Poseability:Playability or Displayability?
 

I was reading posts in yet another DC Infinite Heroes thread where people were comparing the poseability of this line vs. MU.

I read one post, which I will not quote, because I'm not sure the person left a typo which could make or break the relevance. I think I know what he meant though, and in any case, I was thinking.

Who do you guys think poseability is made for, kids or collectors?

Was it added so that a figure could be more expertly displayed, or so some kid can have all of his figures crouching from his only to jump to their dooms?

I know it could be either at the same time, but I never gave it much thought. While I still fiddle with my figures, I know a lot of people just like to set their guys up and be done.

Thoughts?

I think it appeals more to collectors. As a child, as I grew older making the jump from kid to collector(teen years), I started craving more articulation. See back then I was into ToyBiz's 5" Marvel lines, like Spiderman, X-Men, et al.

The most articulated offering in that line was the super articulated Spiderman. Back then I was content with the gimmicked out, elbow articulation killing, web shooting Spiderman. Then I got the super articulated version, and wanted more articulation.

Then the Ghost Rider figures came out, with full articulation. It took Toybiz a while to standardize this, but when Marvel Legends came out in 2002, they pretty much got the ball rolling in the right direction.

So I think poseability helps in displayability, for more dynamic poses, however it makes it helps more with playability, as the articulation is utilized more efficiently through that. To be able to finally recreate the poses I saw in the Spiderman cartoon with a Spiderman figure was a god send back when I was 10.

I'm gonna say kids. I loved my joes as a kid because I could pose and move them anyway I wanted to when I was playing. As an adult poseability is important to me but only to a point. MLs were cool but so freaking annoying in a lot of ways. I don't need every finger moveable or the sliding ankles, or toes. And I HATE ball jointed hip joints. They never move properly and break easily.

I think the McFarlane line of figs also speaks to the adult collector since they are inexpensive statues essentially that look cool. For the most part I want something that displays well, but if I want to move it I'd like to be able to.

I'm sure none of what I said made sense since I'm rambling.

I think poseability is more for kids of a certain age and up, which would include collectors. The more joints a figure has, the more likely of breakage. If you look at toys meant for younger kids, the poseability generally isn't there.

If you compare the DCIH to the MUFF line, clearly the MUFF line has better articulation, though in my opinion, the DCIH figure are more playable, as they seem sturdier. A lot of the swivel joints and other movable bits on the MUFF line, while cool, seem to make the figure less sturdy.

I used to be a huge articulation buff, but ever since I got into the DCIH line, I realized that so long as the figures are well made, articulation isn't the be-all, end-all.

I'd have to say I agree with this. I still want some articulation, but I'm fine with it being limited. My only concern is that the articulation present be appropriate to the character. For example, flying characters should be able to recreate flying poses without looking stupid. In fact, it's my only gripe with regards to the Iron Man and Human Torch MUFF figures.

Of course, I realize that there are limitations to what can be recreated with a toy at that price point, but that hasn't stopped Hasbro et. al. from pushing the envelope before.

Yeah, Deadpool can make better flying poses than my Stealth Ops Iron Man can!

I appreciate everyone's comments. I think we've got a pretty good discussion going here. I never really thought about the (very simple, but smart) fact that the more articulation there is, the more breaks.

I still have yet to buy a DC Infinite Heroes Fig(although Alex Luthor and The Scarecrow scream at me everytime I pass them) but when I look at them I always feel like they are something I could just play with without a whole lot of fear of breakage or paint-apps being ruined from them being dropped.

I still fiddle with my toys while I'm watching tv or if I'm not driving and I'm on a trip with someone, and the play value of some toys is really lost because I'm too afraid of their joints getting lose, them breaking, paint apps being messed up, etc.

For me, the DCIH figures aren't as playable(I still play with my toys, because they are limited to the same poses most of the time. More articulation on the MUFFs give more variety for posing options, and the articulation is not overdone to the point of flimsiness like SHS(oh man what a difference MUFFs are compared to SHS figures...night and day with regards to quality!).

In fact some of the most disappointing MUFFs for me were Ronin and grey Hulk...because they can't move as well as other figures(Hulk's weird hips that don't really move, just twist instead, and Ronin not being able to move his hips well due to the skirt).

Durability I would agree is better on DCIH, but as far as playability, MUFFs have the edge, and even with the added articulation, aren't too fragile. It's like playing with a 25th G.I. Joe. I mean if you meant playability as in higher durabilty I can see where you are coming from. For me, I refer to playability by how fun the toy is to play with, and low durability can definitely kill playability, but so far the MUFFs have been sturdy and survived my handling, without any forseeable breakages in the future.
Oh same here, I hate overdone articulation(like some of the midwave and later Toybiz ML's that had useless points of articulation just for the sake of adding more articulation). A great example is SOTA's old Street Fighter figures. Articulation wasn't overdone at all, and still preserved great sculpts. A more recent example is 4H's DCUC figures, primarily for consistency.

In general I want full articulation from figures, a balanced way, not overdone. If DCIH had the level of articulation found on MUFFs(which surprisingly they don't despite MUFFs being the direct competition in retail), I'd definitelty still be collecting the line and having an ultimate Almalgam brawl.