The museum got its start in 2000 during a citywide process called VISION 2010. In a series of meetings, local citizens came together and identified goals they would like the community to reach in the next ten years. Many things were discussed. Among them the town wanted unique attractions that would help to make Pauls Valley a destination city.With the help of local artist and toy designer (and collector) Kevin Stark, a board was formed to start working on the world’ s first museum devoted to the art and sculpting of action figures! The museum acquired its 501(c)3 nonprofit status and the group began researching and creating the plans for a first – class facility in the heart of downtown Pauls Valley. It took the group five years to put everything together and the doors opened on October 15, 2005.Since that time the museum has had visitors from every state in the union and over 40 foreign countries and has helped serve as an economic catalyst for the downtown area. With group tours from state wide public and private schools, senior citizen groups and various tourist groups, not to mention curious travelers, the museum has seen over 50,000 visitors since it opened its doors.An accredited museum, The Toy & Action Figure Museum has won several awards, including the Redbud Award for Best New Tourist Attraction in the state for 2006 at the Oklahoma Governor’ s Conference on Tourism.