Bandai has really impressed me in the past few years. They seem to have finally reached a good "peak" like Hasbro, Mattel and the American toy companies had several years ago. Now, in my opinion, those companies have since gone downhill...look no further than the plethora of 4 inch figures with 4-5 joints MAX and the pathetic paint-jobs as of late. Look at what Hasbro has done with Marvel Legends...which was once THE collectible action figures to get when Toy Biz had them. And Mattel is all over the place with quality.
Bandai had some standard, run-of-the-mill "action" figures in the past. I know, I had a few of the HORRIBLE, but nicely sculpted, Super Battle Collection DBZ figures from the past. These Figuarts (Monsterarts, all spin-offs, etc.), D-Arts, Robot Spirits have really hit the nail on the head with bringing some amazing action figure representations of characters that had been so crummy in the past.