[Steevy Maximus]

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Originally Posted by Catatronic

Maybe people forget it because it's totally stupid & illogical & makes absolutely no sense. Saying a child can't handle an articulated figure is basically saying he's a retarded dumbass! There is no connection between age & articulation. If you have a 5 year old that can't handle an articulated action figure like a GI Joe then you have bigger problems than you think.

I don't think anyone is saying that at all.
The issue is that all that articulation has a cost, literally. The average cost for a 3.75" articulated figure is $13, no single figure assortment on that list (bar the collector oriented Legends) is more than $10, and for a larger figure to boot.
With that, most of these articulated figures really can't stand to the kind of punishment kids can and WILL throw at it. Yes, the are made to safety standards, but that doesn't do much for a kid who looses minute accessories or has figure loose body parts so that they don't break.

The old GI Joe figures were able to be articulated because they were relatively easy to repair or cheap enough to easily replace. Action figures to collector standards aren't on both fronts.

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I played with Star Wars figures in the 70's & I totally hated that their knees couldn't bend & they couldn't sit in the vehicles properly. SPEEDER BIKE anyone? They all looked like shit, were 5POA & didn't look like the character from the movie. But I still played with them because what choice did I have? You can't even imagine how badly I wanted a proper R2-D2 that was movie accurate. The only R2-D2 that looked right was the model kit. I was constantly disappointed with the toys from the 80's. But I had no other options. A kid can be totally disappointed and will still play with it trying to make the best of it.

That just reinforces the point that kids will make do with what is available.

But what do you think will keep a kid around longer (or keep their parents more apt to buy): a single 6" articulated figure for $20, or TWO with less articulation? And from a business perspective, in an era with shrinking action figure sales, a product like above probably has better margins than a super articulated figure. And more profit means Hasbro has more incentive to keep producing secondary lines that cater to US.