Death of RA figures.

even more so I think, mainly just cause Im a die hard Deluxe collector

Sad answer is yes. TNA just isn't a big enough company to demand retail space at stores like Walmart, Target, etc... WWE, a known commodity, can easily get stuff into those stores due to name value - something TNA does not have (and honestly probably will not). The only thing Jakks could have done was produce figures in much smaller quantities and sold to smaller retailers (TRS, Dollar type stores, etc...) and online retailers but I doubt they would have seen enough profits that way. Jakks UFC had the same problems getting into major retailers and ended up with an exclusive deal with K-Mart that eventually killed the line.

Let me add this in, I HATE DA's & love RA's so it still pains me they choose the other route, but it has nothing to do with their downfall.

Sorry, I skimmed it the first time. And that really sucks. I jumped ship to Mattel early on so I can't say I'm affected by this to much, but it sure does suck to see the brand that made all my childhood favorite figures go under. I have to say though, Jakks wasn't giving us any thing spectacular as of late. Some TNA figures were pure garbage and the fact that they decided to make mainly DA was a bad choice. Looking back, they did always have a history of producing far less than stellar figures. Sometimes, even when you love something, you gotta take it out back and say goodbye.

Would they have tanked? Yes, like mentioned TNA just isnt as big of a brand as WWE...However, would RA figures sold better then DAs? Absolutely. It was a no brainer. There were polls taken on Jeremy.com, Wfigs and a couple other sites. An overwhelming majority asked for RA figures, however Jakks completely ignored their consumers and made DA and they fell flat on their face...HARD.

How exactly do toys become outdated?

I think even the RA figs they released would have sold poorly. I mean there's a niche market for Terry Taylor figs... but a much bigger market for say Scott Steiner

Articulation does not make for a better toy. The figures depiction of the character and its ability to capture your imagination does, and Hasbro and LJN and even galoob were able to do that for myself and countless others. Just because a scrawny figure can do 34 variations if a wrist lock, does not make it a better toy.

Oh man that is funny. You actually think Mattel makes a whole new mold everytime they make a figure? Of course they dont. They mix and max existing figure molds to create a new figure. The only truely new mold that is made for a figure is the face. Mattel is great at making a face/head for He-Man, Barbie, DC, and so on because those figures are all based on a fictional character. But when it comes to actual people, as with wwe wrestlers, Mattel is HORRIBLE at capturing likeness.

I dont want to turn this into a Mattel vs Jakks thread. Im just letting you know how I feel. I do buy some Mattel figs, that is when they release something other than Cena and Orton. And im not a fan of their face scans.

As far as articulation, I guess that's cool if you want to play with the figures. But I just display them so articulation isnt that big of a deal. And scale is nice but people love to hold on to scale like it's a crutch and feel that alone makes Mattel the greatest thing since sliced bread.