Hmm that's true and she is a pretty recent figure. Looks like they are going that way now. Don't you think the new ankles are worse as far as stability goes?
Can't be worse. I could stand Catwoman with one foot flat and the other on the tip of the foot yet it never toppled.
Agreed. Once they're positioned correctly they aren't going anywhere. It's definitely a very solid design in terms of the weak ankle problem.
But...
They are only stable if they are perfect, and the time and effort it takes to get the ankles in place sucks the life out of me when I should be just focusing on a cool looking pose.
I might get the ankles perfect after much effort, then look at the overall pose and realize that her knee needs a little tweaking. So I tweak it, and then she tips over because all the time spent on getting the ankles just right became null and void. So I have to start all over again with the ankles. Then I get the ankles just right, and realize that her hip needs to be a little further to the side. I make the adjustment and then the ankles are off again... and on, and on, and on.
With ball jointed ankles, I can literally pose a figure with my eyes closed and let my creativity flow. For ankles, I can just push all 4 points of the feet flat (heels and ball$ of feet) and the ball joints in the ankles just go where they're supposed to with no twisting, turning, or testing for where the bend is. I'll work on getting a pose just right for 10 minutes, all the while making many slight adjustments to the ball jointed ankles without even thinking about it. I can think of the figure as an extension of my self, because it moves like I do.
Bottom line: I despite this new ankle design. It turns posing into a chore, not something I look forward to anymore.
For me, posing figures is like writing a song. With the new ankles I feel like a music producer instead of a composer.
