If they did that, then they probably would have still not made a profit. It wasn't even advertised that much.

I think the basic nub figurine was more of a test to see how many/if anyone would buy a figurine. Being unsure about how many people would actually buy them resulted in them taking a much safer road.

If they had the money, maybe a set amount of pre-orders, then they could invest in 3D printers, and have the custom figurines for a slightly higher price. They could have a lot more options with a 3d printer for their figurines. Positions such as the sword slash, sitting, etc.

Example of a 3d printed figurine.
http://www.3ders.org/images/twinkind-3d-printed-figurine-4.png (Unsupported image host)