As a general rule, I am not fond of convention exclusives. They tend to anger a larger part of the fanbase than not, and that’s just not good business. If I have to live in a world with con exclusives, I feel such things should be limited to odd variants of characters, and not the basic versions that are necessary to complete a collection. It seems many manufacturers and license-holders are clueless to this simple concept.

As an example, Diamond Select offered a fun Poison Ivy statue in 2017 that was part of their “premium” line of animated-style statues. They chose to present Ivy in her outfit she wore very briefly in “Almost Got ‘im,” a classic episode. At the time, I thought that was a bold idea, as no merchandise had ever been made of Ivy in that outfit. The statue came out, it was put on my shelf, and the world moved on.

Then Diamond Select announced their SDCC 2017 exclusives, and one was a repaint (with slight sculpt additions) of their Ivy statue. But this time, she was in her primary costume. Worse, only 200 were being made and sold on the con floor! Short of paying scalper prices on eBay, I knew I’d never get this piece. And it’s this statue, in her main outfit, that should have been the wide release. The “Almost Got ‘im” should have been the rare exclusive! How is that not obvious? The decision making by some license-holders really baffles me sometimes.

But I didn’t let a little thing like “unavailable” stop me. I came across the wide-release version for 50% off, and I snatched it up with the intent of making my own main costume Ivy. A little Magic Sculpt was added to make the boot tops, glove cuffs, and leaves on the pelvis. I repainted the whole thing, which really improved the face. (Diamond’s looks like they were going for a Jessica Rabbit look.)

In the end I saved money, and have a more accurate piece on my shelf.

Created July 2018