Batman had a very good summer. Not only did the Caped Crusader score big at the box office, setting a record for a weekend opening with $155.3 million for The Dark Knight, but action figures based on the film also have flown off the shelves. More importantly, Batman wasn’t the only superhero to make it big on the big screen and become a hit with pint-sized likenesses either. This summer, Iron Man and Hellboy also racked up dollar signs, and retailers of action figures were reporting super sales for their superheroes.

“The better the movie, the more the figures sell,” says Matt Sardo, owner of the Comic Vault in Chicago. He credits the steady sales of movie-based figures in part to the nearly non-stop promotion for the films, and says that this has translated into a noticeable increase in sales. “The movies are getting a lot of hype, and the cross-marketing is phenomenal. So you cannot help but see [the impact] this summer,” Sardo says.

For Sardo, the Batman figures were selling well before Bruce Wayne’s alter ego swung into action, but he believes that the hype helped to get even more people interested. Some of this interest, sadly, included the untimely death of the film’s co-star, Heath Ledger, in the role of Batman’s arch nemesis, The Joker.

As a result, The Joker has been a top seller in stores across the country, and this isn’t limited to the mass-market figures either. “The Movie Master version, sculpted by the Four Horsemen, has gone through the roof,” says John Perez, owner and operator of GoFigureActionFigures.com, an online super store that stocks thousands of figures in all shapes and sizes. He adds that the figures may have even helped create additional buzz for the movies: “Since the figures come out weeks before the movies, consumers are able to hold a 3-D representation of the characters before they hit the silver screen.”

And while just a decade ago it seemed unlikely that then troubled actor Robert Downey Jr. would ever find his face on anything other than a mugshot, the figures based on his Iron Man role were doing exceptionally well, says Sardo.

Nothing’s fool-proof, though. Another superhero that did OK at the box office but took a bit of a beating in figure form was The Incredible Hulk.

“The Hulk didn’t do so well,” says Sardo, “The figures were not well designed.”

Another old-time favorite that had seen better days was the original tomb raider, Indiana Jones, and while many fans were of the opinion that the film wasn’t worth the wait, the figures from Hasbro could end up finding a home in a hidden government warehouse someday. However, another Hasbro line of figures proves that George Lucas still can deliver the goods.

“Star Wars is still strong, even though the movies have well past,” says Perez, who noted that fans all but came from a galaxy far away to snap up the figures, which were a big summer surprise hit. “I suppose the Clone Wars animated movie will even spark yet another wave of consumers.”

With Marvel Comics’ next round of movies still a couple of years off, superheroes could go into a super spiral at the box office, but given that figures based on the comics as much as the films are still doing big business, the super trend with figures likely is going to last for a while longer. And there are still a few more films to watch—namely the highly anticipated The Watchmen, based on the dystopian graphic novel by Alan Moore.

“The fans seem really hyped about The Watchmen figures, based on the movie,” says Sardo. “We’re really interested to see how those do.”

Superheroes may have dominated the big screen, but the small screen—these days a relative term given the increasing size of today’s HDTVs—has also delivered a number of hits this year. And TV-based figures remain popular, especially for hit shows with cult followings such as Lost, South Park, Battlestar Galactica, The Simpsons and Heroes.

“This is really about perception,” says Mike Drake, Mezco’s Director of Special Projects. “If you look at the overall figures market, these figures only make up a very small percentage of sales,” he says. “But if you look at the best selling collectible figures over the best decade, they are mostly from TV shows.”

Drake credits the popularity of these figures to a noticeable increase in quality, which companies such as Mezco and McFarlane have been credited with delivering to detail-obsessed fans.

Quality continues to sell, confirm the retailers, and some sellers speculate that last winter’s 100-day-long writer’s strike may have had the unforeseen effect of actually helping sell figures, which should pick up even more during Heroes’ third season. Sardo, for one, “expect[s] those [figures] to pick up when the show returns.”

