Shortpacking

A toy is said to beshortpackedwhen it is shipped in lower numbers than the rest of its releasewave- such as a toy that shipped at one percasewhile others had multiples in the same case.

There can be several reasons behind shortpacking, with certain characters, colors, or genders being produced in smaller numbers due to sales predictions. Sometimes shortpacking is only noticeable when an item first hits, as further shipments or repacking into later assortments may help to meet the demand. Similarly, toys that are shortpacked in some markets (such as theUnited States) may be far more abundant in others.

And sometimes they're just plain hard toeverfind, and stay that way, with a degree of rarity that makes them more attractive toscalpers.

While inspiring similar feelings for many fans, shortpacking should not be confused withchase figures:the latter are often aimed exclusively at collectors and are intentionally very rare, though to date that phenomenon has mostly been reserved forTakaraTomyproduct.

Examples

• Generation 1Skidsshipped one figure per every two cases.
• Generation 1TargetmasterScourgewas packed one in a case of twelve. His casemateCyclonuswas two, the others three per case.
• Universe(2008)Acid Stormshipped one per case of eight in Wave 2, while the other new toy in the assortment,Galvatron,was shipped two per case. Wave 2 revision 1 (which shipped at the same time) had one each of Galvatron and Acid Storm, as did waves 3 and 3 revision 1 which shipped later that year.
• Dark of the MoonHuman AllianceSkidswas shipped one per case of four in Wave 1, withBumblebeefilling out the remaining three figures. At the very same time, however, a case shipped with two of each of the two characters, meaning it may not have been a problem at stores in some markets.
• Infamously,Prime: First EditionStarscreamandArceewere shortpacked at two per case each. Again, this normally wouldn't be considered rare if it weren't for the fact that there were fourBumblebeesper case, meaning the little yellow guy took uphalf of the goddamn case.
• GenerationsWheelie,himself an Asian market andToys "R" Usexclusive,was packed at one per case of eight in the original Asian retail release.SpringerandSwervewere evenly packed at two figures each, whileCliffjumperwas packed at three. This was remedied when they were re-released in Asia and released in the US at an even ratio of two each per case.
• Generations:Fall of CybertronKickbackandAir Raidwere packed at one each per case in wave 3, whereas the others (Starscream,Sideswipe,andUltra Magnus) were packed at two each per case.
• Prime:Beast HuntersStarscreamandRipclawwere packed at one each per case in wave 2, whereas theAutobottoys (Bumblebee,Bulkhead,andSmokescreen) were packed at two each per case.
• LegacyVelocitron Speedia 500 CollectionCosmosandClampdownwere packed at one per case each, where asRoad Rocket,Burn Out,andBlurrwere packed at two per case. It also didn't help that this entire subline was Walmart exclusive, making it even harder to get a Cosmos.