For a few years now, action figures made by many Asian companies have been going out of their way to have the ugliest upper-leg articulation imaginable. What's confusing about this trend is that, rather than being some radical innovation, it's mostly just a regression back to the ugly spherical thigh swivel of old ToyBiz, Marvel Select, or early Marvel Legends figures. Putting articulation aside, from a sculpting standpoint, I find these designs hideous. It looks like the characters are sticking their legs inside a larger pair of legs. What's even dumber is that it makes no visual sense for the upper legs to go inside the lower legs. If anything, it should be reversed - large segments descending into smaller segments. If you want to see a proper implementation of this concept, check out the Nottaa NT-04 female body figures.The really unfortunate part for me personally is that Storm Collectibles switched to this hideous articulation scheme midway through their awesome Storm Arena toyline, even though they never used it before. While it can look okay with certain baggy fabrics, like Nash's or Gouki's (I still prefer the straight cut from the Ryu/Ken/Dan figures), it looks terrible on everything else. I've been waiting years for a company to make really nice and affordable 1:12 scale Darkstalkers and SNK figures. But that damn monkey's paw had to curse them with the worst legs I've ever seen. Even some domestic companies have been flirting with this articulation scheme (see the MOTU Chronicles Evil-Lyn above). Thankfully, Mattel wisely eschewed this scheme with their new DC collector's line. Hopefully it stays that way.What are your thoughts? Do you find this articulation scheme as off-putting as I do? What is your ideal leg articulation scheme?
Yeah I agree, it’s especially bad with skin colored legs. The worst leg designs have to be the McFarlane knees. Holy hell, these look terrible in any pose that isn’t just standing straight up.
>>11923776Canadians are asian now (indian)
>>11923770I geniunely do not care
>>11923776Todd outsources his sculpting to Asian sculptors last time I heard
>>11923770>What are your thoughts? Do you find this articulation scheme as off-putting as I do? What is your ideal leg articulation scheme?I find it less egregious than straight cuts through sculpted muscles etc. that Hasbro and Mattel use. I prefer The Mafex and McFarlane hip in theory, but sometimes it's implemented poorly.
>>11923786I find this opinion fascinating. To me, a straight cut can look weird in certain poses, but it's basically invisible when properly aligned. However, a legs wearing legs articulation scheme always looks weird in any configuration.
>>11923770the whale figure is probably the best action figure the made, i been messing with the male one and its still tight and solid joint resistance
>>11923791It's only aligned in A-poses or basic bitch action poses.
>>11923821It depends on the sculpt. The key difference is a straight cut can be made to look natural, but a cupped articulation cannot.
>>11923770Thigh swivels are hard to get right. Straight cuts look awful if you actually use them unless the leg has a perfectly circular cross-section, the partial-encapsulation designs in your pic are more natural in more poses but always have that weird seam, and Figma style hidden thigh swivels look the best, but often have very poor range.
top right looks fucking retared wtf
>>11923829I prefer any articulation scheme (even no thigh swivel) so long as the legs can look natural and not like deformed abominations.However, the best method I've seen that looks organic while still being highly functional makes each booty cheek a separate piece between the crotch and the legs. You can see it in the Nottaa NT-04 female body figures.I'm not saying this implementation is perfect (the booty cheeks are a bit oddly shaped), but the concept looks sound. The articulation follows the natural line of the booty and runs parallel to the v-line. It goes down into the thighs, rather than the thighs going up into a smaller segment. It's a much more elegant solution than just jamming the upper legs into even larger legs and calling it a day.
So Storm Collectables announces stuff like two years before it is ready?
>>11923955no retard
>>11923770i think this type of cut works fine on legs that aren't spandex or bare flesh, which is most characters, but yes it looks pretty rough on ones like these, though i don't like straight cuts either as they just look bad in different ways too
>>11923971Cool, give preorders for that Cammy
>>11923770Once again we have loud mouths like bobby vala forcing everyone to follow a standard thats ugly and the same shit every company does to fit an ugly aesthetic.
>>11923776Furry.
>>11924014I'm confused. What does this have to do with Bobby Vala?
>>11923770I got a wind toys male blank recently that looks like that bottom right figure and the flap straight up gets in the way of articulation.Maybe it's hiding a gap, I'll have to check when I'm home.
>>11923955Sometimes the line gets cancelled before the figure is released, yes I'm looking at you Gears of War.
