I was wondering, do you think that oil prices/economic issues will get toy makers (action figures in specific) to look more and more into transitioning towards smaller scales (like 3 3/4"). Does it make a difference to collectors? Looking at the action figure aisle (and into the future), you've got Star Wars, Indy, Joes, etc. sitting in the roughly 3 3/4" scale. The lines like Marvel and DC that have always focused on 6" scale figures, are now starting to explore the smaller scale as well (with Marvel Universe in 2009 and DCIH at retail currently). Plus, you also have price increases across the board (possibly hitting $15 for the 6" scale stuff, and approaching $10 for the smaller scale stuff), with no price breaks in sight anytime soon. Those days of paying $4.99 for Star Wars figures and $6.88 for Marvel Legends seem so long ago now.
On a more personal side of it, I'm starting to look more and more at 3 3/4" lines only with options out there for Marvel and DC. Not only for the pricepoint, but for the display part of things. Don't get me wrong, in the lines I'm interested in that are the larger scale (Marvel/DC), those larger figures are a much higher quality "collector" type figure. I'll probably always buy those in some capacity, but as many of us have said before, it would have been nice if they had started at 3 3/4" in the first place. Many of us are so invested at the larger scale at this point that it doesn't make sense to start from scratch again. If Marvel Legends (although its switching to two packs next year) and DCUC start hitting a $15 per figure pricepoint consistently, I'm really going to have to cut back. Anyways, in a nutshell, do you think that the larger scale stuff will be phasing out eventually because of these reasons?