Collectible Cloney Babies: Difference between revisions

# They go viral, and some become hard to find. In a few cases, people may get into fights over them. The demand seems to supercedesupersede the supply.

* [[McDonald's]] went above and beyond, with ''[[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]'' sweepstakes that people could use to win real money, in addition to toy lines. People could collect McDonald's-exclusive ''Monopoly'' tiles with meal purchases and trade them in for cash. They could also win prizes like cars. The documentary ''McMillions'' revealed that the sweepstakes became the center of a scam where associates Simon Marketing embezzled $24 million and laundered the winning pieces to boot.{{context|reason=How is this an example of the trope as written?}}

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]!'' [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toei anime)|Season 0]] and [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga)|the manga]] featured this with Capsule Monsters, Capmon for short. They would come from a vending machine, with the luck of the draw determining what monster level and type you get. Part of the fun is the randomness, and that you use these monsters to battle:

** ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (anime)|Duel Monsters]]'' in season 1 and subsequent series also engagesengage in this. Some packs do have rare cards, like Exodia or the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Some episodes have Jounouchi and Honda asking Yugi's grandfather if new sets have come in or not; he chuckles and says not yet, most of the time. Seto Kaiba starts his rivalry with Yugi by trying to steal his grandfather's Blue Eyes White Dragon after the man refuses to sell it to him, explaining that the card has sentimental value. (It's because the card belonged to his best friend, who gave it to him after they nearly died while exploring a pyramid.) Kaiba doesn't learn; in Battle City, he says that losers in duels need to forfeit their rarest card, hoping this will help him acquire all the God cards that Isis Ishtar told him about when visiting Japan. {{spoiler|Predictably, Yugi beats him fair and square, taking Obelisk before facing Malik.}}

* ''One episode of the [[Pokemon]]Pokémon (anime)|''Pokémon'' in one episodeanime]] has Misty and Jessie compete in a tournament to win a rare doll set, one meant for children. Jessie says that as a foster kid, she never had real toys of her own. For Misty, it's that it would be the first toys she ever owned that wouldn't be a hand-me-down from her sisters; she mentions that they would just let her use their secondhand candy box.

** In the manga, the Inner Senshi receive their transformation pens from playing the Sailor V game, ''before'' learning they are magical. The game dispenses them as prizes, and the girls pocket them, including studious Ami. They only learn how to use them later when youma attack them. When Usagi plays, she receives the Disguise Pen to reward her progress for making it that far. She thinks it's a cute prize, until Luna tells her what it really is. Makes sense when we learn that {{spoiler|a computer replica of her mother Queen Serenity is revealed to be the brains behind Crown Game Arcade's system, and pulls a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] rescuing the Senshi from a brainwashed Endymion.}}{{context|reason=How isTurns thisout anQueen exampleSerenity ofknew thewhat tropewould asincentivize written?her reincarnated daughter.}}

** Knockoff Sailor Senshi merchandise exists in the anime. Crane Game Joe, one of the seven beings that has a youma inside of him, uses telekinesis to win different dolls from arcade games. SomeHe aremakes sure to collect specific ones, even knockoffthough Sailorthey're Moonfor merchandisechildren.{{context|reason=How isThe thisDiC andub exampletried ofto write that he donates the tropetoys asto charity, whereas in the original he kept them for himself. written?}}

** In the Marvel universe, theThe Collector is named thusly because he collects strange artifacts and life forms. He attempts to "collect" all of the Avengers in the Silver Age, starting with Wasp, because they are one-of-a-kind. The Avengers weren't having it, and defeated him at least three times.

** Kamala Khan's younger brother loves action figures. Another villain, an adult, takes interest in these kiddie toys and gets an idea. She had to track one down when it turned out to be part of an evil plot, and return it to him as a normal toy.

* The ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' franchise features this forin several itemsfilms:

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' references this with Chocolate Frog cards in the first book. Ron explains that some cards are rarer than others, and collecting them can give you bragging rights. He's been searching for Agrippa and has several copies of Ptolemy.

** Nearly all of Cath's art, shirts and memorabilia are fanmade Simon Snow material. Her dad even had a coworker at his advertising firm draw up a map of Watford for her and her twin sister Wren. When Levi {{spoiler|visits her room, he teases her that it looks like a little girl's room.}}

** It's mentioned that if Cath and Wren don't cook for their dad, he gets them Happy Meals with toys and has done so since high school. They have a toy chest filled with McDonald's toys.

** Bert likes collecting bottlecaps and paperclips, treating them as valuable collectibles. He can identify different ones and vintages. Unsurprisingly, no one else on Sesame Street shares this interest, though Mr. Hooper encouraged Bert.

** Oscar treats his trash collection as this. In an episode where he tries to sell his trash to make room for Fluffy the Elephant to go dancing, he can't give any of it up because he has happy memories attached to each onepiece.

* In ''[[Undertale]]'' and its companion game ''[[Deltarune]]'', Alphys collects merchandise from the ''Kissy Kissy Mew'' anime franchise. In the Switch version, you can even get into an optional boss battle with one at the Dog Shrine.

=== [[Visual Novel]]s ===

* In ''[[Doki Doki Literature Club!]]'', it's revealed that Yuki has a large collection of manga... and knives. The narrator is fascinated by the manga, showing he recognizes some of the titles, and tries to ignore the blades. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, in Act Two, Yuki uses one of the blades to stab herself in the chest, and she bleeds to death in front of the narrator.}}

* Sometimes people who grew up on Animal Crossing find the older characters more appealing, and they have since become collectible to adults. Illymation's video "Animal Crossing Burnout" talks about how she spent money to buy Biskit on eBay, so as to add him to her New Horizons island. She reveals that some Animal Crossing vintage characters cost as much as several million online, but Biskit was the only one in her heart.

** In "Loo Loo Land," Millie likes a "thing" that she sees at a prize booth, a toy meant for children. Moxie nearly bankrupts himself trying to shoot the target, and they resort to stealing it when Blitzo's fistfight with robotic Fizzarolli destroys the park.

** "OZZIE'S" has the real Fizzarolli mention that he sells robot duplicates of himself. One audience member proudly announces he has sevenfour, freaking out Fizzarolli.

** Mae has spent hours collecting rare items in ''UltimateUltime Online'' and ''Zelda'' in the 90s, both inside and outside the RPGs. Her relationship with Crystal started when Crystal gave her [[The Big Damn Kiss]] to snap her out of the zone.

* A ''[[Gravity Falls]]'' ad for Journal 3 in real life parodied this. Kristen Schaal, who plays Mabel, tried marketing customizable book sweaters for the journals. Jason Ritter, who plays Dipper, asks what kind of "creep" would buy them. [[Answer Cut]] to show creator Alex Hirsch saying, "I'll take ten" before upending a shelf of journals. Kristen grins and says there are a lot of creeps in the world, and she's counting on them.

** "Bonky Fever" shows Mikey having a preteen life crisis after his mother tells him that after he turns ten, she can't walk him to the bus anymore. He starts collecting Bonky the Green Dragon merchandise, which makes him the laughingstock of the school because it's meant for kindergartners. His friends try to snap him out of it by confiscating the merchandise and handing it over to Miss Finster, but he has to have a talk with his mother about how he's scared of growing up to break the obsession.

** [[Pokémon Trading Card Game|''Pokémon'' trading cards]] were this for '90s kids, and still appeal to collectors. People would play for their cards and try to collect the rarest ones. Some inIn the 2020s some cards will still retail for as much as $2,000 dollars for one card!

[[Category:PagesAdvertising needing more categoriesTropes]]