How often do you change the posing of your action figures?

[uskimaski]

So i was just wondering what sort of poses other people come up with and why do they pose it in that way. I know some people dont really bother at all, so hopefully some of you might get some ideas here and motivate you to do more dynamic posing!

I used to have one of my figures posed with 1 arm straight ahead, giving the impression of it doing the "you da man" pose, you know, just for motivation etc

 

[bunnyfreakz]

Anytime I want. Usually I play around a new figures and change pose so often, might take a picture of it as well

 

[WWEJedi]

Few times a month if I am not that busy.

 

[thatmyfigure]

Usually when I m cleaning my glass cabinet 1-3 months. I will re-position and maybe with difference poses.

I only have one detolf and a bit crowded. In future might thinking of using my wooden drawer top potion to display so a glass panel install should be an ideal case .


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[DioramaMaker]

Typically things stay the way I pose them once I've opened them up. That being said I'll usually tweak that over a few weeks until it's perfect.

Major reposes occur when I goof and ruin the one I had when futzing or moving a figure. Once you break that perfect balance point, it's all over. It'll never be the same. You HAVE to start from scratch to ensure a stable pose that looks good and avoids toppling.

That being said, posing is the most underappreciated art in this hobby. I don't understand how so many people can buy a $200, or even a $20 figure, and just place it on a shelf, arms outstretched. These things look like little humans, why make them appear to be a doll? You've already paid the entry price for the realism, no reason to stop when displaying the figure.

And I'm not knocking museum poses. Proper museum poses capture the nuance and attitude of a character in a reserved state. You don't have to be executing high kicks to "properly pose". Case in point: Hot Toys Deadpool.

Every pose should tell a story. It should answer the question that comes to mind, or prompt one. Your audience (that includes you) should look at a figure and think:
"Tony's armor is damaged, so he popped his visor and is aiming down his foe"
"What's Tyrion contemplating? Whores? Power? Money?"
"What base did Barney Ross just clear?"
"Wolverine looks tense, standing at the ready; he's about to go berserk, isn't he?"
"Oh look, The Doctor just arrived, and he's making a show of it."
"But you haven't tried MY product. Now. Say. My. Name."

Never should the audience solely say "that's a cool figure" and move on to something else. The cool factor should simply be the introduction to further investigation. EVERYONE knows when they were successful: someone gets stuck at your display cabinet and starts to grin, eyes glued to each piece, zipping back and forth to satiate another glance. You've all had this happen before when showing your collection to a guest. You know when you pull it off.

It's like having a proper musical arrangement fill your movie trailer, not some cheap two-bit cross promotion with a rapper. The former sells an idea. The latter makes for a forgettable, generic "action movie 32" preview.

Movie companies do this too. Look at character shot posters and apply this same concept. Which ones catch your attention?

Compare this:

To this:

It's a big difference here, but I think it conveys the point. Poster 1 delivers "Oh, that's the girl from the new Star Wars movie". Poster 2 however offers exposition, thought. There's character to it. It makes me ask WHY as opposed to just stirring film recognition. Even if you took out the background of Poster 2, there is still an aura of wonder around the attitude of Rey, not just an image.

 

[nearedg3]

Great post.

Typically things stay the way I pose them once I've opened them up. That being said I'll usually tweak that over a few weeks until it's perfect.

Major reposes occur when I goof and ruin the one I had when futzing or moving a figure. Once you break that perfect balance point, it's all over. It'll never be the same. You HAVE to start from scratch to ensure a stable pose that looks good and avoids toppling.

That being said, posing is the most underappreciated art in this hobby. I don't understand how so many people can buy a $200, or even a $20 figure, and just place it on a shelf, arms outstretched. These things look like little humans, why make them appear to be a doll? You've already paid the entry price for the realism, no reason to stop when displaying the figure.

And I'm not knocking museum poses. Proper museum poses capture the nuance and attitude of a character in a reserved state. You don't have to be executing high kicks to "properly pose". Case in point: Hot Toys Deadpool.

