Variant

A variant is a product, usually a toy (in recent years, also a often comic), that is available in more than one version, but is technically considered the "same" product from a manufacturing standpoint. Each version differs from the other(s) in one or more ways. The exact definition of a variant is not cut-and-dry and varies from person to person. Though a variant is generally different from a redeco or re-release, even that line is blurry in some cases.

The distinction between an error and a variant is equally unclear: A variant is something that someone might want; an error is something people usually don't want. However, if the error becomes widespread, some people might start considering it a genuine variant. Generally, a variant does require some quantity of each version: Isolated one-of-a-kind freak incidents are not variants.

There are several possible causes for variants: In some instances, the manufacturer creates variants on purpose with the intention to sell more product to completists; in other cases, a variation is the result of an effort to improve the product by altering it in some way in the middle of its production run, with some quantities of the unaltered version having been produced (and possibly already distributed) before the alteration was implemented. This is also referred to as a "running change". In some drastic cases, errors have been found during quality control which then have to be corrected. Sometimes these changes aren't even a conscious decision, but the by-product of subtle changes in the manufacturing process, minor differences in the materials used for different batches of the production run, etc. In the case of toys, variants aren't just limited to the toys themselves, but can also occur with their packaging or the paperwork included.

Many collectors enjoy finding variants. It can be fun to discover some difference in two supposedly-identical toys, and some differences are quite major. Some collectors make a hobby of collecting all variants of a particular toy, which can lead to impecunious insanity if this toy is one like Generation 1 Ultra Magnus.

Collector-incentive variants

Buy me twice!

Companies want to sell their products. Sometimes they try to sell multiples of the same product to the same buyer. One way to achieve this is by offering variants:

• Generation 1 Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were both available in yellow and red versions well into the 1985 assortments. According to former Hasbro R&D Vice President George Dunsay, this was a conscious decision to "make the line look bigger". Less clear is the case of Bumper, an entirely different sculpt who was also sold in "Cliffjumper" packaging.
• Takara has offered quite a few simultaneously released variants of Transformers toys, usually marketed as such. Sometimes they are just color swaps using the same paint masks and tampographs, while occasionaly, they are outright simultaneously released redecos:
  • Binaltech Smokescreen and his retool "Smokescreen GT" were both available in two slightly different decos, with two different driver-specific sets of decals each, based on the real-life rally cars the toys were based on. Similarily, Binaltech Meister was available in both white and red versions, and Prowl was even available with mold differences, as a black and white police car including a ligthbar and as a blue civilian vehicle with a different rear spoiler. Tracks was also available in yellow and blue versions, but the blue versions was released months after the yellow one and shipped all by itself, unlike the other Binaltech variants, each of which shipped in mixed cases.
  • Similarily, Galaxy Force Ramble was simultaneously available in red, blue and yellow versions.
  • Also, let's not forget the chase figures from various blind-packed assortments like Micromaster Collection or the JUSCO exclusive Spy Changers.
• While variant covers have been a common staple in the comic book industry since the early 1990s, usually reserved for the first issue of a new series or special occasions (issue numbers like 500, 333 etc., major story-based events), both the late Dreamwave Productions and current Transformers comic publisher IDW Publishing took the concept to the max, with nearly every single Transformers comic published to date having been released with more than one cover.

Market-specific variants

Buy me in different countries!

Sometimes a toy is available in different versions on different markets. This mostly affects the toys' packaging, but differences between the toys themselves can also happen:

