|
|
Post by AttitudeLegendCollector on Mar 10, 2021 10:20:59 GMT -5
What makes the perfect figure?
This forum is full of people wanting more, expecting more, critiquing releases or choices of attire etc - myself included, if you’re on this board, it’s likely that you’re passionate about the game.
I’m an old school/legends/flashback guy, I don’t really watch the product too much these days, it doesn’t connect with me. I’m so glad that I grew up in an era where for the most part, we didn’t have internet, certainly no social media and there was very very limited amounts of behind the curtain or inside baseball stuff easily accessible, certainly to my knowledge and here in the U.K. The product was better but we were also allowed to just enjoy what was put in front of us. I think these days, we have spoilt wrestling for ourselves with our desire to know what goes on behind the curtain. I’ve loved finding out more about the business side as I’ve grown up, I’ve been a huge fan of Conrad’s podcasts and things like Dark Side of The Ring, so I’m as guilty as anyone but it does take the shine off things when you know too much.
I guess the same could be applied to figure collecting. We get so much insight and interaction with guys like Steve, Bill and various others, on one hand this is awesome but on the other, we now have a different mentality when judging figures, whether it’s about choices that are made, distribution, deco, cost, outfit choices, whatever...as with wrestling today, there’s so much armchair quarterbacking/booking that goes on, I think it’s harder for us to just sit back and enjoy wrestling and figures.
Got me thinking, what do people consider to be the ingredients for the perfect figure. Whatever era you collect, do you care more about likeness? Articulation? Accessories? Accuracy of attires? For me, I love the realism of the latest figures, I’m not too fussed about articulation and think it can alter a figure too much - main things fit me is realism/likeness and accuracy or attire from that specific time (the grey ring around Takers hat on the last DOD really bugged me).
I looked at my collection yesterday and thought, although there have been some frustrations, overall, Mattel really have given us some really top drawer figures over the last 12-18 months in particular. What figure do people think has been as close to faultless as possible?
|
|
|
|
Post by Fighter Hayabusa on Mar 10, 2021 10:32:16 GMT -5
Curt Hennig head + Shawn Stasiak body + Tye Dillinger hands.
|
|
|
|
Post by Evil Abed on Mar 10, 2021 10:38:12 GMT -5
Curt Hennig head + Shawn Stasiak body + Tye Dillinger hands. + Mark Jindrak... boots? |
|
|
|
Post by POOR-ly Cuyler on Mar 10, 2021 10:42:56 GMT -5
“Wrestling was better then.”Idk I just hate when people make a blanket statement like that. Isn’t even the point of the thread. Yeah it was better when we were ignorant children/adults, Hogan always had the belt, CTE was runnin wild. Give me racist gimmicks and stripper matches. Give me blind nationalism and fans throwing batteries..
I like that fans are smarter now for the most part.
Anyways. Scale, detail, articulation and proper accessories make a good figure for me.
Articulation doesn’t need to be Ultimate Edition level or Toybiz wonky, it elites are about perfect. Maybe add the elbows, but I don’t need toe or hand articulation.
Scale isn’t always right, but it’s closer than when everyone was the same height or Paul Bearer is as tall or taller than Taker.
Detail, I don’t need nipples or acne scars, but I’d rather have correct colors, logos, tattoos, hair color, straight face printing, correct or more close part choices.
Also I want accessories that make sense. Jakks gave anyone and everyone everything including the kitchen sink. I just want title belts, entrance shirts/jackets, glasses, hats, personal accessories that make sense.
|
|
|
|
Post by plastictaxicab on Mar 10, 2021 11:07:18 GMT -5
We will never see the "perfect figure", and that's for 2 main reasons:
1. People will always find something to complain about.
2. Mattel is a business with a budget. They can't pour the entire budget into 1 single figure to make it "perfect" while still making the rest of the figures in that series passable. The only POSSIBLE opportunity for that in my opinion would be a 1-off exclusive, IE SDCC or RSC, but even then, I'm sure they have budget restrictions.