Every pose should tell a story. It should answer the question that comes to mind, or prompt one. Your audience (that includes you) should look at a figure and think:
"Tony's armor is damaged, so he popped his visor and is aiming down his foe"
"What's Tyrion contemplating? Whores? Power? Money?"
"What base did Barney Ross just clear?"
"Wolverine looks tense, standing at the ready; he's about to go berserk, isn't he?"
"Oh look, The Doctor just arrived, and he's making a show of it."
"But you haven't tried MY product. Now. Say. My. Name."

Never should the audience solely say "that's a cool figure" and move on to something else. The cool factor should simply be the introduction to further investigation. EVERYONE knows when they were successful: someone gets stuck at your display cabinet and starts to grin, eyes glued to each piece, zipping back and forth to satiate another glance. You've all had this happen before when showing your collection to a guest. You know when you pull it off.

It's like having a proper musical arrangement fill your movie trailer, not some cheap two-bit cross promotion with a rapper. The former sells an idea. The latter makes for a forgettable, generic "action movie 32" preview.

Movie companies do this too. Look at character shot posters and apply this same concept. Which ones catch your attention?

Compare this:

To this:

It's a big difference here, but I think it conveys the point. Poster 1 delivers "Oh, that's the girl from the new Star Wars movie". Poster 2 however offers exposition, thought. There's character to it. It makes me ask WHY as opposed to just stirring film recognition. Even if you took out the background of Poster 2, there is still an aura of wonder around the attitude of Rey, not just an image.

 

[Sidewinder]

I can take awhile to pose a figure. I do sometimes look for particular scene or a promotional photo to use as a guide for the character.

Posing is really important though. I was in a video game store a couple of weeks back and they had the worst displays I've ever seen. Marty McFly was on his skateboard with almost broken angles with the position he'd been placed in. They were all displayed in a way that clearly the employee couldn't care less. Made them all look very toyish and for the prices they were charging, they really should have taken a lot more care.

 

[Bob Morton]

DiaramaMaker said it all and said it well!! I do exaclty what he said. However there is a big difference for me between $200 1/6 and $20 action figures. The small action figures I move around a lot more just to pew pew. Whereas the big expensive stuff I just pose and leave.

 

[PG1973]

Posing figures is the part of this hobby that I think I enjoy the most and my method is very similar to DioMaker. There is nothing worse than when a really difficult to pose figure gets messed up and you have to start from scratch.

 

[BurningRage]

Once a year like my underwear.

 

[davejames]

Once I find a pose I really like, or that seems "perfect" for the character, I'll usually keep it that way for quite a while (maybe upwards of a year). And after that maybe only tweak it here and there.

Of course what makes it trickier is I really don't like to use the crotch grabbers to support them, since I hate the way they bunch up or pull up on the pants (especially on something like an Indy figure, whose pants are supposed to be pretty loose). And they also make it harder to create a natural standing pose. So that can add a lot of extra time to the posing as well, since you have to make sure everything is well balanced enough.

 

[Lejuan]

I'm time-poor, and I tend to set-and-forget anyway. I haven't changed anything in over a year.

 

[DioramaMaker]

Great post.

Thanks neardg!

Posing figures is the part of this hobby that I think I enjoy the most and my method is very similar to DioMaker. There is nothing worse than when a really difficult to pose figure gets messed up and you have to start from scratch.

Haha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who begins anew when a good pose is messed up! Least I haven't home crazy alone! I agree with you, posing is just the most neat thing. It's what makes figures more fun than statues typically.

DiaramaMaker said it all and said it well!! I do exaclty what he said. However there is a big difference for me between $200 1/6 and $20 action figures. The small action figures I move around a lot more just to pew pew. Whereas the big expensive stuff I just pose and leave.

