Need products that had a shelf life and were thus a huge deal when ending (like Halo 3)

September 28, 2007 4:32 PM

I need examples of products that have/had a shelf-life/end date/end-of-series, like Halo 3. It could be the end of a trilogy or just a product that, for whatever reason, the manufacturer decided to produce a series of it for a limited time.

This is a little nebulous but I'm not looking for a product that is always in limited editions (like Beanie Babies or Threadless T-Shirts or couture fashion).

Rather, I'm looking for something a bit more epic where it was known the product or item always had a limited life because it was a series or trilogy or just a weird quirk of the business. When it comes to the end, it's a huge deal for fans. Halo 3 is the main example. The last Harry Potter book is another example.

Extra love and kudos from me if you can think of non-movie and non-book examples.

posted by faunafrailty to society & culture (14 comments total)

In television, the science fiction show Babylon 5 was planned from the beginning with a five year run, although they thought they would be canceled, compressed the core story into four years, and then got to do the fifth year anyway and it was a bit weaker.

I believe this has become more common in TV, but I don't watch much...
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 5:01 PM on September 28, 2007

The Matrix? Shiner Beer is producing a different "limited edition, commemorative brew" for each of the five years leading up to the brewery's 100th anniversary. Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle? The Star Wars movies, maybe. Stephen King's Dark Tower series? I apologize for the question marks; I think I know what you mean, but I don't think I'm hitting it. The original Star Trek tv series had a five year mission.
posted by erikgrande at 5:08 PM on September 28, 2007

The game publisher Atlus is notrious for publishing only a small number of copies of a game. These days, whenever Atlus publishes a game, people tend to buy it right away or face high ebay prices in the future.

Examples of Atlus games:
- Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
- Digital Devil Saga 1
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
posted by nakedsushi at 5:35 PM on September 28, 2007

Sufjan Stevens is writing an album for each of the fifty states, for a non-book, non-movie example.

Googling "planned trilogy/quadrilogy/whateverilogy" gets lots and lots of this stuff.
posted by moift at 5:49 PM on September 28, 2007

NB: "lots and lots" == 9, in the case of quadrilogy.
posted by moift at 5:51 PM on September 28, 2007

Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan were comic book series that were begun with an end point in mind - they 75 and 60 issues, respectively, both authors talked as if they'd had the overall arc in mind when they start, and both endings were sad moments for fans. Ellis used to talk about his "5-year plan" for Transmet.
posted by mediareport at 6:17 PM on September 28, 2007

The McRib sandwich at McDonalds?
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:50 PM on September 28, 2007

Would model year cars (or anything like that that changes from year to year whether they need to or not) fit your criteria? IF not that broad I know they make limited edition vehicles specifically for a given time and place.
posted by edgeways at 7:33 PM on September 28, 2007

The fourth "Friday the 13th" movie was entitled "The Final Chapter".

Unfortunately, the fifth was entitled "A New Beginning".

They're up to number 11 now.
posted by Flunkie at 9:12 PM on September 28, 2007

The Prisoner TV show? Though I don't think it was a big deal when it was over.
posted by drezdn at 9:28 PM on September 28, 2007

The HBO show The Wire was planned as a 5-season show, with a theme for each season.
posted by transient at 9:35 PM on September 28, 2007

The US state quarters program? Although interest in that seemed to fizzle out after a few years.

The Prisoner TV show? Though I don't think it was a big deal when it was over.

Well, there was and is quite a bit of controversy about the ending.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:15 AM on September 29, 2007

Star Wars?

There are lots of examples of shows that were really popular but got the boot. Arrested Development anyone? What was that space show where the people spoke Chinese that got cut?

Vanilla Coke. I was distraught until they recently brought it back.

Computers pre-loaded with Windows XP? (Technically still available, but I challenge you to find one.)

The Lincoln Town Car? They're talking about ending production in a year or two, despite it being an incredibly popular car. Actually, the original Beetle, too, I think.
posted by fogster at 9:34 AM on September 29, 2007

In the financial markets, there's Triple Witching Day/Hour, where three kinds of derivatives all expire on the same day, which causes a frenzy of trading.
posted by SlyBevel at 11:45 AM on September 29, 2007