Bludgeon effect

Pleased to present for your consideration a portrait of a Transformers fan: you. Age: youthful. Income: slim. Your tastes lean towards toy robots, animation for children, and comic books. It is the latter that captures you now. You find yourself charmed by one of its dramatis personae: a modern reinvention and reinvigoration of a character given little to do in the past. Inspired, you feverishly search online auction houses and dealer halls, but you find that the toy that no-one batted an eyelid at during its original shelf life has now risen in demand–and price–beyond your wildest imagination.

You have just encountered the Bludgeon Effect.

Ahem. Put simply, we define the "Bludgeon effect" as being when the aftermarket prices of an inconsequential character's toy(s) skyrocket after said character gets an important, memorable, or sympathetic appearance in fiction. This differs from the usual toy-shilling methods in that, more often than not, there isn't a concurrently available toy... though sometimes, it can lead to new toy releases later down the road.

In some circles, this phenomenon used to be known as the Furman effect, dating from a time when Simon Furman-penned fiction was the only game in town.

The Bludgeon effected

The Transformers Bludgeon and Thunderwing

...Well, OK, looking at the toy, maybe I can see it.

The namesake for this phenomenon is the "Generation 1" Pretender Bludgeon. Part of the 1989 "small Pretender" assortment, Bludgeon was comprised of an inner robot that transformed into a small tank and a Pretender shell styled after a skeletal samurai. On its own, this was no more remarkable than other toys in the same assortment, such as the monster walrus guy or the octopus bell suit diver. As a result of appearing as a badass martial artist in stories penned by Furman, however, he commands a handsome tuppence on the aftermarket.

The same is true of another toy from the same year: Thunderwing. Part of the new Mega Pretender assortment, Thunderwing had an oni-styled Pretender shell that itself could transform and combine with his inner robot to form a starship. Again, under Furman's pen, Thunderwing would appear in the comics as a ruthless Decepticon warrior with an obsession for the Creation Matrix, and his machinations would influence events in the comic right up until its end in 1991.

Now, despite being the ur-examples of the "Bludgeon effect", both Bludgeon and Thunderwing were available on shelves around the same time as they were appearing in fiction. The characters' reputation and their toys' value are intrinsically tied to the rise of the internet and online fandom. As awareness of their comic exploits spread online, demand for the singular toys of each character shot up on sites such as the fledgling eBay. The takeaway from this is that the "Bludgeon effect" is not necessarily caused by new fiction, simply the new appreciation of fiction. (Though they did also appear in new fiction courtesy of Furman, with both seeing central roles in the Stormbringer miniseries in 2006.)

The desire for Bludgeon and Thunderwing somewhat subsided when new toys were released that closely evoked (and dare we say improved upon) their original appearances. A Bludgeon toy was released in the Revenge of the Fallen toyline in 2009, complete with skeletal face and samurai swords, and a faithful update of Thunderwing came out in the Generations toyline in 2010. New toys of various Bludgeons would continue to surface over the years.