^^ silver shirt luke cage and variant wasp are the 2 most sought after legends,their price far exceeds the 2 in your pic.i think dragoman would be priced the same as pitt and deadpool commands the same price as some Hulk classics figures.

For Dick Tracy, "The Blank" -- IIRC, they pushed this figure to a later wave to not be a spoiler of the movie plot. The later wave never made it to US store shelves; was only released in Canada (I think). Can fetch several hundred dollars.

Not big money here, but for the Thor movie line I think Heimdall is pretty hard to find. Not sure if he was ever released in the US either.

DC Super Powers = Cyborg. From the last wave when the line (and cartoon) was dying out. That was my favorite toyline in the day, and I never managed to get him. Worth in the neighborhood of $100 for a good condition not-knock-off.

M.A.S.K. = Stilletto -- From the last wave, "Split Seconds," these vehicles were not seen in the cartoon. Stilletto had the only release of Gloria Baker, a character quite prominent in the cartoon. They never made (or at least never released) her regular vehicle, Shark.

I am glad to hear that you are trying to create a list so you can just pick through collections of all the good stuff.

^ This! The original poster sounds like somebody who just wants to profit off of other people's collections.

Star Wars: one of the most valuable is the original Rocket-Firing Boba Fett prototype. Only a few production samples exist.

Marvel Secret Wars: any of the European-only releases.

I'd add Star Saber, Victory Leo, and the Dino cassettes to the list. And maybe remove Fortress/Grand Maximus, since he's getting a re-issue later this year and his after-market price will most certainly take a hit from that. But it will give a lot of collectors the chance to finally own one complete without dropping $1000 or more to do it.

Or blue Snaggletooth? Saw some go for thousands on the Antique Roadshow.

*sniff-sniff* I smell a scalper...