History Main / PromotionalPowerlessPieceOfGarbage

[[quoteright:173:[[TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/card_280.png]]]]

* Nintendo's VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy (usually shortened to R.O.B- [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros the same one who you'll probably know from his appearance in]] ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' rather than the actual toy), which was included with the rare NES Deluxe Set, to promote the system as a "toy" after UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. It only had two games made for it [[note]]''Gyromite'' and ''Stack-Up''[[/note]], and it barely functions.

** The cards released with videogames tended to fall into this in the early days. One particularly nasty case was Metalzoa, the promo card for ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheFalseboundKingdom'': a card that requires Metalmorph to be summoned, which was released a year prior as the promo for ''VideoGame/YuGiOhForbiddenMemories.'' If you didn't buy that game as well (and keep in mind, they were for different consoles), Metalzoa was pretty much a shiny piece of foil. If you did buy it, you'd swiftly discover that Metalzoa is one of the worst "boss monster" cards ever printed.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has had promotional items for ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'', ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'', ''VideoGame/MondayNightCombat'', ''VideoGame/PokerNightAtTheInventory'', ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}: Reloaded'', ''VideoGame/{{Rift}}'', ''VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2'', ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', and many others along with items tied to assorted holidays and other events. Trading values vary wildly based on alleged "rarity", from the nigh-worthless-yet-cool-looking ([[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 Ellis' Cap]], [[VideoGame/AlienSwarm Alien Swarm Parasite]]), to downright-ugly-yet-expensive ([[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Max's Severed Head]], the jiggly Christmas Tree hat). The most ridiculous is the Hat of Undeniable Wealth and Respect, earned by completing every single objective in the Steam Treasure Hunt: owned by only about 500 people worldwide, and each one costing over $400 in Steam games to obtain.
** The RIFT weapons are particularly notable - they do have unique effects (unlike the other promos), but they... kinda suck. They are a baseball bat replacement that deals more damage to enemies who are on fire but less to enemies that aren't, and can only be used by a class that can't ignite enemies, which means the Scout has to steal kills from the classes that can to use as intended; and an axe that can ignite enemies but can only be used by the Pyro, who has many Flamethrowers that are infinitely better at the job. However, you can still get the Sun-On-A-Stick and the Sharpened Volcano Fragment without buying the game, and the latter is [[NotCompletelyUseless the only way for the Pyro to ignite someone in Medieval Mode.]][[note]]To be fair, they ''did'' buff the Sun-On-A-Stick during the Meet Your Match update, so that you have a 25% Fire Damage Resistance while holding it. Still nothing major but considering Scout melees are usually prized on their utility over actual deadliness (you have a shotgun that does 100 damage point-blank, after all), it's at least enough to consider the Stick if the enemy team has a few too many Pyros on it.[[/note]]

** The RIFT weapons are particularly notable - they do have unique effects (unlike the other promos), but they... kinda suck. They are a baseball bat replacement that deals more damage to enemies who are on fire but less to enemies that aren't, and can only be used by a class that can't ignite enemies, which means the Scout has to steal kills from the classes that can to use as intended; and an axe that can ignite enemies but can only be used by the Pyro, who has many Flamethrowers that are infinitely better at the job. However, you can still get the Sun-On-A-Stick and the Sharpened Volcano Fragment without buying the game, and the latter is [[NotCompletelyUseless the only way for the Pyro to ignite someone in Medieval Mode.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'':
** [[OneHitPointWonder Capsule Cat]], [[CuteKitten Cat Bros]], [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Squish Ball Cat]], and [[StoneWall Vending Machine Cat]] were given out through a promotion with real-life gachapon machines. Of the four, Capsule Cat is the only one that's usable in combat, and even then, only in [[ADayInTheLimelight 4-star stages]].
** There’s also Gummy Cat, a cat that was created to coincide with the release of ''The Battle Cats'' themed gummies and is the only cat in the game that can only be obtained by using real money. However, in battle, he’s useless since he has terrible attack and, while he has a ton of health for his cost, has over ''1000'' knockbacks, meaning that he gets knockbacked after taking 1/1000th of his hp. He can’t even be used for a ZergRush since he has a long cooldown between spawns.

* ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'' has limited edition "flaregun" secondary weapons which are only sold for a few days each years. Halloween has the Candycannon, New Year's and the 4th of July have fireworks launchers, and Christmas has the snowball launcher. As actual weapons, they're all pretty useless (Candycannon slightly less so), due to poor damage, slow projectiles, and slow rate of fire. The fireworks launcher at least makes a [[SceneryPorn cool light display]] and is great for "[[{{Griefing}} helping]]" friendly snipers. The Exception Weapons [[AchievementSystem Directive]], which grants you the pure black camouflage, requires players to get Auraxium medals on 5 limited-edition guns, which means that some players slog their way through 1160 kills on the miserable flareguns to complete it. They are the price of an actually usable weapon (1000 certs [[{{Microtransactions}} or $7]]).

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** Both games have promotional figures, mainly for gamesday, magazine subscriptions and other events. Most notably are the figures given out for the ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' subscription and the ''White Dwarf'' anniversary figures. While the ''White Dwarf'' Anniversary figure (which is a statue of the titular ''White Dwarf'' being born upon a shield carried by two other famous dwarves from Warhammer lore) does actually have rules, it was released in a plated gold version (which is valued at one point to be 400 dollars by collectors). This however renders it illegal for play, since it has no basing and only one color (while you could paint it, you can also buy a white-pewter version just for much less), not to mention its rules were unofficial for tournament games anyhow. ''White Dwarf'' subscription models often came on round bases (which makes them illegal for ''Fantasy''), but are obviously dwarves (which have had no rules in ''40k'' ever since the infamous Squats fiasco). Doesn't help that they tend to have crossover parts with 40k, making them unsuited for Fantasy Tournament play since you'd either have to convert the model so much that it'll be near-indistinguishable from a standard one or buy a normal model.
** Games Workshop also usually gave out Christmas models to its higher up employees, and often release in-house rules for these models (most notable is the Ogre Slaver model). However, due to the exclusiveness of these models (literally only GW Employees could get them), they are worth quite the premium on the net if they were ever to be sold, but almost no one would have ever heard about their rules (not to mention them being illegal for tournament play).
** Averted [usually] with the promotional Games Day models, most of which are properly based and legal for play.
** Inverted with the Unmounted Archaeon model given out as a Games Day model. While normally characters have prohibitively high costs for their deployment, Archaeon can mitigate that by not selecting a steed. Unfortunately, the only available Archaeon model is one with a steed. The Unmounted Archaeon model was only available during that promotion, so if you want to use the rules without Archaeon's steed, you have to (with great difficulty) convert your own or track down this model.

[[folder:Toys]]
* Convention-exclusive toys usually end up as this by nature - they can't have too many new parts without blowing the budget, they're meant for a very short run, and they can't be too desirable or people would be annoyed at them being limited to attendees or people willing to pay heavy markups. As a result, many exclusives end up being also-ran characters, mild variants of stuff you can find at retail (or even just retail figures with more impressive packaging), poorly built, or all of the above. A good example is Franchise/TheDCU Classics exclusive for San Diego Comic-Con 2010 - [[WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}} The Wonder Twins.]] Said set sold a figure of [[SidekickCreatureNuisance Gleek]] separately, which meant that even the people who wanted a Wonder Twins set were miffed at it. Those ugly, rubbery, poorly assembled Gleeks with about three moving parts can go for over a hundred dollars on the aftermarket!
* Franchise/{{LEGO}}:
** LEGO produces a few promotional ''Franchise/StarWars'' minifigures every year. Chrome Gold C-3PO makes at least some sense, as he is shiny chrome in the movies and the normal edition figures of him are regular pearl plastic, but Chrome Darth Vader? Okay, he looks shiny sometimes. Chrome silver Stormtrooper?[[note]]Keeping in mind this was before Captain Phasma[[/note]] 14kt solid gold Boba Fett? There isn't much to do than to show off in your forum with a picture of you and him at a restaurant table or plainly sell him for thousands of dollars to somebody else to do it for you.
** The most triumphant example would be the chrome gold minifigure keychain. A regular LEGO keychain gets utterly wrecked by normal use in jeans and loses printing, gets round edges and completely loses joints. Chrome figures lose their chrome ''just from being displayed on your shelf''. If you want to use the chrome gold figure for that, it only takes three weeks at best before it regresses back to a tan figure.
** Not really promotional, only given to die-hard fans that happen to know somebody who works for LEGO, but sometimes first production wave parts get released to the public. These parts were test-cycles to the molds to see if there were some bumps or raspy areas, and normally go straight to cremation because they are... unusual. Examples include a green knight helmet ($7), red Darth Vader helmets ($50), and an orange ghost ($280).
* Nintendo's VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy (usually shortened to R.O.B- [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros the same one who you'll probably know from his appearance in]] ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' rather than the actual toy), which was included with the rare NES Deluxe Set, to promote the system as a "toy" after UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983. It only had two games made for it [[note]]''Gyromite'' and ''Stack-Up''[[/note]], and it barely functions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* During the early years of ''Website/{{Neopets}}''' venture into real-life products (such as plushies, stickers and school supplies, then later trading cards and other toys), most products came with a promotional note or card with Virtual Prize Codes printed on them, which members of the site can enter to gain a free item of some sort. The problem comes in that the item in question is random, with some appearing for almost every Prize Code while others don't appear at all (one of the more common booby prizes being the Scorchio Bank). Nearly all of these items are completely useless for anything other than [[BraggingRightsReward to show off]] or to sell, and with how frequently some of these items popped up, it was much easier to shell out a reasonable amount of NP for the item if you really wanted it rather than buy the real merchandise in hopes of getting lucky. They got a little better as time went on and more items could be obtained through the Prize Codes, but not by that great of a margin.
[[/folder]]