• The most common difference is between Hasbro and Takara versions of a toy. These can range to minor differences in the plastic colors, to different plastic color layouts, different paint masks, different tampographs and fully-blown different decos.
• Material differences can also occur, such as the die-cast metal parts used for Takara's Binaltech toys versus Hasbro's mostly-plastic Alternators versions, Movie Landmine's Japanese vetsion sporting rubber tires instead of the Hasbro version's plastic wheels, or the soft, flexible plastic used for pointy parts on Hasbro's toys in the place of the harder plastic used on Takara's versions. (See also unpaintable plastic.)
• In some cases there are even mold differences, such as some Binaltech toys having their steering wheels on the right side of their dashboards, whereas Hasbro's Alternators usually had the steering wheel on the right side. In addition, Hasbro's Windcharger lacked the long gun barrel his Binaltech counterpart Overdrive came with, and Prowl sported several changes with his car shell reflecting the differences between the real-life Acura RSX (Alternators Prowl) and the Honda Integra Type R (Binaltech Prowl).
• Packaging differences can range from "Hasbro-derived packaging with additional stickers for the Japanese market" (USA Editions, Movie and Revenge of the Fallen toys) to entirely different Japanese packaging for the Takara versions. Likewise, Japanese toys traditionally come with their own (oftentimes superior) instructions.
• Hasbro themselves also have packaging differences between different markets: Whereas the United States market (as well as Australia, New Zealand and some other English-speaking countries) typically gets toys in English-only packaging, Canada and Central/South America are stuck with English/French/Spanish trilingual packaging and instructions, and Europe has to deal with an increasing number of languages on their packaging (currently twelve), and even more in the accompanying instructions.
• Name variants mostly exist between Hasbro and Takara versions of toys; however, in the 1980s and 1990s, European releases could even have different names on the toys' packaging for different markets (such as the Turbomasters aka "Cannonmasters" and the Predators). This practice has been abandoned with the introduction of uniform multilingual European packaging.

Running changes

When companies come up with a way to slightly tweak and improve their product, they sometimes do so in the middle of the production run. This creates "running change" variants, but as far as the company is concerned, the later version is usually considered the "superior" product that is supposed to "replace" the earlier, "inferior" version. This can be an improved tooling of a toy, allowing for more stability of joints or pegs or higher plastic tolerances improving the toy's articulation; it can be minor changes to the coloration or deco, occasionally in an attempt to make the toy more show-accurate; or it can be limited to the packaging and/or paperwork included with the toy.

Sometimes the changes of a toy's colors are very noticeable, suggesting other intentions than cosmetic improvements.

Tooling

• Many Generation 1 toys were available both with and without rubsign indents.
• Generation 1 Optimus Prime had retooled fist holes so that he could better hold his gun.
• Transmetal Rattrap's neck-hinge was retooled to include a "catch" that keeps his head upright better in robot mode.
• The first wave containing Alternators Silverstreak had the toy sport its steering wheel on the right side of the dashboard, a carry-over from the Japanese Binaltech release of the toy. Subsequent shipments replaced the interior with the tooling from its (earlier released) retool Smokescreen, with the steering wheel on the left side.
• Classics Bumblebee's air scoop on the roof of his car mode was made a touch bigger after the first half of his run when it was found that the rubsign did not fit on top of the scoop itself. Classics Cliffjumper was made from the bigger air scoop mold, as were BotCon 2007's Bug Bite and Classics Bumblebee from the Walmart exclusive Movie "Legacy of Bumblebee" three-pack.
• Movie Deluxe Class Classic Camaro Bumblebee saw two changes to his mold during its production run: The initial version had even tabs on its Automorph gimmick; the first modification saw that changed to an uneven tab, which frequently caused the gimmick to break, which in turn resulted in the toy refusing to stay in its vehicle mode; and the second modification, which was only available with the UK exclusive "Towed to Safety" two-pack with Longarm and with the more widely available "Evolution of a Hero" two-pack with Concept Camaro Bumblebee, saw the addition of another small tab which fixed the gimmick's fragility. All three versions are, by definition, "variants", since they were intentional changes on behalf of the factory; but since the intermediate version worsened the toy, not all fans interested in collecting variants would want it.

Materials

• Generation 1 Ultra Magnus and Rodimus Prime were both originally available with rubber tires, while later shipments saw them replaced with plastic wheels. In addition, the first version of Rodimus Prime had toes made of die-cast metal, which were also replaced with plastic toes on the later version.
• Some Generation 1 Scramble City-style Combiner components were alternatively available with metal parts or in all-plastic versions.

