I am just the opposite. I got really into 25th customizing thanks to last years big dio, and now that I am back working on ARAH figures I can't be happier. I do see the benefit to both, but the pros of ARAH just outweigh 25th roc stuff for me. Maybe the new PoC stuff will change that. I really liked what I saw at the con.

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The difference is customizers don't use the actual molds to make customs, they just use old figures. MC would need to use the actual molds, and are FAR more limited by the lack of molds, even before Hasbro just trashed a whole lot more of them.

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I think what I still appreciate about RAH customizing as opposed to the 25th is the head and neck issue alone. Given enough of the wealth of torsos and the fact that you really only have about 6 or 7 different neck styles, you're pretty much guaranteed to find a torso for a neck that will work.

But over the years, I have seen the great many of you that do customs in this range getting pretty angry at the fact that there seems to be very little consistency in the neck ball area, and from what others tell me even less so in the Star Wars area which might also provide some custom fodder.

We don't really have that problem with RAH. Even when I wanted to use the Ninja Force Scarlett head, I was pleasantly surprised that it actually had two versions, a ball neck post and a swivel. Yes, you can Frankenstein using the 25th style (after all, we have to do this for custom produced heads) but after working with some of those Indy's, wow, hit or miss.

I think that what I would love to see more than new ARAH, would be for an unanimous change in all upcoming Joe/SW/or any other Hasbro produced figures, to a set size neck ball, and a serious commitment to making heads in a proper scale. No more figures with heads ranging from 6mm to 3/4 ", with neck balls also in doing the same. That would be both a toy appreciator's as well as a customizer's dream. Some sense of consistency.

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Well, I agree with Jay's and others' points about articulation. Ditto the customizing issue. I jumped on the recent clearance of Funskool at SmallJoes for the express purpose of cracking open all the figures purchased (about $35 worth, which, at 1.29-1.99 per figure goes a good long way) and generating some new customs out of 'em. RAH is so much more fun to customize!

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Wait, there was a RECENT clearance of Funskool there? When?

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SmallJoes.

I was gonna get a Skydiver and 9 of the Grunts until I saw how much shipping was...

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Kind of depends on your definition of "fun."

If by "fun" you mean "easy," I'd say you're dead on. But frankly I've been digging the challenge that comes with doing 25th-style customs. It forces a certain amount of extra care and, I think, requires more creative problem solving.

But to each their own.