Exclusive: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Timelinestoy-AlphaTrion.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Fans wanted this for decades, and now they can have it... well, about 1,000 can have it.]] | [[Image:Timelinestoy-AlphaTrion.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Fans wanted this for decades, and now they can have it... well, about 1,000 can have it.]] | ||
[[Primus]] 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 (franchise)|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? | 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 (franchise)|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? | ||
Revision as of 02:05, 18 April 2012
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 Robots in Disguise series caused a boom for the franchise, resulting in the "big four" chains (Walmart, Toys"R"Us, Target, and KB Toys) each getting their own Transformers available only at their stores. Since then, store-exclusives have persisted and increased in number, though with the creation of the Universe series, most have fallen under that line, even well after the Universe line disappeared from standard retail, and even with toys whose backstories place them quite explicitly in other continuities. To this day, multiple store exclusives are released each year in the US, reaching another peak with the 2007 Movie toy line that featured a plethora of store exclusive redecos and multi-packs.
In Japan, short-run exclusives are fairly common (or, used to be). There are (or, were) multiple outlets for exclusives; in addition to the occasional "normal" store exclusive redeco, the Takara-affiliated e-HOBBY online store put up exclusive redecos for most larger toys, though other online services got some as well. Most "USA Editions" and other toys released by Hasbro in the USA (usually as mass retail releases), but which Takara don't want to sell as general retail releases in Japan, are also exclusively available either through online retailers (such as e-Hobby) or through Japanese brick-and-mortar stores such as Toys"R"Us. 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.
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.
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 and Australia. 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 only released as exclusives in the USA may very well be available as general releases or as exclusives to other stores in other countries (this mostly affects Target exclusives such as some of the Scout Class toys or the "Bumblebee: Evolution of a Hero" two-pack 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, although most of these stores (except for Toys"R"Us) have only received a very small number of exclusives thus far. 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?
Primus 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.
