Commentary - Shifts in the 1/6 World

Forums have rules against it.

You might get banned on social media for it.

But unrestricted and uncensored discussions are needed. Especially when it is linked to the health of and direction of our hobby. Specifically, geopolitics and its unseen hand shaping the 1/6 world.

Scroll through the releases of 1/6 companies in the past few years and you will start to notice a trend. There is an increasing number of Russian (RU) and Chinese(CN) figures being pumped out.

I was aware of the gradual shift to RU and CN 1/6 figures for a few years. First we lauded it, FINALLY A FIGURE THAT WASN’T A SEAL ? A NON US FIGURE ? I remember the community leaping for joy upon the announcement of the DAM Russian spetsnaz figure DAM 78015 all those years ago. I too was glad for a change in scenery. As time passed, we saw US figures being scaled down, while RU and CN figures started their ascent.

Geopolitical Events

Increasing tensions between the US and China have resulted in fierce nationalistic, anti-US sentiment in China. The CCP narrative is the only narrative in China and the current narrative is : imperialistic US bullies bad, Russia good. That has resulted in the shunning of some western 1:1 brands, the shifting of consumer preferences to mainland Chinese equivalents, or heaps of abusive social media comments in an attempt to shape the public discourse.

The recent Russian-Ukraine war and the US-China “crisis” brought about by Pelosi, has further ratcheted up tensions and its effects were visible in the 1/6 community as well. I’ve noticed a couple of negative comments regarding US figures, not relating to gear or quality, but subject matter. It isn’t only on the Chinese side. I recall in the opening days of the Russian-Ukraine war, there was a Russian figure announcement by DAM, I believe it was the 78092 FSB Gunner.

The difference was stark. The Facebook announcement post drew sharp criticism online and was subsequently deleted / taken down. While in mainland China, the sentiment was positive, attracted lots of praise and was an instant crowd pleaser.

But would you blame them? it would be akin to a Japan Army Figure released in the months after the Pearl Harbour attack, it would sell out in Japan / Germany and be boycotted in the US and shunned in the UK.

Market share

The market share in part helps dictate the shifts in themes. In my opinion, I would say the mainland China makes up for ~75% or even more of the 1/6 market. Yep, you heard that right, US is NOT the major market. The disruption of global supply lines due to COVID further exacerbated the situation. The recovery has been slow as well, I am sure you may have heard of the term “container shortage”. With all 1/6 factories being China based, 1/6 relies heavily on the domestic Chinese market. If the Chinese market rejects or dislikes a figure, it would be dead in the water. Money talks, the industry will move to satisfy the market demand and shift accordingly.

I sense Chinese collectors are developing a distain for US themed figures and a preference for Russian / Chinese figures. This can be seen in the release of PLA related figures by both DAM and Flagset, and the red tide of Russian figures by DAM.

What it means for collectors

As a collector of mostly US and western centric figures, it is concerning as the market pivots to RU/ CN figures. My only consolation is that RU special forces gear is increasingly Americanized, so my source of 1/6 modern western gear would not dry up fully. Our favorite 1/6 company, Easy & Simple still seems to be pumping out US themed releases armed with the latest gear, so we still have that going for us.

In our increasingly bi-polar world, I am afraid that the previously unseen hand of geopolitics will grow more and more visible. You will likely see more and more RU / CN figures and much lesser Western / US themed releases or worst-case scenario, no western / US figures at all although I think this is highly unlikely. The killing blow will perhaps be if the US and China enters into open, armed conflict. But we would all have more pressing concerns other than 1/6 if god forbid that happens and i hope it never does.

Geopolitics has resulted in shifts in our hobby whether we want to talk about it or not.

What do you think?

Are you concerned with how the hobby is changing? Are the shifts in themes concerning ?

-General Sam

(P.S I have RU and CN figures in my collection, but the vast majority are western themed figures)