Limited Articulation Figures

[spockoda]

I looked back a few pages to see if anyone had started a thread about this subject so if it has already been started, I apologize. I am basically asking what your opinion is of figures that have about seven or less points of articulation. I guess anything under 5 points is borderline as an "action" figure. I am especially curious since the landscape of figure collecting at retail has changed quite a bit in the last 5 years or so and we are seeing more 5 poa lines made by companies to keep costs down. I was born in the early 70's so I was mostly accustomed to 5 poa lines until Hasbro brought out G.I. Joe ARAH. To the best of my recollection the Joes were the most articulated figures I ever had up until that time but as a kid I don't remember really noticing or caring about stuff like that. After a roughly ten year period of not paying any attention to toys I started collecting Playmates Star Trek and Kenner/Hasbro Star Wars in the 90's. Still I don't think I cared a lot about articulation until fans started asking for more articulation of their Star Wars figures(and got it). That's when I got caught up in all that for a good many years and it seemed like the cost of it was not an issue as companies like Toy Biz were putting out figures with tons of it at reasonable prices. So you could say I wasn't real keen on limited articulation figures for a good many years. Recently however I have started painting figures as a hobby and I have found that, since I don't know how to disassemble and reassemble figures, that 5 poa figures are the easiest to deal with when painting. A figure with 5 poa offers less challenges then a figure with 16 poa for example.

[rihia2k]

My staple childhood diet was MOTU and GI Joe ARAH. I never closely compared the two then, because they were different scales and themes I suppose. GI Joe felt like a mature advancement to me back then. Somehow I didn't end up with Star Wars until I was well into the Joes, spoilt with all that 3 3/4" Hasbro articulation, I hardly knew what do do with a 3 3/4" 5 POA figure except admire it. My Joes would have epic travels jumping and flipping around the room, while the SW guys would stay on the sidelines with the ability to put an arm out or can-can at best. (there's a lot to be said for Super Powers and Dragonriders of the Styx knee-articulation)

Oddly, the larger the scale - the less articulation seemed to matter. Like the solid LJN wrestlers, I really enjoyed putting them in 'moves' together.
I also seemed not to notice that MOTU were only 6 POA (if you count the waist), I believe this is because the angled arms and legs gave an impression they were more dynamic than they were. MOTU's free moving legs were also quite unique.

Two things which still bug me sometimes was the 90s emphasis on introducing figures with 5 POA and pre-set poses, so if you moved any point except the head, it ended up looking like your figure was having an awkward rabies seizure.
And also more modern era Star Wars (Indiana Jones KOTC, etc.) introducing tons of sweet articulation, but keeping the straight hip movement, it negates the knee rotation.
When I picked up Quinlan Vos, my first SW figure to have lateral hip movement, it really stood out.

[spockoda]

I forgot about the pre-posed figure "fad" of the 90's. Looks like we have unearthed another topic for the "toy pet peeve" thread. I appreciate the comments rihia, very interesting. Besides the Six Million Dollar Man line I totally ignored anything bigger than the 8 inch Megos when I was young. I totally glossed over the 12 inch Star Wars figures when I was young and I don't buy many 12 inchers now, mainly due to the fact that my house is only so big....

[anna]

Oh yeah, I hated those "Pre-posed" figures just one pose? yeahj lotsa play value there guys NOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thor Laserpunch]

Aug 18, 2015 3:24:31 GMT -6 rihia2k said:

My staple childhood diet was MOTU and GI Joe ARAH. I never closely compared the two then, because they were different scales and themes I suppose. GI Joe felt like a mature advancement to me back then. Somehow I didn't end up with Star Wars until I was well into the Joes, spoilt with all that 3 3/4" Hasbro articulation, I hardly knew what do do with a 3 3/4" 5 POA figure except admire it. My Joes would have epic travels jumping and flipping around the room, while the SW guys would stay on the sidelines with the ability to put an arm out or can-can at best. (there's a lot to be said for Super Powers and Dragonriders of the Styx knee-articulation)

Oddly, the larger the scale - the less articulation seemed to matter. Like the solid LJN wrestlers, I really enjoyed putting them in 'moves' together.
I also seemed not to notice that MOTU were only 6 POA (if you count the waist), I believe this is because the angled arms and legs gave an impression they were more dynamic than they were. MOTU's free moving legs were also quite unique.

Two things which still bug me sometimes was the 90s emphasis on introducing figures with 5 POA and pre-set poses, so if you moved any point except the head, it ended up looking like your figure was having an awkward rabies seizure.
And also more modern era Star Wars (Indiana Jones KOTC, etc.) introducing tons of sweet articulation, but keeping the straight hip movement, it negates the knee rotation.
When I picked up Quinlan Vos, my first SW figure to have lateral hip movement, it really stood out.

Lol, I too gravitated towards GI Joes and Star Wars mostly came later, so I was totally spoilt. Your post hits home for me--not minding the lack of articulation on my MOTU stuff because they looked more dynamic, etc. Same with Secret Wars. And while I'm not a fan of the H-hip articulation, it bothered me less when they had those sweet knee joints. Then they could get into more Van Dammey type action kicky situations.

