Exclusive: Difference between revisions
Doomdorm64 (talk | contribs) |
Doomdorm64 (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 36: | Line 36: | ||
In 2005, [[Fun Publications]] expanded exclusives by producing toys available only to members of the [[Transformers Collectors' Club]]. While one each year is produced as a "free" incentive for signing up, in 2006 the first separately-purchased exclusive, [[Astrotrain (Cybertron)|Astrotrain]], was produced based on fan-reaction to an unreleased retail exclusive. Several more club exclusives have been released since then, some of them based on cancelled redecos from defunct lines, while others sported decos specifically designed by Fun Publications. | In 2005, [[Fun Publications]] expanded exclusives by producing toys available only to members of the [[Transformers Collectors' Club]]. While one each year is produced as a "free" incentive for signing up, in 2006 the first separately-purchased exclusive, [[Astrotrain (Cybertron)|Astrotrain]], was produced based on fan-reaction to an unreleased retail exclusive. Several more club exclusives have been released since then, some of them based on cancelled redecos from defunct lines, while others sported decos specifically designed by Fun Publications. | ||
After BotCon’s cancellation, exclusives are now found at the brand new [[HasCon]]. | |||
{{-}} | {{-}} | ||
Revision as of 06:30, 9 April 2019
The term exclusive is most often used in reference to a toy (or other item) that was only available at a specific store or venue rather that at standard retail in normal assortments.
While occasionally these are simply already-released toys in new packaging (often as multi-packs at a reduced price), most often they are redecoes. Very rarely, a toy developed for a defunct line will find itself released as an exclusive to a particular retailer, so the company can make back at least some of the development costs that went into it.
As a rule, new molds are not created for the purpose of being exclusives, because the very high costs of creating the steel tooling elements cannot be recouped with a low production run through a limited venue. Of course, all rules have exceptions, and in this case there is exactly one: Chevrolet/General Motors had the financial resources sufficient to convince Hasbro to produce an entirely new and unique very limited-edition Transformer just for them.
Store exclusives
Though store exclusives in Transformers date back as far as 1989's Kmart-only releases of the "Legends" Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jazz and Starscream, the practice saw little use in the US until KB Toys stores got its own exclusive mini-line Machine Wars in 1997. Store exclusives tied in directly to the main retail line, however, remained minimal in the following years, with Beast Wars and Beast Machines getting one or two.
The success of the 2001 Robots in Disguise series caused a boom for the franchise, resulting in the "big four" chains (Walmart, ToysЯUs, Target, and KB Toys) each getting their own Transformers available only at their stores. Since then, store-exclusives have persisted to this day, with ebbs and flows of the amount of exclusive product depending on the overall strength of the brand. To this day, multiple store exclusives are released each year in the US... with the 2007 live-action movie toy line creating a rush of exclusives that left 2001 in the dust.
In Japan, short-run exclusives are fairly common. There are multiple outlets for exclusives; in addition to the occasional "normal" store redeco, the TakaraTomy-affiliated e-HOBBY online remains a steady venue for exclusives of all sorts. Many brick-and-mortar stores also frequently receive very short-run smaller exclusives (such as Mini-Cons) that are technically given away free, but only as a "bonus" to people who bought certain toys (or a certain amount of toys) at the stores on a certain date. Magazine mail-aways remain a popular outlet for exclusive redecos in Japan, though that practice has fallen out of favor in the US.
Of course, an item that is a retailer exclusive in one country may be released through a different retailer in another country, or be a normal mass-retail release altogether. The biggest example of this is the string of "USA Edition" toys from TakaraTomy, which are (almost completely) toys from Hasbro's lines in (mostly) unchanged packaging, released in Japan through exclusive outlets rather than as part of the normal line.
"Shared" exclusives
A relatively young phenomenon are so-called "shared exclusives", which can best be described as "available in several places, but not available anywhere else". An early example are the Energon Road Wrecker Mini-Con Team/Night Attack Mini-Con Team and Race Mini-Con Team/Space Mini-Con Team combo packs, which were available at both Toys"R"Us and Walmart stores (but not anywhere else). The concept has seen more widespread use in more recent years, often in the form of so-called "online exclusives", which means those figures or sets are available at several different online retailers (sometimes inluding the online storefronts of major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Toys"R"Us and Kmart), but are not supposed to be sold in brick and mortar stores (at least in theory). Examples include the Generations "Ultimate Gift Set", various Platinum Edition figures and sets and the Combiner Wars "May Mayhem" figures and "Collection Packs". However, some of the Platinum Edition sets were also shared between online retailers and Toys"R"Us stores, which complicates matters further.
Convention & club exclusives
Convention exclusives have a more consistent history, starting back in 1994 with BotCon 1994's Generation 2 Breakdown, which had been slated for normal retail release with the rest of the team, but ultimately cancelled. The following year saw the first convention-exclusive toy redecoed specifically for the convention, Nightracer (albeit not to the original specifications).
From then on, each official Transformers convention has had at least one exclusive toy... in fact, as time has gone on, the scale of convention exclusives has only expanded, with multi-toy packs, larger molds, and even retooled items.
In 2005, Fun Publications expanded exclusives by producing toys available only to members of the Transformers Collectors' Club. While one each year is produced as a "free" incentive for signing up, in 2006 the first separately-purchased exclusive, Astrotrain, was produced based on fan-reaction to an unreleased retail exclusive. Several more club exclusives have been released since then, some of them based on cancelled redecos from defunct lines, while others sported decos specifically designed by Fun Publications.