Colors and deco

Ignore the left one! Buy the right one!

• The Generation 2 Dinobots Grimlock, Snarl and Slag were all available in three different color variants, each released in sequence.
• The Beast Wars Transmetal 2 toys Dinobot II and Prowl were some of Hasbro's early attempts at same-character redecos: The first few waves featured Dinobot in a bone-tan and purple coloration, whereas Prowl was white, turquoise, and red; several waves in, Dinobot's colors were changed to bright white with blue, and Prowl was now black, blue, and red. Neither toy's packaging made mention of the change, and both toys' packaging retained the same individual SKU rather than having them as completely new releases, as later lines would do with redecos.
• Early shipments of Energon Unicron also had the toy still sporting the same colors as the original Armada release, eventually being replaced by an all-new redeco.
• Movie Legends Class Autobot Ratchet was originally released in a very saturated green color, but later shipments saw his color changed to a lime-ish tone closer to the character's larger Voyager Class toy.
• Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway, Sideways and Scattorshot all had their colors changed to slightly darker tones in later shipments. It's possibly that this change wasn't actually intentional, but just the result of slightly differently mixed colors for the batch.
• Similarily, some toys with vacuum-metallized parts were available in slightly different shades, such as Generation 2 Seaspray or Beast Wars Transmetal Optimus Primal (both with either "blue" or "purple" parts).

Packaging and paperwork

Energon is dead! Long live The Powerlinx Battles!

• The Walmart exclusive Dinobots mini-line had the name "Swoop" changed to "Terranotron" on the toy's character card after initial shipments.
• Similarly, early versions of Cybertron Defense Red Alert were also available with the "Cybertron Defense" prefix missing on the packaging.
• Lines that run longer than a year often see the introduction of a subline imprint such as the Unicron Battles for Armada, the Powerlinx Battles for Energon, Primus Unleashed for Cybertron or AllSpark Power for the Movie line. This often coincides with a slight change of the packaging design. Sometimes, toys originally released before the packaging design change will also be available in the new design.
• Toys may even be distributed in packaging attributed to different franchises on different Hasbro markets: For example, the original Universe line's Micromaster combiner waves (originally KB Toys exclusives in the USA) were released in Energon (Protectobots, Constructicons) and Cybertron (Railbots, Aerialbots) packaging on European markets, but retained the same product code numbers. More complicated are the Superion and Bruticus Maximus combiner giftsets that were originally intended for the second Universe line and were released on some markets (Australia, Singapore) in intended-for-the-US-market Universe packaging, but were released in Revenge of the Fallen packaging in the USA. Since the Revenge versions sported different product codes than their Universe counterparts, this raises the question whether they are to be considered "packaging variants" or different products (see below).

Variants from gang-molding

In some rare cases, toys that were gang-molded with other toys were available in unintentional variants when the toys they were gang-molded with were redecoed for a subsequent wave:

• The Generation 2 Go-Bots Gearhead and Motormouth were both available with either clear or solid plastic parts. The clear plastic parts corresponded with the clear car shells of their wave-mates Firecracker and Blowout, the solid plastic parts with the car shells of Go-Bot Optimus Prime and Megatron (redecos of Firecracker and Blowout, respectively).

Borderline cases

Variant or different product?

Buy two of us for exclusive accessories, and the third one for the toy itself!

Following Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Dinobot II and Prowl, Hasbro decided to become more straightforward about same-character redecos, which have been treated as separate products since then: The "new style" redecos of Robots in Disguise Prowl, Side Burn and X-Brawn sported different product code numbers, as did the red and yellow versions of Cybertron Scrapmetal. Likewise, the limited edition version of Cybertron Primus with the Unicron head accessory also had different product code and assortment numbers than the regular, bonus-free release, as did the re-releases of Alternators Prowl, Meister and Autobot Tracks in the new "bubble" style packaging. The same applies to store exclusive versions of toys containing "Bonus" figures such as Mini-Cons or Legends Class toys. Officially, they are separate products; but some collectors might consider them "variants".

