Yea, I've had ankle sockets that are attached to the body just break on me randomly and quite a few occasions, usually around that U shape at the back of the ankle. I checked over my Winter Soldier figure just last week and his left boot just came right off with the ankle socket shattered.Wow! That’s fortunate.
I’ve never not used stands especially after we started getting quakes in the area but I have had figure’s ankles become loose over time or straight up break. Tobey Spidey, Bats Begins, anything SS clone to name a few.
Plus I’m sure I couldn’t successfully get many of the poses mine are in without some sort of stabilizer.
A lot of my DAM Toys figures have had their ankles become very loose in a short amount of time.