Tail-ender
A tail-ender is a toy that is released near the end of a toy line, shortly before a new line is starting (oftentimes even after a new line has already started). It can be the last new figure (or part of the last wave of new figures) of its assortment; it may even be the very last figure released to be branded as part of that particular line. Typically, the term only refers to figures released as part of general retail assortments; store exclusives are usually exempt. Exceptions are when it's an ongoing store exclusive sub-line or assortment.
Very often, tail-enders are the victim of poor distribution, end up being very hard to find and catching exorbitant prices on the aftermarket even when they're (at least in theory) still supposed to be distributed, thanks to scalpers. In some instances, leftover stock of the figure(s) in question eventually ends up being made available through other venues, often via closeout stores such as TJ Maxx, Ross or Marshalls, resulting in a situation where you can either find these figure(s) for low prices or have to pay through the nose on eBay. In some very rare cases, tail-enders end up never seeing an official release at all, usually when the figures haven't entered mass production yet by the time word has gotten out that the assortment is being discontinued.
In some very rare cases, figures that are tail-enders in the United States end up being widely available at retail in Europe, making up for all the times when European retailers never stocked anything beyond the first or second wave of a line.
Toys
Hasbro
- The final wave of the Mini-Con Class assortment, pairing members of the Deep Space Mini-Con Team against the Street Action Mini-Con Team (Scrap Iron vs. Grindor, Blastcharge vs. High Wire and Backblast vs. Sureshock), was very hard to find.
- The final wave of the Real Gear Robots, consisting of Farsight T-20, Midnighter XR-4 and Twitcher F451 was extremely hard to find.
- The final wave of the Target exclusive Scout Class assortment, consisting of Backtrack, Decepticon Reverb and Gunbarrel, was presumably never released at all, although unconfirmed sources (which are directly refuted by other sources) claimed that these figures were released in Mexico. Either way, all three figures were later available in the aftermarket in large quantities unusual for "unreleased" toys, and all of them included additional instruction sheets in Spanish.
- Unusually, the last-but-second wave of Voyager Class figures, containing Inferno and Vector Prime. Inferno shipped again in the subsequent (final) wave, whereas Vector Prime only showed up in somewhat larger quantities many, many months after his initial retail sighting.
- The last-but-second wave of Robot Heroes two-packs, consisting of Generation 1 Ricochet & Predaking and Beast Wars Tigatron & Inferno, was never released at US retail, but was comparably easy to find in Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Germany.
- Meanwhile, the final wave of Robot Heroes two-packs, consisting of Robots in Disguise Super Optimus Prime & Megatron, Generation 1 Prowl & Laserbeak, Beast Machines Optimus Primal & Jetstorm and Victory Victory Saber & Dessaras, remains officially unreleased.
- The final wave of Deluxe Class figures, containing the red same-character redeco of Rampage and Evac, was very hard to find.
- The entirety of the Reveal the Shield subline imprint fell victim to the then-upcoming Dark of the Moon film franchise, and as a result was initially not stocked by US retailers at all. It was, however, comparably easy to find at European retail, and was eventually made available through closeout chains in the US.
- The exception to this is the final wave of the Scout Class figures (Bodyblock, Demolition Rumble and Downshift), which remains officially unreleased.
- The last-but-second wave of Deluxe Class figures, which includes Soundwave and Wheeljack, was only released through TakaraTomy, whereas the solicited Hasbro release was canceled.
- Also canceled was the intended subsequent "Movie Trilogy" wave comprised of Bumblebee, Ratchet, Soundwave andWheeljack.
- Hasbreo's version of Human Alliance Soundwave was only released in Asian markets, including Singapore and Taiwan.
- The final wave of Cyberverse Legion Class figures, comprised of Rot Got, Divebomb, Bluestreak and Ace Vehicon, was only ever released in Europe and Australia, in European packaging in both instances (an unusual occurrence for Australia).
- The final wave of Cyberverse Commander Class figures, consisting of Unicron Megatron, Ultra Magnus and Decepticon Bludgeon, was only ever released in Europe and Canada.
- The final wave of Deluxe Cass figures, containing Bumblebee, Twinstrike with Piston Hammer (upscaled Cyberverse Legion Class Twinstrike, Smokescreen and Windrazor, was only ever released in Europe.
- The (intended) last-but-second wave of Legends Class two-packs, containing Acid Storm & Venin and Gears & Eclipse, was actually released about a month later than the figured from the "final" wave at US retail, and ended up very hard to find (Gears in particular).
- The final wave of Delxue Class figures, containing Arcee and Chromia, was also a pain in the butt to find.
- The final wave(s) of Power Battlers, consisting of High Octane Bumblebee, Vehicon and Junkheap, fell victim to a series of unfortunate events, among them being a massive slowdown at US West Coast docks caused by union action. In addition, Junkheap is only included in one wave alongside the other two figures, while a revision of said wave that includes Vehicon and Bumblebee but lacks Junkheap. Thus far, the figures have only been available from online retailers, with some never even bothering to stock the wave that includes Vehicon.
