[Byg42]

Considering what the topic question is, I feel a better title for the tread would be "How would you create the toyline"

Anyways assuming the question is how I would write around the toys, I think a good way is to give them just enough plot significance so that their introduction feels meaningful while at the same time not felling as if it were rushed. If the toyline had numerous, cheaper toys, their plot significance wouldn't be too huge so that I can introduce them as quickly and short as possible. If the toy line had fewer, more expensive toys, I would give each one of them more plot significance and longer introductions so that they feel more important.

Two series that I felt were opposite ends of this spectrum were Drive and Ghost. Drive gave little to no plot significance to the shift cars. They just sort of show up out of no where and it gets infuriating especially during the Formula debut. The whole fact that they are sentient also really doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things; Really they could of just been plastic toys cars and nothing about their significance would change. Ghost on the other hand gave a lot of plot significance to the eyecons. In fact it gave them too much. The first 10 or so episodes really suffered from from the fact that all these toys and forms had to be introduced in the first quarter as their introduction and collection felt really rushed. The eyecons were handled much better as the show went along as it finally had some breathing room to expand on their nature.

Series that I think handled the toys great were W and OOO. In W, the Gaia Memories being handled as something akin to drugs establishes their importance to the story while at the same time never feeling like you need to learn more about them. In OOO, they had this very cool thing where the Core Medals were constantly being passed between the heroes and the villains, thus creating this constant power struggle throughout the show.

That's ultimately how I would handle writing the toys. A subject I find interesting is how much does the show adjust itself to accommodate the toys and vice versa. For example I remember reading that the reason Gaim's airdate was pushed to October was so that the introduction of the Genesis Driver and Sonic Arrow in the story would coincide with their release in the toyline's second quarter.