McFarlane Build A Figure (BAF) Practices
 

I know that companies have been releasing BAF pieces for years. You could argue that it's a way to get a character who might not sell well on his/her own into collectors' hands, or you could view it as a cynical exercise to get people to buy a bunch of figures in order to assemble the BAF.

I'm actually confused by McFarlane's approach, though.

In the Batman Beyond wave, the last figure (Blight) included skeletal wings that aren't even necessary to assemble the BAF. Indeed, even some people who bought all four figures aren't adding the wings to the BAF.

In some cases, the BAFs are offered as stand-alone figures. Walmart has King Shark (albeit with different shorts), and McFarlane is selling both King Shark and Bane as completely assembled figures in box sets with the figures that would've had the BAF pieces when sold separately. (Admittedly, many people have had problems assembling Bane, so McFarlane is trying to get things right.)

Usually, variants of BAF-wave figures don't include the BAF pieces (such as Batman Beyond Terry McGinnis, Unmasked Shriek, Target's Rebirth Batman with purple cape lining). However, both the Unmasked Bloodsport and Unmasked Peacemaker have the King Shark BAF pieces. Peacemaker at least has a different weapon, but Bloodsport has the same two swords in both releases. You're paying a premium for duplicate BAF parts if you happen to want the masked and unmasked versions.

During the holiday shopping season, I bought the Dune figures but ended up keeping only Lady Jessica. This wave was really confusing. The Javier Bardem figure was extra heavy because it included most of Rabban's body. Another figure had the arms, and another figure had the legs. Lady Jessica included...Rabban's head, a sword, and a whip. I think McFarlane (the company, not necessarily Todd) really hurt themselves here as one could just buy Lady Jessica for the extra accessories and spare head for kitbashing.

What does everyone else think?

This might be better put in the general McFarlane DC thread you started, just so we don't have a bunch of random threads for single questions haha

I made a poll, though.

BAF is certainly a tricky business. It's main purpose is to provide a way for us to get some oversized obscure characters which otherwise will never see the light of day, also to make us buy characters that we normally wouldn't buy.

I confess, on one hand, I have often bought figures that I wouldn't otherwise have bought, simply for the BAF pieces to complete the BAF figure. On the other hand, many of us ended up with bits and pieces that we don't need (just see the BAF exchange thread). Then you throw in figures like army builders and you're sure to end up with multiple pieces (The Hand Ninja being the only exception, since Stilt-man can always use extra leg extensions. Genius).

As far as McFarlane, I guess he thought that people would either get the helmeted or unhelmeted versions when it comes to Peacemaker and Bloodsport. The BEST way of course, would be that he simply throw in the extra head in the regular version, but we know McFarlane don't play that!

The Dune line I guess he expected people would just complete the set. Stranger still is how he decided to make one figure (Baron) a different scale.

As for the rest, they're just all over the place.

I didn't really buy action figures before collecting the McFarlane DC and Fortnite lines. The Mattel Spoiler figure was one of the few I had. That wave had BAF pieces to build Lex Luthor in blue armor. Spoiler and another character (I think Harley Quinn) were Walmart Exclusives. It was possible to build Lex Luthor without Spoiler and Harley, but if you got them, you had extra swap-out pieces to make an even better/cooler Lex.

I get it, I really do -- BAFs can be a lucrative business model for toy manufacturers. However, if they're gonna be available individually anyway (as in McFarlane's case), what was the point of making them BAFs in the first place? :D

This is the only message board I frequent where people think that way. There’s only 10 active threads on the whole board, and you have to wade through a myriad of bad takes before you read your first on-topic post.

Well, I understand the other guy's desire to keep things "tidy", but as I mentioned, I wanted to create a poll. Unfortunately, a thread appears "live" before the thread creator can finish generating the poll. I think he responded before the poll options were available. :)

Unless I've missed something, the only McFarlane BAFs that have been re-released outside of their wave have been King Shark and the DKR horse.

The Gold Label King Shark is a bloody variant with a new deco on the shorts and limb accessories.

https://news.toyark.com/wp-content/u...g-Shark-20.jpg


And the DKR horse is being released in The Witcher line with a new mane, tail, and saddle. There is also a new deco on the reigns.

https://news.toyark.com/wp-content/u...cher-2-003.jpg

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...g?v=1634751290

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...g?v=1634752045

Not all of the Walmart King Sharks have bloody paint. That's an exclusive within an exclusive.

