3rd party figures made by individuals are not the answer.

i am in 100% agreement that in order for a figure to become mainstream it needs to be a team effort -- and also needs SM, Daz, Rendo, or RDNA standing behind it, endorsing it and continually pimping it to get the ball rolling.

i dont see the point of making a 3rd party figure just for the sake of it, unless it brings something new and significant to the table:  such as a combination of better bending, more content-creator friendly features and UVs, and some sortof open source license to allow deeper development, etc.