Collecting Through the Lens
How Mandy Burton’s childhood love of action figures found its way back through photography.
COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT · MANDY BURTON
Figure photography has become another way for Mandy to bring the characters she loves to life.
For some collectors, the hobby begins with a particular figure or franchise. For Mandy Burton, it started much earlier — with her dad, a childhood full of action figures, and an imagination that never really went away.
From Mego superheroes and the 1966 Batmobile to Action Man, the Bionic Man and the Lone Ranger, Mandy was drawn to characters, adventures and what were traditionally considered “boys’ toys.” She wasn’t interested in simply owning them. She wanted to create stories with them.
Years later, after a long break from collecting, that same instinct would return — only this time there would be a camera in her hand.
Where It All Started
Mandy traces her collecting back to her dad, who introduced her to action figures when she was young. Her early collection included Spider-Man, Batman and Robin, Planet of the Apes, Action Man, the Bionic Man and Bionic Woman. She especially remembers the Lone Ranger and Tonto, complete with their horses Silver and Scout.
At the time, collecting wasn’t really “collecting” in the adult sense. It was imagination. Characters became part of adventures and little worlds she could create for herself.
“It was never really about just owning toys — I loved the characters, the stories and creating little adventures with them.”
That idea — using figures to tell stories — would eventually become an important part of her photography too.
Leaving Childhood Behind
There was, however, a long gap. When Mandy was ten, she moved to live with her dad and had to leave most of her childhood figures behind. The only things she took with her were her cuddly monkey, Bobbin, and her bicycle.
At the time, she remembers wondering whether perhaps she was simply too old for those toys anyway. Looking back now, leaving the figures behind felt almost like leaving that part of childhood behind with them.
But the connection to those characters never completely disappeared. Over the years she would occasionally pick up figures again, including Lord of the Rings pieces, while still keeping a few childhood Action Men and her original Bionic Man and Bionic Woman.
Finding the Hobby Again
The real return happened at the beginning of COVID. By then Mandy had developed a growing interest in photography and wanted something detailed she could use to practise lighting.
She came across a TTM19 body with a head sculpt, added some old Action Man clothing and began photographing it. What started as a way to practise photography slowly became something much bigger.
She even created an Instagram account for the figure and began photographing him going on little adventures. The collection simply grew from there.
Mandy with Hux. Photography first became a passion through photographing her dogs before figures became regular subjects.
Photography Becomes Part of Collecting
During lockdown, collecting and photography began developing together. Mandy had already started photographing her dogs on her phone and discovered that photography gave her something unexpected: a way to slow down and be completely present. She describes the experience almost like meditation.
That interest led to her first proper camera and flash, and she began learning more about lighting. Figures provided the perfect subjects to experiment with — detailed, expressive and, as Mandy jokes, slightly less mobile than dogs.
Today, dog photography, portraits of people and figure photography are the three areas she enjoys most.
Behind the scenes: building a figure photograph with practical lighting, scenery and a camera setup.
More Than Something on a Shelf
Limited display space means Mandy can’t keep her entire collection out at once. Instead, figures rotate between display and storage — which has one unexpected advantage: opening one again after some time can recreate that “brand new figure” feeling.
Photography gives her another way to enjoy the collection even when the physical figures are packed away. The photographs remain on her phone, keeping those characters close regardless of what is currently on display.
And photographing them becomes almost like photographing tiny actors. Scenes can be created. Lighting can change the emotion. Characters can be placed into situations that exist only in the photographer’s imagination.
When the Photograph Comes Before the Figure
Most of the time, Mandy says she buys what she loves. But every now and then, a photography idea becomes impossible to ignore.
One example was Wednesday Addams. Mandy already liked the figure, but she could also see specific photographs in her head — including recreating a bathroom scene and another concept involving Wednesday playing the cello while Joker dances nearby. Once the scene existed in her imagination, owning the figure became even more tempting.
Sometimes the photograph exists in Mandy’s imagination before the figure even arrives.
Collecting and Photography Feed Each Other
Sometimes an idea appears while Mandy is walking the dog or lying in bed. Other times, she opens a new figure without any plan at all and simply starts experimenting. The pose changes. The lights move. An angle appears. And suddenly the photograph becomes something completely different from what she expected.
That unpredictability is part of what keeps both collecting and photography interesting. A new figure might encourage her to try a different focal length, switch between strobes and constant lighting, use a macro lens or even take the figure outdoors.
The figure challenges the photography, while photography gives her another reason to engage with the figure.
“They’re constantly challenging each other and pushing me to try new things.”
Seeing Details Differently
Photography has also changed the way Mandy looks at the figures themselves. When asked whether the camera helps reveal details she might otherwise miss, her answer was immediate:
“One hundred percent yes! My camera has far better eyesight than I do.”
For Mandy, creating the photograph is about far more than pressing the shutter. There’s posing, composition, editing and storytelling — but lighting remains one of her favourite parts.
She often approaches a photograph by thinking about what the character might be feeling and then uses light to help communicate that emotion. In a way, she describes it as returning to exactly what she did with action figures as a child. The difference is that now there’s a camera involved.
Light, atmosphere and character come together in Mandy’s figure photography.
Sometimes the Story Matters More Than Perfection
One older photograph remains particularly meaningful to Mandy. She once had an Empire Strikes Back Vader figure in her backpack and happened to pick a small pink flower while she was out.
Later, with a little time before work, she placed the flower in Vader’s hands and began photographing him with it. That simple setup led to something more emotional. She began wondering what Vader might still remember. Could he smell the flower? Could it remind him of Padmé? Had everything that happened to him removed those softer parts of his humanity?
Technically, Mandy doesn’t consider it her best photograph. But emotionally, it remains one of her favourites because it tells a story.
“Sometimes that matters more to me than getting the perfect shot.”
That may be one of the clearest explanations of Mandy’s approach to figure photography. The technical side matters. But the photograph means more when there is something behind it.
Light, Shadows and Finding a Style
Ask Mandy to define her photography style and she’ll tell you that she isn’t entirely sure she has one. But there are patterns. She is drawn to shadows, lower-key imagery and the way changing the light can completely transform the mood of a photograph.
Even now, she considers herself to be learning and experimenting rather than working toward one rigid visual formula. That willingness to keep experimenting is also her biggest piece of advice to other collectors interested in photography.
You don’t need expensive equipment. Daylight works. A torch works. A household lamp works. Photography lights and video lights simply give you more possibilities. What matters is experimenting, asking other photographers for help and resisting the temptation to turn photography into a competition.
“Light is your friend.”
A Few More Frames
A cinematic Star Wars portrait.
A quiet character study using low-key light.
Still Playing — Just Differently
Looking back, Mandy believes imagination, nostalgia and her love of films, television and books are what have kept her connected to collecting. Figures make fictional characters tangible.
You can hold them. Photograph them. Create new scenes with them. And let your imagination continue the story beyond what appeared on screen or on the page.
In that sense, perhaps not that much has really changed. The childhood collector who once created adventures with superheroes, cowboys and action figures is still there. Only now, those adventures happen through a lens.
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