However, McFarlane is re-releasing King Shark and Bane as part of their own exclusive five-pack box sets.

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-hlbg...736597.jpg?c=1

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-hlbg...122002.jpg?c=1

It's more likely that the lack of blood on the Gold Label King Shark is factory error than a new variant. That sort of thing is rare but it still happens in this day and age.

With the multipacks, you do get the assembled BAF but you're still buying all four figures in the wave. Those multipacks are primarily for MOC collectors. They get fancier packaging as well as the opportunity to display the completed BAF.

Huh. I wouldn't mind that Last Knight on Earth set.

Well, it's no longer a BAF because it's assembled at the factory, and that way, the other figures could've been released as singles without making everyone pay a premium (especially for people who didn't want the BAF).

And again, so many people had problems assembling Bane that it wasn't even worth the bother.

I'd argue it was, I didn't have too much trouble putting him together just using a hairdryer and fridge. Displayed with Scarecrow on his shoulder it's easily one of my favorite pieces in the line thus far. Now I will acknowledge that putting Nanaue together was way easier so maybe there's something more to build-a Bane's difficulty. If I had to guess it might have something to do with the rumors/leaks about a megafig Bane, like they made the figure first for that and then realized they could easily just make a new head to also put him out as the collect-to-build for the Last Knight on Earth wave with the appropriately altered paint scheme. The theory actually has some more weight to it too since there's a lot of sculpted details about the figure that clearly aren't taken from LKoE Bane but would totally apply to a more generic Rebirth inspired Bane. If that's the case then it could account for why he was so tough for most people to put together, because he wasn't technically designed to be. Or I'm totally wrong and McFarlane just made a weirdly hard to put together Bane.

If I wanted to build figures, I'd buy Legos. ;)

(I do wonder about the QC of some figures. The New 52 Red Hood's arms fall out of the shoulder sockets really easily.)

So which one is more rare? The clean Walmart King Shark or the one with bloody mouth?

You know, McFarlane announced a lot of oversized figures lately, it seems they're not shy about releasing oversized figures.

The bloody mouth is rarer based on what people have been posting across the Internet. It looks like toy reviewers were mostly sent the bloody mouth, so people were unhappy when they received retail versions without the red paint.

By the way, this is from the official Walmart.com listing: https://www.walmart.com/ip/McFarlane...sive/689231913

No bloody paint in/around the mouth.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/30d...2&odnBg=FFFFFF

And yeah, the fact that megafigs are routinely announced dispels the idea that BAFs are necessary to get certain characters made.

Well, McF keeps sabotaging their own BAF business practice by re-releasing everything as completely assembled figures anyway. The price for the Batman Beyond box set is $80, which means that you're getting all five figures for $20 less than the $100 that you'd be paying to buy the BAF figures as they were released.

https://www.target.com/p/dc-comics-b...k/-/A-81959659

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/T...t=80&fmt=pjpeg

That's a really good deal! Too bad I don't care for that BAF.

Lol your consistent posting and levelheaded approach, along with my fandom of DC, has me constantly checking in and posting on a line I watch, but don't collect.

Agreed regarding the curiosity of McFar's approach here. The cash in on FOMO mo'fos is blatant here. It's almost as if McFar is trying to break the habit in collectors of his line. Or, maybe, this is simply a shrewd method to encourage more full-wave purchases with a meager $10 off?

Keep up the consistency and impartiality! Maybe you aren't a brand ambassador after all! ;)

I think people would be happy to see these complete BAF box sets a few years down the line as, say, 5 or 10 year anniversary celebrations. One year later, though? Seems like a punch in the gut to people who supported the waves in the first place.

It definitely does feel somewhat offensive. That said, McFar is pretty eccentric and known for bucking convention. Interesting, to say the least.

So...you gonna get the Atrocitus BAF wave? :D

Get out of my head, Babs!! The Latern stuff, especially Atrocitus, is MacFar's biggest draw for me! Seriously, you are spooking me out. Lol

Haha! Never breaks character..