Undead on Arrival: Inside MGA Entertainment’s Ninjombie Invasion

The toy department is about to get a whole lot weirder, and it’s about time. You could say it’s overdue.

After all, the action aisle has been stuck in sequel mode — literally. Dominated by legacy licenses, gaming IP, and safe bets wrapped in plastic, it’s been a long time since anything truly new punched through.

What do you get when you mix ninja warriors, zombies, comic book chaos, and slime-fueled mayhem? For MGA Entertainment, the answer is Ninjombie.

Known for bringing game-changing innovation to dolls and collectibles, MGA is now charging into a complex category with its first original action figure line. Ninjombie merges storytelling, hands-on play, digital engagement, and gross-out humor into one genre-bending package for kids.

“Ninjombie resulted from a cross-functional effort of designers, branding, marketing, and packaging teams,” says Josh Hackbarth, Chief Marketing Officer at MGA Entertainment. “These teams worked together to come up with an amazing premise: What if action figures could battle and ‘dis-arm’ each other like seen in crazy, over-the-top action movies? What if we created characters who could do battle, respawn, mix and match their body parts, and spray their slime ‘blood’ again and again?”

That vision — and a mission to stand out on shelves — became the foundation for a fast-paced, fun-forward line where action figures come apart, slam back together, and keep fighting without missing a beat.

While breaking into the action aisle with a new IP has proven challenging for many companies, MGA enters the fray with swords and nunchucks swinging, backed by the legacy, strength, and sales-driving firepower of Bratz, L.O.L. Surprise!, Rainbow High, Little Tikes, and MGA’s Miniverse behind them.

“We’re driven by innovation and design, and were motivated to bring a fresh, new play pattern into the action aisle. And, we love a challenge,” Hackbarth says.

That meant rethinking what a modern action figure can be, not just sculpt and articulation, but also experience, versatility, and affordability. “We looked at the classic action figure and worked to create a play system with exciting features and characters that expand kids’ imaginations and intrigue them in a competitive world of established licensed and franchised properties.”

From the start, Ninjombie borrowed influence from comics and the fast-paced action of screen-based stories and games.

“We were inspired and influenced by a comic look and feel and the storytelling opportunities to go along with a great, new action figure brand,” Hackbarth explains. “The packaging, marketing, and product design were all influenced by this idea. Plus, each figure comes with its comic book backstory in each pack.”

The characters — Haz Mat, Scorchstrike, Grave Spin, Sword Lord, and deluxe figure Jonin Knight — are divided into rival clans and powered by a mysterious, gooey substance known as Prime Slime.

“Through the power of Prime Slime, legendary warriors have been reborn into mighty fighting machines,” Hackbarth says. “Set forth to defend their clans, these undead martial arts masters engage in limb-flying, slime-squirting battles like the world has never seen before.”

The figures are fully articulated, highly poseable, and loaded with accessories. Each features swappable limbs and heads, allowing for more than 3,000 possible character combinations.

“Mix and match is a proven play pattern,” says Hackbarth, “but we challenged ourselves to introduce something never seen before in the toy aisle and thought about how to make this different and exciting to make kids want to fight, dis-arm (and dis-leg), an action figure again and again.”

MGA is investing heavily in original content and interactive storytelling to support the toy line and power sales. Animated shorts are set to launch on YouTube, and kids are already encountering the characters in Reborn as Swordsman, a popular game on Roblox.

“More and more kids are spending time on gaming platforms such as Roblox, especially in the action figure/battle space,” says Hackbarth. “We knew we needed to be where the action was happening. The goal was to expose players and fans to our characters so that the first time they experienced Ninjombie wasn’t at the store, but long before that.”

That digital pipeline is already fueling insights for the future. “What we love about our Roblox game is that we are able to see how characters, weapons, and slime challenges resonate with our fans. We constantly analyze these play patterns as inspiration for future line development.”

The new line is designed with longevity in mind, from limited-edition variants to future waves.

“Ninjombie’s innovative battle play, hands-on action, construction, and unique world of characters and lore will yield more surprises across toys, content, and gaming in 2026,” Hackbarth teases.

And while licensed crossovers aren’t off the table (“Never say never,” Hackbarth says), the focus is on building the core world — a place where slapstick, slime, and storytelling can go off the rails at any moment. “We’re not bound by the typical guidelines of a boy’s action franchise. With Ninjombie, humor, silly gross play, breaking the fourth wall, etc., are all part of this brand’s DNA and allow us to go to places others can’t.”

Following the triumphant entry of CarTuned into the die-cast aisle last year, Ninjombie marks another strategic strike in MGA’s plan to own the toy department from end to end. It’s a move that underscores a promise MGA Entertainment CEO and Founder Isaac Larian made earlier this year in The Toy Book: “MGA will be in every toy aisle in retail stores,” he declared. “That has been my goal for years, and we are finally realizing it. I am so proud of my team for making all this a reality.”

With Ninjombie, that vision has been achieved. And the action aisle may never be the same.

A version of this feature was originally published in the 2025 Action & Adventure Issue of The Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!