History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / Toys

* Toys/SHFiguarts in the beginning was very different. The figurines only had the bare minimum of accessories to mess with, usually a couple of hands and a weapon. Compare the original S.H. Figuarts figurine of Series/KamenRiderBlackRX, which only had a few hands, his Revolcane and a ball-joint system which make it look like he was wearing UnderwearOfPower, to his Renewal version, which not only fixed the ball-joint system to make it more show-accurate, but also gave it multiple hands and the ability to mimic having Black RX pull out Revolcane from his belt. Figuarts from the ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' series also show the vast difference - compare the sparse options involving the ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5GoGo'' characters and the glut with the ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' figures.

** The line wouldn't nail down its engineering formula until after the first few waves. This meant that despite ''Marvel Legends'' later becoming famous for its immensely posable figures, some early entries like Toad, [[Comicbook/AntMan Goliath]] and Film/{{Daredevil}} were noticeably lacking in the articulation department. Some of the larger characters like [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] and [[Comicbook/FantasticFour the Thing]] also came with bendable fingers, a gimmick that was quickly discarded.

* Toys/{{Furby}}: The Furbys initially had doll-like eyes instead of their digital eyes they have now.

* At one point in time, [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Esmerelda]] and [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Tinker Bell]] were part of the ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' line-up. They were later dropped, with Esmerelda getting canned because she wasn't really that popular (it doesn't help that her movie was DarkerAndEdgier than most ''Disney Princess'' films) and Tinker Bell [[Franchise/DisneyFairies getting a merchandising line of her own]].

* The first three generations of Toys/BeanieBabies had much plainer designs and no cutesy poems in their tags. It wasn't until 1996 that the designers began printing cutesy poems on the tags and giving them birthdays; these poems were themselves printed in Times New Roman before switching to Comic Sans a year later. It was also at this point that the toys began to deviate more frequently from fairly realistic depictions of animals to more instances of SeldomSeenSpecies and AmazingTechnicolorWildlife (for instance, Batty the Bat shifted from a realistic tan to a dark tie-dye).

* The first three generations of Toys/BeanieBabies had much plainer designs and no cutesy poems in their tags. Generation 4 introduced the poems or birthdays, and the toys' designs started to become gradually more varied throughout generation 5 onward. It was also at this point that the fad took off in full force.

** Much like its predecessors ''Toys/{{Slizer}}'' and ''Toys/RoboRiders'', ''Bionicle'''s story would have featured [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental creatures]] such as {{rock monster}}s, [[BlobMonster mud monsters]] or [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fire dragons]] as foes. These appear in concept art and the canceled ''Legend of Mata Nui'' PC game as level bosses, but are suspiciously absent from every canonical story source. A smaller variant of the Vatuka Nui mud monster, simply named a Vatuka, did appear thanks to the ''Quest for the Toa'' UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance title, and a handful other elemental beings were referred to at points, but never were they anything more than throwaway curiosities. A few possible exceptions are the [[SentientPhlebotinum Energized Protodermis Entity]] and various plant monsters, who were introduced later, bearing no relation to the original concept of the elementals. It is easy to see why they were dropped: [[ToylessToylineCharacter they had no toys]] [[MerchandiseDriven to sell]] and they came off as cheesy once the franchise settled on its more serious tone.

* At one point in time, [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Esmerelda]] and [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Tinker Bell]] were part of the ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' line-up. They were later dropped, with Esmerelda getting canned because she wasn't really thart popular (it doesn't help that her movie was DarkerAndEdgier than most ''Disney Princess'' films) and Tinker Bell [[Franchise/DisneyFairies getting a merchandising line of her own]].

* At one point in time, ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Esmerelda]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Tinker Bell]]'' were part of the ''Franchise/DisneyPrincess'' line-up. They were later dropped, with Esmerelda getting canned because she wasn't really thart popular and Tinker Bell [[Franchise/DisneyFairies getting a merchandising line of her own]].

** As ''Marvel Legends'' was originally a SpinOff of the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan Classics'' line, characters from the Spider-Man franchise were also noticeably absent from ''Legends'' during the [=ToyBiz=] days. Only Comicbook/DoctorOctopus, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] and Spidey himself were featured in ''Legends'' under [=ToyBiz=], while a few other villains like Comicbook/BlackCat, the Vulture, the Rhino and Comicbook/{{Venom}} were included in box sets. Once the license transferred to Hasbro, Spider-Man characters began appearing in the series far more regularly.

** Much like its predecessors ''Toys/{{Slizers}}'' and ''Toys/RoboRiders'', ''Bionicle'''s story would have featured [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental creatures]] such as {{rock monster}}s, [[BlobMonster mud monsters]] or [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fire dragons]] as foes. These appear in concept art and the canceled ''Legend of Mata Nui'' PC game as level bosses, but are suspiciously absent from every canonical story source. A smaller variant of the Vatuka Nui mud monster, simply named a Vatuka, did appear thanks to the ''Quest for the Toa'' UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance title, and a handful other elemental beings were referred to at points, but never were they anything more than throwaway curiosities. A few possible exceptions are the [[SentientPhlebotinum Energized Protodermis Entity]] and various plant monsters, who were introduced later, bearing no relation to the original concept of the elementals. It is easy to see why they were dropped: [[ToylessToylineCharacter they had no toys]] [[MerchandiseDriven to sell]] and they came off as cheesy once the franchise settled on its more serious tone.

