In contrast to 1977, where no toy licensee had a lock on the right to make Star Wars toys until weeks after the movie’s premiere, Kenner rolls out the first toys for The Empire Strikes Back nearly a month ahead of the movie; kids (and their long-suffering parents) make the first wave of figures an immediate sell-out, despite not knowing anything about the movie’s plotline. 
Lewis Galoob Toys releases its first wave of toys from Star Trek: The Next Generation, consisting of six characters (all members of the Enterprise crew) and a die-cast metal miniature starship Enterprise. While there’s an instant interest from Star Trek collectors, Galoob is perhaps a bit premature: the series upon which its toys are based is in the middle of a very uneven first season, and has demonstrated more appeal to older viewers than to the age group that normally buys action figures. A more successful line, geared more toward adult collectors, will surface in the 1990s.
British toymaker Character Options releases a double-pack of action figures based on the Cybermen as seen in the classic Doctor Who series story Silver Nemesis (1988).
Character Options and Underground Toys release a box set of action figures from the 1985 Doctor Who episode Vengeance On Varos, including the first figure of the sixth Doctor’s companion Peri.