If you've been keeping up on Q&A's you've seen that a few of the sites have been asking about why wave 9 and 10 figures have limited ball-joint articulation on the heads when compared to older figures. And you've seen that Mattel's answers haven't been what most fans wouldn't want to hear.

We wanted to make a bigger deal out of it with some visual aids on our blog and have posted this article:

http://www.itsalltrue.net/?p=2597




I can't imagine any of us are happy with how the heads are turning out in the last couple waves.

Almost every site that's reviewed these figures has made comments about the how bad the heads are limited. Michael Crawford's reviews has the figures constantly losing stars over the lack of head tilt. On Articulated Discussion's articuation diagrams they won't even call it a ball-joint because the heads can only move to side-to-side.

Despite it being a known issue, I haven't seen many threads specifically about this issue for Toy Guru to check out and see what we're saying when we complain about the head articulation. So I'm making one.

Is this an issue for everyone? Anyone that doesn't care? All opinions are welcome.

Posted a comment there: Mattel needs to fix this. I see no reason to move away from the more articulated Ball-Jointed Necks.

This doesn't really bother me either way. In fact, my Red Tornado and Mr. Miracle have such a loose head joint that there head just rolls around.

I'd have to see new figures to know what their articulation is like.

That loss of articulation is very bothersome to me. I hope it gets fixed soon. If I could only have one point of articulation for my figures, it would be the ball-jointed neck. A slight head tilt really expresses a lot of emotion.

Funny thing, Toy Guru responds to the JLU thread but not this one...

-Seth!

The new heads are much worse.

I totally agree with Seth--being able to tilt the head is probably the most important bit of articulation.

What I can't fathom is why this was done.

Does it save money? If so, I can't imagine it's more than a few cents.

It's a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by an enigma!

I don't care all that much. The thigh/leg articulation lost by Black Canary is much more important that a neck joint.

All things being equal, I'd rather have a ball joint, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

whatever happened to the heads needs to be fixed. the range of motion as it stands is a HUGE step back for this line

I agree with Noisy's argument, and I enjoy (as always) the visuals he has created to spark the discussion.

I am really glad you stepped up and made a thread for this. There is no logical reason for removing such vital articulation as the ball joint in the neck, might as well remove the elbow joint and have on straight arm.

So far Mattel have not addressed the issue, instead they have spoke about articulation they've added. Evolution in a line should keep things that work and ad to them, not discard that which works in favour for something else.

I really hope they correct this mistake in production, and bear it in mind for future waves, especially if we get another Hawkgirl, as it would be nice if next time she can look up.

Thanks everybody. I'm glad to see this is bothering folks. I think we'll hear more about as wave ten continues to work its way out to fans too.

Great work and thread as always, Noisy.

When or if I find my Robotman figure with his permanent "looking down" feature, I do not want him being the harbinger (pun, yes?) for various others characters to follow.

Add me to the list that misses the true ball-joint neck articulation. Everything is there for it... why not make it work?

its a disgrace that they got rid of it....its even MORE of a disgrace that they really won't comment about it. Mattel is the worst company in existance today. That will be all

I admire a man who speaks his mind, but I am forced to disagree.

My dad's company is worse.

He routinely gets all liquored up, curses at his clients, and threatens to kill them.

But Mattel is a close second.