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1->''And yeah, Shredder joins with the TIGER DARK GUARDIAN to become the METAL SHREDDER. Still cool, but kinda average -- yeah, Bebop had a whale, but when's the last time you saw a villain come at you with whale power? And nothing's trumping Rocksteady. I wish they'd made figures of those two, but alas, Metal Shredder was the only one of the three to be immortalized in plastic and shiny silver paint. For that reason, somewhere tonight, someone's crying.''
2-->-- '''''Blog/ScaryCrayon'''s''' review of the [[http://www.scary-crayon.com/spectare/tmntova2/ part two]] of ''[[Anime/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesLegendOfTheSupermutants Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' anime.
3
4In MerchandiseDriven media it's typically pretty easy to set apart the characters whose toys are getting advertised. They're the ones that [[KidAppealCharacter take the spotlight in any given story]], save the day in the end, etc., or are otherwise just made to look cool by the narrative itself. They'll have more character development, more detail in their character model, more gadgets; everything about them ''screams'' toyetic in loud plastic-mould colors.
5
6But not this character. This is the EnsembleDarkhorse of the toyline-driven media, that bursts into the scene like a HighlyVisibleNinja with a rocket launcher and a banner reading, "[[WebAnimation/CheatCommandos Buy all our playsets and toys]]". Only, after rushing to the toy store, mouth drooling and brow sweaty, you find out they don't have their own toy. Often they'll be TheAce, appearing for a brief storyline, showing up everyone else, and then never seen again -- not in the story and ''never'' in the toy aisles.
7
8Most of the time for a MerchandiseDriven franchise the toys are either (a) designed first and the show/comic makers make a story around the characters, or (b) the toy makers and show makers work together, so everyone else is likely to be a FlatCharacter, or even NoNameGiven. Often there are actual limits set to how much attention can be given to these characters; a non-toy character that's not just a TagalongKid being allowed to be prominent is next to unheard of.
9
10It seems bizarre and even out-of-place -- which is not to say unwelcome -- when an original character does become important. They're not always recurring characters but they sometimes get more development and attention than characters that actually had toys, because there's usually a large cast.
11
12Why this happens varies. Sometimes a writer that's been banging their shackles against the wall long enough manages to loosen them enough to get creative and inject a character into the story for the character's own sake. Sometimes a MonsterOfTheWeek winds up getting a little more attention than usual and starts looking {{toyetic}}.
13
14In a boys' show, generally the TagalongKid, the armies of {{mooks}}, and in older series, the TokenGirl will need to be created for the show, and in a girls' show it's the same for the villains in general.
15
16This is not just any character who doesn't appear in their story's toyline. Also note that with many long-running franchises, sometimes toys will be made of these characters and marketed to collectors. The point isn't that no toy ''exists'', but that when the media was made, the character wasn't being used to advertise one.
17
18If a major female character from a MerchandiseDriven series ends up as a Toyless Toyline Character, it's probably because of TheSmurfettePrinciple.
19
20See also SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer.
21
22Examples are sorted by where the character appeared. Franchises spanning more than one media category, like ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Franchise/GIJoe'', have more than one entry.
23
24The inverse of this, a character who appears in the toyline but not in the fiction, is ToylineExclusiveCharacter.
25
26Compare CanonForeigner. Not to be confused with NeverHadToys, which is when a ''character'' never had any toys to play with, even when they were a child.
27----
28!!Examples with their own pages:
29[[index]]
30* ''ToylessToylineCharacter/{{Transformers}}''
31[[/index]]
32
33!!Other examples:
34
35[[foldercontrol]]
36
37[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
38* In the beginning of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'', Nozomi, Rin and Urara were predicted to be the biggest hits because they were the youngest characters; therefore, they were introduced first and got their toys first, and Karen and Komachi got their toys either late or not at all. However, Rin proved to be unpopular and Karen somewhat of an EnsembleDarkhorse, so they switched places in later waves of merchandise. This is most prominent with the second season's merchandise; Rin and Komachi got their dolls late, they were never given trading figures, and their articulated figures can only be bought as a set from Toei's own shop.
39** This has started to fade for some ''Anime/PrettyCure'' villains, even occasionally ones who aren't cute girls, although their merchandise is usually exclusive to the Toei Shop or Precure Pretty Store. However, it was definitely the case when ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'' was airing. Michiru and Kaoru, that season's {{Dark Magical Girl}}s, were made with very plain, non-toyetic designs because they were never expected to receive merchandise, so though they were very popular with fans, this plus the general poor ratings of the season meant it took a very long time for them to get anything.
40** The ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise is hit with this with the ''S.H. Figuarts'' line. Currently, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' and ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' lack Figuarts, and ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'' took ''ages'' to get any. While ''Splash Star'' and ''Happiness Charge'' make sense, as they both were very unpopular when they came out, the original ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5'' don't seem to have a reason. It didn't help that their collaboration with ''S.H. Figuarts'' seems to have been iced since ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'', as no one from ''Anime/StarTwinklePrettyCure'' onwards has received any figures from the company.
41** Unlike the other cures on the ''Anime/KiraKiraPrecureALaMode'' team, [[spoiler: Cure Pekorin]] did not get proper merchandise, since she was introduced a month before the start of [[Anime/HugttoPrettyCure the next series]]. Also, [[spoiler: her transformation was not programmed into the Sweets Pact like on the show, instead playing a generic message from the Cures]].
42** Non-character example: Cure Moonlight's Moon Tact from ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' and [[spoiler: Cure Pekorin's Candy Rod]] from ''Anime/KiraKiraPrecureALaMode'' never got made into toys because both of these items were introduced relatively late in the run of the show.
43* This phenomenon has appeared in the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime and [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh card game]], as well; there are a ''ton'' of cards shown in the anime (and mangas) that were never made. While some of the more obvious ones won't ever be made due to being overpowered {{Game Breaker}}s or having supernatural conditions in their texts (like "The soul of whoever loses this Duel is forfeit to the winner"), some of them are legitimate themes that would have been a blast to play, like the Armor cards from [[{{Filler}} the DOMA arc]] that were sadly never developed.
44** Game breaker cards would also be useless for another reason, they would dominate against almost anything, but usually the hero beats the card through a technicality, a technique that someone in the real world could also use.
45** This has changed recently, as many of the anime cards finally got their release, even if it's already a decade since their debut.
46* ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' gave each of its four main characters' partner Digimon a [[SuperMode Burst Mode]] to promote the Digivice Burst toy. Of the four, Rosemon doesn't appear at all in the Digivice Burst despite appearing in one of the other v-pets in the Digivice iC series.
47* ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' posits a strange example: the series was always quite clearly MerchandiseDriven, with the main character's CombiningMecha forms clearly designed for the purposes of easily combining toys, and such toys accordingly ensued. Midway through the series came [[ChromeChampion OmniShoutmon and ZekeGreymon]], two Digimon who combined into Shoutmon DX. All three {{mons}} were obviously designed in such a way that hypothetical toys of the former two could be easily combined into a Shoutmon DX figure, yet no such toys of the characters ever materialised despite all three characters being very important.
48** The same in relation of [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeaptThroughTime Gumdramon]] and his combined forms.
49** Of course, the bulk of the merchandise is in the form of Fusion Loader and the arcade card game ''Digica Taisen'', with the combining toys merely just a bonus. With that said, it is clearly a waste not to see well-defined figures for the various mecha characters.
50* ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'':
51** In the New Vestroia season of ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'', all of the main Bakugan evolved into new forms as their MidSeasonUpgrade. However, no toys were released of these new forms. Kind of awful considering that these were essentially the ''main characters''.
52** ''Bakugan'' has been notoriously iffy about producing figures of their characters. It was a bit of a problem in the first series when several of the Bakugan that appeares late in prominent roles got no figures, got worse in New Vestroia with the aforementioned MidSeasonUpgrade problem, got a little better in Gundalian Invaders until the later Battle Gear and Super Assaults fell away and became sparse, and then got worse again with Mechtanium Surge, [[FranchiseKiller effectively killing the line]].