* ''Franchise/Power Rangers'':

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}: Generation One as a whole was this.

* Bandai America’s Power Rangers Legacy line was intended to release slightly higher end versions of toys from the original series. Their first release of their Power Rangers Legacy line was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. Unlike later releases that focused more on being affordable but high end, the Megazord was just the 2010 version with better paint and some die cast parts. The next release would be the Power Morpher that aimed to bring out something close to what was on the show with die cast parts. Following zord and Megazords focusesed on more articulation and had full painted parts while the original Legacy Megazord had stickers most of which you had to apply yourself.
** The early figures tied to the Legacy line were more an attempt to bring out figures for the original series. In 2016 They began releasing figures that were of higher quality.

* The original ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' toys were only what are now called "Earth ponies". It wasn't until Year 2 that pegasus, unicorn, and sea-ponies were introduced. Likewise, the ponies were on a sliding scale of anthropomorphic early on (which is why early material has them doing stuff like licking each other and living in stables) but [[AnthropomorphicShift eventually]] began leaning toward being more humanoid.[[note]][[Franchise/MyLittlePonyGeneration4 "G4" incarnation]] or not.[[/note]]

* The first three dolls of the
[[Toys/AmericanGirlsCollection American Girl line]]--Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly—were originally released with pale white muslin bodies that sharply contrasted with the head and limbs. To hide this, all their clothing was made high to the throat and with sleeves and skirts (and underpants) long enough to cover this up. This changed in 1991 when Felicity was released; the lower necklines of the Revolutionary/Colonial Period meant that the company could not keep the body covered, so they changed the main cloth body to better match the skin tone of the limbs which is how it's since stayed.

* Bandai America’s ‘’Francise/PowerRangers’’ Legacy line was intended to release slightly higher end versions of toys from the original series. Their first release of their Power Rangers Legacy line was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. Unlike later releases that focused more on being affordable but high end, the Megazord was just the 2010 version with better paint and some die cast parts. The next release would be the Power Morpher that aimed to bring out something close to what was on the show with die cast parts. Following zord and Megazords focusesed on more articulation and had full painted parts while the original Legacy Megazord had stickers most of which you had to apply yourself.

* Bandai America’s ‘’LiveActionTv/PowerRangers’’ Legacy line was intended to release slightly higher end versions of toys from the original series. Their first release of their Power Rangers Legacy line was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. Unlike later releases that focused more on being affordable but high end, the Megazord was just the 2010 version with better paint and some die cast parts. The next release would be the Power Morpher that aimed to bring out something close to what was on the show with die cast parts. Following zord and Megazords focusesed on more articulation and had full painted parts while the original Legacy Megazord had stickers most of which you had to apply yourself.

* Bandai America’s Power Rangers Legacy line was intended to release slightly higher end versions of toys from the original series.
Their first release of their Power Rangers Legacy line was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. Unlike later releases that focused more on being affordable but high end, the Megazord was just the 2010 version with better paint and some die cast parts. The next release would be the Power Morpher that aimed to bring out something close to what was on the show with die cast parts. Following zord and Megazords focusesed on more articulation and had full painted parts while the original Legacy Megazord had stickers most of which you had to apply yourself.

* The first three dolls of the [[Toys/AmericanGirlsCollection American Girl line]]--Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly—were originally released with pale white muslin bodies that sharply contrasted with the head and limbs. To hide this, all their clothing was made high to the throat and with sleeves and skirts (and underpants) long enough to cover this up. This changed in 1991 when Felicity was released; the lower necklines of the Revolutionary/Colonial Period meant that the company could not keep the body covered, so they changed the main cloth body to better match the skin tone of the limbs which is how it's since stayed.

* Whoo-boy, Gunpla (Franchise/{{Gundam}} plastic models) have evolved tremendously since the early days. The earliest 1/144 scale Gunpla, released in 1980 were of a single color (you had to paint these suckers) with some articulation with the 1/100 and 1/60 scale not faring as well. Also, the intended way of putting in beam sabers back into their sockets? Breaking the blade. 1/100s would be mostly colored by the time ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' launched and it wouldn't be until the launch of the Gunpla for ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket'' that we would have stickers for certain areas. During the early days of the High Grade Gunpla the beam sabers would still be one single-colored piece of plastic resembling the blade and hilt (or even worse, blade, hilt and hand holding it) with certain rare models, like the early Rick Dias and RX-78 Gundam having the modern day two piece blade-and-hilt. Don't expect the two-piece to be standard issue until the release of the G-Armor + Gundam set.

