Are eclusives ruining your collecting enjoyment?

[popcorn]

Title sais it all. Store exclusives are killing the collecting enjoyment for me. Take the Transformers Generation line. I liked what they were doing with WFC and Earthrise. Starscream Tetrajet was well done. Then Redwing was an exclusive. Fair enough, he wasn't a well know character. But then Thundercracker and Skywarp, well known popular characters were exclusives. Then they redo the Coneheads and the first 2 pack was also an excluse. That's when I quit buying them. Exclusive should be for the characters that are C list that would be harder to sell not the characters everyone wants. Recently TOTs did a 1/6 Michael Myers '78 figure. Easy for me to get about a month after release as I wanted to see reviews before purchasing. They made an exclusive bloody version. This is how exclusives should be handled. A variant that won't be as sought after. How do you all feel about exclusives?

 

[Chopper Face]

I quit Mezco altogether due to their one:12 exclusives. I’m in the U.K. so getting ahold of them would be excessively expensive and most of the versions of characters I want led most ended up being exclusives. It’s just not fun having to settle for inferior versions or missing out on a character altogether because it’s impossible to acquire.
Even if I was eligible to order from their site, I hear it’s a nightmare which practically caters to scalpers so screw that. I’m going all in on 1/6 now anyways.
But I can moan some more about tamashii web store exclusives- are they really worried that people won’t be eager to buy any and all Avengers figures? Come on.
Anything that’s a Walmart exclusive- I can’t touch it. Walmart doesn’t exist here.

What bugs me most now is 1:6 accessories as exclusives such as those with the 1:6 Sideshow Collectibles line or Asmus lotr line. Just make a standard and a deluxe version and let people pay a little more for extras. Of course, there’s absolutely no way for me to get SC figures for anything less than $100 more than anyone in the US so really what I hate most is the joys of being a collector in this country. Geography is the most discriminatory factor for me.

 

[ZE_501]

I have better things to do than chase exclusives. As the OP states, if it's an obscure character or variant, fine -- that I can understand.

But when any company or artist makes it hard for me to give them my money, I ignore them.

Chase figures, exclusives, blind drops, extreme limited editions etc. are just a way to create artificial buzz and cachet, and I have zero patience for it. I don't like to feel manipulated.

 

[goatchumby]

I think just about everyone here is comfortable with vendor exclusives that can go up for pre-order as it's just a matter of doing your research and getting in early. However, I don't know anyone (outside of scalpers) that enjoys lining up outside of a Target before they open in hopes of nabbing rare or exclusive merchandise (looking at you NECA TMNT).

 

[dukefett]

Yep, they suck in general.

 

[Starfury1984]

I agree. I'm just about done collecting the Star Wars Black Series line. Having to search multiple Wal-Marts weekly for their Ashoka and Clone Trooper exclusives has become exhaustive and fruitless. It's become an endeavor I no longer have the patience, excitement, or time for. Goodbye, Hasbro.

 

[Ropen]

Back in the 80's this legit happened to the Star Trek toys, they released hard to get figures that collectors just gave up. In this day and age exclusivity loses it's value no matter how you look at it because they are sold at retail, almost everyone complains they can't get one and if they do they sell them over priced, people . To be honest limited numbered toys are the ultimate form of exclusivity, overall some series are the worst "completists" nightmare, especially under the Hasbro Pulse umbrella, yeah you pay for access but SDCC items are like just un fair for some collectors, especially from Lego because they are random.

I'm not just speaking toys either, go into sneakers and it's a different beast, when they mean limited, they mean it, you miss your window and that's it you are forced through a scalper at that point if you really really want it, but the key difference is that YOU know what time they drop and what when, not just leaving it up to guessing on when some poor soul will restock.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Yea exclusives at the smaller scale are why I stopped collecting that scale. When I was younger, I had a thrill of the hunt to find stuff on store shelves, but now everything is only and sells out in seconds.

However, I will say Sideshow exclusives for 1/6 and larger are also killing my enjoyment b/c SS charges tax + their outrageous shipping charges. I've only bought SS pieces when there's a discount code and free shipping promo for an item I want.

 

[potato]

it depends. if the exclusive with bonus is available only via official stores or some exclusive partner stores, at the same price as standard retail, gonna piss people off as it cost more to order direct from them due to shipping.

if it's something only exclusive to certain markets, like Neca TMNT, you either hope your local store stocks them (only 1 for me), or order via Neca and pay the international shipping cost (though not available to all countries), get it off ebay at scalping price or get someone in the states to get it for you and pay the shipping (not cheap ATM).

 

[popcorn]

I have better things to do than chase exclusives. As the OP states, if it's an obscure character or variant, fine -- that I can understand.

But when any company or artist makes it hard for me to give them my money, I ignore them.

Chase figures, exclusives, blind drops, extreme limited editions etc. are just a way to create artificial buzz and cachet, and I have zero patience for it. I don't like to feel manipulated.

Bingo. I have a job and family and can't just sit on the computer all day hitting refresh hoping it's not sold out minutes after it goes up. My local Walmart which a lot of these "exclusives" are barely stock them. There is no way I'm paying over retail for a brand new figure. Collecting should be fun not a chore.

 

[ebor]

If talking 1:6 scale company exclusives--I can't say I dislike them...if it is an "early order exclusive" then why not...but I don't kill myself or my wallet hunting something I miss out on...

 

[Warpig]

Yea exclusives at the smaller scale are why I stopped collecting that scale. When I was younger, I had a thrill of the hunt to find stuff on store shelves, but now everything is only and sells out in seconds.

However, I will say Sideshow exclusives for 1/6 and larger are also killing my enjoyment b/c SS charges tax + their outrageous shipping charges. I've only bought SS pieces when there's a discount code and free shipping promo for an item I want.

It?s so sad, Sideshow used to have free shipping for Hot Toys an $9.95 for their stuff. That was also when they were fun and unique too.