CO,
...the invite has no time limit! [img]smile.gif[/img]
...as far as talking toys vs. eating sushi goes, I think I have a way to do both. We'll eat sushi and talk about Samurai toys. [img]wink.gif[/img]
PP,
...I think you've misunderstood what I said.
...believe it or not, most all of our figures cost about the same to make.
...in order for us to make any profit, a figure must cost between $A and $C, with $B being the middle and target price. That's the cost of the finished figure, in its package. It has nothing to do with tooling costs (molds), just what you see on the shelf.
...I won't get into tooling here, that's another story!
...some figures cost more, like BIG figures. Some cost less, like female figures. But, most other figures fall in the middle, somewhere.
...the difference between $A and $C? About 30 cents!
...so, right about now you're asking, why is there almost no difference between a heavily and lightly articulated figure?
...figures that are heavily articulated, are usually smaller and cheaper figures to produce. Small, in that they do not weigh a lot. Less plastic! One part of the cost figuring formula, is the weight of the figure.
...figures we tend to use less articulation on, are often bigger figures. They weigh more and are more expensive to produce.
...the engineering to make a swing joint fit and work properly, is more complicated than fitting a ball joint. Ball joints are glued into fitted hole, when they bottom, they're in. Swing joints need to be measured and fitted perfectly, or they will be loose. It may not seem like a big deal, but plastic shrinkage with give the engineers fits in this area.
...decoration, if you're covering a ball joint with armor, paint does not matter under the pad. In other words, if the paint detail doesn't match up between the shoulder and upper arm, no one will see it.
...with a swing joint, someone needs to hand paint and match the two pieces once the figure is put together. Much more labor intensive.
...we could chat for hours on the making of action figures. On your wildest LSD trip, you could not imagine the work that goes into something you pay around $10 for.
...you really need to take the tour in New Jersey, where we can spend hours on the subject. You'll have a whole new outlook on the matter. [img]smile.gif[/img]
...not that it will change your opinion on more vs. less, you'll just better understand why we do the things we do. [img]wink.gif[/img]
CO,
...the invite has no time limit! [img]smile.gif[/img]
...as far as talking toys vs. eating sushi goes, I think I have a way to do both. We'll eat sushi and talk about Samurai toys. [img]wink.gif[/img]
PP,
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Steve, thanks for clearing that up.
...riiiiiiiiiiiiiight! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">*runs off to play with Micronmen toys*
...or self, whichever cums first! [img]eek.gif[/img]
[img]wink.gif[/img]
...seriously though PP, you need to come to NJ. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Sculpt.
I don't really pose my figures all that much. I might adjust the pose a little bit, but that's as far as it goes.
My main beef with articulation is the fact that over time, joints weaken. Suddenly a figure starts drooping or trying to squat or do splits because the articulation has become too loose for it to maintain its pose. I'd rather have a statue that stays still than a figure that has to be constantly readjusted, propped up, or have its joints glued in place.
Another problem is sometimes, articulation just looks damned ugly. Take the cut waist in the s22 Valkerie figure. She's one of my all time favorite figures, but those two cuts in her waist look bad. Those are two very, very obvious articulation points that in my opinion detract from the overall look of the figure.
Then there are figures whose articulation make it a bitch to pose and have it stay posed. Take she-spawn 2, for example. Big heavy gun + swivel points in her legs that were loose to begin with = a figure that's a pain in the ass to pose and have that pose hold and work. The slightest touch sends her toppling, and it takes forever to get her legs back into the exact position that allows her to stand.
Now, I like shoulder articulation. I like being able to fiddle around with their arms. I like the option of having their arms raised or down or out to the side. But it's not really a necessary thing for me. If they have it, fine. If not, well, that's fine too. I don't care that Belit is stuck in the arms over the head position, because her overall pose works with that, and I like the way it looks. Her body is sculpted to look like it's in motion, her torso is sculpted to look like her arms are over her head, so it would look strange if she were standing there with her arms down, but her chest raised and muscles tensed like they should be up.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Her body is sculpted to look like it's in motion, her torso is sculpted to look like her arms are over her head, so it would look strange if she were standing there with her arms down, but her chest raised and muscles tensed like they should be up.
...she's a girl! [img]rolleyes.gif[/img]
...and she gets it! [img]eek.gif[/img]
(...bows to his Queen) [img]wink.gif[/img]
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 25, 2004 09:53 PM: Message edited by: StV ]</font>
re:NJ.
I plan to, hopefully next year.
I was really disappointed that I couldn't make the BBQ this year.
back to the debate...
I understand that with that particular fig, articulation is pointless.
my argument is not aboot that.
it's more aboot "we get plenty of statues, give us some articulated figures, AS WELL."
see?
like, it would be nice to have ONE of the dragons who could move his legs, neck, wings and tail...
maybe the jaw too...
one, out of six...
I'm REALLY not asking for much.
and I'm not asking for that to apply to every line, either.
the ONLY thing that stopped me from buying Conan was the lack of playability. I would have had SO much fun having Conan and Skullsplitter knock the ever-lovin' shit outta each other... [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
one articulated Conan would have been nice.
who knows, maybe next time...although I'm not holding my breath.
...I'll take it under advisement. [img]smile.gif[/img]
...by the way, do you own the Samurai, Viking and Onimusha lines. They were built specifically for articulation freaks. [img]wink.gif[/img]
of COURSE I do... [img]tongue.gif[/img]
but it's been what, 4 or 5 Spawn lines since we had any articulation like that.
My .02... while I like well sculpted figures, for "statues" I only buy the ones I *really* like.
With articulated figures, I find myself usually buying the whole series.
I didn't realize this, until I just looked at what I've bought in the last few years.
I'm a HUGE Conan fan, but bought none of the figures. I did buy though, the recent new Tiffany, Curse II and Redeemer figures... I passed on the rest.
I bought all including multiples of the Samurai spawn line (and never got the friggin accessory set, dammit!), and also have all the well articulated dark Ages figures.
Sometimes the static posed figure's pose bothers me for some reason.. with articulated figures, there isn't that issue.
I do find myself buying less and less spawn figures, mainly because of the loss of articulation.
Kinda sad, actually, since many of the new figures have such nice sculpts.
see?
SEE?
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