** The Base Set Charizard is like this, easily going for upwards of 120 dollars for a regular one and over 10000 or 20000 for a first-edition print. Despite that, the card is miserable in play, requiring four energy (which can be mitigated a bit) to deal 100 damage, then forcing you to discard 2 energy cards. Suffice it to say, weakness to Water isn't the only reason that [[GameBreaker Blastoise completely beat it back in the day.]] Most Charizard cards are similar, with the exception being the relatively cheap, comparatively boring Charizard from the ''Arceus'' expansion (now rotated out), the Charizard from the "Team Up" expansion and, to a lesser extent, the one from ''Boundaries Crossed''.

** The Base Set Charizard is like this, easily going for upwards of 50 dollars for a regular one and over 100 or 150 for a first-edition print. Despite that, the card is miserable in play, requiring four energy (which can be mitigated a bit) to deal 100 damage, then forcing you to discard 2 energy cards. Suffice it to say, weakness to Water isn't the only reason that [[GameBreaker Blastoise completely beat it back in the day.]] Most Charizard cards are similar, with the exception being the relatively cheap, comparatively boring Charizard from the ''Arceus'' expansion (now rotated out) and, to a lesser extent, the one from ''Boundaries Crossed''.

* The preorder bonus character for ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' was Artoria Lily. Though treated as if she's at four-star rarity, her statline is abnormally low, being on par with most three-stars, and her skillset is almost completely unremarkable. It also wasn't initially possible to upgrade her Noble Phantasm, since you only got one copy of her ever. The ''Saber Wars'' event was one big lampshading of this, though it did finally allow players to max out her NP and gave her a BalanceBuff to it as well, which moved her from "godawful" to "can at least fulfill some kind of purpose in a party."

* The annual event Record Store Day is known for its own limited edition releases, some of which became instantly collectible. This was initially welcomed by independent record stores as a way of attracting customers. However, several years into this, many stores regret their participation since they end up flooded with things they can't sell - whether this is major label reissues that the market was oversaturated with to start with (often on coloured vinyl), 12"s with badly received remixes, or releases by unknown indie bands who have seized the opportunity to get exposure. The releases that are generally sought after are quite often under-distributed and reach high prices on ebay. To make matters worse, it's quite common for people to queue up for hours only to not get what they were after. Many fans therefore choose to forego Record Store Day and bid on the items online, often driving the prices up even higher.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' has cranked out a ridiculous number of limited-time hat-adorned Pikachus, and occasionally other Pokémon (usually Kanto starters or Eevee), over the years. Some are literal promotions--one had [[Manga/OnePiece Luffy's signature sombrero]], another was product placement for a fashion brand. Others are promos for ingame seasonal events--Santa hats for winter, sun hats and sunglasses for summer, etc. What they all have in common is uselessness. Many of these promotional Pikas can't evolve, and even if they can, [[TierInducedScrappy Raichu rarely sees combat in this game]], which prioritizes legendaries and pseudo-legendaries for raids and a handful of optimal mons for [=PvP=] battles. This goes double for those lucky enough to hatch a Pichu with a hat, or catch a shiny hat-Pikachu, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs hatch a shiny hatted Pichu]], as all of the above have much higher trade or [[BraggingRightsReward trophy]] value un-evolved. It's especially frustrating with certain event Eevee who can't be evolved, since evolution is Eevee's main gimmick and Eeveelutions can be very useful in this game.