|
|
|
|
Post by AttitudeLegendCollector on Mar 10, 2021 11:10:17 GMT -5
“Wrestling was better then.”Idk I just hate when people make a blanket statement like that. Isn’t even the point of the thread. Yeah it was better when we were ignorant children/adults, Hogan always had the belt, CTE was runnin wild. Give me racist gimmicks and stripper matches. Give me blind nationalism and fans throwing batteries.. I like that fans are smarter now for the most part. Anyways. Scale, detail, articulation and proper accessories make a good figure for me. Articulation doesn’t need to be Ultimate Edition level or Toybiz wonky, it elites are about perfect. Maybe add the elbows, but I don’t need toe or hand articulation. Scale isn’t always right, but it’s closer than when everyone was the same height or Paul Bearer is as tall or taller than Taker. Detail, I don’t need nipples or acne scars, but I’d rather have correct colors, logos, tattoos, hair color, straight face printing, correct or more close part choices. Also I want accessories that make sense. Jakks gave anyone and everyone everything including the kitchen sink. I just want title belts, entrance shirts/jackets, glasses, hats, personal accessories that make sense. I was just drawing the parallel between being smartened up with the business of wrestling and the business of figures and how that changes our perception of our analysis rather than just enjoying what is put in front of us. My opinion is that wrestling was far better between 80–early 2000s. That whole period covered a whole host of generational, political, economical, social changes and it had some faults, nothing is perfect and some of it doesn’t age well now but you have to take things as they were back then. On the whole over those year’s story telling and entertainment was far superior to what they have now, that’s just my view. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and some of the additional content today such as the 24s etc are superb. Age obviously has a lot to do with it, at 34 I’m not the target audience. I guess I was just wondering whether if we knew less about the business of figures we may see less critique and just enjoy them more. The recent Rock UE and Macho UE are pretty close to perfect I think. In regards to some older figures that still stand up, I’m not sure the three demolition figures could be improved on today, they’re superb. |
|
|
|
Post by POOR-ly Cuyler on Mar 10, 2021 11:34:50 GMT -5
AttitudeLegendCollector The Ultimates are really good. However the Rock and Triple H to me are kind of that random accessories thing. They fit the character, but they never wore them all at once. I don’t mind too much, but I’d rather have figures from specific events with little mash up as possible. RSE Rock was another bad one. Too jacked for that era, trunks from KotR, belt, ladder and packaging from Summerslam. Again I’d rather know too much and not buy something than just be happy with what we got. With the internet now I don’t have to buy 4-5 Edge or Ronda Rouseys. I can see there’s defent basic or elites and then down the line the Ultimate Edition is the version I really want. I probably didn’t need 4-5 BCA Road Doggs, but you never knew if it would be the last or best one yet. We still don’t know when someone will be let go/not under contract always, but the choices we have now are generally better. More hits than misses.
|
|
Warriah'
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 22, 2019 19:46:02 GMT -5
Posts: 3,155
|
Post by Warriah' on Mar 10, 2021 11:38:27 GMT -5
We will never see the "perfect figure" Bet you feel a bit silly now  |
|
Jackass Pacific
Main Eventer
WF 20 Year Member
Joined on: Dec 22, 2001 22:58:55 GMT -5
Posts: 3,155
|
Post by Jackass Pacific on Mar 10, 2021 13:14:38 GMT -5
what makes the perfect figure? a minimum $50 price tag for starters
|
|
|
|
Post by MKSavage on Mar 10, 2021 13:15:26 GMT -5
What makes the perfect figure? This forum is full of people wanting more, expecting more, critiquing releases or choices of attire etc - myself included, if you’re on this board, it’s likely that you’re passionate about the game. I’m an old school/legends/flashback guy, I don’t really watch the product too much these days, it doesn’t connect with me. I’m so glad that I grew up in an era where for the most part, we didn’t have internet, certainly no social media and there was very very limited amounts of behind the curtain or inside baseball stuff easily accessible, certainly to my knowledge and here in the U.K. The product was better but we were also allowed to just enjoy what was put in front of us. I think these days, we have spoilt wrestling for ourselves with our desire to know what goes on behind the curtain. I’ve loved finding out more about the business side as I’ve grown up, I’ve been a huge fan of Conrad’s podcasts and things like Dark Side of The Ring, so I’m as guilty as anyone but it does take the shine off things when you know too much. I guess the same could be applied to figure collecting. We get so much insight and interaction with guys like Steve, Bill and various others, on one hand this is awesome but on the other, we now have a different mentality when judging figures, whether it’s about choices that are made, distribution, deco, cost, outfit choices, whatever...as with wrestling today, there’s so much armchair quarterbacking/booking that goes on, I think it’s harder for us to just sit back and enjoy wrestling and figures. Got me thinking, what do people consider to be the ingredients for the perfect figure. Whatever era you collect, do you care more about likeness? Articulation? Accessories? Accuracy of attires? For me, I love the realism of the latest figures, I’m not too fussed about articulation and think it can alter a figure too much - main things fit me is realism/likeness and accuracy or attire from that specific time (the grey ring around Takers hat on the last DOD really bugged me). I looked at my collection yesterday and thought, although there have been some frustrations, overall, Mattel really have given us some really top drawer figures over the last 12-18 months in particular. What figure do people think has been as close to faultless as possible? I think this is well put, I agree that too much information has spoiled wrestling for a lot of people. It was a lot better to not know very much and just enjoy it for a show. Back then we didn't really care who was champion, or at least we didn't complain that man, so and so should be champion - he deserves it. As for the perfect figure, I guess to each his own. Personally I like realism and detail. I don't need all the articulation as I don't play with the figure - but they are good to have for posing. I believe the perfect figure includes a good to great head sculpt, the right part choices, and as close to accurate on the attire designs as possible. I'm not one that needs a lot of accessories, though they are nice to have. As for cloth accessories, to me, those are hit and miss, sometimes they come out okay, others they do not. For me, Harley Race and Superstar Billy Graham are two examples of figures that we damn near perfect. The head sculpts were excellent, the body parts were accurate and the detail on the attire was great. For the King, it could have come with a cloth cape but I don't think it would have looked as clean and nice, and I don't think they could have done the top portion of the cape in cloth - at least not for a decent price. If they could have done a combination of plastic and cloth, that would have been better - plastic for the top portion and cloth for the purple cape part. A figure that was good but would have been a lot better is the Legends 2 Rick Rude, The overall figure was executed very well but not having the design on the back of the tights kind of ruins it. Another thing that bugs me, is they never paint the detail on the snakes that come with Jake, they are just one shade of green, they look very cheap. The only snake that came with Jake that looked good was the cobra that came with the Legends 2 figure. |
|
|
|
Post by PJ on Mar 10, 2021 13:35:24 GMT -5
|
|
celflessness
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Feb 5, 2020 7:30:40 GMT -5
Posts: 335
|
Post by celflessness on Mar 10, 2021 13:41:32 GMT -5
Head sculpt is the number one most important thing for me. Even if I prefer the attire or the accessories on a different version of a character, I'll always choose the better head-sculpt. Body type can be 'close enough'. Attire just needs to give the right feeling. Scale? As long as it's in the vicinity. But a poor head or dumb facial expression can kill it. I also don't 'get' the obsession with doll clothes. Unless it's a cape or something that cocoons the figure.
