Personally, I had hoped they were a retail-friendly stepping stone to getting more MMS into western big box retailers, and that alone. They have made some inroads on MMS with a few smaller chains, and maybe the 5" series will establish more of a footprint with more retailers to that end, but, despite owning a couple, I do not want 5" to be the future.
Not to restate all the points I made before, but I still find it sad that Bandai has had to consolidate down to lower-end product lines rather than simply having different products at different price points. Unlike those other disparate lower price-point ranges like blind boxes, gashapon, and the like, the 5" range seems to aim more for the market MMS is made for than not, but is less in every conceivable way.
I hope it is merely still a foot in the door to get better product into retailers who carry them, but if we start seeing more effort being put into 5", or even the action figure range, than MMS, like more event exclusives, or, heaven forbid, P-Bandai releases, then Bandai will have sunk even lower than before.