Odd as that might sound, there are lots of collectors who would enjoy to see an initial G.I. Joe or an initial Star Wars action figure. Action figures tend to be based on programs, films, or comics that always have a following, and for that reason even years after companies stop producing the figures, there are people who still look for to collect them.
One fascinating story handling action figures includes Takara, a Japanese toy business. They are best known to contemporary toy collectors as the company that constructed the original Transformers action figures. In 1974 Takara developed a 4-inch humanoid action figure, which was called "MicroMan." In the late 70's and early 80's this toy was brought over to the United States by the Mego Toy company, which was desperate for a hit after they made the popular blunder of handing down Star Wars. They re-named the line "Micronauts", and developed enough of a back story for Marvel Comics to get an excellent run of comics. Mego got numerous years of excellent sales, which had to do with the exact same size as Star Wars figures, before the entire company decreased.
The standard building of the Micronauts action figure would quickly be used by more info Hasbro for their brand-new action figures: the very collectible and now well-known 3-3/4" G.I. Joes (an action figure popular amongst young boys of the time for their tendency to have bad encounters with fireworks). Now the initial business is coming out with larger action figures based on the originals. Still it's the old action figures that acquire the most attention from collectors, so if you're believing about putting out the old toys from twenty years ago out in the garage sale, perhaps believe model action figures two times and take a 2nd look before putting the boxes out.