I think for a few decades there's been two major factors to take into account when collecting action figures; detail and articulation.

In all honesty I prefer more articulation in my figures over more details, but I'm sure there are a lot of people who choose details in the figure over articulation.

Example:

This Mario figure from Jakks Pacific has great details, but the leg articulation is very lacking.

This Sonic figure from Jazwares, on the other hand, has a lot of articulation, but as a result Sonic's waist is too small and his arms look bony.

Alright, who here prefers articulation over detail in action figures, and vice versa?

Personally it's the detail for me; how accurate it can look for the real source, the color, etc. If there's enough articulation to give your figure a nice pose then that's good enough for me in that area.

Too often I see figures' faces that doesn't look close to the character, but then again if the figures are of low budget then you get what you pay for?

I don't collect action figures, but I would probably prefer no moving joints. The more detail the better, but quality of build materials is possibly most important of all.

Do figures that only have one pose count as action figures?

Either way I'm 100% for detail.

No, those are statues or figurines.

Only action figures I'd collect would be hot chicks (preferably almost naked) action figures, Japanese style cause what can I say, those are usually hot. But those bills in my pocket labelled "Euro" are even hotter to me, so I am not about to exchange those for the aforementioned hot Japanese chicks action figures. Just seeing the pictures you guys put on this and other threads is enough for me.

I'm lame and just collect the Pop vinyls. We do have a couple of action figures. My boyfriend has a Sephiroth action figure and I have a Boba Fett that is still in it's original box. I also have a couple of collector edition statues (Infamous 2 and God of War specifically). I think I might still have a Chimera from Resistance 2 as well.

I don't mind having lots of detail in my figures, I just don't want there to be so much that the figures are basically reduced to being statues.

I generally collect banpresto shonen statues. Affordable and cool looking. Don’t care for poses.

All of it matters.

The ones you've mentioned, plus price point, packaging, scale, variation, 1st issue, reissue, accuracy, brand, and availability.

Just keeping it short and sweet here...