After BotCon’s cancellation, exclusives are now found at the brand new HasCon.
Exclusives in other countries
While exclusives have a long history in the United States and Japan, they were rather uncommon in many other countries until recently. The biggest exception was Toys"R"Us, which carried the Commemorative Series line of reissues as an exclusive not only in the USA, but also in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Beginning with the Movie line, Toys"R"Us also started to sell exclusives through many other of their international branches, starting with the "Decepticon Desert Attack" two-pack of Blackout and Scorponok, which was also available in several European countries. This makes Toys"R"Us exclusives the most consistent exclusive releases across the globe, with the major exception of their Japanese branch.
Other than that, it becomes more complicated: Toys that are exclusive to store chains that only exist in the United States can be exclusive to other stores in other countries. For example, most toys that are exclusive to Target stores were usually exclusive to Zellers stores in Canada (back when Zellers still existed). With later installments of the live-action film series such as Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction and The Last Knight, Hasbro aimed for a very "global" approach by offering many, if not all exclusive figures to stores around the world, and any attempt at gathering a complete list of international retailers that carried specific figures is bound to be an exercise in futility. The Generations sub-lines Combiner Wars and Titans Return also saw numerous exclusives released internationally, including some European markets, albeit not quite to the same extent as the movie lines. Sometimes, exclusives might even be released in international markets before they become available in the US, and might even be easier to obtain there as well due to a different supply vs. demand ratio.
It's also possible for toys that are released as exclusives in the USA to be available as general releases in other countries, such as the Target exclusive Scout Class toys from the Movie line. In return, toys that are available as mass releases in the USA can also end up as exclusives in other countries: For example, in the United Kingdom, the Alternators were originally only available at Argos stores; and a non-AllSpark Power variant of Nighwatch Optimus Prime was also released as an Argos exclusive.
In Australia, stores that commonly carry exclusives are Target (not related to the US chain except for the name and the logo), which became famous for offering an imported version of Takara's Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, Kmart (also not related to the US chain of the same name), BigW, Myer, Mr Toys Toyworld and Toys"R"Us. With the exception of Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, nearly all of these exclusives were also released by Hasbro in the USA, either as mass retail toys or as exclusives. For example, Alternators Rodimus and Nemesis Prime, both Hasbro Toy Shop/San Diego Comic-Con exclusives in the USA, were released as Toyworld exclusives in Australia.
Lastly, in recent years there has also been the occasional multi-pack that was released as a store exclusive in various countries, but was not released in the USA at all. For the 2007 Movie line, this was a two-pack of Voyager Class Optimus Prime and Delxue Class Bumblebee, released as an Argos exclusive in the UK and as a Kmart exclusive in Australia, and "Voyager y Unleashed" two-packs of Unleashed Bumblebee with either Voyager Class Blackout or Autobot Ratchet, exclusive to Sam's Club stores in Mexico; and for the Animated line, some European Toys"R"Us stores (in Germany and the UK, at least) got an exclusive Deluxe Class Autobot Ratchet/Bumblebee two-pack.
Why exclusives?
God hates you and doesn't want you to have toys.
Aside from that, exclusives for both stores and conventions are incentives to get interested buyers to the stores/shows to make other purchases. While you're here for that Transformer or Star Wars Clonetrooper set that can only be found at this store... hey, Dr. Pepper is also four for ten bucks. And look, the new Venture Bros. DVD set is out. Need some paper towels? Tube socks?
For store exclusives, often the chain will request (or in the case of Wal*Mart, demand) an exclusive, perhaps even suggesting (or, again, demanding) a specific price point, should the line be proving popular. Sometimes, Hasbro or Takara may solicit items already in the works as exclusives to stores. Several toys that had been slated for normal retail release, but canceled in the Universe line, for example, were ultimately released as Target exclusives in 2006, and over the last several years, many other items planned for mass-retail were relegated to exclusive status when their standard retail assortments were cancelled, such as the Alternators versions of Rumble and (Jaguar) Ravage.
Convention/club exclusives are a bit different, and involve a lot more work done outside of Hasbro/Takara's offices. The convention organizers themselves write up proposals to the company, including the molds they would like to use, color arrangements, names, any new tools they wish to make, and such. These plans very often change depending on mold availability (sometimes molds are lost, or deteriorated, or are being used for other releases) or plans that Hasbro/Takara have in store for the future. In almost every instance, the convention-exclusive toys would not exist at all if the convention organizers did not request (and pay for) them.
The exclusives from BotCon 2006 and 2007 proved particularly controversial. Many fans complained about the difficulty and expense of acquiring these figures that were representations of very well-liked characters (i.e. Waspinator), characters that had played major roles in stories and never previously received toys (Alpha Trion), or characters traditionally envisioned as part of a "set" of which other members were easily available at standard retail (Thundercracker).
Passions were most intense about the exclusives representing the very popular and conspicuous Classics characters — especially after Hasbro revealed that, to their own surprise, sales had proven strong enough that the line would be revived in 2008, potentially leaving "holes" in some fans' collections.
However, the business decision of using popular characters as convention exclusives has been a sound one: Primus Package attendees contribute the bulk of revenue for the convention, and so turning the toys from "also-rans" into "must-haves" helps keep the show running and growing. It is the responsibility of each fan to determine how much they want to devote to their hobby, both in terms of the emotional devotion they have towards particular characters and collection styles, and financial devotion that they will invest to get what they have chosen to desire.