53** To add insult to injury, several of the Bakugan which were missed in New Vestroia later got a [[NoExportForYou Japan-Only release]], with Spin Master's habits of plowing forward with no regard to the past meaning that the rest of the world would have to scour ebay for them.
54* When ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' first aired in the west, Mattel released a series of Naruto action figures to promote the show. However, Sakura, one of the main characters in the show never got a figure. This is especially bad because very minor characters like Kimimaro and Iruka got their own action figures while Sakura didn't.
55** Other popular characters, like Asuma, Might Guy, Itachi, Kisame, Hinata, Kabuto and Hiruzen never got their own figures.
56** Tayuya and Jirobo also never got figures, meaning that they never completed the Sound Four. Jirobo was planned, but was cancelled, however prototypes of him do exist out there.
57** Sakura, along with the rest of the female genin, did get figures, but they were only released as Gashapon prizes in Japan, and people who wanted them had to scour eBay for the figures, and pay high prices for them.
58** S.H Figuarts also made Naruto figures, and Sakura was planned and even shown at conventions, but she was never released. Fans would have to wait until 2022 for her to be released.
59* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'':
60** Not counting the various figurines she recieved during the show's run, Pop Harukaze only got one doll during the ''Sharp'' season, which is one of the rarest pieces of ''Ojamajo Doremi'' merchandise even made, and a plush keychain during the first season. She did get more merchandise when [[MilestoneCelebration the show celebrated its' 20th anniversary]].
61** Compared to the other fairies on the show, Roro and Nini only got small candy toy figurines that came with figures of their respective partners, while Fafa and Toto didn't get any merchandise until the show's 20th anniversary.
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder: Comic Books]]
65* Several characters from ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' did not have their own toy, most notably Kwinn the Eskimo and Dr. Venom.
66** Kwinn the Eskimo eventually did gain a figure but it was many years after the character's debut and last scenes in the comic. Ditto for Dr. Venom (who was a convention exclusive). But we are still waiting on Billy and on Bongo the Balloon Bear.
67** TheBaroness was a character in the comics and show long before getting her own action figure in 1985.
68* Despite Creator/{{Hasbro}} and its subdivision Creator/{{Kenner}} doing [[TheMerch action figures]] based on Creator/DCComics during the '90s, quite a few characters were left out:
69** Despite most of non-{{Elseworlds}} figures being based on ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', being mentioned on the file cards, and being one of the main villains, ComicBook/{{Bane}} himself never got a figure in the ''Legends of Batman'' toyline. The closest is the figure for the ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' toyline, which resembles the comic character rather than the film one. Additionally, despite getting ''three'' figures of his time as Batman, ComicBook/{{Azrael}} never got a figure of himself... well, as Azrael.
70** Similarly, despite the ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' toyline being being based on ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' (as well as the ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomsdayHunterPrey'' miniseries and ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent''), Cyborg-Superman is the only one of the temporary Supermen not to get a figure, despite the Eradicator getting a figure, and Steel and Superboy getting multiple ones. Neither did Mongul, despite the fact he helped Cyborg-Superman.
71** The ''Total Justice'' toyline had a tie-in activity book which depicted characters who never got figures in the toyline; while the ComicBook/BlueBeetle figure would get released, and many others (Franchise/WonderWoman, ComicBook/MartianManhunter, ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, and ComicBook/{{Steel}}) would be figures in the ''JLA'' toyline, ComicBook/{{Oracle}} and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} were never made into figures.
72** A toyline based on ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' , which would involve repaints of the ''Total Justice'' figures was made and would later incorporate ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' into this. However, Oracle again, Hippolyta, ComicBook/{{Aztek}}, Tomorrow Woman, [[ComicBook/NewGods Orion, Big Barda]], ComicBook/TheRay, Lagoon Boy, and the female members of Young Justice never got figures. Box set would do exclusive figures based on the "Rock of Ages" arc, but likewise, despite most of the holograms of the "big seven" the Injustice Gang used, as well as ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/TheJoker, getting figures, the Wonder Woman hologram, the arc's true villain ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} (despite the JLA toyline mostly being repaints of the figures in Total Justice toyline, where he was the BigBad), and Luthor and Joker's Injustice Gang cohorts (Circe, Ocean Master, Mirror Master, Dr. Light, and the mind-controlled Jemm) didn't.
73* Speaking of which, ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' only existed to push a line of Marvel action figures from Creator/{{Mattel}}. Despite this, a ''lot'' of prominent characters from the series never got their own figures, including most of the Avengers and X-Men. What makes this so jarring is that a few characters who didn't appear in the comic ''at all'' like ComicBook/TheFalcon, Baron Zemo, and ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} ''did'' end up getting figures. The disconnect between Marvel and Mattel was so great that Creator/JimShooter created ComicBook/SpiderWoman II, Volcana and Titania specifically because the toyline wanted more female characters, only for Mattel to then decide they weren't doing that, allegedly because they suddenly realised they'd need another mold (this is also apparently why there was no Hulk figure).
74* A downplayed example happened with the ''ComicBook/{{Madballs}}'' comic book published by defunct Marvel Comics subsidiary Star Comics that was based on the toyline of the same name. The main story of the seventh issue, which served mainly as [[MerchandiseDriven an advertisement for the Madballs Head-Popping Action Figures]], featured Snake Bait as one of the Madballs that got bodies. While Snake Bait was a Madball that already existed, given that the comic was based on the toys and not the other way around, a Head-Popping figure of Snake Bait was never made.
75* Creator/BillMantlo's ''ComicBook/{{Micronauts|MarvelComics}}'' series for Marvel featured several original characters, as the toyline from Mego didn't have that many characters to begin with. The series was also integrated into the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's existing Microverse. The series not only outlasted Mego's ''Micronauts'' toyline, it outlasted Mego itself! And although Hasbro owns the rights to the toyline now and have licensed them to Creator/IDWPublishing, Marvel gets to keep the characters it created (such as Arcturus Rann and Marionette), and any characters that were already renamed and modified from the toyline (e.g. Bug, who was based on the Galactic Warrior figure), and Marvel renamed their Micronauts group the ''Microns''.
76* Mantlo's ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'' is an even more extreme example than the Micronauts above, as Rom was the only toy in his line. His foes, the Dire Wraiths, were merely described on his package as evil [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifters]] from a "dark nebula". The series expanded on Rom's history, made him [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld over 200 years old]], and gave him a homeworld, Galador. and a legion of Spaceknights, while the Dire Wraiths would be established as a Deviant offshoot of the Skrulls created by the Celestials. At the end of the series, Rom was given back his [[HumanAliens humanity]], allowing Marvel to use him in the future without using his toy-based armored form (which is now owned by Hasbro). Marvel has even had him take the name [[Myth/KingArthur Artour]] so that they can keep the character without using the Rom name.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder: Film -- Animation]]
80* The villains from the ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' [[WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}} movies]] rarely have toys made of them. When they do, it's only when they were brainwashed and good all along, such as Princess Graciella from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAFairySecret''.
81** Malucia from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheSecretDoor'' averts this for the first time; she's the first BigBad to get her own doll. The cat burglar from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieSpySquad'' continues the trend, also receiving a doll. [[spoiler: However, she's not actually the BigBad and makes a HeelFaceTurn.]]
82** Isla from ''WesternAnimation/BarbiePrincessCharmSchool'' lacks a doll because she didn't exist when the toyline was first created; when Delancey (who originally took her role) was retooled into being the AlphaBitch, she was created to replace her role in Blair's group of friends.
83** Raquelle is a rare aversion to the "villains don't get toys" rule, as she's the AlphaBitch bully in ''WesternAnimation/TheBarbieDiaries'' and has a doll in the toyline. Played strangely straight for Kevin, who doesn't have a doll despite being Barbie's LoveInterest (which typically get Ken dolls made of them).
84* ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'': The die-cast lines encompass a wide variety of characters from across all three movies and all of the short films released in-between. However, none of the characters introduced in the tie-in games, such as the Queens cars (Vince, Lenny, Barry, and Sonny) from the [[VideoGame/{{Cars}} first game]], or the foreign guest racers (Giovanni, Otto, Gudmund, Koji, and Emma) from ''VideoGame/CarsMaterNationalChampionship'', ever received their own toys. Especially JustForFun/{{Egregious}} with the 2009 ''Race-O-Rama'' line, which [[InNameOnly doesn't have any characters or paint jobs]] introduced in ''VideoGame/CarsRaceORama'' despite both products sharing a title and coming out on the same year.
85* ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'':
86** It looked like movie-verse's Vidia was going to be this way, until a doll finally came out for the third movie. Even the book-verse's Vidia gets the merchandise shaft a lot, though she does have a doll (uber-rare), some art set thing and a one-coin figure. However, this aversion to Vidia was later abandoned; now she gets lots of merchandise, and it's hard to remember the time where she didn't.
87** Straight examples from ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'' include The Season Ministers, Bobble, Clank, and the bird of prey.
88*** Terrence also later got a doll in the toyline, which was included in a playset.
89* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGONinjagoMovie'': Despite the fact that [[spoiler:the fired generals]] play an important part in the second act, only [[spoiler:the original General #1]] received a physical minifigure [[spoiler:of his fired variant]].
90* The people doing the commentary track for ''Film/OsmosisJones'' admitted they had Thrax change a car to suit his appearance to sell toys of that car. It never happened.
91* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets'', all of the main characters have easy-to-find and abundant toys--except Tiberius. His lack of presence in the trailers and other advertisements makes it hard to know he even exists in the movie at all.
92* InUniverse with ''Franchise/ToyStory''. The two fictional [[WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}} Buzz]] [[WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand Lightyear]] series feature a wide cast of characters. With Pixar seemingly [[ExiledFromContinuity barring elements from the cartoon from showing up in the movies]] and ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}'' coming out well after ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'' ended the mainline ''Toy Story'' movies, only Buzz and the Evil Emperor Zurg are seen as toys, with anyone else seen in either iteration of the Buzz Lightyear mythos nowhere to be found. They aren't even mentioned by Buzz or Zurg.
93* ''Franchise/{{Trolls}}'':
94** Prince Gristle did not get any toys made of him until the release of ''WesternAnimation/TrollsBandTogether'', where he got a blind box figure. This is strange because this trope was averted for his love interest, Bridget, who got several toys.
95** While the other new characters in ''Trolls: Band Together'' got merchandise, Velvet and Veneer only got blind-box figures, likely because of their role as antagonists.
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder: Film -- Live-Action]]
99* It has become an ongoing point of criticism of the toy industry that female characters are often omitted from toy lines. Or, if they appear at all, it's in limited-edition release or very expensive prestige editions. A (very short) list of examples include the Creator/GalGadot version of Franchise/WonderWoman, who was omitted from most toy releases related to ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Rey from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (toys featuring her didn't start to turn up until well after the film was released, ''even though she's TheHero''), the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse version of ComicBook/BlackWidow, Alice from the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' films (also another instance involving TheHero), etc.
100* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
101** The Franchise/{{LEGO}} ''Star Wars'' line began in 1999 , but skipped many rather important characters for several years. Scout Troopers were the first imperial soldiers with Stormtroopers first appearing in 2001 and even then in very few sets. The ''Star Wars'' Icon Yoda first appeared as a figure in 2002, Lando in 2004 and Mace Windu in 2005. Nute Gunray and Palpatine/Darth Sidious as non-Emperor, the main antagonists of the Prequels, were skipped until 2009, when they only got figures in the style of the "The Clone Wars" CGI Cartoon. A Life Action version of Gunray was made however, but the ultimate evil is still left out.
102** The original 1978-85 ''Star Wars'' action figure line did not include Grand Moff Tarkin, despite him being a major supporting character in the original film played by popular actor Creator/PeterCushing. Tarkin eventually got a figure in 1997 as part of the 1995-2000 Power of the Force line.
103** One travesty (for fans) is that Kenner never made Bantha figures to go with the Tusken Raiders. It wasn't until 2007 that Raider figures got their mounts when Hasbro released them.
104* There have been tie-in action figure lines to the movies in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, but characters like [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos]] and [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Other]] don't have any actual figures of them in the aforementioned action figure lines. The Other is especially odd since Hasbro even bothered to make a Skrull warrior action figure, despite the Skrulls not appearing in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' in any way. Oddly enough the TabletopGame/HeroClix line for the movie did the same thing, with several Skrull units but nothing from the actual movie.
105** In general, a lot of the characters from the live-action TV shows don't get figures, usually due to the shows being aimed at more adult audiences, or the characters [[NotWearingTights eschewing toyetic costumes in favor of street clothes]]. For instance, as of 2017, [[ComicBook/AllNewGhostRider Ghost Rider]] is the only character from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' to actually have their own action figure (not counting the figures Coulson got for ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'').
106** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has figures for everyone from ComicBook/TheVision and ComicBook/{{Ultron}} to ComicBook/NickFury and Comicbook/WarMachine. In contrast, there's almost no merchandise for ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} or the ComicBook/ScarletWitch, who are two of the film's most important characters. Fans had to wait until 2021 for the Age of Ultron version of Quicksilver to be released as a figure.
107** Due to complicated licensing issues, very little ComicBook/SpiderMan merchandise was released for ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' (an odd example since a deal regarding profits from Spider-Man merchandise sales helped lead to Disney and Sony making the deal to bring the character into the MCU). There was also absolutely nothing for Helmut Zemo, the movie's BigBad. Spider-Man later did get a figure based off his Civil War design in 2023.
108** A frequent criticism of Hasbro's Marvel Legends line (as well as the previous 6" movie figures in the same style and scale) is that movie villains tend to get ignored. Examples include Whiplash from ''Film/IronMan2'', Comicbook/RedSkull from ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', ComicBook/{{Loki}} from ''Film/{{Thor}}'' (though realizing [[EnsembleDarkhorse this grave error]], Loki was subsequently included in the 6" lines for ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' and ''Film/ThorRagnarok''), Rhino and Green Goblin from ''Film/{{TheAmazingSpiderMan2}}'', Ronan and Nebula from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' (though Nebula later received a 6" figure in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 the sequel]]), Yellowjacket from ''Film/AntMan1'' and Kaecilius from ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''. Interestingly, the Mandarin from ''Film/IronMan3'' ''was'' going to get a Marvel Legends figure, but it was scrapped for unknown reasons. These omissions proved significant enough that Creator/{{Hasbro}} later launched a special 10th anniversary line for the MCU, which finally included characters like the aforementioned Ronan, Yellowjacket and the Mandarin.
109** Korg from ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' was left out of most of the film's merchandise, despite being one of its {{Breakout Character}}s. This was remedied in subsequent merchandise lines, mainly the one for ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder''.
110*** Topaz, the Grandmaster’s bodyguard, did not get any merchandise other than a Mystery Mini.
111** Aversion with ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''. Klaue and M'Baku were initially absent from most of the film's merchandising, but after the movie became an Earth-shattering hit, Hasbro and other companies (such as Funko and Hot Toys) quickly started pumping out new figures featuring the characters that had previously been passed over.
112* Karg from ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' never had an action figure made of him, although his fellow movie characters Blade and Saurod did. This was rectified in 2019, with him finally getting a movie accurate figure as part of the final wave of Masters of the Universe Classics.
113* The toyline for ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' only featured a portion of the cast, meaning a lot of characters like ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}}, ComicBook/JeanGrey, ComicBook/{{Mystique}} and Pyro were omitted anyway. But the real surprise is that Lady Deathstrike, a cool villain who was featured very prominently in all of the marketing for the film, didn't get a single figure to her name.
114* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'', a film ''about'' action figures gone homicidal, had two major villains, Butch Meathook and Link Static, who were never released in real life except in the Burger King promotion. In addition, Troglokhan, the Gorgonite who was butchered by the Commandos and later rebuilt as Freakenstein, had no figures released in his original likeness.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder: Literature]]
118* In the ''Literature/StarDarlings'' franchise, Tessa, Astra, Adora, Gemma and Clover don't have dolls, and Piper only has a Wishworld outfit, not a Starland doll. Cassie has only a Wishworld outfit in the US, but a Starland doll with her pet Itty in the UK only.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
122* In ''Franchise/PowerRangers,'' most of the toy molds are carried over from ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', so if a character wasn't in ''Sentai'', a toy might not exist. Also, it's reversed in the cases of some characters and concepts that were major in sentai but only slipped into a little of Franchise/PowerRangers' sentai footage and got toys brought over. "So [[ReplicantSnatching the pod people]] from that one episode get toys but [[BigBad Astronema]] and the [[MechaMooks Quantrons]] don't?" is a cry heard in more than one PR series. This applies to villains a great deal, as while all six Ranger suits must transfer over, a villain is more likely to get a total costume overhaul. And even then, many are the villains without toys on either side of the Pacific for some reason. Who are your Ranger figures supposed to be fighting? (Although it should be noted that ''Sentai'' is guilty as well. Considering how important the [[ThePsychoRangers Nejiranger/Psycho Rangers]] were to ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger''/''Series/PowerRangersInSpace,'' the idea of not having figures for them is infuriating for fans.) Though this happened less when Bandai America started doing their own molds.
123** This has also happened with Zords. Sometimes it makes sense--the Mighty Mammoth from ''Ninja Storm''/''Hurricanger'' wasn't released because it would be pretty big. But there's really no excuse for not releasing ''Wild Force''[='s=] Elephant Zord or ''Dino Thunder''[='s=] Pachycephalosaurus Zord, which are required for major Megazord formations.
124* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
125** Various belts and items from movie-only characters were never released in toy form, such as the [[Series/KamenRiderDenO G Den-O Belt]] and the [[Series/KamenRiderOOO Aqua Driver]]. Partially subverted in the case of [[Series/KamenRiderDecade Kiva-la's belt]]; Kiva-la was released, but only as a standalone toy and not as a belt.
126** The [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Tire Koukan]] line left out a handful of Shift Tires and Kourin Signals, and two of the three Tire Blendings used by Drive's final form (including his main one). Plus some forms and Riders that only appeared in the movies or DVD specials. Other "gimmick figure" lines had similar lacks.
127** The [[Series/KamenRiderBuild Bottle Change Rider]] line had only seven out of Build's sixteen Best Matches and only one of his five Hazard forms (though it ''did'' come with parts to turn it into another Super Mode that used it as a base), plus two other forms. Cross-Z got his ''second'' form only (his default form and two other super forms were left out), Grease's super form was left out, and neither Mad Rogue nor ''any'' of Evol's forms were released.
128* Hazard, from ''Series/BattleBots'', never appeared in any of the toylines, despite being a three-time middleweight champion.
129* Being that ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' is a series about toys in a toy shop that come to life, one would expect there to be merchandise of said characters. Out of the characters in the show, only the characters in the ''WesternAnimation/NoddysToylandAdventures'' segments got toys, with the toys from the FramingDevice segments only getting a series of stickers, a puzzle set, and a calendar. The characters were also printed on the boxes of various other merchandise despite not being made for those particular lines, such as a toy car series and Play By Play's plushies of the ''Toyland Adventures'' characters, and cameoed in the ''Noddy'' annual for 2000.
130* ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'': Tin Tin, her father Kyrano, and grandma Tracy never received a toy figure, while every other main character or frequent supporting character did. Downplayed with Thunderbird 5; there are some toys of this Thunderbird, but notably fewer than of any of the other thunderbird vehicles. Several lines of Thunderbird merchandising released over the years completely omitted the space station, often in favor of Lady Penelope's FAB 1 car (most likely since Thunderbird 5 never participates in any action, limiting it's play value). There are also various pod vehicles that appeared in only 1 episode, and thus never received a toy.
131* The onee-sans in ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'' used to get a lot of merchandise back in the day (specifically during eras from the Kana-chan era to the Koto-chan era), but once the merchandise decided to just focus on Wanwan and U-Tan, they barely got any merchandise, only appearing as images printed on the bonus gifts that come with the magazines and in coloring books. For instance, Yuki-chan and Haru-chan only got Gashapon toys, while Yuuna got no non-bonus magazine gift merchandise at all. However, this changed once U-Tan graduated from the show and Poupo became the puppet character, with the host Ou-chan getting featured frequently in merchandise.
132* This was enforced in Season 1 of ''Series/TheMandalorian.'' Baby Yoda/Grogu did not receive any toys in order to preserve the surprise of the FirstEpisodeTwist revealing his existence. Disney lost out on a lot of merchandising money for this, but they made up for it in the subsequent seasons.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
136* Back in the day, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' rulebooks had stats for units or special characters that didn't have their own official model yet, leading hobbyists to convert their own [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Ork]] [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Battlewagons]] or heroes like [[AirJousting Nuadhu "Fireheart"]] of the [[SpaceElves Eldar]] in the meantime. But then other miniatures manufacturers started selling models for such units, prompting GW to take legal action - and unexpectedly lose. The company's controversial response was to drop any model-less units from the rulebooks altogether, which infamously {{Nerf}}ed the Tyranids for almost a year by taking away their ability to field ({{Organic|Technology}}) {{Drop Pod}}s[[note]]The cut happened in January 2014, but towards the end of that year a replacement with similar rules called the Tyrannocyte was released[[/note]] and axing over half of the Dark Eldar special characters.
137** This sometimes overlaps with UnseenNoMore. An arguable example of this is Szarekh the Silent King, who while being alluded to in the Necron lore for a long period of time, did not get a miniature until 2020. More traditional examples include background characters such as the High Lords of Terra (barring [[ActionGirl Morvehn Vahl]], an instance of RememberTheNewGuy in 2021).
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Toys]]
141* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'' itself was primarily a toyline, and the story got second billing. As such, any originally non-toy story-only character had to be ''very'' lucky to receive a toy. Of course, this being Franchise/{{LEGO}}, filling in the gaps for oneself through building is encouraged. In fact, some of the side characters [[OfficialFanSubmittedContent got their official toy depictions through contests held by LEGO, where the best design would go on to become canon; and many more minor characters (including most Dark Hunters and many Rahi beasts) were outright created by fans in this way]].
142** In a lot of cases, characters have been through transformations, but only one form of theirs gets a toy:
143*** Lhikan spent the majority of the saga as a small Turaga elder, but his only toy is his heroic Toa form. There actually was a goofy-looking promo mini set that kinda resembled Lhikan's Turaga form, and for a long while fans used it as a stand-un, until Greg Farshtey officially canonized it as the set representation of Turaga Lhikan, eight years after its initial release.
144*** Nidhiki was mutated from a Toa into an insectoid creature sometime before the saga, so his toy was that of his mutant self, but he is largely featured in stories before his mutation. Turaga Dume is another important character, although his Toa-state hasn't actually had any importance. A year after their debut, two Toa sets came out that looked suspiciously like them, but these were the Toa forms of two separate, likewise mutated characters instead: Iruini and Norik respectively, from the then-released smaller Rahaga set-line -- meaning that the other four Rahaga's Toa forms also ended up being toyless.
145** Indeed, there were multiple obvious design similarities between the mutated Nidhiki and Toa Iruini and Turaga Dume and Toa Norik that were "written off as mere coincidences" -- and in the case of Norik's mask, it was explained that it got reshaped to ''look like'' the type of mask worn by Dume [[note]]This actually cause a bit of ire in fans because Iruini's mask was stated to be different from that of Nidhiki's, while another mask that looked nothing like him was said to be the one Nidhiki wore. Similarly, The mask worn by Norik was made in honor of a past hero, but this hero was explicitly NOT Dume, just someone who happened to wear the same mask. On top of that, Norik's mask had a power that wasn't assigned to another mask, ever, so since each mask held a unique power, the only official depiction of ''that'' mask is a copy of not-Dume's mask. Go figure[[/note]]. However, Greg Farshtey later confirmed that the idea of Toa Iruni being the set of Toa Nidhiki was discussed "for all of 35 seconds", that he didn't think a Toa Dume set was ever discussed, and if the set had ended up being Nidhiki, it's entirely possible the mask could have ended up being redesigned.
