So many good points have already raised regarding the subject of questionable content in Figure GAF, but I'll weigh in with my two cents...
Lets take an example of an imaginary individual who - off the back of all the Amiibo hysteria in recent weeks - made a click on Figure GAF, thinking "huh... maybe that's a place where people might talk about how cool/expensive/in short supply Amiibo figures are." They see the thousand yard stares of nendo after nendo, lined up like the Children of the Corn. They see a Japanese battle fleet anthropomorphized into a production line of young girls. They see the incomprehensibly endowed Super Sonico dripping in whatever confectionery-based, limb-shattering pose she's been cast in (this week). They close the window. They find the Amiibo thread. They push what they saw into a corner of their mind titled 'closed', never to return.
I don't have much time for the kind of person for whom their thought process can only function in either 'nothing' or 'outraged' mode, without anything in-between. Understanding can only be gained when things are placed in context. Take the example of battle-damaged figures from Kantai Collection - without at least the basic knowledge of why they look that way (for those who don't know: it's the visual representation of their weakened state in a mostly tame turn-based browser game) would almost certainly raise alarm bells. Some might take one look and think the figures represent a victim of physical abuse: torn clothes, defensive pose, face wrought with pain/fear. Are they right with such snap judgement? Of course not. I'm not a huge fan of this type of figure - that's because I mostly prefer positive expressions in my figures - but not because I am offended by them.
A big part of the reason why I (and I'll wager, others here) collect figures is their association with anime series (another easy target for lazy moralists) I have watched, enjoyed, and would just like a reminder of that show sat on my DETOLF to bring a nostalgic smile. It's not for everyone, but I do enjoy 'slice of life' anime - which is about as unimaginable to those who might condemn anime as a whole as the notion that the medium is populated solely by graphically violent animation (said reputation still not shaken off by the mainstream, but not nearly as bad as it was around 20 years ago, trust me). 'Slice of life' may tread on the more mundane aspects of life, but carry with it interesting characterisation, thought-provoking narrative and heartwarming scenarios dealing with the building and/or demise of relationships. Sexualisation in many of the shows I watch is used as a bawdy footnote - done for laughs, but also has the propensity to make otherwise flat exchanges turn into hilarious exchanges between characters. Mileage will vary from viewer to viewer, but it couldn't be any further from the idea of turning young characters into objects of sexual desire, at least not in my mind.
The Beach Queens range of figures (characters put into bathing suits, often out of context from their respective original setting) is interesting. Over anything else in this thread, BQ could be deemed as one of the most prominent offenders for sexualising characters, but step back through any discussion of them and you'll find that most people here don't care for them all that much. The common consensus is that BQ figures are boring, lacking any of the real flourish or flair that figures based on their characters' source material have. No doubt they have their plaudits (they wouldn't continue to be made if not), but I don't see any particularly feverish excitement for their existence or the greater emphasis of bare skin on display here.
The recent emergence of Amiibo and the Elsa nendo have acted as the most recent gateways to a world of figure collecting that many are largely unaware of. Any new member of FigureGAF is treated with a welcoming group of open arms, are kindly encouraged to share their collection, and get connected with others through the likes of MyFigureCollection. My experience of this community has been nothing but friendly and helpful people with broadly similar interests. LEGO, Gundam, bishoujo, nendos... we might not all be as equally passionate for every one of these sub-genres, but there is a mutual respect for all who fall under the banner of FigureGAF, one that I daresay other community threads wish their own were half as balanced as here.
la vie est drôle.
