While free is always nice, I never expect free nor do I have any illusions that anything will remain forever free. Obviously, I didn't have a problem buying the figures as I bought every single one I own except for the version 4's ;o). Not really that big a deal AFAIC. Now, it may be a bigger deal to vendors who specifically support figures. If they're no longer free, less people will have them and therefore less people will be buying the supporting items.

Laurie