* The ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' CCG has one of these as well. The "Lara Croft: Goddess" card is an extremely overpowered promotional card from the original set (card #000). In addition to being a Power 1 character (thus playable from the start) and having a score of 5 in all four stats (a mixture of 2s and 3s is far more common), the card also satisfies all requirements necessary to upgrade it with further stat-enhancing cards. Unfortunately for the buyer who pays the asking price without fully reading the card, it expressly forbids you from using it unless your name appears in the game credits. Good luck with that one.

** Not really promotional, only given to die-hard fans that happen to know somebody who works for LEGO, but sometimes first production wave parts get released to the public. These parts were test-cycles to the molds to see if there were some bumps or raspy areas, and normally go straight to cremation because they are garbage. Now, would you think anybody would give a damn about a green knight helmet ($7), red Darth Vader helmets ($50) or an orange ghost ($280)?

** The aforementioned really high-level [=iTCG=] items, some of which happen to be able to be upgraded further. Then there's the items you could get from the manuals you redeemed the pieces of junk to get -- such as a Level 20 shield with 20 in both Weapon AND Magic Defense, a real blessing for classes like the Thief, which don't tend to get much in the way of Magic Defense, and the Antellion Miter, a [[NiceHat golden hat (that admittedly makes you look like a bullet)]] that gives hefty amounts of the same stats as the aforementioned shield, with added [[ManaPoints MP]] thrown in for good measure.

** The Pokemon Company decided to release cards that are literally powerless and useless. Every year the First, Second, and Third place finishers at the World Championships each receive a numbered Trainer card, which simply invites them back to the tournament for the following year. Although playing it would have literally no effect whatsoever on the game state, it is VERY cool nonetheless, and regularly sells for over $7,000. "If you won this card at the 20XX Pokemon Trading Card Game World Championships, you may return to battle the best in 20XX+1...CONGRATULATIONS!"

** The Pokemon Company decided to actually go UpToEleven on this trope, and release cards that are literally powerless and useless. Every year the First, Second, and Third place finishers at the World Championships each receive a numbered Trainer card, which simply invites them back to the tournament for the following year. Although playing it would have literally no effect whatsoever on the game state, it is VERY cool nonetheless, and regularly sells for over $7,000. "If you won this card at the 20XX Pokemon Trading Card Game World Championships, you may return to battle the best in 20XX+1...CONGRATULATIONS!"

* In the ''Rage'' CCG, each set has a few foils in it that came one per booster box or so and ''only'' came in foil version. The War of the Amazon set was badly underprinted, making its foils exceptionally hard to collect. One of them, the Conquistador's Sword, removes 2 of the other 4 Amazon foils from the game... and that's all it does. Despite being a sword, it can't even be used as a weapon! Why it doesn't work on the other two Amazon foils is also a mystery.

See also: BraggingRightsReward and PowerUpLetdown. Compare CCGImportanceDissonance. Contrast PowerEqualsRarity. If it's obtained infrequently at random instead of as a special promotion, it's a JunkRare.

See also: BraggingRightsReward and PowerupLetdown. Compare CCGImportanceDissonance. Contrast PowerEqualsRarity. If it's obtained infrequently at random instead of as a special promotion, it's a JunkRare.

* In the ''Rage'' CCG, each set has a few foils in it that came one per booster box or so and ONLY came in foil version. The War of the Amazon set was badly underprinted, making its foils exceptionally hard to collect. One of them, the Conquistador's Sword, removes 2 of the other 4 Amazon foils from the game... and that's all it does. Despite being a sword, it can't even be used as a weapon! Why it doesn't work on the other two Amazon foils is also a mystery.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'' came with a promotional card for Decipher's Mega Man TCG -- a Navi card of X. Unfortunately, this card has no effect, has the exact same stats as another Navi card (Bass), and does not have any added compatibility with any cards in the game. There is nothing you can do with X that you can't do just as well (or better) with Bass. And that's ignoring the fact that the card game in question tanked.

** The original "God cards" are ''literally'' powerless, thanks to the text right on them that said they ''can't be used in a game,'' essentially blank ATK and DEF values for two of the three, and the back of the cards were colored with each Monster's primary color instead of the standard brown. Regardless, at the time of their initial release in the States, they were being thrown around for $30-50 each, mostly thanks to the poor kids who wanted them for... you know, playing against their friends. At least one card shop owner refused to deal in them, because he felt too many other dealers were basically exploiting gullible kids with those.

