After three years of canceled and scaled-back events, fan conventions are returning in full force, drawing crowds of more than 100,000 back to San Diego and New York for their Comic-Cons. And fueling the hype are toyco catalogues filled with convention-exclusive products that are both badges of honor and event souvenirs—an irresistible combo for superfans of all ages.

For Jeremy Padawer, chief brand officer at Jazwares, the objective when developing these exclusive products is not margin or profit, but enhancing the company’s portfolio of brands by directly engaging with its dedicated fanbase.

“The business of toys today is about serving multiple groups of people,” Padawer tells Kidscreen. “I’m a believer that if you service [collectors] and you do that in a good, meaningful way, they tend to be much more completionist than any other consumer. They’re willing to dive deeper and help grow the brand.”

Padawer says the collector market’s members are as young as 13 years old and account for 25% to 35% of a toy line’s consumer base, depending on the strength of the brand. In Jazwares’ case, this means developing exclusive products with wide collector appeal—such as All Elite Wrestling and Halo action figures, Squishmallows and Pokémon plush lines, and a fleet of Star Wars Galaxy Squadron vehicles.

One strategy the LA-based toyco hones in on when constructing its fan expo products is balancing scarcity and value for consumers. “If you’re going to a convention, don’t be a manufacturer that’s trying to squeeze every dollar out of your consumer,” advises Padawer. “You should be giving them a value and a benefit because they are willing to stand in line for you. If you make 10,000 pieces of something, don’t expect them to be all that excited about it if there’s only an audience of 6,000.”

While Jazwares focused on producing five convention-exclusive products this year for San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), Mattel unveiled 12 new collectibles for the show during its 12 Days of Fandom campaign in July.

The LA-based toyco’s strategy is to honor its iconic properties (such as Jurassic World, WWE and Masters of the Universe) by developing exclusives that celebrate events in their pop culture, says PJ Lewis, VP of global marketing and portfolio leader.

“We want to do what we can to deliver great experiences for fans around our IPs and deliver joy to the widest audience possible,” says Lewis. “In the case of a brand like WWE, it’s really an IP that reflects pop culture. You don’t need to be a wrestling fan to buy the No Holds Barred two-pack or the Slim Jim Randy Savage because these [toys represent] iconic moments.”

Other pop-culture exclusives Mattel developed for this year’s SDCC include the Jurassic World Outhouse Chaos set, which recreates the T-Rex’s vicious attack on unsuspecting attorney Donald Gennaro from the original Jurassic Park film; and the Masters of the Universe 40th Anniversary two-pack, which pits He-Man against his archrival Skeletor in Mattel’s new seven-inch Masterverse action figure line.

Mattel’s Masters of the Universe hits high nostalgia notes but also has new fans, thanks to the IP’s Netflix revival

Unlike Jazwares, which focuses on scarcity to add value to its products, Mattel is increasing the quotas of certain releases based on what the toyco is hearing from its community, says Lewis.  “We don’t look at scarcity as a strategy. We look at trying to size what we did last year and determine how many more products we need to build,” he says. “We want as many fans to participate as possible, while making sure we’re not in a position of overbuilding an item or getting stuck with some inventory.”

While Lewis sees SDCC as one of Mattel’s pillars on the convention circuit, the company has begun to evolve its collector-targeted toy business by participating in new shows and developing exclusive online products through its e-commerce platform, Mattel Creations.

“I think what we do at Comic-Con and for fans now is a 365-day proposition,” says Lewis. “We’ve built this [direct-to-consumer] arm in Mattel Creations, which is not just helping to shape our exclusives at Comic-Con, but also allowing us to collaborate with various writers, artists and brands to support IPs that may not necessarily strike you as collector brands.”

Since launching in 2020, Mattel Creations has released several new collectible toy lines based on Mattel’s portfolio of IPs, including the Hot Wheels Collectors series, the Monster High Haunt Couture fashion doll collection and exclusive MEGA Collectors building sets.

Meanwhile, National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) has embraced e-commerce for several years at conventions, establishing a six-week pre-order window on its online store to allow both show attendees and regular customers the opportunity to purchase exclusives.

“For customers who can’t go to the show, certainly there’s been a number of challenges in the last few years,” says NECA senior director Randy Falk. “It’s hard to get tickets for these shows. It’s expensive to travel, and San Diego generally sells out a year in advance. We’ve tried to make our system as fair as we can.”

The pre-order window has also been a helpful tool for helping NECA gauge supply and demand for exclusive products, adds Falk. By announcing its SDCC lineup by the end of May, the New Jersey-based toyco can quickly determine which items are selling the fastest, and adjust its production strategy accordingly.

NECA produced four convention exclusives this year: two four-packs for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Dungeons & Dragons Lost Wave action figures; Wedding Greta from Gremlins 2; and a 40th-anniversary The Thing figure. The pre-orders are then fulfilled at either the on-site booth at the convention or shipped out two weeks later so consumers are getting the products at around the same time.

An emerging trend Falk has begun noticing is that, due to supply chain issues, some companies didn’t physically have their exclusives at the convention. “At the booths, it was a pre-order and fulfillment-later system, or QR codes that you could scan—but you’re still not getting the figure for several months,” he explains. “I usually come out with two gigantic tote bags or another full suitcase of stuff every year. This was the first time I left Comic-Con empty-handed.”

Despite some companies no longer fulfilling orders on the show floor, exclusive products are definitely here to stay, and they have become an important part of most modern conventions, Falk says. “Having these exclusives serves two main purposes: The marketing helps create awareness for different toy lines, and it helps offset the huge expense of doing these types of shows and events.”