>>9372590Without knowing the actual intricacies of the toy industry, my best guess it that it represented a change in how toys are made. In the 80s and 90s, most action figures were very simple, and didn't need a ton of moving parts. You could clamp two halves of a body together, sandwiching single-piece legs, arms, and head, and call it a day. With such simple construction, harder plastics and vac metalizing made sense. Now, with the softer PVC most companies are using, combined with the increasingly complex joint systems, it's getting harder and harder to manage.
Some may recall that there have been experiments with chroming super-articulated figures, like Microman for example. Accordingly, they rubbed/chipped like hell, and Microman's hard plastic is none too durable either.
