User:Nevermore/Sandbox/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

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:

• While variant covers have been a common staple in the comic book industry since he 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.
• 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.

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.
• 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" 3 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 modificiation, 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

• The original bone-tan and purple deco for Dinobot II was changed to bright white with blue.
• Movie Legends Class Autobot Ratchet was originally released in a very bright green color, but later shipments saw his color changed to a lime tone closer to the character's larger Voyager Class toy.
• Revenge of the Fallen Breakaway, Sideways and Scattorshot were all found in normal colors and slightly darker variants. It's not known when the change happened, but the darker variants are less common.

Packaging and paperwork

• 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 introducton 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.

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. Some collectors consider the earlier "error" versions as genuine 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.

Different-country variants

Sometimes a toy is available in different versions for different countries. 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 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.
• 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, Euopean releases could even have different names on the toys' packaging for different markets. This practice has been abandoned with the introduction of uniform multilingual European packaging.

External links

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