Riverdale returns to the airwaves this week to close out the show’s fourth season, and if you’d told me ten years ago that the Archie Comics universe would be enjoying a creative resurgence I would have called you crazy. But a variety of modern spins have made the adventures of America’s favorite red-headed teen stuck in a love triangle feel fresh and new. If you want to broaden your collection of Archie swag, here are eleven picks for your toy shelf.
Archie Funko Pop
As the central character of the Riverdale Cinematic Universe, Archie Andrews is a classic all-American teenager, always trapped between warring forces. Will his heart belong to Betty or Veronica? Will he pursue his musical dreams or stick with his football career to get a good college scholarship? The man has a lot weighing on his mind, especially considering he’s been a teenager almost as long as my grandfather has been alive. Celebrate his life in Funko form with this Pop based around his modern appearance.
Get it ($45) at Amazon.com
Plush Jughead Key Chain
Jughead Jones is Archie’s truest friend, a hamburger-craving asexual man of mystery whose appetite is matched only by his laziness. The Riverdale version, as played by Cole Sprouse, eschews the iconic crowned cap that the character has rocked for half a century but definitely captures his laconic demeanor. If you identify with Forsythe P. Jones as much as we do, pick up this stuffed key chain and you can take him everywhere. Wait, does Jughead even drive? We can’t see him passing a driver’s test or buying a car, honestly.
Get it ($9) at Amazon.com
Vampironica Statue
The decision of traditionally family-friendly Archie to let creators take their popular characters into horror comics was a shock, but it injected some new blood, no pun intended, into the franchise. Icon Heroes is making a number of super cool polystone statues of some of the best, starting with Veronica Lodge transformed into an immortal blood-drinking huntress of the night. This hand painted, individually numbered statue stands ten inches high and will definitely serve as a conversation piece no matter where you decide to place it.
Get it ($120) at Amazon.com
Riverdale Clue
Branded variants of classic board games are pretty common these days, but there’s solid synergy in making a Riverdale-themed version of the Parker Brothers stalwart Clue. The TV series started, of course, with the death of Jason Blossom, and in this alternate reality any of six different Archie characters could have done the dirty deed. Players race against each other to collect evidence and finger the true culprit.
Get it ($39) at Amazon.com
Betty Barbie
The line between Betty Cooper and Mattel’s fashion doll icon is pretty slim, so it’s not surprising that the toy company licensed the character in 2004 to make playable versions of. They did a Veronica, too, but seeing a Barbie-style doll with long straight raven hair definitely puts us in a state of cognitive dissonance. You know exactly what you’re getting with this one, but the styling is fun and she even comes with a notebook to record her deep thoughts.
Get it ($29) at Amazon.com
Reggie ReAction Figure
Super7’s line of deliberately retro toys are designed to mimic the kind of things we played with in the 80s, before “articulation” became a thing that people cared about. Think the original Kenner Star Wars figures that bent at the shoulders and the hips only, making your favorite characters have to march around like Nazis. They just released a batch of Archie characters, modeled after the pre-Riverdale designs, as appropriate. Why not take home Reggie, the black-haired sneak always trying to swipe Archie’s girl?
Get it ($18) at Entertainment Earth
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Funko Pop
Clean-cut Archie making the transition to a sexy CW drama was surprising, but even more so was his white-haired witch friend going straight to Netflix and dishing out straight-up Satan worship. The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina is a completely dope show, taking the teenage witch that seemed so innocent back in the 90s and updating her for today’s modern audiences. This Funko rendition depicts her in her iconic red coat and even comes with a little Salem familiar so she won’t be lonely.
Get it ($10) at Amazon.com
Classic Archie Character Statue
The visual design of Archie Andrews has evolved significantly over the years, but for the better part of the last century it hewed pretty close to the original look developed by artist Bob Montana in 1941. That first Archie had the copper hair with the weird checkerboard pattern on the side, coupled with a black Riverdale letter vest. While the man’s style has shifted to keep up with the times, we can also look back with this high-quality plastic statue cast in the Syroco fashion. Comes in a collector’s edition tin box with a pinback button and booklet.
Get it ($200) at Amazon.com
Archie Board Game
For some wholesome family-friendly action, pick up this copy of the officially licensed Archie “Running Around Riverdale” board game, get Pop to make you a quartet of chocolate malteds and traverse the streets of Riverdale trying to be the first to reach the Choclit Shoppe after school lets out. For the sheer amount of sweets these teens knock back at their local it’s a wonder they’re not covered in acne, but maybe there’s something to all that clean living. If you have a fondness for lesser-known Archie characters like Dilton or Big Ethel, this is the game for you as everybody’s present and accounted for.
Get it ($32) at Amazon.com
Jughead The Hunger Statue
Detouring back into the mature readers horror side of the Archie universe, this time with a polystone statue modeled after the cover artwork for the second issue of Jughead: The Hunger. If you haven’t been keeping up, that’s the book that takes the ravenous Jughead Jones and turns him into a lycanthrope, supplementing his endless desire for hamburgers with human flesh. This might be the single most absurd piece of merchandise we included in this roundup, but true heads will recognize this and love it when they spot it on your toy shelf.
Get it ($160) at Amazon.com
Funko Rock Candy Veronica
At the end of the day, Archie must make a choice. He cannot remain in romantic suspension between two women his whole existence, and his whole fate will revolve around which he chooses, Betty or Veronica. There are solid arguments to be made for either choice, and it all comes down to personal preference from a fan’s perspective. And that’s the genius of Archie – by not making a choice, he creates a liminal space for us to do it for him. Anyways: it’s Veronica. Funko’s Rock Candy line is devoted to powerful female characters from across media franchises, and they capture her magnificently here.
Get it ($11) at Amazon.com
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