Popverse's top stories

• DC has unveiled a major new Wonder Woman villain over two years in the making, co-created by one of James Gunn's top writers
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Livestream Monster Hunter Wilds, Borderlands 4, Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man, and more PAX West 2025 panels live

If there’s one thing that people know about big conventions like San Diego Comic-Con or New York Comic Con, it’s that they have exclusive merchandise. Whether it’s toys, clothing, comic books or other merch, big cons have exclusive things that you either buy at the show or pay stupidly inflated prices on eBay for days, weeks, or years after the event. Imagining a big show without exclusives feels almost impossible, but it was once the case — until Todd McFarlane got involved.

Or, at least, that’s the way he tells the story.

“I was the only person to have an exclusive at San Diego. I was like, the guy,” McFarlane explained during his spotlight panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. “They're like, ‘what do you mean you're just bringing something to sell this weekend? What does that mean? Doesn't make any sense.’ I was like, ‘I don't know, let's just try.’”

As can be seen by the fact that exclusives are almost guaranteed by any sizable company at a big show these days, it was clearly an experiment that worked out — something that McFarlane argued he knew right away.

 “Think about it, there only being one person with an exclusive. Everybody that was wanted an exclusive went to that one person. They'd open the doors and there'd be this stampede to our booth, right to the point that the security guys, we got in trouble with them. They’re going, ‘What's happening here,’ right? Like, ‘Why is everybody going to one place, and now we're sitting here going to shoo everybody?’”

For the record, Popverse has been unable to verify if McFarlane Toys was the first company to offer SDCC-exclusive offerings. Nonetheless, it remains a good story — and someone had to be the first, so why not the man behind Spawn?

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:

• Upcoming movies
• Upcoming TV shows
• Upcoming comics
• Upcoming games
• Upcoming fiction books
• Upcoming comic conventions