[Ash from Carolina]

I'm going to have to blame things like GI Joe, Star Wars, and Marvel Universe.

A few decades ago the Avatar stuff would have looked great. The sculpting standards and articulation just where not that high in the 80's and 90's. So Avatar might have made for a great 80's toys line.

Today though people are expecting something almost like the 6" action figures when it comes to 4" action figures. Hasbro seems like it's constantly attempting to pick up it's game with better sculpting. Things that were top of the line for them only a few years ago look dated now because they seem on this strange mission to always get just a little bit better with their toys. Yes some bad figures still here and there but for the most part it's almost like articulated 4" statues.

The 4" Mattel stuff compared to the 4" Hasbro stuff just looks cheap and outdated. They end up looking like some sort of knock off brand you'd find at some place like Family Dollar or Big Lots. Which is kind of odd that the same company that makes such great looking larger figures just falls apart when figures go down to 4".

While a wildly popular movie could draw some interest toward a toy brand if those toys don't stand out compared to everything else on the shelves then people are going to pass. People just don't want to pay the same price for cheap looking toys as they would for better looking toys somewhere else on the shelves.