[TokuKnight89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 806mtson

Ahh, okay.

But, here are some things which make these arguments feel a bit weaker. Like how the Karakuri Mantle was released in toy form. Who would want a piece of cloth that was only used once and wasn't even that useful? Also, what about giving ZenKaijuOh's Two Components the compatibility to become Super ZenkaiOh and Super TwokaiOh even though it was used only once and never again? They weren't even given new suits, just CGI models. And it didn't even beat the upgraded Battle Caesar Robo. That required ZenKaijuuOh to finish off the BCR. Anyways, do you remember roleplaying when you were a child? Pretending you were a knight-in-shining armor rescuing your friend from the "dragon" at the top of the playplace, either in the playground at your elementary school or at the McDonalds? Do you remember wearing your Halloween Costume with your friend who just so happened to wear a matching costume? Like you were dressed up as Batman and your friend was dressed up with a Joker (Mark Hamill) costume. And you play-fight.
Plus, Villain Characters, especially in Tokusatsu, have extremely cool designs, sometimes, even cooler than the heroes of those series. So who wouldn't want to pretend they were one of those characters?

The U.S./Western Market is more amenable to villain toys than the Japanese Market. Transformers have always been an outlier in this regard, but even they aren't balanced or consistent. Recall Transformers lore and note that by the time of Zone, villain toys were no longer important even if they were central to the story. This would change with future entries.

Another potential outlier are the myriad of Kaiju and Villain toys in Ultraman. It should be noted however that Ultra Kaiju have their own unique popularity and anything and anyone that exists in that franchise tends to get at least one vinyl figure.

Much of the role-playing aspect in your assessment is from a Western perspective and it ultimately doesn't matter how good the designs are. Final Analysis: it's actually easier to get a Toku Monster toy from P.R. than it is from Sentai!