146*** The six Barraki figures and the Karzahni set also show them in their mutated states. At least for Karzahni, we have a picture of what he looked like pre-mutation -- [[UnreliableIllustrator disregarding the colors]].
147** Certain characters would be introduced long before a toy was available to them, despite their significance to the plot. The BigBad himself didn't get a toy until 2 years after the story had started, due to spending those years as a mysterious unseen presence. A proper Mask of Life would not be made until 3 years after it's introduction. [[note]]In the year it was introduced, there ''was'' a Mask of Life made, but it was part of Vezon's face and looked nothing like the mask depicted in the illustrations. Two years later the mask would be made, but it was silver as opposed to the stated "gold" color, due to storyline importance. The Gold version of the mask would not be made until another year later, worn by Mata Nui's large, non-canon set.[[/note]]
148** Perhaps the shining example is the Dark Hunter Lariska. She was a prominent player between 2006 through 2008, and yet not only has no toy, but no canon image whatsoever, leading her to being excluded from the Dark Hunter book. Quite unusual to have no image for such an iconic character.
149** Mata Nui's original Great Spirit Robot form has no toy representation, despite being probably the most important character in the story. Given his design, though, he was probably never intended to have one, a fact which hasn't kept it from being ''heavily'' featured in the later media.[[note]][[http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Eman477/TitanMataNui/headchange.jpg Though the aforementioned Mata Nui set might be based off of it, though if so it was not very accurate...]][[/note]]
150** Some toyless characters were originally supposed to have toys -- two of the comics give us a good idea of what the Baterra would have looked like as a set for instance -- it's just that the line got CutShort before these could have been released.
151** Averted with Nektann, who had simply been an offhand reference in the story lore; but when a new Piraka toy was made that didn't match any of the existing Piraka, Nektann was an existing character of the correct species so LEGO said the toy was him.
152** In the late 2010's/early 2020's; Farshtey and fan site TTV collaborated to elevate several fanon designs as canon for several toyless characters, including Helryx, Artakha and the four remaining Toa Hagah. This produced several instructions for fans to use LEGO pieces and custom 3D printed parts to create their own toys to represent the previously toyless characters. The project was plagued though with plenty of fan complaints about TheyChangedItNowItSucks regarding how having ''canon'' designs for previously toyless characters limited fan's imaginations; and the project came to a shocking sudden end when Farshtey was laid off from LEGO in 2022 as the company downsized its print media division.[[note]]That didn't stop fans from continuing the contests in terms of pure fanon though as You Tube content creator Duck Bricks launched a Lariska themed contest later the same year to continue the planned path TTV and Greg had originally plotted for the ill-fated canonization contests.[[/note]]
153* ''Toys/Bionicle2015'':
154** Ekimu got released in the second wave, though he was an important character before that.
155** Book-exclusive characters like Bingzak, Harvali or Axoto didn't get sets. Nor did the red Skull Spider from the promo comics, since the only available colors are blue, silver and bright green. The Ice Shadow Trap wasn't ever sold either, but its appearance from the cartoon can easily be replicated if one has the necessary Lego pieces.
156** [[BigBad Makuta]] is an interesting case: he's had at least two canonical forms shown off in media, his standard villager form (which had two distinct designs, one in the webisodes and comics, and one in the cartoon) and his enormous "shadow titan" form. Lego released a designer video showing off two other possible titan Makuta forms along with a prototype version of his mask -- none of which got released as toys due to the line getting CutShort again. The titan's cartoon design can however be constructed out of various other ''Bionicle'' toys (sans his mask) and a good approximation of his villager form can also be built since its mask ''was'' released.
157** Subverted with the six ancient Protectors. Technically never released as toys, but they look exactly the same as the six actual Protector figures.
158* ''Toys/HeroFactory'', is somewhat better with this with its significantly smaller cast, and most of the toyless characters are minor support staff for the protagonists who aren't all that important (though, their designs in the TV series are such that it's virtually impossible to make a decent scale model of any of them, no matter how expansive your stock of LEGO is).
159%%* ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' has a few.
160* ''Toys/EverAfterHigh'':
161** ''Ever After High'' has several, oddly enough. Between some excellently-designed Backgrounders (who aren't even named), and the occasional named character with some importance (Melody Piper went two years without a doll; Hopper Croakington and Humphrey Dumpty never, ever received them), you'll find a lot of fans clamoring for dolls. Male characters especially suffer from this — Daring Charming was a character of great importance to the plot from the beginning (he was the most high-end of the male Royals, Dexter's brother, and believed to be Apple's betrothed in the future), yet didn't get a doll for the first three years of the franchise. Key villains like The Evil Queen, The Cheshire Cat and The Red Knight also go without dolls.
162** Moreover, various movies and shorts give huge chunks of the cast new dresses... but only a handful of these are ever made into dolls. "Thronecoming" gave us only a handful of dolls, with a half-dozen getting designs in the episode. "The Dragon Games" featured plenty of new dolls in sporty gear... but another chunk of the cast never got any. Faybelle Thorn got a new look in "Epic Winter", but her outfit was palette-swapped from Apple White's doll -- Apple barely appears in that movie.
163** As mentioned, many "backgrounders" have designs on par with the toy characters but they're never even ''named''. Several feature completely original designs (not generic ones or reused assets) but are still nameless extras. Only a handful of backgrounders, like Lilly-Bo Peep and Rosabella Beauty, make the leap to being [[AscendedExtra actual characters]]. For example, there's one long-haired boy in a gothic-looking suit, a girl in a golden Indian-inspired dress, a girl with distinctive pink-and-purple hair, and two girls (probably twins) with similar green-and-black striped hair. It's been stated that a few of the backgrounders look so elaborate because they're designed either after staff or people that the staff know.
164* ''Toys/MilkyWayAndTheGalaxyGirls'' has a few characters like Milky Way's little sister and Pluto's band-mates who exist as official art but have no toys.
165* ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'': Barbie's parents only exist in books. They've never appeared as their own dolls.
166[[/folder]]
167
168[[folder: Video Games]]
169* It's hard being a character in the ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' franchise if you're not one of the eponymous Skylanders. While the Skylanders themselves are arguably the point, being as they're toys you can bring to life in a video game, there are plenty of non-game-related toys... and those still focus primarily on the Skylanders. Want a figure of the main villain, Kaos, and his sidekick Glumshanks? Want one of the iconic villains, like the Chompies? Heck, want the Skylander's primary sidekick throughout the series, Flynn? Aside from a few rare occurrences (like Happy Meal toys), the non-Skylanders characters tend to get the shaft. Heck, Flynn's ''ship'' has a playset, while he's usually overlooked.
170** The ''Imaginators'' line solved this, with many of the new characters being released being bad guys from the game before, ''Trap Team'', including Kaos, Chompy Mage and Wolfang.
171* Due to its ContestedSequel status among the fans, it's relatively rare for characters from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' to be featured in merchandise for the series. The main exception is Ibuki, who has EnsembleDarkhorse status. For instance, she and Remy were the only characters from ''III'' to be featured in SOTA's beloved ''Street Fighther'' action figure line.
172* Despite coming out with five video games (three for Creator/DCComics, two so far for the Creator/MarvelComics heroes, ''Franchise/{{LEGO}}'' has only managed to come out with actual mini figures of the primary heroes (and villains) in both universes. Several heroes (and villains) that are shown in the video games have yet to have actual figures made of them.
173** Justified in that many of the minifigs that appear in-game are designed by the video game designers rather than Lego, many of the characters wouldn't have even a prototype for a physical model.
174** ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' is the biggest offender of this by far; almost half of the franchises represented in the game [[note]]''VideoGame/Portal2'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', [[Creator/MidwayGames Midway Arcade]], ''Film/MissionImpossible'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', ''Series/KnightRider'', ''Film/TheGoonies'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', and ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''[[/note]] don't have ''any'' sets based on them outside of the packs required to unlock them in-game, and even then, the vehicles that come with the packs will occasionally be bigger in-game than their actual physical model is.