The more I see reviews of other figure lines, the more I realise WWE Elite articulation is pretty bad. Even the Ultimate torso somehow looks weird and moves poorly.
|
|
Deleted
Joined on: May 3, 2024 13:24:53 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2021 13:45:44 GMT -5
“Wrestling was better then.”Idk I just hate when people make a blanket statement like that. Isn’t even the point of the thread. Yeah it was better when we were ignorant children/adults, Hogan always had the belt, CTE was runnin wild. Give me racist gimmicks and stripper matches. Give me blind nationalism and fans throwing batteries.. I like that fans are smarter now for the most part. Anyways. Scale, detail, articulation and proper accessories make a good figure for me. Articulation doesn’t need to be Ultimate Edition level or Toybiz wonky, it elites are about perfect. Maybe add the elbows, but I don’t need toe or hand articulation. Scale isn’t always right, but it’s closer than when everyone was the same height or Paul Bearer is as tall or taller than Taker. Detail, I don’t need nipples or acne scars, but I’d rather have correct colors, logos, tattoos, hair color, straight face printing, correct or more close part choices. Also I want accessories that make sense. Jakks gave anyone and everyone everything including the kitchen sink. I just want title belts, entrance shirts/jackets, glasses, hats, personal accessories that make sense. You complain about the stuff that wasn't wholesome but then top it off with a hit piece on Hogan. |
|
kinnikuman
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 6, 2020 21:42:25 GMT -5
Posts: 4,674
|
Post by kinnikuman on Mar 10, 2021 14:23:37 GMT -5
For me it's likeness. I don't collect an era, as I find that odd as hell. I collect wrestlers (and only one of each from the version I like most). I don't care at all for attire, as I pose/photo my figures as they are in action, not walking to the ring. Articulation is also very important for posing purposes. Scale is important as well. So if it looks like him, is of quality make, and has articulation ... it can be perfect. Rarely is though!
|
|
|
|
Post by CM Tusk on Mar 10, 2021 14:25:16 GMT -5
Personally off the top of my head Ultimate Rock looks pretty perfect to me.
|
|
Warriah'
Main Eventer
Joined on: Dec 22, 2019 19:46:02 GMT -5
Posts: 3,155
|
Post by Warriah' on Mar 10, 2021 14:26:10 GMT -5
Do I see some part swapping on some of those hennigs? |
|
|
|
Post by shanieomaniac on Mar 10, 2021 14:54:32 GMT -5
For my money, it's a figure that, when you look at it, you can FEEL the persona coming off it.
The headsculpt is spot on and the right balance of dynamic and relaxed
The details are finely sculpted and detailed, making the figure stand out
There's minimal cloth goods (a personal preference of mine)
The attire is something iconic but not too unique. I want something that encapsulates a wrestler, rather than just be a one-off or cosplay.
The scale doesn't need to be perfect, but for heavens sake make the parts choices accurate and proportionate.
The accessories aren't completely random (or absurdly large) and work well enough that I can have the character pose with them on my shelf.
If you were somehow able to incorporate all of these aspects into one figure, then yes, it'd be the perfect figure for me. I think the two closest things to "Perfect figure" in my collection are the Kairi Sane Elite and John Cena's UE figure. Both tick every one or close to every one of these boxes for me. That John Cena is probably my favorite off-the-rack figure in my entire collection and I'm not even a Cena fan.
Just my thoughts on it all.
|
|
|
|
Post by PJ on Mar 10, 2021 15:03:59 GMT -5
Do I see some part swapping on some of those hennigs? While I have part swapped on some of my Mr Perfect figures the ones in these pics are all as is. |
|
|
|
Post by JC Motors on Mar 10, 2021 15:25:05 GMT -5
We will never see the "perfect figure" Bet you feel a bit silly now  |
|
|
|
Post by LK3 on Mar 10, 2021 18:19:07 GMT -5
Shrinking an actual person into 6” scale.
|
|
