i think you've misunderstood what i was trying to say.  so, just to recap, you said: "why don't toons sell?"  and i tried to respond with my perception of why they don't, and  now you're responding with, "well this is why they should sell."    which doesn't quite make sense as a counterpoint, because i wasn't trying to assert that they don't.  like i said in the beginning, i think it depends on how much of a market you're looking for, and you undoubtedly know more about the actual market than i do.  i was only working from the assumption that V4 was the height of the market, and why anything toon would be somewhere below her.  i was only working with the assumption that toons are less popular than realistic figures because you said they were.

basically, you sound really torn. you're arguing both sides.  you're saying that there is an established and broad market for toons, and unique characters and animation in general.   and then you're saying that there isn't enough of one for you to put out your figures. 

if you say there's a market for Poser animation, i believe you.  i literally haven't seen any in mainstream media, and have never seen any in any of the portfolios of individuals or companies (including advertising agencies) i look at outside of here, and haven't ever seen Poser even mentioned except negatively on any of the professional design and/or illustration community sites i've been to.  but i'm always amazed at what's in the DAZ sighting thread, and i know of Poser taught in some college courses as an animation tool. so i know it's out there.

i will say i think you're undercutting you're own argument for style not mattering in the beginning.  people who want something different tend to want their own difference.  sure they'll watch Shrek, but why would they want to make their own Shrek movie?  a whole company is already doing that.  most extreme morphs that make figures less mainstream don't tend to sell well.  notice how Girl and Aiko have both become morphs rather than original figures, and in doing so have become a bit less unique.  you suggest thinking outside the box of the past 10 years, but the community created the box.  it wasn't imposed.  going outside of it means going outside of what the community, on average, wants. 

if a change requires the community meeting creators half-way, i don't think it will happen.

none of that means it's not worth it.  if you read my response to the original post, i'm quite clear on that subject. i wasn't at all trying to discourage you- or anyone else- from doing what you want.  i wasn't trying to put down innovation.  but it's just not generally popular.  you can't both say you want to innovate and say you want instant popularity in one breath.  innovation means going beyond where the (primary) market is now. a person can't expect to release an innovative product and have the whole market immediately follow unless they've built up that kind of brand.  it seems to me that only DAZ has done that, and really only with V4.

me, personally, i'd say it's worth it to do what you want and learn how to make it popular.  that said, it's all about how much you're willing to compromise.  to take the market with you, you have to be willing to meet the market at least part way.  for instance, when people had concerns about Apollo, Anton tended to respond with: "You can make that alteration with..."  well, people don't get figures because they can do it themselves, they get them because they want someone else to do it for them.  i totally respect Anton and any creator's choices about what they feel is worth it for them and what is not.  and how much they are willing to compromise their artistic vision with the collective vision of the community. 

oh, and you brought up anime. there's a reason i said "toons in the Western community."  knowing a little of your work, and your choice of wording ("toons" not "anime" or "manga"), i was speaking from that perspective.  anime is exaggerated in exactly the same way an idealized realistic female is exaggerated.  more and more, our media is trending to a single "norm" in terms of appearance, even though that norm is an exaggeration of certain features.  when it comes to toons, we haven't quite done that.   Japanese and other Asian cultures have, and we have embraced those norms in the context of that type of media.  and even then, as far as i've seen in the Poser community, some of the more extreme anime styles have not even had figures, let alone popular ones.  Aiko is the most popular, and she's the closest to a normal female figure.

maybe i'm wrong, but i think it's important for customers to be able to "speak" through a figure. the more of a standard something is, the easier that is to do.  anime is a standard, arguably even more specific than modern media's standard for women.  but both standards operate in a plethora of genres. conversely, there are toon styles that really only work in one or two genres. 

that said, i don't think it would necessarily be best to wait until we reach the tipping point and then play catch up.  there are some stylistic norms, and even ones for more "serious" (rather than humorous or cute) comic looks. by the time there's a well-established norm, everyone will be saying, "why isn't there any toon figure for Poser?" and there will be some competition.  everyone acts like the Vicky improved because technology did, but a lot of the improvements were possible in PPP and even on older machines.  DAZ developers learned from each version.  it's not really fair to compare someone's first version to someone else's fourth just because they have access to the same technology.  the point being, it's hard rule the field by releasing the first version with everyone else.