** For Europe, a lot of the Shonen Jump magazine and manga promotional cards have been deemed illegal for use in TCG events due to a ruling by Konami saying that only cards that have been printed in that country can be used. When the TCG first came out, cards from the American boosters were banned outright in tournaments until Upper Deck/Konami removed that ruling. Long story short, on top of other things, it means that the legal variant God Cards are banned in Europe until Konami decides to print them in a booster pack.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Most aren't money-making promotional pieces but rather one-of-a-kind prizes. Several were given away as promotions with books; all but one (Mana Crypt) fit this trope. One unique card was given at the opening of Wizards' first store in Japan. One was given to the 1997 World Champion. Three more were given to Richard Garfield to commemorate his proposal and wedding and the birth of his first child. Sometimes, Wizards has given its employees silly, Unglued-style foil promotional cards at Christmas. The [[http://www.magiclibrarities.net/rarities.html Magic Rarities]] page and the [[https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Promotional_card MTG Salvation Wiki]] have good examples, but the best would have to be the DCI Legend Membership Poker Deck, a deck of 52 standard playing cards plus 2 jokers — the card backs are the same, and there's no rule that you can't play them.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'' came with a promotional card for Decipher's Mega Man TCG -- a Navi card of X. Unfortunately, this card has no effect, has the exact same stats as another Navi card (Bass), and does not have any added compatibility with any cards in the game. There is nothing you can do with X that you can't do just as well (or better) with Bass. And that's ignoring the fact that the card game in question tanked.
* The ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' CCG has one of these as well. The "Lara Croft: Goddess" card is an extremely overpowered promotional card from the original set (card #000). In addition to being a Power 1 character (thus playable from the start) and having a score of 5 in all four stats (a mixture of 2s and 3s is far more common), the card also satisfies all requirements necessary to upgrade it with further stat-enhancing cards. Unfortunately for the buyer who pays the asking price without fully reading the card, it expressly forbids you from using it unless your name appears in the game credits. Good luck with that one.
* Inverted by Steve Jackson Games's ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'', in which every merchandising tchotchke -- even free stuff, even T-shirts and bobble-heads -- grant some in-game bonus.
* The first ''TabletopGame/{{Digimon}}'' CCG, Digital Card Battle, had a set of promotional cards released to coincide with the North American release of ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie''. Two cards released were Infermon and Diablomon, from the movie's second segment (the ''Anime/DigimonAdventure: Our War Game!'' movie in Japan). Diablomon evolves from Infermon, while Infermon evolves from Chrysalimon; Chrysalimon (and its pre-evolution Keramon) didn't get a card at all until a few expansions later, making these two cards completely useless until then.
* In the ''Rage'' CCG, each set has a few foils in it that came one per booster box or so and ONLY came in foil version. The War of the Amazon set was badly underprinted, making its foils exceptionally hard to collect. One of them, the Conquistador's Sword, removes 2 of the other 4 Amazon foils from the game... and that's all it does. Despite being a sword, it can't even be used as a weapon! Why it doesn't work on the other two Amazon foils is also a mystery.
* Inverted in ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'', where [[RuleOfFunny the more absurd a card is]], [[RuleOfCool the more useful it is.]] [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on the players.]]
* The Etaranger clan in ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' is basically the cameo/promotional clan of the game. It's not that the card effects are ''bad'', but mixed-clan decks carry a whole set of disadvantages and there are not enough Etaranger cards to make a dedicated deck.
** The first promo card released for Vanguard was Blaster Blade (PR/0001). Whilst this would be cool by any other means, this version of the card lacks all of the abilities that the normal Blaster Blade, which at the time you could easily obtain from the Trial Deck of the same name, has. There was also a version of it printed as an English-exclusive promo (PR/0000EN) which features the same art as the TD version, but in place of an ability, it's got a giant textbox with the engrishy wording of "The new era trading card game "Cardfight!! Vanguard" Check the official website!" with the website underneath.
* Zigzagged by the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' CCG (First Edition)'s Fajo Collection. It's a premium set (at a premium price), and while some of the cards fall into this category, others are {{Lethal Joke Item}}s (or {{Lethal Joke Character}}s--Spot, anyone?), and still others are ''very'' useful in the decks they're meant for. The most decorative card in the set ("Qapla!", which is all in Klingon and looks like it belongs to a ''completely different game'') subverts it by being a powerful card in personnel battle.
* ''VideoGame/MagiNation'' came with a promo of Tony Jones, the main character and legendary hero. The card has below average energy for a hero, a weak starting hand, and because it's universal/colorless, you have to pay one extra energy for every non-universal card (other heroes get to pay the printed energy for any universal card or any card of the same color). It does have the ability to pay one less for spells, but that only mitigates the penalty for being universal.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX'' zigzags this trope. It gives out several promotional items and deals, which may or may not be useful.
** When Disney releases some form of media (such as a new movie), players will generally be given a costume piece for free to reflect it that plays this trope straight. The free movie giveaway items almost never do anything but look cute, and the few that can do something provide minor stat bonuses at best.
** Averted with giveaways related to ''Kingdom Hearts'' and the game itself. The release day of ''Kingdom Hearts III'' saw every player get twelve thousand Jewels for free, and a March 2019 giveaway to celebrate the anniversary of ''Union X'' gave every player a number of Medal Draw Tickets equal to their current level.

* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' players who purchased the retail box got the Interbus Shuttle, a gold reskin of the Gallente Shuttle with double cargo room. It's still a shuttle, which means it's useless in combat, and even with the extra cargo space it's 1/5 of the cargo a frigate can carry while still being useful in combat. The Apotheosis shuttle given out for the 4th anniversary event has the same problems, but at least it has a cool original model.
* ''VideoGame/StarPirates'' creates items for occasions sometimes. These are generally useful, but not as useful as the scarcity causes the market price to be.

* For ''VideoGame/HellgateLondon'' multiplayer subscribers, Flagship Studios touted a rather small selection of pets that can [[RandomlyDrops Randomly Drop]]. They have marginal to no use, and amount to SidekickCreatureNuisance who make annoying sounds.
* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'':
** There is an in-game flagstaff that was given to everyone who bought a ticket to [=RuneFest=], an event similar to Blizzard's [=BlizzCon=]. It doesn't give any bonuses but it can set off fireworks (which normally only appear when you level up).
** Try mentioning the "party hat" to most ''Runescape'' players. Party hats were paper crowns found inside Christmas Crackers that you pulled with another player. The Cracker popped open, and one player got a random item, the other player got the party hat. This was way back in 2001, and as of 2017, the party hats are now in the ''billions'' range in terms of cost. Just to drive home how much that is, that's more than the Grand Exchange limit, and, based upon bond prices at the time, ''several thousand dollars in real life''. Holiday items released after 2003 are untradable specifically to avoid the impact those old tradable holiday items had on the economy, and when the Old School legacy servers were released, the partyhats (alongside other tradable holiday items that suffer a similar problem in the main game) were given out in large quantities and reissued every year as opposed to being one-and-done rares.
** Averted by the Katana and Lightning Staff, which were given out as a reward for joining the Premiere Club at the start of 2013. The items can be freely toggled between several 'tiers'; sets of stat bonuses on par with other gear of the accompanying level requirement, so players can show to item off and get some worthwhile use out of it no matter their level.
** Jagex puts a lot of cosmetic items on Treasure Hunter (and its predecessor, Squeal of Fortune, themselves resulting in a BrokenBase). Things like the Queens Guard outfit, or the Dragon Ceremonial outfit. Completely useless, untradeable, no combat benefits, etc. Worst of all, the chance to get a ''piece'' of the set is completely random. It's not unheard of to have players spend real-world money on Treasure Hunter keys/Squeal of Fortune spins, just to get the whole set. The only benefit to having the whole set is that it helps players avoid the RummageSaleReject look.
* The baseball bat in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' was given to players that pre-ordered the game. While it is a decent melee weapon, it is held back by several factors. One, if a player that obtained the bat plays with people that didn't pre-order the game, the bat is made available to the whole group, which kills the exclusivity of the bat. Two, because all melee weapons have the same killing power and are only differentiated by reach and swing speed, the bat isn't anything special and is basically the same as the katana with a different skin. Third, The Passing DLC makes the bat open to all players (regardless if they had pre-ordered the game or not) and the weapon no longer spawns at the start of the map.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hawken}}'' has the special Vanguard Cupcake mech, exclusive to players that purchased the Vanguard Initiative pre-order packs. While by no means useless, it is generally regarded as the weakest of the Heavy mechs due to its weapons not complementing each other (its primary weapons are all direct-hit continuous fire, while its secondary fires arcing projectiles).
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''. The bonus for pre-ordering the Deluxe Pack of the "Reaper of Souls" expansion? A pair of wings, a zombie dog that doesn't do anything and some recipes to make your items have visuals like the final boss. Also, there's the fact that you have more slots to create characters, which is a plus, but they really could do much better than measly visual things.
* ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon''. Gamestop preorders and the European Limited Edition came with a free DLC plane -- the F-4E Phantom II, almost always [[WithThisHerring the first, statistically-weakest plane available to the player]] in every other game of the series. In a game where you start out with the F-16C Fighting Falcon, and other DLC planes include superfighters from previous games like ''VideoGame/{{Ace Combat 6|FiresOfLiberation}}'''s CFA-44 Nosferatu.
