Parallel import
A parallel import, also referred to as a gray import, is a product originally released in one market but then imported to a different market via distribution channels neither controlled nor sanctioned by the manufacturer, one of the manufacturer's subsidiaries or one of the manufacturer's licensees. Parallel imports are not knockoffs; they were officially released in the original market through authorized channels, it's just that they were never intended to be shipped to a different (oftentimes overseas) market. It's also different from official imports via a Hasbro subsidiary, such as as the release of various TakaraTomy figures in Australia.
The result is a situation where a product is either available at retail in a market in which it is officially not intended to be sold at all, or where it competes with an official release of the same (or a similar) product through authorized channels. For retailers, this is particularly viable when the sum of the purchase costs in the original market and the costs of importing is so low that they can sell the product at a lower price than the official domestic release of the same product.
Needless to say, this sometimes happens with Transformers toys. Not all of these instances are obvious at first sight; however, due to Hasbro's tendency to use different types of multilingual packaging for different markets, any time a figure is available in a packaging format that's not the standard for the market in question, chances are it's a parallel import. Most reported sightings of gray imported Transformers products hail from the United Kingdom.
Examples
- Large numbers of Mexican Generation 1 figures by IGA were available in numerous European countries beginning in late 1988. Known markets to receive Mexican stock were the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Romania, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. One company known to be involved in the importing was London-based W.R.B.I. Ltd.. Some of the figures didn't meet European safety standards, such as the Decepticon Planes' nosecones (which were made of hard plastic opposed to the Hasbro version's rubber) the still working spring-loaded launching mechanisms for all the IGA toys' missile launchers, and the use of high levels of lead in many of the figures' paint operations. In fact, there were many instances where the yellow paint on the figures' eyes was scratched off and then (very sloppily) painted over in red, oftentimes making the eyes look as if they were "bleeding".
- Scout Class Backstop, Brakedown and Brushguard, originally available as "Market six" exclusives in the United States, were available at Intertoys, a Dutch chain with stores in Germany, in early 2012, in non-European packaging.
- Voyager Class Shockwave, originally released as part of a wave that was skipped in Hasbro's European markets, was found at Toys"R"Us stores in the United Kingdom in December 2014, more than a year after his release in most other markets, in English-only packaging (typically the format used for the United States, Australia, New Zealands and Hasbro's Asian markets at the time). Importing was handled by Manchester-based company STL.
- The Thrilling 30 Legends Class two-packs of Acid Storm & Venin, Autobot Gears & Autobot Eclipse, Cliffjumper & Suppressor and Nemesis Prime & Spinister, all of them never before available in Europe, were found at several The Entertainer stores in the United Kingdom in April 2015, in multilingual packaging intended for the Canadian and Latin American markets.
- Voyager Class Fall of Cybertron Soundwave, Autobot Blaster and Grimlock as well as Thrilling 30 Blitzwing, Autobot Springer, Sandstorm, Decepticon Doubledealer, Rhinox, Autobot Whirl, Roadbuster, Sky-Byte and Brainstorm all appeared at retail in the United Kingdom beginning in March 2015, in English-only packaging. Importing was handled by STL again. These saw a particularly wide distribution, being found at chains B&M, Smyths, The Entertainer and Toys"R"Us UK. Of these, only Fall of Cybertron Soundwave and Grimlock had previously seen an official UK release, as Toys"R"Us exclusives.
- The Bumblebee & Strafe Team Pack, never before released in Europe, was found at B&M stores in the UK in June 2015, in English-only packaging.
