I'll ignore the conversation on price vs value and focus on the actual facts that you seem so terribly incapable of understanding. I did not receive the figure free - I have never received any One:12 figure for free. While I do receive some, it's less than 25% of the things I review. I pay for the rest.
A few other facts - more articulation does not mean better. Excellent sculpting is not the de facto standard of the day. Tailoring has nothing to do with the quantity of material involved.
You can feel the figure isn't worth $70. Value is a personal attribute, not a fact. But if you're going to compare this figure to that Stan Lee figure, don't be surprised when you're called out on it. It's a terrible comparison, and speaks far more about your ability to be objective than the quality of either action figure.
Michael - First you DO receive items for free. It's part of the promotional process companies have with people including my own friends who do online and Youtube reviews to promote their goods. That's a fact and quit acting like you need to hide it in shame. That's how the market works. I have to add it must be quite an insult to these companies to be publicly suggesting you IGNORE three quarters of all the product sent to you for promotion. Makes for an easy flip! Sounds like you're still playing with house money.
Second, lets step back and develop a better understanding of what is subjective versus factual. You want to broad stroke the term "value" as a subjective perspective, but then proceed to define your idea of value as "facts". You might view articulation as a poor measure of "value", but the action figure industry has taken enormous strides in the past ten years to constantly re-engineer and produce figures with greater range of movement. This is built into the premium priced figures all the way down to the lower tiers that hang on peg boards at Target and Walmart stores.
If you know ANYTHING about manufacturing, companies do not retool and redesign the basis of a figure if articulation is a demand the consumer does not want. So please forgive me if you come off sounding quite uninformed. There IS a consumer demand for that. If you view articulation as lacking in value, that's your personal opinion, but it runs contrary to very clear and obvious trends within the market... not to mention your reviews.
Regarding the cost versus value, which you won't discuss because it doesn't back your position, there is a immediate measure anyone can look at and that is the secondary market. When you can routinely find newly released figures selling for 25% to 40% below retail you understand the market is overpriced. If this Stan Lee figure, at the same scale, is somehow inferior to the current fad of 1:12 figures, then why does it hold such a profound value over it's counterparts that do not? Note I never said the Stan Lee figure was "better", I said it was the same scaled figure with the only noted difference being the heads on the new ones. The new ones look great for that reason, but cost is subjective. What I said is, for me, I don't see the value. And I would be willing to bet you that by Christmas I'll be able to get this for under $50.00. The Universal brand is stagnant right now. This price will not hold.
And where on earth do you get the impression that the quality of head sculpts have not been on the uptick in the last five to seven years? Hot Toys laid waste to Sideshow 1/6th scale figures. Now Sideshow is coming back and re-branding their old licenses with new improved (AND PRICIER) figures. NECA has been doing excellent sculpts in both seven inch and retro scale figure for many years now. And look at all the other companies in the black market routinely selling custom sculpts to update existing lines? It's all over! To even suggest this is not a noted trend in the industry is borderline insane. You may not like what you're seeing but those are undeniable FACTS.
