Comic book afficiandos take an ambivalent approach to toys. There's a need to separate a late adolescent cum adulthood appreciation for the men and women in tights from an earlier childhood love for toys. This is done by giving them a different name and keeping them in their boxes as collector's items.
Calling them toys is okay if the character is a fighter but is a funny animal or buffoon but that's subjective; it depends how seriously you treat Megaton Man vs the Tick
The funny thing about this is that the characters that are most likely candidates for "non-toys" are also the most fun to play with: heroes and villains, their weapons and accessories. Think about it. You each take a figure and pretend to battle each other. That works. Yet they're called action figures and never see action - they're mounted on the mantlepiece or stored away in a trunk.