Mezco’s Drake thinks the lack of new programming may also have created added buzz for the Heroes figures. “The show has a tremendous fan base, but the new season was delayed. Of course fans are still eager for the series, and as a result our line of Heroes figures was getting coverage a year before it was for sale. I can’t think of a time when a product was so popular a year before it came out. The strike may have helped because there was no news, but we were the news.”

Heroes and Lost are both examples of how a show’s popularity can translate into popularity for action figures, but this is far from new news. Michael Leavey of Diamond Select Toys says even shows that were never breakout hits can become smash hits in toy aisles.

“There are instances where a show that is not viewed as 'popular’ has a rabid fan base—enough to support an entire toy line,” Leavey says. He maintains that today’s shows are not necessarily any better at lending themselves to figures than past TV series. “It is really more of a series to series type thing rather than looking at it in terms of era.,” he says. “Shows of all ages have proven to be great for toys, from Star Trek in the 1960s to Buffy The Vampire Slayer in the 1990s to Battlestar Galactica today.”

It is also worth noting that Diamond Select Toys is also seeing that nostalgia for older series such as Star Trek can create renewed hype. The company released a line of vintage styled Star Trek figures, with period-looking packaging meant to appeal to all those who regret that “mom” might have thrown away original Mego figures decades ago. These figures are hotter to fans of Star Trek than a green-skinned Orion slave girl.

“Our retro style figures are currently a really great selling line. We touched a piece of collector past with them,” Leavey says, “and thanks to EMCE Toys, the quality has been top notch.”

Most retailers are reporting it’s a mixed bag as to who comprise the current customers for action figures. While many stores cater to adult collectors, others carry a wide selection to attract a variety of buyers. “I do OK with the kid’s section—the low-end stuff,” says Comic Vault’s Sardo. But since his store also attracts a number of collectors, he has their concerns covered, too. “I sublet my toy section to a guy who sells the collectible toys,” he explains.

Other retailers, though, have left the market. Over-saturation, with shelves full of both collectible figures and mass market lines, was one of the reasons that Chris Eberle, owner of the Kenilworth, N.J.-based Wildpig Comics, recently decided to stop stocking the category at his store.

“We only carried comic book figures, but the profit margins were really poor,” Eberle says of his store’s history with action figures. But, he says, he started to branch out beyond comic characters when the action figure companies began releasing other figures his customers found compelling. Ultimately, though, too many SKUs doomed the category’s sales in his store. “These were popular with our customers, and people started to do pre-orders and would buy up whole sets. But then the companies started to release more and more figures, and it got to the point where people couldn’t afford them,” Eberle explains.

Eberle adds that the stock took up a great deal of display place, and because the profit margins were so small it didn’t make sense to keep carrying them.

Similarly for the independent merchant, action figure accessories are another area that can take up space only to offer low margins. Thus many sellers—both traditional stores and online retailers—are sticking with the figures and leaving accessories out of the equation.

“We really don’t deal much in accessories, other than vehicles,” says Go Figures’ Perez. “For the most part, those haven’t really done much” to capture his customers, who range from collectors to those buying figures for play, he says.

Another factor that retailers mentioned this year was the effect that the price of gasoline was having on the figure market. While the oil crisis of the 1970s is typically credited with G.I. Joe’s reduction in size from 12-inches to 8½-inches and finally to 3¾-inch figures, most sellers and manufacturers don’t see a similar downsizing … yet. Instead, prices may be on the rise, with Perez noting that a major brand of 5-inch figures was $5.99 a couple of years ago, but today sells for $7.99.

Sardo says one thing he’s noticed is that the local toy shows are doing better, something he attributes to higher gas prices putting a damper on heading out farther from home.

“People aren’t driving around as much, and as a result they are actually paying more for collectible figures when they find them,” Sardo says. “Who would have thought that gas prices would have that sort of effect?”