Furthermore, various Energon and Cybertron toys were re-released in Universe packaging as "Dollar store" exclusives, again sporting different product code numbers than their initial releases. Even the Target exclusive Revenge of the Fallen Superion and Bruticus Maximus combiner giftsets sported different product code numbers than their Universe counterparts released in Australia and Singapore, although the Target versions were originally intended to be released in Universepackaging as well.

On the other hand, there's things like the re-release of Armada Unicron in Universe packaging (exclusive to Toys"R"Us) five years after his Armada release, but sporting the same product code number (the fact that he sports minor color differences compared to the Armada version doesn't help either). Similarly, several Alternators toys (Silverstreak, Swindle) were re-relesed in Europe in the new "bubble" style packaging or were only released in that packaging style (Shockblast, Decepticharge, Dead End), even though they were only released in one of the earlier packaging styles in the USA. And whereas the bubble-style re-releases in the USA sported different product code and assortment numbers than their previous releases, the Europe-only bubble-style Alternators sported the same product codes as their original US (and European, in Silverstreak and Swindle's cases) releases. Needless to say, the line between "variant" and "different product" gets very blurry here.

Errors

Sometimes running changes not simply tweak the toys slightly, but are actually intended to fix errors that were caught during quality control, but not until some quantities of the flawed version had already shipped. In some cases the difference between outright "errors" and genuine "variants" is blurry (see the example for Movie Legends Class Autobot Ratchet above), but even in instances where something is objectively a defect, some collectors still consider the earlier, faulty versions as "variants":

• Considerable quantities of the Generation 1 Jumpstarters were available with each other's character artwork depicted in the Tech Spec/bio strips.
• Early shipments of Cybertron Deluxe Class Optimus Prime (a redeco of the Armada Super-Con Optimus Prime toy) had incorrectly assembled and less-poseable arms, just like the Universe Battle in a Box Ultra Magnus release of the sculpt before it. In Prime's case, some people consider the incorrectly assembled version an "error" because it was done unintentionally; others, however, consider it a "variant", because it has been released in considerable quantities, and the later, corrected version was an intentional change.
• The European version of Revenge of the Fallen Scout Class Dead End was initially released with the name "Detour", an early working name of the toy, on the cardboard insert inside the packaging's blister bubble (though the back of the card and the instructions correctly identified him as "Dead End"). Later shipments replaced the cardboard insert with a corrected "Dead End" version.
• While less common, running changes can also occur in comics: The original printing run of IDW Publishing's Movie Prequel issue 1 featured a printing error, with the text captions from page 2 repeated on page 5. The shipment was recalled by IDW, and a second printing run with the error corrected was shipped to retailers. Some fans kept the flawed version of the comic instead of exchanging it for the fixed version, considering it a "variant".

An isolated incident does not a variant make

One variant? Hundreds!

While the errors listed above are considered genuine variants by some collectors, there are lots of other cases where the common consensus is that these are not variants: Every collector has probably encountered at least one one-of-a-kind freak error over the years (Cybertron Red Alert assembled without a head, a toy lacking some of its paint operations etc.). Unless this error affected considerable quantities of the production run, and is found on all specimens of the same toy packed in multiple cases, this isn't considered a "variant" by the vast majority of the fandom.

Likewise, if a single specimen contains an entirely different toy (or at least an entirely different deco of the toy) than depicted on the packaging, this was most likely done by somebody who didn't want to pay for the toy and thus returned the packaging to the store with another toy inside. This is a case of toy swapping (simply put, a variety of store theft), and no more a "variant" than a fan-made custom. A genuine variant requires something to occur at the factory stage.

External links

• Fred's Complete American Variants Page- Very thorough online variant resource.