>>9809588I would say 80s was more like literature or fantasy. Everything goes, everything can be mixed. Thats why you got steampunk or cyberpunk settings for /tg/ stuff. The 90s focused more on videogames, thats why martial arts and anime became heavy influenes. Both times were relying on gimmicks, but the 90s gimmick was heavily the molds. Kinda what you mean with McFarlane.
And since molds are much cheaper than creating mechanical gimmicks or new IPs, you got your race on how well sculpted your toy was or which established IP you used.
For example Monster in my pocket were rather cheap but easy collectable toys. The reboot in 2006 illustrates very good what you mean. They became more expensive to create and had good sculpting. But they lacked some charm and i would say mass for collecting like Grossery gang. So the reboot bombed by not making enough profit.