* Creator/{{LEGO}} itself didn't have normal bricks in green or brown when it started, because even the ''option'' to build anything substantial out of camouflage colors was seen as encouraging violence.

** One of the most striking differences was the general lack of movie characters in the early years of the line. While a select few films like ''Film/{{Blade II}}'', ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' and the aforementioned ''Daredevil'' received a single ''Marvel Legends'' figure each, the general trend was for [=ToyBiz=] to do separate movie lines that featured the same sculpt and articulation style used in ''Legends'', but without actually labelling them as such. This meant that the big Marvel movies of the early 2000s like ''Film/SpiderMan2'', ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' and ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' did not have any presence in ''Marvel Legends'', with the line instead focusing almost exclusively on comic book figures. When Hasbro took over the line in 2007, they did some ''Marvel Legends'' figures for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/SpiderMan3'', but generally stuck to [=ToyBiz=]'s strategy of focusing on comic figures instead. However, starting with ''Film/IronMan3'' in 2013, they completely threw out that idea and began integrating characters from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with each subsequent MCU movie getting its own dedicated ''Marvel Legends'' wave.[[note]]The sole exceptions were ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', though ''Legends'' figures from the latter movie did end up being released as part of the second ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' wave.[[/note]]

** As ''Marvel Legends'' was originally a SpinOff of the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan Classics'' line, characters from the Spider-Man franchise were also noticeably absent from ''Legends'' during the [=ToyBiz=] days. Only Comicbook/DoctorOctopus, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] and Spidey himself were featured in ''Legends'' under [=ToyBiz=], while a few other villains like Comicbook/BlackCat, the Vulture, the Rhino and Comicbook/{{Venom}} were included in box sets. Once the line transferred to Hasbro, Spider-Man characters began appearing in the series far more regularity.

** As ''Marvel Legends'' was originally a SpinOff of the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan Classics'' line, characters from the Spider-Man franchise were also noticeably absent from ''Legends'' during the [=ToyBiz=] days. Only Comicbook/DoctorOctopus, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] and Spidey himself were featured in ''Legends'' under [=ToyBiz=], while a few other villains like Comicbook/BlackCat, the Vulture, the Rhino and Comicbook/{{Venom}} were included in box sets. Once the line transferred to Hasbro, Spider-Man characters began appearing in the series with far more regularity.

** One of the most striking differences was the general lack of movie characters in the early years of the line. While a select few films like ''Film/{{Blade II}}'', ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' and the aforementioned ''Daredevil'' received a single ''Marvel Legends'' figure each, the general trend was for [=ToyBiz=] to do separate movie lines that featured the same sculpt and articulation style used in ''Legends'', but without actually labelling them as such. This meant that the big Marvel movies of the early 2000s like ''Film/SpiderMan2'', ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' and ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' did not have any presence in ''Marvel Legends'', with the line instead focusing almost exclusively on comic book figures. When Hasbro took over the line in 2007, they did some ''Marvel Legends'' figures for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/SpiderMan3'', but generally stuck to [=ToyBiz=]'s strategy of focusing on comic figures instead. However, starting with ''Film/IronMan3'' in 2013, they completely threw out that idea and began integrating characters from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with each subsequent Marvel movie getting its own dedicated ''Marvel Legends'' wave.[[note]]The sole exceptions were ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'', though ''Legends'' figures from the latter movie did end up being released as part of the second ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' wave.[[/note]]

** One of the most striking differences was the general lack of movie characters in the early years of the line. While a select few films like ''Film/{{Blade II}}'', ''Film/ThePunisher2004'' and the aforementioned ''Daredevil'' received a single ''Marvel Legends'' figure each, the general trend was for [=ToyBiz=] to do separate movie lines that featured the same sculpt and articulation style used in ''Legends'', but without actually labelling them as such. This meant that the big Marvel movies of the early 2000s like ''Film/SpiderMan2'', ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' and ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' did not have any presence in ''Marvel Legends'', with the line instead focusing almost exclusively on comic book figures. When Hasbro took over the line in 2007, they did some ''Marvel Legends'' figures for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/SpiderMan3'', but generally stuck to [=ToyBiz=]'s strategy of focusing on comic figures instead. However, starting with ''Film/IronMan3'' in 2013, they completely threw out that idea and began integrating characters from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, with most subsequent Marvel movies usually getting their own dedicated ''Marvel Legends'' wave.

** As ''Marvel Legends'' was originally a SpinOff of the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan Classics'' line, characters from the franchise were also noticeably absent from ''Legends'' during the [=ToyBiz=] days. Only Comicbook/DoctorOctopus, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] and Spidey himself were featured in ''Legends'' under [=ToyBiz=], while a few other villains like Comicbook/BlackCat, the Vulture, the Rhino and Comicbook/{{Venom}} were included in box sets. Once the line transferred to Hasbro, Spider-Man characters began appearing in the series with far more regularity.