Lisa, Grampa and Smithers were not produced at the same volume level as other figures from Series 1 and 2 .

Most if not all of the Series 1 cases shipped with an assortment of 4 Barts, 3 Homers, 2 Krustys, 1 Lisa, 1 Grampa, and 1 Mr. Burns. Playmates bet on the line being more popular with kids and did not provide enough of every figure to meet collector demand. While Mr. Burns shipped again in some early Series 2 cases, Lisa and Grampa did not, making them particularly hard-to-find.

Smithers was a different story. For some reason his figure was delayed. He did not show up in Series 2 cases at all until partway through the run. Some reports mentioned he was 1-per-case when he first came out, but he was packed evenly at 2-per-case for much of his run. Since some areas ordered more in the beginning and less later and vice versa, he was more scarce in some places than others. Overall, less of him were produced than any other Series 2 figure because of this production delay.

Since Series 3, Playmates has tailored their production more towards collector demand and packed every case evenly, with 2 of each figure.