Update: Rating change

Although I've been using my rating system based on how some other reviewers rate their figures, 

I've decided to remove the Price/Availability category from the rating system. 

Previously it went like this:

Price/Availability:  /5 
1- You are made of money and can find one or two sources that even sell online! Damn scalppers.... 
2 - Hard to find. Available online or from the rare collector. Easily 200%+ of its original value.
3 - Mostly available online only from few sellers. Expect to pay 125-150% of original value. 
4 -Available most places at standard price, or fewer places at a decent discount (10-50%). 
5- Either available everywhere at standard price, or heavily (50%+) discounted. 

It seems it can skew a figure when the rest of the figure is excellent or a poor figure receive a higher rating. On top of that, it seems that a figure can rapidly change in its price and availability over time, making the current rating of it more or less useless after a while. I will still mention price and availability near the end of a review, but it'll be kept off the numbers! 

To this end, Verdict will now be out of /20 with the following guide:

1-5: Poor: Very underwhelming, even if you like collecting the particular type or line of figures. 
6-10: Limited: Some poseability or paint/sculpt and accessories. Limited but disappointing. 
11-15: Good: Pretty good figure on its own merits, even if you lack interest in the character/line
16-19: Great: Great aesthetic with lots of play, options and more. Get it right meow! 
20: Amazing. Best figure. Top 10 in your collection. 

Update: Rating System Upheaval!

So remember how I mentioned how I wasn't completely satisfied with the rating system and it would be subject to change? Well, here is another subject to change!

Problem #1: Even though a particular figure is actually very good, the verdict often ends up being quite a bit lower than I feel it deserves given how high it scores in most areas. 

Problem #2: The system is unbalanced since the last update, since now a good Accessory and Fun Factor rating can be swamped by a bad Price/Availability score. 

Solution #1: Set the Price/Availability down to a 5 point system (which is easily manageable). 
Problem #3: A 35 point Verdict system seems clunky and not very translatable into a %, or equal part system.

Solution #2: Re-balance EVERYTHING by changing all categories to a 5 point system, thereby making a Verdict rating of 25 points. Seems like this would work while allowing for a bad Price/Availability score not to ruin a whole verdict score. It also is perhaps true that the amount of variance in the sculpt and articulation doesn't really need a 10 point range for evaluation purposes.

Ok, so here is the revamped system!

Sculpt&Paint:  /5
1 - Little /No paint. Sculpt work is very basic molding and is missing details in many places. 
2- Some paint work. May have shading. Sculpt is passable but missing details.
3 -Decent sculpt work, decent painted parts, some decent shading. 
4 -Very well done sculpt and paint work, many eye-catching details, very character accurate. 
5- Excellently done paint and sculpt, spot on to the character represented. 

Articulation:  /5
1 - 5-10 points of articulation: No special joints, primarily swivels
2- 11-15 PoA. Some ball joints. Limited range. No or few doubled joints.
3 - 16-20 PoA. Improved range. Ab joints and ankle articulation present. 
4 - 21-29 PoA. Doubled wrist, ankle, knee and elbow articulation. May include toe and butterfly joints. Good range of movement in most joints.
5 -30+ Joints. Amazing poseability and range. May include extras (eyes, clothing items). 

Price/Availability:  /5 
1- You are made of money and can find one or two sources that even sell online! Damn scalppers.... 
2 - Hard to find. Available online or from the rare collector. Easily 200%+ of its original value.
3 - Mostly available online only from few sellers. Expect to pay 125-150% of original value. 
4 -Available most places at standard price, or fewer places at a decent discount (10-50%). 
5- Either available everywhere at standard price, or heavily (50%+) discounted. 

Accessories:  /5
1 = No accessories, or 1 accessory. It may be lacking in some detail or paint. 
2 = 1-3 Accessories, usually extra weapons. Decent detail and/or paint. 
3 = 2-5 accessories. This may include extra hands or effects/swap-able pieces. 
4 = 5+: Extra hands, maybe a head, weapons and other good pieces.
5 = Nearly everything you could want given the character! All well done. 

