[BarbaraGordon]

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?