Canceled Figures.

So, last night I popped over to Takara's Nexta website to see if they had updated the page for the Video Game Robotics HD Wolf Fang figure they advertised like 2 years ago.  It was updated, but not in the way I had hoped!  The "Coming Soon" image was gone, leaving a gaping hole in their products list and in my heart.

I was super, super excited for this figure, being a huge Wolf Fang fan, and fan of robot figures (especially with interchangeable parts!).  This bummer news makes me wonder a few things about the toy industry.  Please post below if you know anything about these matters.

1.)  Why do they show prototypes if they aren't sure they're going to produce the figure?  I imagine they're just testing the waters, or possibly an unforeseen design challenge makes the figure no longer viable.

2.)  When a figure is canceled, why do the manufacturers never announce that?  They always seem to simply remove all listings of it and never speak of it.  Perhaps they want to keep the door open to make it later, or don't like the image of canceling a figure, and hope customers just forget?  I suppose it is safer to let it fade away then make a post and show somebody who wasn't tracking the figure that they don't always live up to their word.

3.)  What can we, as buyers, do about this?  If one more figure I'm excited is simply ignored into eternity I don't know what I'll do.  Figma Hulk is breaking my heart, but this Wolf Fang matter really sent me over the edge.

How dramatic.

Speaking of Figma Hulk, I have Figma Thor, Captain America and (the limited edition) Iron Man.  That's tens of thousands of yen spent on 3/4 of the core Avengers, spent under the beliefs that I would be able to finish out the set.  After all, all 4 were unveiled at Wonder Fest several years ago.  Now I have to go with Bandai's Age of Ultron set if I want the core 4, but I don't enjoy their new designs nearly as much.  If anyone has heard anything about Figma Hulk, please let me know.