Fun Factor: /5
1 = Figure is poorly balanced, many QC issues, difficult to pose in anything other than the standard standing "vanilla" pose. Likely to break with "over-play"
2 = Figure can balance, has some variety in poses. Solid, and unlikely to break with play. 
3 = Figure can balance in a variety of poses. looks good on the shelf, compares well to other figures in its line or universe. Very good aesthetic look and mix of glossy and matte.  
4 = Lots of fun, the way the sculpt and paint work out create a dynamic, solid figure that balances in tons of poses. May even be able to balance on one foot! 
5 = This is a top 10 figure. Tons of fun, great poseability. You'll probably never get rid of this figure, according to me anyway! 


Verdict:  /25
1-5: Poor: Not a good figure, even if you like collecting this particular type or line of figures. 
6-10: Limited: Fine for the completionist/hardcore collector, but basically you got a statue.
11-15: Okay: Some decent poseability or paint/sculpt and accessories. Limited options. 
16-20: Good: Pretty nice figure on its own merits, even if you lack interest in the line/character.
20-23: Great: Great aesthetic with lots of play, options and more. Get it right meow! 
24-25: Amazing: Is this what action figure Nirvana feels like?

This makes more sense and maybe my readers can more easily translate this into a % figure and/or something that is easier to think about than out of 40! 

**Rating System Update**

So after some thought, I've decided on updating the rating system,à la 1.1.
It seems to me a 10 scale for accessories may be excessive out of 40 total points.
After all, there are some really great figures out there that you could buy, but don't necessarily come with an accessory or very few anyway. Maybe they weren't meant to! It's not like every comic book, video game or cartoon character needs extra things. Some of you may debate this vis-a-vis having extra hands and heads, and I don't argue that.
That said, my rules mates!

So here's the new accessory rating system:

Accessories: 
1 = No accessories, or 1 accessory. It may be lacking in some detail or paint. 
2 = 1-3 Accessories, usually extra weapons. Decent detail and/or paint. 
3 = 2-5 accessories. This may include extra hands or effects/swap-able pieces. 
4 = 5+: Extra hands, maybe a head, weapons and other good pieces.
5 = Nearly everything you could want given the character! All well done. 

So of course, with that, we only have a 35 point system. Who wants to count in scales of 5? Not I! Divisible by an uneven prime number? No thanks! Sorry prime numbers, go whine to Optimus for sympathy. We need to get another 5 points back.

With that, I will introduce the Fun Factor system. This is the most subjective of all rating systems. I mean, basically, this is where I get to skew the system in my favour, simply because I can get a lot of poses and fun out of the figure. I've learned in the course of these reviews that some figures I've had the most positive experiences with get left on the wayside. Some figures have poor articulation, or are pretty much gone off the market forever, but I would tell someone anyway that they have excellent dynamic shelf look and....well, fun!
So here it goes:

Fun Factor:
1 = Figure is poorly balanced, many QC issues, difficult to pose in anything other than the standard standing "vanilla" pose. Likely to break with "over-play"
2 = Figure can balance, has some variety in poses. Solid, and unlikely to break with play. 
3 = Figure can balance in a variety of poses. looks good on the shelf, compares well to other figures in its line or universe. Very good aesthetic look and mix of glossy and matte.  
4 = Lots of fun, the way the sculpt and paint work out create a dynamic, solid figure that balances in tons of poses. May even be able to balance on one foot! 
5 = This is a top 10 figure. Tons of fun, great poseability. You'll probably never get rid of this figure, according to me anyway! 

Disclaimer: This is once again open to change. This part is one I can appreciate more than the past rating system, but we'll see!

The Rating System

Starting this blog, I decided I wanted to use a 10 point rubric per category to evaluate figures. 

So far, the system is...ok. Any of these systems ultimately has bias and isn't exact, however, I'll break down the system but I think a revamp soon is in order. Perhaps adding in a fun factor to the assessment? There is a certain quality that makes a figure fun to pose and play with regardless of how poor or good the paint, sculpt, accessories, and occasionally even the articulation. This will require further thought. 

