does the material of the figure affect your decision to buy a figure?

[JimoAi]

Starting this discussion as I am starting to have strong feelings ABT the materials that the Schleich sea animals used. This is to regard the Schleich 2013 Blue shark, 2016 Tiger shark and the 2020 Hammerhead. They seem to be made out of this really gummy material that feels like an eraser to the touch. The Great white and Guitarfish may be made out of the same material but I don't feel the same way as the other 3. The ikimon jellyfish is another example: the materials used, especially for the sea nettle feels like a rubberband! And on the opposite end, I cannot stand resin/polystone figures and rather have PVC figures like the materials Safari and Papo used.

Just a little discussion I thought of having

[bmathison1972]

I am OK with PVC, rubber, and resin, as long as it doesn't affect how the figure stands/displays. In general I much prefer a firmer PVC or resin, since it's sturdier and likely to hold up longer over time. I always worry that things that are more 'rubbery' might crack or break over time.

For non-Japanese figures, my favorite materials are those used by Safari, CollectA, and Papo

For Japanese, I like older Kaiyodo (Choco Q days) and Kitan Club/Ikimon. I feel the older gashapons that require assembly hold together better than modern ones.

In the end, not sure the material would hamper my decision to buy it, especially if there weren't other options. Articulations (mainly in non-arthropods) are a bigger turn-off than the material itself.

[JimoAi]

To be fair i'ld rather take a rigid figure over a rubbery one considering I do have alot of physical contact with my figures. I agree articulation is a double edge sword but I'm somewhat tolerable of it. Like the takara Tomy goblin shark, it has a unique extendible jaw feature but is hampered by some ugly seams. Takara Tomy Ania has been hit really hard with the visible ball joints and it's getting worst imo

[NSD Bashe]

I'll tend to accept most materials of figure, including the occasional plush, metal or even ceramic figurine, though I do mostly prefer the less breakable plastic ones in general.  My favorite I think are like older Safari, Schleich and AAA figures.  I absolutely love the hefty feeling and texture of old AAA models, and while I don't really collect dinosaurs anymore I have very nostalgic memories of their type of dinosaur figures.  Rubber can be pretty fun in general, although I prefer the much more solid rubber to the more stretchy "jiggler" type rubber, as I've had a jiggly rubber spider I was very fond of just disintegrate over time, so I always feel a little concern over my deep sea DeAgostini and Diramix figures.  I still get them when I can though.  There are some glass nudibranchs on Amazon I've thought about getting but that may just be a little too breakable for right now sadly.  Interesting question anyway

[bmathison1972]

I've never done plush or metal. I did do ceramics when I specialized in arthropods, but purged them when I taxonomically expanded the collection.

[JimoAi]

to be fair the BotM does have an influence on getting articulated figures

[bmathison1972]

to be fair the BotM does have an influence on getting articulated figures

I am probably one of the few people that don't like BotM figures, and the articulations are the main reason (the overly gaudy colors are the other, but minor). I would like their stuff more if they were not articulated.

[stargatedalek]

I avoid fragile materials when possible, but resin or more brittle plastic is often unavoidable and more tolerable with small figures like Kaiyodo and such.

I've scaled down collecting animals and dinosaurs, limiting myself to 1:1 animals or ~1:12 ones for use alongside action figures, so I'm kind of the opposite boat where I only buy large figures now if they're articulated, aside from aforementioned 1:1 scale.

[Ikessauro]

I tend to prefer plastic, like pvc, for the more durable aspect. I have several resin pieces, but as time goes on, I am less inclined to buy resin models, as they can easily brake in shipping or during handling. But the main reason I avoid resin figures is the price, that tends to be quite higher than pvc. But  I can't lie, if money wasn't an issue, I'd probably buy way more resin models.

I also try to avoid soft rubbery vinil toys that are stuffed with synthetic fibers, like polyester fiber. I have had mold problems with those kind of toys and some other soft rubber figures. They sometimes end up covered in a white-ish mold, that can't be fully removed once it has taken the toy as a host. I tried washing/wiping with soap and water, vinager, alcool, desinfectants in general, but although they look clean in the moment, after a while the mold returns. Only happens in those types of toys.

Also, I try to avoid the very soft jiggly ones. They look goofy to me and are easily deformed by their own weight

[endogenylove]

I do PVC, rubber, and rarely resin. I don't like figures that are fragile or easily breakable, so no glass or ceramic, and I try to avoid resin as much as possible. I don't do rubber figures that are jiggly, bead filled, or anything similar. They have to more or less keep their shape.

[EpicRaptorMan]

Depends. But typically yes.

[bmathison1972]

Welcome to the forum, waltergogs

[Koifish]

Most of my collection is PVC, but I'm definitely not opposed to resin. If there is a resin model that I find more appealing or desirable than something that exists in pvc - or maybe it's only available as a resin model, I'll get it. Now with the emergence and versatility of 3D-printers, digital artists are creating models that, in many cases, are more accurate or anatomically correct than what's been mass produced - or hasn't been produced at all.