I basically played with GI Joes and my other 3 3/4" figures were background characters or thugs/drones, or if they were in a larger scale they were like the bosses. Little guys like Battle Beasts were just like Gremlins or Critters and they got kicked in the face, never to be heard from again. Transformers really bothered me. Their articulation was largely just garbage. I always thought they were cool, but even back then I knew 3 POA was absolute garbage. I loved Shockwave, or my Radio Shack version of him, and Wreck Gar was kinda ok, but 90% of the others were just like giant mechs or whatever that immmediately got the snot beat out of them by Snake Eyes because they were largely unplaywithable.

Nowadays lack of articulation doesn't bother me as much as I mainly just collect to display, but I still find myself playing around more with figures that have decent poa, swivel hips, swivel shoulders, etc. I pull them off the shelf and pose them, see how Snake Plissken looks mercilessly kung fuing gorilla soldiers into oblivion, etc.

In all honesty, I expected this thread to be about 90s McFarlane figures who had maybe two viable poses--stocially looking forward with the gun held in the air proudly or looking back and doing some weird gangsta gat/Matrix look thing because they were basically statues with two or three POA.

[waywardmonk]

I'm a proponent of "less is more". I think the overall design concept is more important than how many points of articulation there are. The original SW line is a testament to that, but there have been other lines with even less than 5 poa that are still great. Hasbro's WWF and Mannix figures have only 4 points. Other wrestling lines, as rihia stated, had no articulation and are still cool. I have generally not been that impressed with lines that have had more than 6 poa. Manufacturers need to spend more time in play-testing their toys than they do in focusing on perceived value, how they look in the package, and other marketing gimmicks.

[marklungo]

I love articulation. The more, the better! It generally adds to the play value of a figure.

[ucsf]

Great points above.

For me it was Madelman and later and mostly G.I. Joe that affected my childhood. I had some other figures, mainly Toybiz stuff, Batman, TMNT, Gargoyles, etc. I wasn't introduced to SW figures until POF arrived here, but it was a really let down for the 11 year old me. the 5 POA has it's own part in the toy industry, these are toys after all. Many kids won't be underwhelmed if a figure can't hold it's accessories properly. But I must say, the more is not always the better. Like modern Joes. Those are suffering from annoying things. They can't hold their accessories properly (yeah, this is a real PITA), many joints are loose even when it's fresh from the case. I wish they've continued the O-ring format, that was kid and adult friendly too.

[aoiddr]

Hasbro's recent Titan Heroes line of 12" Marvel and Star Wars figures are an amazing value at ten bucks a piece...but the lack of articulation and even sculpts on some of them (like Iron Man) leave a lot to be desired from a play standpoint. Mattel's 12" versions of DC characters like Batman and Superman have more articulation and actually feel like better products. Still, regardless of that, they all do look good out of the package and standing on a shelf in a line-up.

[WishItWas1984]

HA! I've been thinking about this for a while myself. Ever since I started keeping tabs on Force Awakens figures. Mainly because of the utter hatred of 5 POA for the newer figs. I know the comment section of web posts are the minority usually, but still sad to see the backlash since it shows people having a lack of respect for the hobby.

If a lot of articulation is your thing, then that's great, but it doesn't make 5 POA inferior. I feel like people on other forums/sites forget there are multiple reasons why people get into this hobby and they are all valid.

I personally only dislike a lot of articulation. Not sure what number makes me pass, but essentially with a ton of breaks for articulation, the sculpt and look of the figure suffers too much for me. Likely because I got into this hobby for 2 reasons. Nostalgia and Art/Sculpture.

I love the 3D art representation of somoeone's actual actual sculpture, albeit more digital than physical nowadays but nonetheless the figure my own copy of their art and talent. As well as a great piece of memoribilia of a fictional property I love.

I will say though that hands down, more articulation makes for better play for children. I loved my Kenner Star Wars figures but I had more fun w/ G.I. Joe and Transformers. Mainly because of elbows and knees so I could have them do flying kicks, slide down string and do all sorts of fighting moves.

I had a bit of He-Man but outside the whip action of their fists knocking others down and generally bashing them together, they didn't see as much play. Super Powers were a great runner-up for me because they substituted articulation with action figures to great effect. Flash ran, Aquaman swam, etc... it was pretty sweet.

Another issue as a collector who does not pose his figures, I much prefer 5 POA since there are no knees to get loose with the changing of seasons and gravity. LOL There are a bunch of figures with odd leans because of that.

[aoiddr]

Sept 15, 2015 22:44:04 GMT -6 WishItWas1984 said:

Another issue as a collector who does not pose his figures, I much prefer 5 POA since there are no knees to get loose with the changing of seasons and gravity. LOL There are a bunch of figures with odd leans because of that.

You know, I don't pose my figures either. I prefer the whole just standing pose so you can see them.

What would drive me insane (and it still does as they're easy to fall off balance causing a cascade of falling figures), is that trend in the mid-90s where there would be all these comic-accurate versions of Batman and other DC characters...but they'd have these bent leg poses. Kenner's Legends of Batman were largely fine, but Total Justice has some seriously odd legs on some of the super-heroes that are downright ugly by today's standards.