NEW YORK - While  not exactly the epic Star Wars battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, the heated contest for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president is spawning its own cadre of action figures that can debate right in your living room.

Novelty action-figure companies are scrambling to get ready for the November election and the figures are already starting to pop up on campaign trails.

This week a supporter handed presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain a Hillary Clinton figure at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. According to The Lighter Side Co., which ships the figure, she is wearing pearls, a 3-piece suit, and will dance to a modified version of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”

Novelty gag gifts like this are popular with U.S. college students, their makers say, so there should be no surprise that Sen. Barack Obama figures are seeing a spike in popularity.

“He makes a good action figure,” said Jason Feinberg of Jailbreaktoys.com, which will begin taking orders for its Obama figure (right) next month. “He has a little bit of the superhero thing that’s associated with action figures — the slender build, a hopeful message,” Feinberg said.

For those hoping Clinton and Obama will work out their differences,  Herobuilders.com offers “Obama and Hillary Dream Team” action figures (below).  And if you want to use the action figures as an informal polling device, individual Obama figure sales have been outpacing Hillary sales for the past three months,  according to Herobuilders.com President Emil Vicale.

“We typically know what’s going to happen in advance,”  said Vicale, whose site will start shipping a plush “Obamakinz” doll next week as well. “Last time we pretty much had to give away the (John) Kerry action figures whenever we sold a (George W. ) Bush figurine.” 

While a Hillary pet chew toy and nutcracker have also been floating around this year, oddly, we couldn’t find any action figures for McCain, a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam.  Not to worry though, the senator from Arizona does have a mask and bobblehead doll coming soon. 

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

Photo credit: Reuters/Tim Shaffer (Sen. John McCain hands a Hillary Clinton doll that was given to him by a supporter to an aide during a town meeting event at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Pennsylvania, March 14, 2008.)