Finally! Photos From The 2026 Hershey Toy and Action Figure Show

The PopCulteer
September 18, 2026

This seems like it took me forever.

Let me explain.  This year my friend, Greg Brown, the owner of Costwold Collectibles, revived  The Hershey Action Figure & Toy Show after it had been on hiatus for a few years, and this year your humble blogger and his lovely wife incorporated this extremely fun toy show into our week-long celebration of our wedding anniversary.

It wasn’t all that we did on our trip. We also managed to squeeze in a video tour of The Fiestaware factory, a trip to the Warhol Museum, and some fun meandering and shopping in Frostburg, MD, Akron and East Liverpool, OH and Pittsburgh.

The plan was to bring you coverage of all that here in PopCult, once we got back from the trip.

However, we came back home to discover toilet misadventures, then I had some (still unresolved) blog issues.  That was quickly followed by a computer crash that delayed my ability to edit video, and then an influx of mundane but well-paying outside gigs. So here we are four weeks later, and I’m just now bringing you photos from Hershey. I have to confess that I haven’t done a photo essay on the cool stuff I got on this trip and at this show because we still haven’t had time to unpack yet.

The show was such a success that dates have already been confirmed for next year, and your PopCulteer and his wife are seriously considering a return trip. I had a great time and got to catch up and socialize with a lot of friends and fellow collectors that I haven’t seen for quite some time. I was halfway in civilian mode for this show.

The thing is, my photos didn’t come out great. I only used the phone this time, and my hands were just a little shaky from MG.

However, we have much better video. Mel was all-in on getting great coverage, and if all goes well, and the new video codecs I duct-taped to the hard drive hold, we will bring you a special music video presentation of The Hershey Action Figure & Toy Show this Sunday.  Even better…the music will be provided by Tearle Ashby (you’ll see him below), who is not only an incredible musician and composer, but is also a master GI Joe customizer who creates spectacular custom boxed outfits, many in collaboration with Scott Ferguson.

But that’s for Sunday. Today we have fifteen or so photos that managed to be presentable, and I offer my apologies for taking so freaking long to get these posted.

We still have more photos to bring you from other stops on the trip, and then I have stacks of toy, book and comic reviews to bring you in the coming weeks.

But let’s get on with the pics…

There were dozens of vendors crammed into one very large ballroom at the Hershey Lodge

Master GI Joe vehicle customizer Paul Knapp (right) with Stacey from The Man Cave Podcast. I bought an amazing Big Jim Rescue Rig that Paul converted into an Adventure Team GI Joe Fire Truck, and it took up about a fifth of our rental car’s trunk for the rest of the trip.

It was a treat to get to chat a bit with the amazing artist, Larry Selman. Larry is acclaimed for his military and historical paintings, and has created many memorable pieces used for GI Joe packaging over the years.

After knowing him for over a decade, and posting tons of photos of him in front of his booths at toy shows, I finally remembered to get a selfie with Ace Allgood, one of the nicest guys on the planet!

In the center there is Tearle Ashby, who creates exquisite custom outfits and accessories for 12″ Gi Joes, and whose music will be the soundtrack for our video on Sunday.

Your intrepid photojournalist capturing the backs of people’s heads. I think that’s Ace on the right.

Just tons of cool stuff was everywhere.

You say you want ducks? They had ducks!

A little bit of every era at this booth.

Just a quick glimpse of the amazing fantasy customs of New York Galoptikon. They get their own mini-photo essay next week.

Frighteningly enough, every toy in this pic was based on a movie or TV show. Chances are, you didn’t see “Bone Age” unless you went to a certain kind of theater.

It’s cool to see so much 3D printed stuff showing up at toy shows, mainly because it’s crowding out the Funko Pops.

Hot Wheels fans were not disappointed at Hershey.

This guy had astounding customs, and…that two-tone Godzilly? He’s in my living room, waiting to be unpacked.

We leave you with this, and we don’t know if it’s legit or not. Couldn’t get the vendor’s attention to ask.

And that is our photo essay and this week’s PopCulteer from Hershey.  The video should (keep your fingers crossed) be ready by Sunday. We’ll have one more short photo essay about New York Galoptikon, once we find his business card, and then we’ll tell you about some other stops on our trip. Meanwhile, check back for fresh content every day, and all our regular features.