Category talk:Japan-only characters

I think perhaps some clarification on how I went about assigning "Japan-only" is in order. My view is admittedly HIGHLY toy-centric, but given the nature of the franchise, I think it's a fair one. Basically, I have a two-step process... So, for example, LioConvoy. I would flag him as J-only, since all his toys come from Japan, despite his fairly-prominent role in the IDW BW story (where he's never named, amusingly enough), and despite his HasbroCollectors "release" (which to me is the same as the Japanese "USA Edition" rleeases of toys Takara didn't put into the actual retail line... no-county). He came from BWII, which has never been "Americanized". (I generally don't hold the view that "cameos" should negate a J-only status. Some of the Trainbots being in DW's G1 doesn't make them less J-only to me.) Dion? Well, his only toy IS Japanese, but his origin is from the US cartoon. I would not flag him as J-only, nor, say, RiD Fortress Maximus. Bug Drones/General? We really don't know WHO the hell they are, and if you want to stick with the literal "GF isn't Cyb" viewpoint for all toys, then they can't really be Armada Dead End, can they? Lack of fictional evidence would lead me to place them as J-only. I grant it's a little arbitrary, but I fear such things are neccessary. In this time when information on all aspects of the fiction are far more readily available and widely-known, when artists routinely pop in off-continuity cameos, the line gets pretty damn blurry. (This does make me question the G1 GoBots. I suppose for the sake of ACTUAL ESTABLISHED CANON, they'd be J-only... but it kind of hurts to classify them as such, all things considered.) The clarifications would go on the main Category page, of course. I suppose a "European-only" Category might be in order, even though that one has MORE "clarifications" (since those toys ended up in Australia and Canada as well)... --M Sipher 02:01, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
 * 1. Did any and all CONFIRMED toys of this character see release ONLY as part of the standard Japanese market?
 * 2. If there are no US-release toys of the character character, did they originate in a Japan-only fiction?