That was a quality read, indeed. Well said, Brian. I know all about the rising costs of making my own figures. Speaking for myself, I generally need parts of three figures to make a new one. With today's prices the cost would instantly be about $25 - $35, depending on which figures and how high the shipping costs are. Mind you, if we actually had action figures to buy here in Holland, the cost would be even higher! CW figures are priced at roughly $17 here in stores....
And after that, the custom has to be prepped, primed, painted, sculpted and so forth. That takes quite some time. And time costs money.
Dayton recently posted a YouTube video of another artist's rant about companies asking artists to whip up something quick for free. Check it out, I completely agree with the guy and I'm not even having to make a living as an artist.