Haired figure Trend..

[Hologram AI]

I hate to break it to you, but you are collecting dolls whether they come with rooted hair or sculpted hair.

This It's cool to have a preference of sculpted or rooted just because of the way it looks but it's weird to think one of those options is somehow hurting your sense of masculinity. Get over it. You're spending thousands of dollars a year on 12" dolls no matter which way you look at it.

Rooted > Sculpted for me at the end of the day provided it's done correctly. None of that old Hot Toys shiny plastic Barbie-like rooted hair crap.

 

[histrionics]

Yes i agree with you, there are more innovative stuffs in dolls than just rooted hair. For example seamless neck and wrist, those are the real game changers.

Exactly! That's what I thought when I got my InArt Joker: Why haven't we been doing finely sculpted hand/forearms since the beginning? That was a small game changer for me.

Rather than throw 6 hands with a couple of spare pegs in the box, give us 6 sculpted interchangeable arms for various posing and accessory-holding options. Is it a lot more expensive? I don't know, but it really elevated the high-end art of the figure. Also, Hot Toys male hands have always been grossly oversized and almost every other body maker has followed (knocked-off) those specs, so we have that problem stretching right across the market. It is time for an alternative to push us into the next 10-20 years.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I thought InArt killed it with the faux-rooted hair. I didn't expect it to be what it was and found myself glad that I took the gamble on it over the sculpted hair. I'm also glad and hopeful that they use the same technique for other figures, like Aragorn which will completely smash if it's this kind of treatment.

I just don't think this "trend" of rooted – if there really is a trend at all – needs to happen. Keep the faux-rooted to special extremely high-end projects and leave the rest to sculpted. I don't agree that the old method is outdated, because it's actually a standard method that many figure makers will still use. It's there because it works within a certain cost structure. Most average figures can't afford to be priced in a rooted hair category of InArt's calibre, so for under $300 we had figures like Baby Doll, Selina, Wonder Woman, Gamora, Black Widow and Scarlet Witch all suffering from mass-production consumer-grade rooted methods rather than the art that InArt produced. You've probably noticed that most of the new versions of the characters/figures I mentioned are now being done as sculpted hair. Hot Toys seemed to understand where they failed. I just got the new WandaVision Scarlet Witch and the sculpted hair on it is so much better than what they did with previous versions. It's not perfect, but it left nothing more to be desired that rooted could beat.

The old method is definitely still the standard, but I would argue that's what's kept a lot of folks apprehensive about rooted hair on figures and why, most of the time, many collectors would've preferred sculpted over rooted as the old method just doesn't look as good in this hobby when typically realism is the main goal. I see where you're coming from in terms of cost, and I certainly don't think every figure should have rooted hair, but just b/c it's cost beneficial, doesn't mean it's not outdated. It seems more like pandora's box has been opened with InArt and now HT in the ways they're mass producing rooted hair. Therefore, I would ask would collector's still want a rooted hair figure if it doesn't receive this kind of new treatment (whether from InArt or HT) just to save money? My guess would be no, at least from these licensed companies, though I'm sure third party figures would be more acceptable with still using the standard hair methods. And b/c of that, I'd see sculpted hair being more standard now for longer haired characters like those you've mentioned, due to the industry standard, older method just not being up to par for what collectors are looking for. I think we're sort of saying the same thing just differently

Exactly! That's what I thought when I got my InArt Joker: Why haven't we been doing finely sculpted hand/forearms since the beginning? That was a small game changer for me.

Rather than throw 6 hands with a couple of spare pegs in the box, give us 6 sculpted interchangeable arms for various posing and accessory-holding options. Is it a lot more expensive? I don't know, but it really elevated the high-end art of the figure. Also, Hot Toys male hands have always been grossly oversized and almost every other body maker has followed (knocked-off) those specs, so we have that problem stretching right across the market. It is time for an alternative to push us into the next 10-20 years.

In the same way rooted hair shouldn't be for every character, the seamless wrists I think only really works for characters with those areas exposed like the jail version of the Joker, the new DOFP Logan or the LimToys Nathan Drake. It would be difficult to get away with a seamless arm/wrist with a character like Captain America or Batman. Even Commander Cody has a seamless lower arm for the light up feature and most hate it.

As for seamless necks, you're either getting into static statue pose territory if you follow the way customizers have done it, or you risk splitting/tearing the neck if made out of silicone/rubber b/c you left the head turned or tilted one way for too long. It's another thing to worry about much like leaving an elbow bent for too long with a silicone/rubber body. I understand the desire for a pretty seamless look, but if all these new "innovations" end up basically leading to a slightly poseable statue with swap out parts rather than a poseable actual figure, I'd probably be out of the hobby as that's not fun anymore. Part of the reason I've stayed in this hobby for so long rather than fully transitioning to statues is due to the extra possibilities it offers that statues tend to not. But if that's what the majority end up wanting and the way the industry moves, I have no real problem with it other than being a bit disappointed, but I'd just get out the hobby at that point.