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I am a big action figure collector. I have a wide variety of figurines from various RPGs, and when I see certain characters that I love in action figure form, I almost always jump at the chance to make the purchase. I am a sucker for collectables, and when there is an edition of a game that comes with fun trinkets, it's more or less guaranteed that's the edition I choose to purchase. A site like Rosenqueen is deadly for my wallet.
I'm all for fun and unique pre-order bonuses, but sometimes I get bored of CD soundtracks as being the only additional treat. I completely understand how much packaging costs and that CDs are a cheap and great way to get fans to buy one's product. However, if we compare Japanese pre-order bonuses to their North American counterparts, the difference between them is astronomical, to the point of being overwhelming - it's a treat to see something other than a CD, but Japanese pre-order bonuses can range from a wide-variety of items which include (but not limited to) collectible figurines, pencil-boards, posters, tin cases, art books, to even tea sets! I recognize that in terms of packaging, sometimes fitting this many items into a box can be challenging in North America, which is fine, but then why not offer these collectables in an online store if there is a demand for them?
A small part of me wishes that companies, like Atlus USA, would jump on this bandwagon and have their own stores that sell company-specific products. One thing I am envious of is the Atlus D-shop in Japan that sells hundreds of unique collectables – and I know it isn't just me who covets these items! Unfortunately, the Atlus D-shop does not ship to North America, which means hunting for collectables is more difficult, and a person has to pay twice as much for the item. While I know of sites where I can get import action figures, I wish it didn't have to travel all the way from Japan. I recognize that Atlus deals a lot of their products through Amazon, but only as limited edition pre-order bonuses. This is all well and good, but what if I wanted to buy my friend a Teddie plushie? I likely wouldn't be able to.
Fact is that Atlus makes a lot of bonuses that really can sell outside of the Spoils Program. The Spoils Program is a fantastic idea, but it would be great to see Atlus take it to the next step and have an online store where people can share the joy in their products beyond just the games. If Square Enix can attempt to sell me three different versions of an Aeris action figure, then surely Atlus USA could provide me with the Mitsuru figure I've been coveting that won't cost me $70 plus shipping to import? I know, I know. This would never happen, but a girl can dream, right?
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