Oh I definitely move smaller figures around too, don't get me wrong. That being said, and for risk of accidentally insulting anyone I won't hunt photos down, but occasionally if you look at the retweets on NECA's Twitter feed you'll see what I mean about "arms out" poses. Just slapped there, legs cocked in like a figure has to pee, you know. That sort of thing. That's what I more so mean, you know? And if that's how folks enjoy their stuff, good for them. That's just not the way I would think to go about it.

Of course what makes it trickier is I really don't like to use the crotch grabbers to support them, since I hate the way they bunch up or pull up on the pants (especially on something like an Indy figure, whose pants are supposed to be pretty loose). And they also make it harder to create a natural standing pose. So that can add a lot of extra time to the posing as well, since you have to make sure everything is well balanced enough.

Call me paranoid but I tend to use the stands. More power to anyone brave enough to free stand these guys, no major props Dave. Some of my figures are stand free, but I try to use the stand in a way that it simply supports the figure should it tip. They sit as a very light third point of balance, every time not needing it unless the pose is more elaborate.

 

[cokebabies]

Never. I'm awful at it. As soon as I get a figure to not look like "awkward mannequin with a back brace", I stick with it.

 

[davejames]

Call me paranoid but I tend to use the stands. More power to anyone brave enough to free stand these guys, no major props Dave. Some of my figures are stand free, but I try to use the stand in a way that it simply supports the figure should it tip. They sit as a very light third point of balance, every time not needing it unless the pose is more elaborate.

Well obviously there are some heavy and expensive figures, like my Robocop and Tama 3PO, that I wouldn't dare not use a stand for. But the others I'm not too worried about, and on the rare occasion that one does fall to the carpet it hasn't caused any damage at all. And for me it's worth the risk not to have an obvious looking stand bunching up the fabric.

Of course it probably also helps that I don't have any kids stomping around the house or big dogs running around.

 

[DioramaMaker]

Well obviously there are some heavy and expensive figures, like my Robocop and Tama 3PO, that I wouldn't dare not use a stand for. But the others I'm not too worried about, and on the rare occasion that one does fall to the carpet it hasn't caused any damage at all. And for me it's worth the risk not to have an obvious looking stand bunching up the fabric.

Of course it probably also helps that I don't have any kids stomping around the house or big dogs running around.

I realize I wrote "no props" instead of "so props to you" haha. Apologies if I came across as cross in my post towards you. I have to say, again I commend you for being patient enough to risk falling figures like that. You make good points though and I definitely see why you try to avoid them.

 

[Mr Walker]

Typically things stay the way I pose them once I've opened them up. That being said I'll usually tweak that over a few weeks until it's perfect.

I'm with this chap. A fraction of an inch can make all the difference with some figures, and I tend to stick with a pose I'm happy with. They don't have to be in action poses, indeed, a lot can be in very close to museum poses, but maybe it's the angle of the head, or a slight twist of the arms, or a slight twist in the torso, and all of a sudden it becomes a little dude standing there, ready for action!

Of course what makes it trickier is I really don't like to use the crotch grabbers to support them, since I hate the way they bunch up or pull up on the pants (especially on something like an Indy figure, whose pants are supposed to be pretty loose). And they also make it harder to create a natural standing pose. So that can add a lot of extra time to the posing as well, since you have to make sure everything is well balanced enough.

I hear ya, and what I find helps is most figures have a ball and socket type ankle, so a touch of blu-tac inside each of the sockets, stiffens them up very nicely indeed.

I only use stands on 1 figures for the purposes of keeping it upright - sideshow's Tusken Raider that just will not stand up on its own.

 

[P.]

i almost don't change poses, because once achieved, it's difficult to repeat (in terms of validity of the pose).
instead i just put a second figure in another pose nearby until i'm done with posing

 

[BadMuthaDude]

I'll futz and pose a figure a few times over the first few months. Then once I'm happy with the set up and the newness wears off I'll only change it maybe once or twice a year.

 

[Road Blaster]

Not that often. With some of my figures i will have a few poses i like and i will switch them back and forth every year or two but most of my figures stay the same.