Merchandise

A way for civilians to feel closer to capes, and one of the ways parahumans<ref name="R1"/> can draw revenue.

Description

A significant section of the economy on Earth Bet in the United States comes from merchandising capes' lives and appearances.<ref name="R1">Bambina is an example of an itinerant: she hits other cities to make a splash, she shows off, and she tries to grab ratings and rankings on top villain lists that she can then leverage into back-alley sponsorship deals and merchandising. Between her episodes, she returns to LA, lives a life of luxury, and gets spends good money on training and counseling in (villain) branding and kicking ass. - Los Angeles Friend-or-Foe (Wildbow, Reddit.com, 2016-08-31)</ref> It is a common source of funding for PRT departments<ref name="I3e1">In stark contrast to this, there was the gift shop that would be thick with youths when school ended, sporting a selection of action figures, posters, video games and clothing. - Interlude 3</ref><ref name="PRT47 e1">“I have a very low tolerance threshold,” Snaptrap says. He kicks back his chair, forming a small ball of gravity behind him, which catches the back of the chair and keeps it from tipping over. “I try to play ball, but I’ve been doing this a while, and every single time I get shunted over to a new department, I see them doing it wrong. One guy doesn’t listen to the capes. The other guy focuses too much on the merchandising. The next guy geeks out and focuses on the powers. Now we’ve got Mr. Meeting-” - Department Sixty Four, PRT Quest thread i p47</ref><ref name="10.5e1">The gift shop jutted out from the wall of the lobby some, the glass panes arranged to showcase more of the pictures, action figures and memorabilia with three broad windows than they might with one. - Parasite 10.5</ref> as well as independent hero teams.<ref name="II2.1"/>

Examples

Toys & Action Figures

Action figures and other toys were sold at the PRT ENE gift shop.<ref name="I21.y e1"/><ref name="I3e1"/><ref name="10.5e1"/>Miss Militia had a small head-and-shoulders bust available at the gift shop.<ref>Tattletale lunged for the shelf next to the magazines, grabbing a head-and-torso model of Miss Militia. She jammed it in between the trigger and the trigger guard of her gun, forcing the trigger into a depressed position. - Parasite 10.5</ref> The PRT PR department headed by Glenn Chambers was in charge of designing action figures for Protectorate heroes, much of the other merchandise.<ref name="23.3">People milled around him. Twenty-something men and women, who carried coffees and portfolios, cloth and paperwork. Fat as he was, Glenn moved swiftly. He sipped a coffee, handed it back to the assistant who’d delivered it, and sent her off with a command or clarification. Men and women with portfolios were told to set up at his desk while he examined action figures in the light of the window. His pudgy hands, almost childlike, took hold of an action figure by the arm. He shook it violently, his cluster of minions backing away at the sudden flailing of his arm and the plastic figure. The arm snapped off, and the toy went sailing through the air. Someone scooped it up and brought it back to the group.

“Go, and hurry,” Glenn said. “Tell them to fix it and cast another prototype before the run starts. These are toys, they’ll be in the hands of children and collectors both. The people who are buying these are fans. What’s it going to say if their most immediate association with Esoteric is the broken toy sitting on a shelf? It’s going to convey that he’s flimsy.”

The action figure people fled, and Glenn approached his desk, where the portfolios had been set out. I approached, a touch lost in the midst of all of this, and nearly stumbled as another group entered the room, vacating to fill the void left by the group that was exiting. - Excerpt from Drone 23.3</ref>

Flechette talked about the plans for "eventual" action figures as part of her career path,<ref name="I21.y e1">“Yeah,” Lily murmured. “Before I came here, everything was on track. I could see my future ahead of me, straight as an arrow. Career path, eventual Flechette action figures. Every single one of my teachers and superiors seemed to know I had potential. One of the only people who could hurt an Endbringer…” - Excerpt from Interlude 21.y</ref> while Taylor Hebert was impressed by the fact that Armsmaster "was a guy who had his own action figures".<ref name="1.6e1"/> Presumably this implies that not all capes have action figures, and it's regarded as a sign of "making it".

Trading Cards

The PRT had a series of trading cards that featured their heroes,<ref name="II7.10">“More old team stuff, see? I had an Optics trading card.”