Sculpting

 and Paint:  1 = No, or little paint anywhere, minimal sculpting. Basic body form only.

                     2 = No, or little paint, A little sculpting with some stylistic additions.

                     3= Some paint application, but no shading. Some sculpting.

                     4= Some paint application, some shading, some sculpted parts. 

                     5= Good paint application, some shading, some sculpted parts.

                     6= Good paint application, good shading, some sculpted parts

                     7 =Good paint, good shading, good sculpting. 

                     8=Excellent paint, good use of shading, excellent sculpted parts

                     9=Excellent and thorough paint work, excellent shades applied, excellent sculpted parts. 

                    10=One of the best designed figures: either perfectly stylistic to the character or perfectly realistic to the original source material                               (game, comic, tv, etc) 

Articulation:   1 = 5  or fewer points of articulation. Imaginex comes to mind or other childrens toys.

                         2 = 6-10points of articulation. No waist swivels, ankle joints, elbow joints (Old He-  man toys)

                         3= 11-15 points of articulation. No waist swivel, ankle joints. Poor design. 

                         4= 16-20 points of articulation. No ab crunch, ankle joints. Elbow/knee joints do have 90 degree flexion. No split capability with                                        legs. Hand and/or boot cut swivel.

                         5= 16-20 points of articulation. Elbows/knees have 90 degree flexion. Forward/backward ankle flexion. May have ab crunch and                               swivel.

                          6= 16-20 points of articulation. Ab crunch present, may have diaphragm joint. 

                          7= 21-25 points of articulation. Double jointed knees and/or elbows present. Ankle   rocker. Two point wrist articulation (Basic                                   Marvel Legends). 

                           8= 25-35 points of articulation. All the above plus diaphragm joints, butterfly shoulder joints. May include toe swivel or finger                                   articulation. (S.H. Figuarts figures). Design may limit some articulation. 

                           9 = 35+ points of articulation. Includes all the above plus sculpted parts that can move (capes, wings, holsters etc). Excellent                                design that does not limit movement. 

                         10 = An insane amount of articulation. You can pose this figure anyway, anywhere!

Price point/availability: After all, what's the point if you can't find or buy it reasonably? 

                      1= You will never find this figure and/or buy this figure. It isn't being made, and if i was sold, you'd need a trust fund to afford it. 

                      2= Few available, price is at 500% mark up. 

                      3= Few available, price is at 200-400% mark up. 

                      4= Few available, price is at 100-200%

                      5=Available online mostly. price is at 100% mark up. 

                      6=Available online and some in stores. Price is at a 50-100% mark up. 

                      7=Readily available in stores and online. Price is at original/current value. 

                      8=Readily available online and in stores. Discounted 15% or less. 

                      9= Readily available online and in stores. Discounted 30-50%. 

                     10=Readily available online and in stores. Discounted 50%+. Buy all the things!

Accessories: 0= No accessories. Boo!

                      1= 1 accessory. Poorly painted/sculpted. Not accurate in size or design. 

                      2 = 1 accesory. Some paint, decent design. Approximates source material. 

                      3 = 1-3 accessories. Some paint, decent design, approximates source material.

                      4 = 1-3 accessories. Good paint and/or design, but not both. Few inaccuracies. 

                      5 = 2+ accessories. One set of extra hands, or 2+ very well designed weapons/pieces.

                      6 = 2-5 accessories. Set of hands, and well sculpted weapons/pieces.

                      7 = 2 or more sets of extra hands and 1-3 weapons/pieces. Interchangeable body pieces.

                      8 = More than 2 sets of extra hands, weapons/pieces, interchangeable heads/faces.

                      9 = 4+ sets of hands, tons of hand held/body pieces, interchangeable heads/body pieces. 

                    10 = Everything you could want given the source. Deluxe sets, etc.

Note: This system is amenable to modification at any time! I will post a footnote update should it change. Not yet satisfied with it.