History: EnsembleDarkHorse / Toys

** Also of note are the Toa Inika. When the story moved to a brand new location (Voya Nui) in 2006, Franchise/{{LEGO}} decided that, rather than create six new Toa characters, they would just take probably ''the'' six most popular Matoran characters (Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Matoro and Nuparu) and turn them into Toa, via [[LightningCanDoAnything space lightning]].
*** The game that made them all so popular was the ''Mata Nui On-Line Game'', whose developers were given instructions to keep the story focused on the side-characters, since {{LEGO}} [[WhatCouldHaveBeen intended to feature the main toy characters in a movie and PC game]]. Following this order, they built up this entire little community and gave some quirky side-characters (most of which [[ToylessToylineCharacter didn't have toys]]) enough screen-time to leave a lasting impression on the fans. Aside from the ones already mentioned, these include the oddball, [[GassHole farting]] Kapura, the [[DumbMuscle dimwitted but strong]] Taipu, the lofty sculptor Hafu, [[IronicFear agoraphobic tree-dweller]] Tamaru, and the [[TheQuietOne taciturn]] Kopeke, who was later made Chronicler (after Takua and Hahli had become Toa) in a fan-poll.

* Takua in ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}'' started out as the FeaturelessProtagonist of a little-known Game Boy Advance game. After he was again the main character in a very successful online game (moving from AFGNCAAP to having his own identity only at the very end), his popularity exploded. In 2003, he was the star of his own DirectToVideo movie where he became Toa Takanuva and was released as a toy set ''twice'' (once as Takua and once as Takanuva). Then he and the other 2002-2003 characters returned in 2008 (complete with new toy figures), with Takanuva being the star of the first Level 3 Readers book and having an online blog that narrated the events of the final (regular) book. And his was the largest figure. He was released again as a ''Stars'' set in 
** Also of note are the Toa Inika. When the story moved to a brand new location (Voya Nui) in 2006, Franchise/{{LEGO}} decided that, rather than create six new Toa characters, they would just take probably ''the'' six most popular Matoran characters and turn them into Toa, via [[LightningCanDoAnything space lightning]].
** Equally significant is the [[SixthRanger 7th]] [[AxCrazy Piraka]] [[CloudCuckoolander Vezon]], a character who was an accidental clone of one of the other [[EliteMooks Piraka]]. He was the 2006-2007 BigBad, but was just [[CloudCuckoolander so wacky]] that fans loved every appearance of his, whether he was drafted to free an offscreen former BigBad who defected pre-series, or simply went on madcap interdimensional adventures.
** A very minor on-line game character, called Tiribomba, developed a small following, despite having done absolutely nothing to contribute to the plot. The reason for his popularity lies in his ''wicked awesome'' name.
* The Alley Viper figure from the original ''Franchise/GIJoe'' line has a huge cult following amongst GI Joe fans, to such an extent that it was quickly re-released within two years of its initial run in circulation.
** Same with the Crimson Guard figures; this was most notable during the ''GI Joe Vs Cobra/Valor Vs Venom'' years, when Hasbro built a new Crimson Guard mold and opted to not release as part of the regular series, opting to make the figure a Toys 'R Us exclusive. To ease fan anger, the figure was largely released in a series of army builder sets, meaning fans buying the figure could build their own units without having to buy multiple figures.
* Mimic, a garish green unicorn from the 1980s ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' line, reportedly did poorly in sales in its initial run. On today's second-hand market, prices soar.
*** It's been speculated, though, that Mimic's poor initial sales are what made her so hard to come by, and are the ''reason'' for her value today.
** Firefly may be the queen of this trope. From the moment she was introduced, she was arguably the most popular of all the ponies. Even though she wasn't in much of the series, she was depicted on a ton of merchandise. When ''Rescue from Midnight Castle'' was rereleased on video in the 1990s, it was renamed ''Firefly's Adventure'', [[WolverinePublicity even though Megan is really the main character]]. Lauren Faust even based Rainbow Dash's personality on her. (She would actually ''be'' Firefly [[WritingAroundTradeMarks if not for copyright issues]]).
----

Troperville

Tools