“A swipe card,” I said.

“Yes! You know about swipe cards! That’s cool.”

She seemed happy, enthusiastic. The card was framed, but the frame was attached to the wall with a string, and it could be flipped around to show the back. The stats were on it, along with the ability. People who played on console would have the cards at hand, being able to swipe the card like one might a credit or debit card, summoning an ally or generating an effect.

“I was a support card. Not a lot of people used me because I couldn’t be summoned into a fight,” Kenzie said. “Kind of a bummer.”

Amy had been a support card for that game, I was pretty sure. The effect had been downplayed a lot, but her card had still been popular, because there weren’t that many heals. Most of what I knew had come from Dean, Chris, and Dennis talking. Gallant, Kid Win, and Clockblocker. - Excerpt from Torch 7.10</ref> as well as affiliated approved heroes. There are card collectors and similar.<ref name="II2.1">“I spent most of my childhood watching my mom balance the books, I did the events, the photoshoots, the merchandising as a PRT-acknowledged team. I have something of a sense of what you’re probably going for.”

“Ah, the merchandising. I think I have your PRT trading card from that time period in a binder in my office.”

I smiled. “Which one? I had one that was holographic, which you could swipe through the controller for the video game to have me as a polygon-rendered helper, and the higher quality one that had the bio on the back.”

“I think it was the second one. My office is through this door.” - Excerpt from Flare 2.1</ref>

Apparel

• Armsmaster underwear<ref name="1.6e1"/>
• Kid Win shirt sold at the Lord Street Market.<ref name="4.1">Shell 4.1</ref>
• Eidolon pajamas.<ref name="II17.y">Sundown 17.y</ref>
• Mouse Protector shirts.<ref name="II17.y"/>
• Various clothing sold at the PRT HQ gift shop.<ref name="I3e1"/>

Video Games

• Video games where you can kill Endbringers.<ref>Interlude 12.5</ref>
• A game where you can swipe trading cards to summon the featured heroes, either to fight for you or for "support" effects like healing.<ref name="II7.10"/><ref name="II2.1"/>
• Various games sold at the PRT gift shop.<ref name="I3e1"/>

Posters

• Posters were available from the PRT gift shop.<ref name="I3e1"/><ref name="10.5e2"/>
• There were posters of Flechette available when she first debuted.<ref name="II 12.z e1"/>
• Armsmaster was featured on posters that featured the "core group of the top Protectorate members".<ref name="1.6e1"/>
• Rime, Exalt, Chevalier and other team leaders of Chevalier's New Protectorate had individual posters put out as part of the new initiative.<ref name="23.3"/>

Miscellanea

• Alexandria lunchboxes<ref> He looked to Lisa, who bent down and picked up a plastic lunchbox. She held it out to me.
  

“I said we owed you. All yours, no strings attached.”
Without taking the box, I tilted my head to get a better look at the front, “Alexandria. She was my favorite member of the Protectorate when I was a kid. Is the lunchbox collectable?” - excerpt from Insinuation 2.6</ref>

• Nail Art<ref name="II4.1e1">She paused at a manicurist’s, looking within. There were rows of comfortable looking chairs with small tables beside them and foot baths below each seat. Ads in the window showed a variety of nail art.
  
  Ashley held out her hand in front of her, her black nail polish contrasted with the colorful ‘Chevalier’ pattern, mimicking the delicate gold flourishes on a silver background. She moved her hand to compare to the ‘Alexandria’ image. - Excerpt from Shade 4.1</ref>
• Books<ref name="10.5e2"/> such as biographies of heroes.<ref name ="1.1e1"/>> A 'who's who' n guidebook is also mentioned but mainly as an alternative to a wiki walk.<ref>Names to throw around. I checked The Orders against everything I had. PRT stuff from before Gold Morning, Patrol notes, and the listings in a ‘who’s who’ subscription that had come out in 2008 that had attempted to track every cape and where they were. It had been a phone book of information that required far too much effort to maintain and had commanded a niche market of interested people. At best, it had been the next best thing to an online search to figure out if a cape name or team name was taken.
  
  Three issues had come out. I had a tattered copy with pages starting to come free of the spine.
  