* Competition cartridges are often the video game version of this trope. Though they are often amongst the rarest and [[CrackIsCheaper most expensive]] cartridges in any console collection (with the biggest example being the ''VideoGame/NintendoWorldChampionships'' cart, considered by some to be the most sought-after and valuable game in existence), the games themselves are usually just pared down-versions of much cheaper and more common retail games, with a timer to ensure you can only play a few minutes at a time.
* The Flash Speeder in ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'' was given to players who participated in the beta testing of the game's first expansion, Jump to Lightspeed. The vehicle itself is mostly worthless, being slower than a common swoop or speederbike, and its only real value is in its infinite respawnability.
* ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'' has limited edition "flaregun" secondary weapons which are only sold for a few days each years. Halloween has the Candycannon, New Year's and the 4th of July have fireworks launchers, and Christmas has the snowball launcher. As actual weapons, they're all pretty useless (Candycannon slightly less so), due to poor damage, slow projectiles, and slow rate of fire. The fireworks launcher at least makes a [[SceneryPorn cool light display]] and is great for "[[{{Griefing}} helping]]" friendly snipers. The Exception Weapons [[AchievementSystem Directive]], which grants you the pure black camouflage, requires players to get Auraxium medals on 5 limited-edition guns, which means that some players slog their way through 1160 kills on the miserable flareguns to complete it. They are the price of an actually usable weapon (1000 certs [[{{Microtransactions}} or $7]]).
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Event Pokémon given away at Nintendo events tend to avert this, due to the Pokémon being given away generally being one of two things: a [[InfinityPlusOneSword really powerful Legendary or Mythical Pokémon]] or a regular Pokémon with a unique move on it (e.g. Surfing Pikachu). However, said Pokémon are more often than not banned in official tournaments; the latter moreso if it was released in a previous generation in a tournament that only allows Pokémon native to the current one.
** The Spiky-Eared Pichu in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'' - a ''baby Pokémon'' that, while cute, has awful stats, can't even evolve or be traded/transferred to any other games at all, and doesn't even come with any unique features aside from ''a slightly deformed ear''. To further rub salt in the wound, Spiky-Eared Pichu was given out in the United States while the ''actually useful and popular'' Celebi (who was originally obtained in the area Spiky-Eared Pichu is now in) was given out [[NoExportForYou everywhere else]]. Even if she ''was'' useful, she can't be traded to any other of the Gen IV games or transferred to Gen V, so if you got out of your way to get this Pichu, that effort becomes entirely moot. Her one use now is to be [[HeroicSacrifice the one Pokémon that you're required to have in your party, so you can transfer all your other Pokémon to the later games]] rather than having to leave a ComMon behind.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' has cranked out a ridiculous number of limited-time hat-adorned Pikachus, and occasionally other Pokémon (usually Kanto starters or Eevee), over the years. Some are literal promotions--one had [[Manga/OnePiece Luffy's signature sombrero]], another was product placement for a fashion brand. Others are promos for ingame seasonal events--Santa hats for winter, sun hats and sunglasses for summer, etc. What they all have in common is uselessness. Many of these promotional Pikas can't evolve, and even if they can, [[TierInducedScrappy Raichu rarely sees combat in this game]], which prioritizes legendaries and pseudo-legendaries for raids and a handful of optimal mons for [=PvP=] battles. This goes double for those lucky enough to hatch a Pichu with a hat, or catch a shiny hat-Pikachu, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs hatch a shiny hatted Pichu]], as all of the above have much higher trade or [[BraggingRightsReward trophy]] value un-evolved. It's especially frustrating with certain event Eevee who can't be evolved, since evolution is Eevee's main gimmick and Eeveelutions can be very useful in this game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'' released two special Legendary cards during its beta; Gelbin Mekkatorque and Elite Tauren Chieftain. A golden Gelbin was awarded to players who spent money during the closed beta, and a golden ETC was given to attendees at [[FanConvention Blizzcon 2013]]. The cards cannot be opened in packs or picked in Arena, only crafted, and the golden versions cannot be obtained at all anymore. Both of them are nearly-useless {{Joke Character}}s with amusing but random (and often detrimental) effects, leaving them as nothing but bragging rights.
* Some of the DLC armors in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' are this, especially to players who are far into the game. While the Korok and Majora's Masks are always useful, the Phantom Armor and Midna's helmet, while having higher defense than the base stats of their equivalent base game items, can't be upgraded, making them quickly outmatched once you have the ability to upgrade those items. The Tingle outfit, meanwhile, doesn't even have better stats than the base-game obtainable Dark Link outfit that does the same thing (likely an [[TakeThatScrappy intentional jab]], given Tingle's [[AmericansHateTingle trope-naming "popularity"]] and how [=NPCs=] recoil in horror when you approach wearing it).
* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'':
** [[OneHitPointWonder Capsule Cat]], [[CuteKitten Cat Bros]], [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Squish Ball Cat]], and [[StoneWall Vending Machine Cat]] were given out through a promotion with real-life gachapon machines. Of the four, Capsule Cat is the only one that's usable in combat, and even then, only in [[ADayInTheLimelight 4-star stages]].
** There’s also Gummy Cat, a cat that was created to coincide with the release of ''The Battle Cats'' themed gummies and is the only cat in the game that can only be obtained by using real money. However, in battle, he’s useless since he has terrible attack and, while he has a ton of health for his cost, has over ''1000'' knockbacks, meaning that he gets knockbacked after taking 1/1000th of his hp. He can’t even be used for a ZergRush since he has a long cooldown between spawns.
** For the ''Shakurel Planet'' crossover, there are a total of 3 packs that you can buy that give you a unit[[labelnote:Those being]] [[CriticalHitClass Shakurel Lion]], [[BarrierBustingBlow Shakurel Tiger]] and Shakurel Panda (prevents [[RevivingEnemy Zombies]] from reviving if this unit deals the killing blow to them)[[/labelnote]] along with a decent amount of Catfood (the game’s rare currency). The units themselves are terrible because, as detailed in [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RL8E6m_gWGY this video]], while all of them have good stats, fast attack rate and the ability to do Waves (extra attack that damages all enemies in range), it can’t make up for their melee range, long cooldown and the fact that there are cats that are leagues better at doing their roles, meaning that they’re only really useful at the early parts of the game. Not even their Wave Attacks, normally a game-changing ability, could save them.
* The preorder bonus character for ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' was Artoria Lily. Though treated as if she's at four-star rarity, her statline is abnormally low, being on par with most three-stars, and her skillset is almost completely unremarkable. It also wasn't initially possible to upgrade her Noble Phantasm, since you only got one copy of her ever. The ''Saber Wars'' event was one big lampshading of this, though it did finally allow players to max out her NP and gave her a BalanceBuff to it as well, which moved her from "godawful" to "can at least fulfill some kind of purpose in a party."
* ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'''s pre-order ship, the Alpha Vector / Horizon Omega, falls into this because it only has 16 inventory slots (other ship classes can have 30 or more). Until the Path Finder update almost a year later you couldn't own multiple starships, and you couldn't buy inventory slots for your starships until the Synthesis update ''three years later!''.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Most aren't money-making BS but rather one-of-a-kind prizes. Several were given away as promotions with books; all but one (Mana Crypt) fit this trope. One unique card was given at the opening of Wizards' first store in Japan. One was given to the 1997 World Champion. Three more were given to Richard Garfield to commemorate his proposal and wedding and the birth of his first child. Sometimes, Wizards has given its employees silly, Unglued-style foil promotional cards at Christmas. The [[http://www.magiclibrarities.net/rarities.html Magic Rarities]] page and the [[https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Promotional_card MTG Salvation Wiki]] have good examples, but the best would have to be the DCI Legend Membership Poker Deck, a deck of 52 standard playing cards plus 2 jokers — the card backs are the same, and there's no rule that you can't play them.

* As a general rule, nearly everything obtained as a pre-order bonus that isn't a cosmetic falls into this eventually: by their very nature they're available from the start of the game, so the developer doesn't want them to break everything by making them better than anything else available at that point. The downside to this is that the pre-order items are therefore only viable in the opening hours of the game, [[SoLastSeason so players will quickly shelve them in favour of better gear]].
** One way around this is if the game lets you upgrade a piece of equipment to match your level, thus making it viable again. That said, this isn't as helpful if the game has loot drops: why spend those resources upgrading it when you can kill any given enemy to get something that'd be just as good?

* ''VideoGame/NoManSky'''s pre-order ship, the Alpha Vector / Horizon Omega, falls into this because it only has 16 inventory slots (other ship classes can have 30 or more). Until the Path Finder update almost a year later you couldn't own multiple starships, and you couldn't buy inventory slots for your starships until the Synthesis update ''three years later!''.