[Snowflakian]

They've tried toy to video game integration before with a playstation game that had robots that you built and part swapped to have your in game robot do the same. Don't think it ever made it stateside. They're trying again right now with a new spyro game too. It just doesn't seem to work out that well for people though.

Toylines have to be something that has a good push behind it, as well as something that's just fun to play with. If it's missing both factors they tend to shelf warm. If it has one side, it can sometimes prolong the inevitable but not for long.

Part of what makes MU work is it has so much media behind it and history. Then the figure themselves are also built pretty darn well. The same can be said for thundercats and why it's working so well right now.

Plastic grades can come and go, but I don't think the action figure will be going extinct anytime soon. They'll just eventually switch to non-fossil fuel oil based plastics at some point if that becomes too much of an issue. There are other types, just the most dominant in the market right now is fossil fuel oil-based plastics. Eventually that too will change, which may make everything we have now more valuable because of it. Though I will have a laugh when the day comes action figures are made from hemp-oil plastics. Different sources for plastics can be just as durable as the ones they use now. It's just a matter of what's cost effective.

Toys will always be around, and people will always want something to play with. Until the day comes that holorooms exist or transporters/replicators the business will never go extinct and the search for the next hot property will always be on.

People have tried to suggest that virtual figures is the next big thing, but we've had those already forever with programs like XNALara, and even other game mods like GTA SA has, or Unreal tournament, among more. So I don't see that ever changing or hindering the toy market either.

Painting will always be an issue with 3D printers. So while that does look lucrative, it's not as feasible as many would think including the grade of the product it makes. There's a reason toy makers use it only for fragile prototypes that then get made into a better cast for real materials and plastic grades. Some day 3D printers might be able to do full on figures, but the detailing, paint schemes, and more will become an issue which is what'll keep toy places in business.

Now for star trek esque replicators. That'd be a real issue since the figure would be painted, and would lead to the digital file selling you're talking about, but that'd also turn into a massive piracy issue as the sellable blue prints will be pirated for actual free goods. Just like they could for the 3D printers too. This is why those mediums won't be as progressive as you think for a market. Instead, they'll just tighter their belt on protecting licenses for people who sell or make these knock off goods.

Completely different than the book, music, and movie industry though. Those products have moved to pure digital means, not an actual physical tangible good, and the debate gets more complicated from there. An action figure is meant to be held, played with, posed, and there's no means around that unlike purely visual or aural entertainment.