makes it to online sales after the event, is it still a San Diego Comic Con Exclusive?

I don't see why not. There is every potential the item in question will sell out at the Con. And why would anyone complain? If something was left over, that is actually amazing news for the less fortunate of us who could not attend. Personally I think putting some of the SDCC release on offer online is a fantastically awesome thing to do, and I am wholly appreciative of the consideration.

Not to mention, if something was not sold completely, what would you suggest happen to the toys then. If there are fans wanting it, the maker can hardly be expected just to lock them up in storage indefinitely and incur a loss themselves. Why would anyone want that?

Or, if your issue is merely with the wording of "exclusive" appended to it, then this becomes a question of semantics. Does "release" or "version" make it any better? It's all marketing. I would argue this only matters if someone was looking to re-sell it. I could care less about the actual exclusivity of anything I own.

Personally I think making items in runs to sell out at the Con makes things more interesting.... what's the fun of paying all that money to get there when you can just wait and buy it online later?

Well, I personally am all about sharing the love for a great toy, and if more people can have that, so much the better.

But as to purposefully designing something to sell out, if that was the intent, even then how can you say for certain - e.g. you could make only 5 of something to have none of them sell, or you could make 500 and sell them all the first day, you can never know. There is never a guarantee either way that something will be leftover or if it will be online, so in that sense attendance is warranted if you must have it.

And isn't the event itself something to be enjoyed?

I see where everybody is coming from but you should think of this as something special for the board.

If you aren't on this board, you wouldn't get the offer.

Well obviously everyone wants to sell out of their stuff at the show, especially so they dont have to haul it back

But to make less then normal just for the show doesnt make sense because of the absorbandant amount of expenses to get there plane, hotel, booth, food, help etc...

Its sort of a fun thing to do for promotion, to see friends, etc, as in this day and age its easier and cheaper to do an online release anyway.

Replace "exclusive" with "special release" and everyone's happy.