175* Despite being one of the title characters, no toys have ever been released for Kazooie of ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Banjo got one toy release based off of his ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' appearance, but because Kazooie was not with him in that game, she was not included. Interestingly, there ''had'' been plans for a Banjo-Kazooie toy to be released, but it fell through and only the finished, painted prototype (which ended up [[http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/now-you-can-own-this-rare-prototype-banjo-kazooie-toy-for-20k/ selling on eBay for a cool twenty thousand dollars]]) was made. (As the duo would ultimately make it into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', they would eventually get an Toys/{{amiibo}}, which does prominently feature Kazooie.) Plush toys are a different story: when the first game was released Nintendo made a small plush of the pair together, and in 2022 a larger plush toy of both at once was released, with the Kazooie plush even capable of being removed from Banjo's backpack and acting as her own toy.
176* Practically all the official action figures and model kits for ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' revolve around Raiden. This is likely due to the game's development having been outsourced to Creator/{{PlatinumGames}}, resulting in all of the game's original elements being co-owned by them. Since Raiden was an established character from previous ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, the rights to his character are fully owned by Creator/{{Konami}}, making him exempt from any co-ownership. Want a Raiden figure? You have your choice of Play Arts, Revoltech Yamaguchi, Hot Toys, and Gecco (with some of these being available in [[PaletteSwap recolors]] as well). On the other hand, if you want a Bladewolf to accompany your Raiden, then tough luck. Want a Jetstream Sam or any of the Winds of Destruction for your Raiden to face? Too bad. The only non-Raiden merchandise based on ''MGR'' was a pair of Dwarf Gekko figures sold by Sentinel Toys, which were enemy mechs previously introduced in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''.
177* The various DLC for ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' included SuperDeformed versions of Alphamon, Omnimon, and Gallantmon based on the NXEDGE Style figures released around the same time. The DLC also included similar versions of Crusadermon and Leopardmon despite them not having figures in the toyline, but by virtue of being important players in ''[[VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth Cyber Sleuth]]'''s story.
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Web Animation]]
181* Shea Fontana's ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' was made to promote a toyline by Mattel, but the only characters besides the main heroines to get their own dolls are Starfire, Cheetah, Frost and Hawkgirl, with none of the male characters getting toys at all. This is slightly mitigated in the LEGO sub-line by at least including minifigures of Steve Trevor, the Flash, Mad Harriet, Lashina, Eclipso, Lena Luthor and Krypto, but Katana is curiously the only one of the main heroines to ''not'' get her own minifigure. In addition, while Beast Boy didn't have a doll included in the main line, he at least had a figure in the Action Figures line aimed at collectors.
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Western Animation]]
185* Sparks, Big Lob and Pythona in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero''. Sparks appeared in a couple of episodes during the first season as a communication officer for the Joes before retiring from duty[[note]]In the second season episode "Grey Hairs and Growing Pains", he had a cameo in his post-Joe job as a TV network video engineer[[/note]] (and being replaced by Breaker and Dial-Tone). Big Lob and Pythona were exclusive to ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie''.
186** [[http://www.yojoe.com/action/07/alexsparksverdi.shtml Sparks]] and [[http://www.yojoe.com/action/10/biglob.shtml Big Lob]] were eventually made into collector's club exclusive figures in 2007 and 2010 respectively, with Pythona following in 2016.
187** The short-lived mid-'90s ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeExtreme'' spinoff had action figures planned for Mayday (the Extreme Team's [[TheSmurfettePrinciple token female]]) and Quick Stryke, as well S.K.A.R. members Wreckage and Rampage. The unpopularity of the ''Extreme'' series resulted in these characters being shelved from the toyline, although [[http://www.yojoe.com/action/other/extreme/unproduced/ prototypes]] have been known to exist.
188* Neither Squeaky Cleen nor any of the female characters (Mainframe, Nightshade, Ms. Demeanor and Mirage) from ''WesternAnimation/COPS1988'' were action figures to start with. And we do mean "start with"; like ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Franchise/GIJoe'', [[MerchandiseDriven the toys came first]].
189* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'':
190** The Peculiar Purple Pieman Of Porcupine Peak in the second generation line; though he seems not to fit, being a villain, back in the 1980s, he ''was'' represented. He's not even mentioned in the third generation cartoon though he does appear in the IDW comics. First-generation characters that appeared in the animated specials but not the toyline include T.N. Honey (''Big Apple City'') and four of the Berrykins (''Meets the Berrykins'' introduces ten of them, but only six became toys).
191** Despite showing up in the first special in 1980, Plum Puddin' didn't get a toy until 1984, by which time he had [[GenderFlip become a she]] ([[WordOfGod According to]] Creator/{{Hasbro}}, this is because dolls of [[TheOneGuy Huckleberry Pie]] didn't sell very well).
192* ''Franchise/Ben10'':
193** Over the course of the original continuity, Ben unlocked many new aliens, however, a ton of them were never made as toys, such as Chamalien, Atomix, Eye Guy, Ultimate Way Big, Ditto, Fasttrack, Gutrot, etc. Some of them, like Chamalien, Gutrot and Atomix have been made, but they are unlicensed bootlegs, and were only sold in China and India.
194** In '' WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', Bandai wanted Skurd, to be in the show because of an idea for something that allowed one Omnitrix alien to use the abilities of another. They made this concept so they could make toys based around it. Ironically, however, the toys were never released.
195** In [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 the reboot]], the Omni-Enhanced and Omni-Kix forms were created so Playmates could make toys of them, however a ton of them were never released, such as Omni-Enhanced Grey Matter, Omni-Enhanced Stinkfly, Omni-Enhanced Wildvine and Omni-Kix Rath.
196* The ''WesternAnimation/TheBotsMaster'' was intended to be a MerchandiseDriven show, but in the end, only a handful of the large cast of characters were made into toys [[ScrewedByTheMerchandise due to poor sales cancelling both the toyline and the show itself]], turning the rest of the cast, who very much look designed to be made into toys, into this.
197* ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse''
198** ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' had a few characters who were introduced apparently to promote new action figures, but said figures never materialised - Strongarm and Lizard Man for instance. The Sorceress and King Randor didn't receive action figures until the final wave despite being major characters in the cartoon.
199** ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfHeMan'' had important supporting characters who didn't make the cut into the toyline, like Mara and Crita, the main females from each side. Mara even got [[http://www.he-man.org/collecting/prototypeitem.php?id=2777 a prototype]] before the toyline cancellation. She and Crita then got their own figures years later.
200** [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002 The 2002 series]] and its toyline had a lot of problems, and this was one of them. Among the characters excluded were Clawful and Stinkor (two of Skeletor's main henchmen), recurring villains Webstor, Evilseed, and Count Marzo, and nearly all of the Snake Men (who were the main villains of the cartoon's final season!). As a consolation prize, most of these characters were represented in NECA's later line of mini-statues based on the series.
201** Generally speaking the Classic line spent a lot of its time correcting this, giving toys to either previously-toyless yet recurring characters from both cartoons (like Queen Marlena and Count Marzo) or one-off villains from the original series (like Icer, Fang Man, Batros, and the above-mentioned Strongarm), and the two Evilseed's. Filmation Count Marzo, and the others are still waiting, though.
202*** With the end of the Classic line in 2019, the chances of them having figures are unlikely now due to Mattel revoking [=Super7=]'s licence and opting to do a new line of 5 inch scale action figures that harkens back to the original toyline with added articulation.
203* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}'' has a few examples of this trope. Crystal Kane, the team's MissionControl, was never an action figure; neither were {{Team Pet}}s Shadow the dog and Lucy the orangutan, {{Cyborg}} [[FishPeople Fish Person]] Mako, or MechaMooks Groundborg and Seaborg. An interesting case happened with {{Sixth Ranger}}s Rex Charger and John Thunder: they were intended to be in the second wave of toys, but were cancelled together with the line. Even this new wave did not have the above mentioned Crystal, etc: however, bootlegs of her exist.
204* In the ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop1995'' TV series, Chet was the only one of the major characters who wasn't made as a toy.
