cartoon character toys in other countries

[plushroo]

I love collecting little figures of famous cartoon characters like Disney, Hanna Barbera, mascots, etc. While browsing ebay, (dangerous!) I've noticed most cooler figures/plushies come from the European countries. Applause in the US makes some movie figures. They are one of the few cool figure companies. This also goes for kids meals toys. Some promotions were never offered in the States or Canada as far as I could tell, and if there are any collectibles here, they are usually in the form of the Disney vinalmation collection or those POP figures, which I think are ugly (no offense to anyone who collects them). Germany also had Bullyland figures, like the pony ones. And of course, there were those few Portugal keychain figures. Does anyone else collect figures? I wonder why only the European market got licensing for cooler toys than the US. Makes me want to fly over and scour the shops!

[kaoskat]

This would be the reason I don't randomly search things on ebay too often. I always end up wishing I lived somewhere else!

[banditpony]

Ah, I know what you mean. There are so many things I like from Japan...

However, on the flip side, there would be a lot of normal things I'm used to that I wouldn't be able to get if I lived there. Soooo... Yay for the internet.

[melodys_angel]

I think its more each country wants their own thing

[Majesty]

I know what you mean.  I play games from the Metal Gear Solid series and the better merchandise for that series comes from Japan since that's where the creators are from, well the non-united states ones. 

Also, I think Austrailia had the plushes similar to the 3ft frilly frocks but they weren't as big and they sold them in stores.  I would have liked to get one but shipping and price would be too much.