When in the spring of 1987 Matt Groening created a series of short animated sketches for The Tracey Ullman Show - The Simpsons - who could have imagined that those early incarnations of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and Bart would eventually become cultural icons in what is now officially the world's longest running sitcom ever.
Regulars on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, The Simpsons then premièred in their own half-hour series, on December 17, 1989. In 2000 they were even given their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! A television smash for years, their move to the big screen in The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, released in theatres worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, also broke box office records.
Of course, action figures of numerous cast members of The Simpsons have appeared over the years. Whilst McFarlane Toys and the World of Springfield action figures line created by Playmates Toys fill many collections, the vintage action figure collector should probably look to the earliest series of Simpsons action figures ever produced - the 1990 Simpsons action figures by Mattel. The original range consisted of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Nelson Muntz and Bartman, Bart's alter ego. Each figure came with its own accessories and a word bubble which could be plugged into their heads and was designed to hold four different "phrases".
Original Bartman photo © Francis Bijl. Used and adapted by Deborah Swain under CC License 2
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 GUIDE TO THE SIMPSONS MATTEL PLAYMATES EVIL HOMER MOC $9.99 Time Remaining: 13h 34m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 MOC Original Simpsons Action Figure Marge Simpson RARE $7.99 Time Remaining: 2d 14h 33m Buy It Now for only: $7.99 |
 LOT 10x 1990 Mattel Simpsons BART HOMER NELSON BARTMAN $99.00 Time Remaining: 3d 5h 39m Buy It Now for only: $99.00 |
 REN STIMPY SHOW LOT OF 4 FIGURES AND ACCESSORIES MATTEL 1993 $9.99 Time Remaining: 3d 11h 2m |
 Vintage The Simpsons Marge Action Fig Mattel MOC 1990 $29.99 Time Remaining: 3d 11h 33m Buy It Now for only: $29.99 |
 Vintage The Simpsons Homer Action Fig Mattel MOC 1990 $27.99 Time Remaining: 3d 12h Buy It Now for only: $27.99 |
 THE SIMPSONS BART REMOTE CONTROL QUAD CYCLE FIGURE MATTEL $35.00 Time Remaining: 4d 17h 5m Buy It Now for only: $35.00 |
 1990 The Simpsons Original REMOTE CONTROL BART SIMPSON on SKATEBOARD by Mattel $79.99 Time Remaining: 8d 5h 14m Buy It Now for only: $79.99 |
 Scarce 1990 THE SIMPSONS BART Cowabunga Man MINT Action Figure MATTEL Comics TV $19.99 Time Remaining: 8d 12h 47m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 SIMPSONS MOC Mattel 1990 Vintage NELSON Action Figure $19.99 Time Remaining: 10d 4h 52m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