205* For ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', there are way fewer toys of Vinnie than any of the other main pets. While at the beginning of the show, the characters for the toys were created independently of the show except for [[LegacyCharacter Penny]] and [[BreakoutCharacter Zoe]], from late 2014 and onwards, Hasbro made a greater attempt to match the ''Littlest Pet Shop'' toys to the characters from the show. However, in these some lines, such as the official plushes and the capsule-based squishy figurines, Vinnie is left out entirely with the exception of a few collectors' sets.
206* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'':
207** In the last two seasons the Ninja Turtles faced fiction-only BigBad Lord Dregg. Carter, the Turtles' equally toyless SixthRanger human ally, was introduced around the same time. Previously, even Burne got a toy.
208** In addition, recurring baddies Lotus Blossom, Don Turtelli, Bezerko, Tempestra, and Big Louie missed out on plastic.
209** The second series skipped over many important characters, especially in the last three seasons. This includes many characters and concepts developed in the cartoon SPECIFICALLY to be made into toys!
210* Many characters and vehicles from ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', such as the Ecto-Ichi, although the main cast is well represented in the toyline.
211** Elsewhere in [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} that franchise]], while most of the heroes of ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' got action figures, HandicappedBadass Garrett Miller was conspicuously absent from the toyline (although a prototype figure exists).
212* Mira Nova, Commander Nebula, and over ''3 quarters'' of the villains in ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand.''
213* TheSmurfettePrinciple strikes again: Neither of the female knights from ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'' began as action figures. They weren't even planned to be adapted to the toy line's (canceled) second year, which had original characters instead.
214** Also from ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'': Merklynn, the powerful wizard who sent the knights on their quests, did not begin as and wasn't powerful enough to become a figure. At least Hasbro planned to include a holographic image of him in the unproduced Iron Mountain playset, but he was not planned to be a posable figure.
215* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
216** They [[http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Category:TV_and_Movies_Exclusive_Ponies occasionally dipped into this trope]] for background characters during the G1 and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3 G3]] eras, most famously with First Born (from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials Rescue From Midnight Castle]]'') and Fiesta Flair. Fiesta Flair from G3 is an interesting example. She was never put into the toys and her design was reused for Candy Apple but she appears prominently in specials, even as a cameo in G3.5 long after her time. Danny, the brother of human protagonist Megan Williams from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' and TheOneGuy along with Spike, never had a toy either.
217** Then they fully embraced this trope for the G4 adaptation, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.%%This example should have a list of toyless characters here; please don't re-add the ridiculously long and somewhat outdated list of the "only characters who appear (or will appear) in both the show and the toyline."
218*** It gets even stranger when you realize that there are over 50 [[ToylineExclusiveCharacter characters who have toys but don't appear in the show]] (mostly {{Palette Swap}}s of toy characters who do appear in the show).
219*** This even extends to accessories, like the twelve dresses introduced in an episode all about dresses, six of which make cameo appearances in other episodes and are featured again in the first SeasonFinale. You won't find those dresses on store shelves. In 2015 [[http://www.mlpmerch.com/2016/01/rainbow-dash-and-rarity-fashion-styles-at-target-australia.html Rarity and Rainbow Dash]] were finally released in their Gala outfits as Fashion Style dolls and in early 2017,[[http://data.mlpmerch.com/brushables/set/reboot-series/runway-fashion/ Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash (again)]] were released as regular sized Playful Ponies in their Gala dresses and can be paired with a special Rarity playset based around Canterlot Carousel. Build-a-Bear also sold the Gala dresses for their line of ''My Little Pony'' plush dolls.
220*** Naturally, the show's large PeripheryDemographic fandom, frustrated by the lack of official toys from Hasbro, has started making them themselves. A good plushie version can go for over a hundred dollars on eBay.
221*** This slowly began being remedied in 2012-2013 as some of the supporting and incidental ponies from the show finally [[CanonImmigrant made the jump]] to the toyline and a small number of ponies from the toyline (Blossomforth, Sweetcream Scoops, Sugar Grape, Lovestruck, Forsythia, Cherry Spices, Barber Groomsby, Tealove, Bumblesweet, and Diamond Rose) finally made the jump to either the show or the ExpandedUniverse.
222*** The Breezie versions of the Mane Six and the colorful changelings both seem to only have been put in the show to advertise toy designs, but neither of them actually made it to the shelves. Not even Ocellus got a toy: instead it was the rest of the Student Six and Cozy Glow.
223** Although Photo Finish & the Snapshots from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' have recieved a full trio of dolls, and most of the humanized background [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorites]] have also appeared in said toyline (even a few that aren't in the film), Trixie's bandmates remain toyless.
224** Some of the characters from ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 My Little Pony: The Movie]]'' only got collector's toys (the Storm King and Grubber) or had only one toy made of them (Capper and Queen Novo), while Verko didn't get any toys.
225* Gloria Baker from ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'' is an interesting example. During the first three years, neither she nor her vehicle, the Shark, made it to toy stores. She finally got a figure for the Split Seconds line, but not with the Shark.
226* None of the villains of ''WesternAnimation/SkysurferStrikeForce'' were made into toys, not even series BigBad, Cybron and his team of Bioborgs.
227* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' was based on Mattel's toyline "Batman: The Brave and the Bold". The female heroes, amongst others, were not allowed episodes of their own because they did not have toys in the toyline, as only Batman, Plastic Man, Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Gorrila Grodd, Robin, Joker, and Bwanna Beast did. However, realistic versions of the females were available as DC Universe Classics.
228* Out of the countless [[EnvironmentSpecificActionFigure Batman variant figures]] in Hasbro's ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' toyline, Only three Jokerz (J-man, Smirk, and Spike), Blight, and The Joker Virus from the Batlink sub-line were released, leaving other villains like Inque, Shriek, and Spellbinder without action figures.
229* In ''WesternAnimation/StoneProtectors'', Opal was created for the show. She wasn't added to the second set of figures either.
230* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' is an extreme example of this trope, as ''no'' toys were ever produced for the show. The toys were pitched, but no stores wanted them, because they were still trying to get rid of toys from the Creator/RyanReynolds ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' movie, which flopped horribly. The fact that the expensive [=CGI=] animated show had no toy line to support it financially is rumored to be a major reason the show was canceled.
231* Four of the main villains in ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverhawks}}'' (Pokerface, Melodia, Timestopper, and Yes-Man) were unrepresented in the toyline for whatever reason.
232* Out of all the characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' (a show that's actually ''concurrent'' with a toyline, thanks to both LEGO and Creator/CartoonNetwork working together to make it), some of the only characters to lack a set are Major Nixel (TheDragon) and Muscle Nixel (one of his minions, only seen in the ''Calling All Mixels'' app game). In comparison, King Nixel got his own set in Wave 6. This was eventually extended to even more characters in the "Every Knight Has Its Day" episode, which introduces more background Mixels from currently-introduced tribes. Perhaps most bizarre of all is that the main protagonists of the finale never got any set at all!
233* ''Every'' character in ''WesternAnimation/JayceAndTheWheeledWarriors'', save the villains. The toyline consisted entirely of vehicles with swappable parts, with the good guys represented as the "Lightning League", and the bad guys as the "Monster Minds". But while the Monster Minds were sentient plant based beings that could take the form of vehicles, the Lightning League cars were just cars driven by the protagonists of the show, none of whom received toys. There was a generic "driver" figure, but he doesn't represent anyone from the show. Mattel planned to make action figures of the series' main cast, but they were never released.
234* On most merchandise of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Betty Rubble will not be present because she is far and away the least popular main character. She didn't even appear in the Flintstones vitamins until 1995, over 25 years after they were first introduced (she replaced the Flinstones' ''car'')
235* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'':
236** The Stingers were created to sell toys, as parents thought The Misfits' dolls were too scary. The Stingers' toys were never created due to the cancellation of the series.
237** Regine and Astral were meant to have dolls but the franchise was canceled before they could be released.
238* ''WesternAnimation/SkyCommanders'' is yet another example of this trope overlapping with TheSmurfettePrinciple. Each faction had one female member (Red [=McCullogh=] from the Sky Commanders, Dr. Erica Slade from the Raiders); neither of them made it to the toy line, even as a prototype from the unproduced second year of figures.
239* ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots'' had some notable [=GoBots=] who did not get their own toys.
240** When the Guardians visit the [[WrongSideOfTheTracks slums]] of Old Gobotron in "Lost on Gobotron", they encounter a local bigwig named Wrecks. They invite him to return with them, but he says he's needed where he is.
241** The episode "Steamer's Defection" had the titular character, who turns into a steamroller and ends up defecting from the Renegades to join the Guardians.
242** Downplayed with the Renegade Snoop, who did have a figure planned for release, but did not see the light of day in the American market and was only publicly released in Australia's ''Machine Men'' line as well as Europe's ''Robo Machine'' line.
243
244* For the 2015 reboot of ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'', there are toys of Danger Mouse, Penfold, Greenback, Nero, Stiletto and even Colonel K, but no toys of Professor Squawkencluck, Jeopardy Mouse, other Danger Agents or other villains.
245** In the episode "Danger Fan" Penfold, Colonel K, Squawkencluck, Greenback and Stiletto are shrunk down and put in packaging similar to what the real-life action figures come in. If that's anything to go by, it's possible there was a Squawkencluck figure planned at one point.
246* The ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' action figures made by Tiger Toys in 1992 included Penny and Brain, Dr. Claw and MAD Cat (showing Dr. Claw's face for the first time) and multiple different Inspector Gadgets that all did different things, but there was no Chief Quimby figure, even though they even included a generic MAD agent.
247* ''WesternAnimation/RosePetalPlace'' had the villainess Nastina get a toy, but her lackey Horace didn't. Also, the second special introduced six new characters who were planned to be made as toys but it never materialized.
248* ''WesternAnimation/PeppermintRose'''s beetle villains never got toys, nor did Dimmy the wizard or Petalpuff the dragon.
249* While all four (later five) of the ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeDinosaurs'' became toys, only two of their archenemies, the Raptors, did. Spittor, the Raptors' resident EvilGenius, never got a toy, and neither did the recurring human and alien characters.
250* ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'' never made toys for Hairball, Duchess Ravenwaves' lackey, or Shining Glory, the powerful wizard. Longcurl the mother dragon is an interesting example as while her babies got toys, she didn't.
251* In late 1997, UsefulNotes/McDonalds released Happy Meal Toys for ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'', consisting of little flip-cars where when you flip one character down, another one comes up on the other side of the car. While most of the main and supporting animal characters (plus Cruella) were part of the set, Whizzer, Patch, and Mooch were not included. It should be noted that the Happy Meal toys were some of the only toys released for the series.
252* While most of the characters from ''Franchise/{{Rugrats}}'' got plenty of toys, Kimi only got two Burger King toys and a doll of her in a wedding dress. This even extended to the product line for ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', where she only got one doll.
253* Daisy the Diesel Railcar from ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' oddly lacks a Trackmaster/Plarail toy.[[note]]According to the [=HiT=] toy company's customer service, the reason for this is because the company couldn't decide whether or not she should have some rolling stock to pull, as at the time, she never pulled any rolling stock in the TV series.[[/note]] She also hasn't had any merchandise from 2009 to 2022, which is odd considering [[AscendedExtra she appears much more in the newer CGI era than the model era]].
254* ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' had most of the characters represented as toys from TPI and Fisher-Price, but a few characters don't have either toys or merchandise on them.
255** Mr. Bounce never had a figure made from TPI alog with the Season 1 cast, but he was part of a of a Fisher-Price set with Mr. Tickle and had a plush as well.
256** The cast from Season 2 lack any sort of toys made on them due to the show ending. The only characters that do have sortof merchandise are Miss Giggles (flip flops were made using her show design) and Mr.Funny (He was used as a hand warmer in the United Kingdom).
257* The only ''WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty'' characters to get toys were Betty[[note]]Various versions with different outfits[[/note]], Noah, Penelope, X-5, Sparky, Maximus and Minimus.
258* ''WesternAnimation/HerselfTheElf'' didn't make toys for the villains, King Thorn and Creeping Ivy.
259* ''WesternAnimation/PJSparkles'' didn't have toys for Mrs. O'Malley, the Cloak, Betty, Peter, or the unnamed Twinkle Town residents.
260* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' has so many that its wiki has a [[https://ninjago.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters_without_a_minifigure category page]] for them. Notable examples include Misako and Dr. Julien.
261* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinofroz}}'' is a weird case: while the blindbag figure series featured almost every dinosaur and dragon character from the show, the larger figures only featured the main heroes and the main villains... except for Eric/Pterodix, who got nothing.
262* ''WesternAnimation/PuppyInMyPocketAdventuresInPocketville'', which is also one of Mondo TV’s many works, is also a weird case. None of the human characters aside from Kate has gotten a doll, not even the children that received Chosen Pets. However, usually the more prominent Pocketville characters have their own toys, as more minor characters such as Holiday, Steel Wool, Milo, Ellie, Dr. Schwartzer, Scratch, Andre, the three Puppy Trotters, the Puppy Key bear chef, and more do not have their own figurine.
263* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'' toyline notably lacked figures of Earth Corps allies Sandra "Ms. Navigator" Shore, Anatoly "Tankmaster" Kieve and Brad "Sabre Jet" Ambruster, Sandra's brother Blackthorne Shore (in spite of freeing the Inhumanoids in the first place and having his own armor) and the Inhumanoids Gagoyle and Sslither, although most of them were planned for the second year before it was canceled.
264* The ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' figures from the '90s had all the Planeteers (even the female ones) and even Captain Clash, but no Gaia. Likewise, almost all the Eco-Villains were represented, except Zarm & [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Looten Plunder]], with the latter's [[TheDragon main henchman]] [[AwesomeAussie Argos]] [[BaldOfEvil Bleak]] getting a figure in his place (also making Bleak one of only two henchmen [[note]] the other being MAL, who was packaged with Dr. Blight. [[/note]] to get a figure). Years later, they released some additional figures based on [[NewSeasonNewName "the New Adventures of Captain Planet"]] but only had the Planeteers and ''three different Captain Planet variants'' although at least Ma-Ti's pet monkey got a figure.
265* Many of the characters introduced to the ''Teddy Ruxpin'' franchise in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin'' did not have any toys made of them. It doesn't help matters that Worlds of Wonder, who made the toys, went bankrupt shortly after the show's conclusion.
266* ''WesternAnimation/ElenaOfAvalor'''s toyline had almost if not all of Elena's dresses up until Season 3, likely as [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Disney saw the show as a failure]] and is also notorious for lacking merchandise for its cartoon shows.
267* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' only had figures for the ''Ghost'' crew, Agent Kallus, the Grand Inquisitor, Vizago, Wullffwarro, Ahsoka, Darth Vader, Seventh Sister, Fifth Brother, Captain Rex, Fenn Rau, and Darth Maul.
268* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'' only had figures for Kaz, BB-8, Yeager, Bucket, Synara, Torra, Major Vonreg, and Commander Pyre. The crew has voiced disappointment in the lack of Tam and Neeku figures, leaving Team Fireball incomplete.
269* ''WesternAnimation/ActionMan1995'' had figures for every main character except for Jacques and Ursula.
270* The only characters of ''WesternAnimation/ActionMan2000'' to get their own toys were Action Man, Dr. X, Tempest, and Professor Gangrene, with no figures made of Grinder, Fidget, Rikki, Asazi or Quake.
271* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Mrs Beakley was the only one of the then eight main characters not to get any merchandise. Della, the show’s ninth main character after Season 2, was due to get a figure in the cancelled second wave.
272* Much like [[WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls its predecessor]], ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls2019'' had its own toyline, but has even ''less'' representation due to the only characters outside of the main cast to get their own dolls being Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Katana and Poison Ivy (the last one being a Target exclusive). It's also rather glaring that this time around, ''none'' of the male characters get any toys, when the preceding continuity at least included minifigures of Steve Trevor and the Flash in the LEGO sub-line as well as a figure of Beast Boy in the Action Figures line aimed at collectors.
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