Might be done collecting

Respectfully disagree.

I understand the concept of "you get what you pay for". Sure, there's a reason why a Mercedes costs $55k and a Kia costs $15k. There's a reason why a Big Mac costs $6 and a top shelf steaks costs $50.

But even if you choose the $6 Big Mac, you expect it to be prepared correctly and 100% as it should be. You should expect your Kia to have all four wheels and a flawless paint job.

If you went to pick up your new Kia, only to find the steering wheel is loose, the paint job is iffy in parts, and one window doesn't go all the way down, your attitude shouldn't be "Oh well, that's what happens when you buy a $15k car." NO. You should still have those expectations and you should demand them. Yeah it's not gonna be as luxurious as a Merc or a BMW, but you absolutely have the right to expect those basic, bare minimum deliverables.

Therefore, taking my analogy to these figures. When I pay $22-$25 for an Elite figure that Mattel has put on the market, I should not be expected to tolerate paint splotches on the chest where the paint wasn't neatly on the singlet (My Colonel Mustafa figure), a figure's eyes looking cross eyed (My Legends Piper), the waist rotating so loose that it could be a fidget spinner (my WM HBK and Goon Elites), a beard being dark on one half and light on the other (my Legends Nash), etc, etc.

Y'all need to raise your standards, raise the bar, and demand more from this billion dollar company. Because if I ordered that Big Mac from McDonalds and the cheese is missing, there's only half a bun, and the burger is burned, my attitude isn't gonna be "Well, that's what I get for ordering a $6 burger." My attitude is "Fix this sht and deliver what you're supposed to."

Not so much about current Mattel specifically because I do agree there are QC issues with the line (though I think they're overstated), but as far as comparing to older lines, that probably has a lot more to do with the the proliferation of adult collectors and the ability to share share issues on line and on social media. I've been getting wrestling figures since said Hasbro days through every major company that's produced them over the 30 years since, and every one of them has had figures with QC issues in my experience. Not saying super severe, but their definitely were issues.

Yeah. Ha

This is the biggest thing - and I know this is a point people don’t like to hear on this forum and it’s been done to death who they are for but for the sake of being an old bore I’m going to repeat it

These are toys, sold in toy stores or toy isles and yes - some comic / collectable shops but they are not in target behind the counter with the actual high priced collectable items. They’re toys to be played with

When drew come back out with the sword snd kilt my 7 year old son didn’t run over and inspect the packaging for a crease or check the lines on the kilt were perfect, he ran over and grabbed him of the hook and asked if he could have him.

So I think I look at figures more from his perspective - what comes with the figure, if he sees a basic I wonder if there might be an elite due out with more accessories, when we open them we decide what hands / head to use and throw the rest if the hands / heads in the bin - no point keeping to sell, they’re not an investment they’re toys he’s going to play with.

Pre pandemic we bought on card bendies online for my daughter so she can bash them and not worry about catching her finger or hurting herself. Unless it’s like a super 7 reaction figure which specifically says it’s not a toy, or a hot toy which are clearly to be played with you need to consider your not the main target of the item, it’s priced snd manufactured accordingly and in that manufacturing process there may be the odd issue where it’s less than perfect.

For the musicians out there look at it like this: you get a mass produced squire, its machine made, you may get a bit of fret sticking out on top of the neck, the strings may not fit perfectly in the nut as there might be a tiny bit of plastic shaving etc. Compare that to a fender custom shop which has been handmade by a master Luther. The frets are hammered in and filed by hand. The nut is cut and filed by hand, it’s painstakingly made and checked and perfected. One costs £250, one costs £3.5k / £4k. Very different products made for very different people.

Y’all do know you can return stuff, right?

I’m with Figure Nova here, I totally get what he’s saying…yes Mattel is a multi billion dollar company so do they really need higher prices? No they don’t, but since that’s where it’s headed they do need to step up their game when it comes to paint apps & things like that …..what’s going to be said next when prices increase yet again but the figures are the same quality as they are now? ….I’m sure that’ll be “justified” also

To play devil's advocate, I own hundreds of figures, and have probably come across tens of thousands hunting over the years.  I can probably count on one hand the number that I looked at so glaringly bad that there was absolutely no chance I'd buy the figure.  

People are obviously free to have their own expectations for quality.  But if the choice is have a figure that I really want that isn't flawless or not have it at all, I'll take the former every single time.

I’ve never looked at one and thought “damn, this is terrible.” And left it. I have bought some from ringside pre ordered and got it and the joints be loose as they can get, and I’d find them in store and return the ones that were loose. But never really came across any that the paints apps were so bad I passed on them. But have got them and just got 2 Saturday where it had paint blotches on it, but it’s whatever or I’ll find ways to remove the paint

Can't even think of the last time I bought a Mattel WWE figure. I thought about the basic Bret that comes with Taker...but it sucks, I thought about RVD tiger stripe...but meh. I wanted the UE Kane, but elbows. It also feels like I would be supporting a company that truly doesnt even care about it's own product. That is a knock on the E...the rest is just a trickle down. Maybe they can pick it back up one day.