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Post by waywardmonk on Jan 27, 2014 15:42:32 GMT -6
Perhaps it's the inner Communist in me, but I find the variation in scale among action figures kind of annoying. I guess GI Joe set the 12" scale, Mego the 8" scale, and Kenner the 3 3/4" scale. Did we really need more than that? I guess maybe one more middle size like 5", but surely any more sizes would just be done by companies to try and create proprietary exclusion of their competitors...
I appreciate large figures, but they really aren't conducive to large-scale collections. As a kid I had a 12" Marx Geronimo, a 12" Six Million Dollar Man & an old 12" Joe of my brothers. That was plenty to play with. If I had much more than that, they probably would've collected dust.
I had one friend who had Star Trek Megos and another who had a ton of Mego super heroes. The 8" size was more manageable than the 12" for playing with a lot of figures. And limited companies from going vehicle/playset crazy compared to future smaller scales.
Star Wars 3 3/4", what a game-changer! I started with the early bird kit, moved up to a Star Case full of figures to that one Christmas when I got all the early playsets & vehicles. I took over the living room for a good 2 years. I got quite a few Empire Strikes back figures/items, but my collection had gotten so huge I really wasn't interested in any of the return of the jedi toys. I don't even remember there being 12" figures. I just loved the little ones.
MOTU was probably the last toy line I cared about as a kid. I hated their floppy legs, but the 5" scale was really appropriate to their beefiness. I don't think these figures would have worked at 3 3/4".
Nowadays, they've probably covered all possible scales. And some lines try for 3 or more scales in the same line! It's marketing gone wild...
SO.... if You had your choice of making toy companies conform to a set number of scales, what would it be?
For me, I think I'd be happy with just something around the 5" scale. It combines the playability of small figures with the displayability of the larger scales.
I say leave the larger scales for statues and smaller scales for the dollar store...
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splitt
Forum Lurker
Nov 8, 2013 22:33:23 GMT -6
Posts: 21
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Post by splitt on Jan 28, 2014 3:30:21 GMT -6
For the more artsy-fartsy ultra detailed figures (McFarlane, Neca) I really like the 7-8" scale, so I don't have to squint to see the details (and I kinda like bigger things). But now because of plastic, we may be seeing less of those, or price hikes to the point I may not be able to collect many. (:[ I've never been much for the 3/4" scale, as I'm more of an art visual detail collector than playability. 5 1/2" are okay when it's vintage type action figs, but I don't think there's many new ones that size? (besides TMNT). Actually it seems there are alot less 'action' play orientated figs than in the 80's or 90's. Thanks video games & iPady phone thingys! } But when they get to be a weird 4 1/2" or 9" action fig, or any weird scale it is a little annoying because of display compatibility. I do LOVE me some large scale anything though. But I don't like it when they make G.I. Joe / Sideshow type figures (*cough cough dolls*) 13" because they display weirdly with 12".
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Post by spockoda on Apr 15, 2014 17:41:00 GMT -6
I like the variety of different scales, although there will always be instances where a figure gets made in a different scale from what you may want. Should figure sizes be standardized like video and audio(DVD & CD)? My answer would be no.
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Post by dogpoopwalker on Apr 16, 2014 4:45:10 GMT -6
I believe that the original star wars figures were made to scale with the Millenium Falcon ship. That thing was kind of a boat, but you couldn't make them any smaller or they would be legos.
That always impressed me because it had a purpose, it actually is a scale. As much as I like He Man and other 80's toys like that the size just seems arbitrary. I'm pretty comfy with 3 3/4".
My mate collects Marvel 10 inch figures, which were up just up sized from the five inch versions. I can't stand those giant things, what do you do with them? I imagine trying to cram them into a spaceship the size of my coffee table.
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Post by figuremod73 on Apr 16, 2014 12:14:53 GMT -6
I like the variety scales myself. With some of the more popular toylines I wish there had been different scales in the day. With Star Wars I think there should have been an middle scale line to go along with the 12 and 3 3/4 figures. I think it probably would have been more popular than the 12 inch line. At least now there is the Black series. I think alot of people would have wanted 8 mego-likes though.
