What are figures made of?

PVC

PVC stands for Polyvinyl Chloride and is the 3^rd most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer and, of course, the most common material used in figure production because it’s cheap, available, easy to work with and recyclable.

 Plasticizers are added to PVC in order to improve flexibility and durability, thus easy to work with when making figures. This additive may be the cause of that peculiar plastic smell when you open a new figure or when the figure is closed in a small space such as a cabinet. Therefore it’s a good thing to open figures and let them take some ‘air’ sometimes.  For scale figures, only less amounts of plasticizers is used to avoid being too rubbery and have a soft, smooth, skin-like appearance which can’t be achieved using other materials such as ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene).

PVC is weak to high temperatures and in time may be subject to lean. Therefore, never keep your figures exposed to sunlight or directly in light. However, if the figure does lean, here’s a solution that may help you. (LINK)

Some examples of PVC only figures: 

ABS

ABS stands for Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. The styrene gives the plastic a shiny, resistant surface while the butadiene gives a rubbery substance, providing resilience even at low temperatures. ABS is strong and unlike PVC it won’t bend, thus ABS is used for legs and base in figures. Because it can’t bend, it will make the figure more fragile. ABS is also what the Figma and Nendoroid joints are made of as well as Figma hair and faceplates. Nowadays (since 2007/8), figures are mostly done using both PVC and ABS together.

ABS is also weak to high temperatures and may cause a yellowish discolouration on the figure when exposed to sunlight.

Some examples of PVC/ABS figures: 

Soft Vinyl

Soft Vinyl can be like PVC (smooth and bendable) and/or like ABS (sturdy and breakable), depending on what it is used. However it is a difficult material to work with and expensive to use, therefore it isn’t commonly used on scale figures but there is a small number of figures that part of which is made of soft vinyl (but tend to be on the expensive side). Soft vinyl is more popularly used on dolls such as Volks and Azone.

Some examples of Soft Vinyl only figures: 

Some examples of figures which are partially made of Soft Vinyl:

 

 Cold Cast, Polystone and Resin

Cold Cast, Polystone and Resin are all very sturdy and fragile, thus break very easily. They are very resistant against temperature, humidity and they're considerably easier to clean. Cold Cast and Polystone resemble porcelain while resin may resemble PVC. All of which are heavier and much more expensive. These materials can be found in large statues, scale figures and garage kits.

Some examples of Cold Cast only figures: 

 Some examples of Polystone only figures: 

Some examples of Resin only figures:

  

There are more materials that are used to make figures like Polyoxymethylene (POM),  Polypropylene (PP), Acetyl tributyl citrate-polyvinyl chloride (ATBC-PVC), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polystyrene (PS), Polyethylene (PE), Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS), Polycarbonate, Wood, Acrylic, Metal, Aluminium, Fabric, Cotton, and even Swarovski Crystal!