  No ‘Orders’ under the team names.
  [...]
  Noontide, though. There had been one, and the name was both in my ‘who’s who’ phone book and available with an online search. The internet being what it was, my search turned up a positive search result, but clicking through returned a ‘page not found’ result. - Excerpt from Blinding 11.3</ref>
• Movies "showcasing individual members of the teams".<ref name="10.5e2">Bentley eagerly plowed through the remaining display window, knocking over DVD racks as he landed in the shop. We followed him in.
  

The shop had everything cape related, from movies showcasing individual members of the teams to books, magazines, figurines, toys and posters. - Parasite 10.5</ref>

• Villains Also got in on the action.<ref name="R1"/>

Capes with Merchandise

• Vista trading card - see below
• Glory Girl - Several trading card variations exist.<ref name="II2.1"/>
• Miss Militia had a small head-and-shoulders bust available.<ref>Tattletale lunged for the shelf next to the magazines, grabbing a head-and-torso model of Miss Militia. She jammed it in between the trigger and the trigger guard of her gun, forcing the trigger into a depressed position. - Parasite 10.5</ref>
• Flechette talked about the plans for "eventual" action figures and similar.<ref name="I21.y e1">“Yeah,” Lily murmured. “Before I came here, everything was on track. I could see my future ahead of me, straight as an arrow. Career path, eventual Flechette action figures. Every single one of my teachers and superiors seemed to know I had potential. One of the only people who could hurt an Endbringer…” - Excerpt from Interlude 21.y</ref> There were posters, T-shirts, and a limited edition Flechette sports drink when she debuted.<ref name="II 12.z e1">“You’ll see me patrolling the streets of New York, starting February first,” Flechette said. She picked up a new bottle with blue liquid inside, took a drink, then flipped the bottlecap back. Without turning around, she threw a dart behind her.
  
  It caught the cap, and embedded the cap to the lip of the camera, just in front of the lens. A Flechette in miniature on the cap.
  
  The scene, of course, was ruined by the squawk as the ad shifted to cramming in as much merchandising as possible in the last one point eight seven seconds. T-shirt, poster, limited time energy drink collectors item. - Interlude 12.z II</ref>

• Armsmaster - He has action figures (with interchangeable Halberd parts!) and clothing that features his personal symbol,> as well as being featured on posters of the Protectorate "core team".<ref name="1.6e1">When the core group of the top Protectorate members from around Canada and the States assembled in that classic ‘v’ formation for the photo shoots, Armsmaster was one of the guys in the wings. This was a guy who had his own action figures. Poseable Armsmaster with interchangeable Halberd parts. [...] I glanced at his chest emblem, a silhouette of his visor in blue against a silver background, and was struck with the ridiculous thought that I had once owned a pair of underpants with his emblem on the front. - Excerpt from Gestation 1.6</ref>
• Alexandria - had lunchboxes and nail polish designs.
• Kid Win had shirts.<ref name="4.1">Shell 4.1</ref>
• "Legendberry Electrolyte Sports Drink"<ref>Eclipse x.8</ref>
• The Triumvirate biography.<ref name ="1.1e1">The only book in my bag that I hadn’t already read was called ‘Triumvirate’, a biography of the leading three members of the Protectorate. I was thinking I would spend as long as I could on Mr. Gladly’s assignment before reading, because I wasn’t enjoying the book. Biographies weren’t my thing, and they were especially not my thing when I was suspicious it was all made up. - excerpt from Gestation 1.1</ref>
• Chevalier had a nail polish design<ref name="II4.1e1"/>and was featured on posters.<ref name="23.3"/>
• Rime, Exalt and other team leaders of Chevalier's New Protectorate had individual posters.<ref name="23.3"/>
• Optics swipeable trading card.<ref name="II7.10"/>

Trivia

• A direct parallel can be drawn to celebrity culture and related media.

Fanart Gallery

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  Semi canonical image by Wildbow
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  Young Taylor with Protectorate merchandise by respicepostte.
• Error creating thumbnail: File missing
  Alexandria lunchbox (logo for the podcast We've Got Worm)
• Error creating thumbnail: File missing
  "Alexandria!" musical poster by Lonsheep

References

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