Different scales is one thing that was done right by the more recent Thundercats release.
Different scales within the same line could be annoying though. Why make Baron Karza a different size from the others micronauts, for example?
One thing I've been wanting Mattel to do for a long time is release the original MOTU figures again but in mini-size. Same build and articulation but in a smaller scale. I bet they would sell. I wish I hadnt missed World smallest Transformers when they first came out.
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Post by rihia2k on Apr 16, 2014 14:07:41 GMT -6
I believe that the original star wars figures were made to scale with the Millenium Falcon ship. That thing was kind of a boat, but you couldn't make them any smaller or they would be legos. That always impressed me because it had a purpose, it actually is a scale. As much as I like He Man and other 80's toys like that the size just seems arbitrary. I'm pretty comfy with 3 3/4". My mate collects Marvel 10 inch figures, which were up just up sized from the five inch versions. I can't stand those giant things, what do you do with them? I imagine trying to cram them into a spaceship the size of my coffee table. Kind of ironic, the smaller you make your figure scale - the more epic and expansive you can make your playset.
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Post by drbo on Apr 18, 2014 10:10:51 GMT -6
Great tread idea Waywardmonk!
Here some thoughts all over the place:
2" - A standard set by M.U.S.C.L.E., Monsters in my Pocket and their many (many) imitators. As a kid I really liked M.U.S.C.L.E. (was a bit too old for MIMP) - I liked to have pile upon pile of crazy design monster, wrestlers and dinosaurs. Good scale to pit play along Green Army Men and easy to store as a collector. The more my collection grows I tend to go more for such small, easy to store lines.
3 3/4" - Star Wars, Fisher Price Adventure People, G.I Joes, Micronauts, Buck Rogers, Star Trek: the Motion Picture, Black Hole, Clash of the Titans, The Saga of Crystar, The Other World, Bionic Six, Captain Power... Had all of these in part as a kid it was way fun to be able to mix n' match all of these from vehicle to playset from one to another. Mostly Sci-Fi line at first but soon completed with a niche of great fantasy collection and the G.I. Joe bandwagon of military lines. As an adult collector really digging storage case, I truly love those. At first I was a bit turned off by Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat made into Joes (and I was at the age that I stopped playing with action figure), now I can see the beauty of having such great franchise clash together at the same scale!
5" - Master of the Universe and their knock-off legion. Fun for bulky Barbarian guy in fur speedos and ideal for their built like Waywardmonk pointed. Now I dig those knock-off wrestler and legit wrestler guys (AWA Remco in short) made in the same scale; it fit those weirdish, overly bulky beefcake frame perfectly both aseptically and thematically.
A figure line that I found was not helped by their scale was Mattel Bravestarr. They make gorgeous looking space cowboys but I remember as a kid being bugged that they came out without any other line in that scale to play and swap along, among many problems...
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Post by spockoda on Apr 18, 2014 12:13:48 GMT -6
I like the variety of different scales, although there will always be instances where a figure gets made in a different scale from what you may want. Should figure sizes be standardized like video and audio(DVD & CD)? My answer would be no. If I did have to pick a favorite scale, it would probably have to be 3 3/4". Maybe because of when I grew up plus the scale is more conductive to vehicles and other accessories.
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Post by 3 3/4"collector on Apr 18, 2014 14:33:43 GMT -6
pretty simple, if its not 3 3/4" or 1:18 I wont bother with it period. my figures have to all be in size with each other I have to able to mix them all together or they are just in the way and frustrating to me.
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Post by figurecollector on Apr 18, 2014 18:54:30 GMT -6
I was going to be extremely surprised if you were for the 12" figures, 3 3/4"collector, LOL.
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Post by 3 3/4"collector on Apr 20, 2014 4:26:55 GMT -6
I make very very few exceptions, like I have the star wars bounty hunters in 12" but they have to be away from the entire rest of my collection. so in a way they are sort of in the way.
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Post by bowheadwhale on Apr 25, 2014 16:41:06 GMT -6
As a child, I also felt a little annoyed by the difference of scales between figure lines, because my playmates and I just loved to mix lines together while playing. But what could we do?
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