DBZ Android 19 SH Figuarts
 

Dragon Ball Z - Android 19 S.H. Figuarts

https://www.toyark.com/wp-content/up...guarts-006.jpg

Why are so many villains in this line exclusive??

Android 19 fig..
It's Alright..

Now....
Android 18 ;^)

Because they won't sell well enough for a full retail production run. It's smarter from a business standpoint to make them exclusive and thus, made to order.

I could see that about android 19 and eventually 20. You can't tell me saiyan armor Gohan and krillin wouldn't have sold well in retail. It's bandai pulling the same stuff they pull for kamen rider and ultraman making it real pricey to finish teams

They put out what they think based on data will sell. They can only release so much at stores, so they take the safest bets. Should something prove crazy popular at the Web Shop they just make a second run.

They've never done a second run for a web exclusive unless it's also a sdcc one like nappa.

Aside from them being a sponsor as that may seem biased...

As just a fan I've preferred the Premium Bandai method so far.

A fig goes up. I order it. It shows up x months later. I have an easy to get, manageable flow of items showing up. Nothing sells out before I can order it. Nothing gets allocated and cancelled. It's roughly one a month, not cases at a time. It's almost like a subscription service, I just have to remember to order each one.

In addition, the several times they offered pre-orders online for pick up at a show I was at, that worked out, reducing con-exclusive stress.

The prices are a bit high, and the shipping is not free, but these things tend to keep their value so I'm less concerned there. I guess these pay for the 35 dollar Gokus and Vegetas in Target.

I have actually been more lax in the non premium items, as I wait for them to go up at a given retailer and forget, then realize once it's showing up in hand I never ordered it :/.

That's not true.

When I say "second run” I don’t mean a reissue. I mean another batch after the first release. They do this all the time when the initial production limits are exceeded very early, suggesting a high interest. In that case they re-open orders with a later release date.

But humoring your view of what a second run means, they do straight up reissued Web-Exclusives on special occasions, like the Kamen Rider anniversary, and will do so again for the Figuarts brand anniversary this year were people can vote which figure they want to be resold.

They also have been known to bend their rules when it comes to Web-Exclusives reissues ever so slightly by just altering the paintjob or changing accessories.

That's also a big plus for me. My local retailers only get a small selection of the Figuarts I'm interested in, so for the ones I want I have to get them from Japan and trying to get pre-orders there is a nightmare. High interest items have begun to be sold via a lottery system at certain stores in Japan; Western buyers outside the US who don’t get local releases are left out entirely.

Web-Exclusives are way easier to secure.