It seems most big companies are now setting up days that are reserved for collector media only. Hasbro had their collector media day Saturday afternoon, and we had the fortune of being there.
It's an interesting scene - all these fanboys crowded in this tiny exhibit space, literally pushing each other out of the way to get shots of the latest Star Wars figures. The Transformer section was desolate compared to the Star Wars sections.
Let's take you through the showroom
You are first led in through the Playskool area, where they have the Mr. Potato Head display. Among them were the Star Wars Potato Heads '“ Darth Tater, Spud Trooper, and the new Artoo-Potatoo that comes with a small holographic Princess Tater. I keep waiting for this to get old, but it just keeps amusing the hell out of me. Bring on Tater Fett!
For Matt, There was a My Little Pony display as well, including some clear ones. How long do you think it will be until someone on ToyboxDX buys one, cuts of the head, and fills it with glow pellets?
We also passed by the creepy Fur-Real pony. From the Hasbro release:
BUTTERSCOTCH MY FURREAL PONY
(Approximate Retail Price $299.99; Recommended Ages: 4 & up; Available: Fall 2006)
"Mom, can I have a pony?" is a question that parents have heard from little girls for generations. This year, Hasbro's FURREAL FRIENDS brand gives girls the next best thing! BUTTERSCOTCH MY FURREAL PONY is a life-sized plush miniature pony that loves to be groomed and cared for. BUTTERSCOTCH has many features similar to that of a real pony, including moving eyes, ears and head, soft fur coat and a swishing tail. Through sensors, BUTTERSCOTCH can feel when she is being groomed and will move her head toward you, and may whinny or snort. The more you touch her, the happier she becomes. Just like a real pony, BUTTERSCOTCH loves carrots and can be 'œfed.' Hold the pretend carrot to her face and she will open her mouth for it, or shake her head 'œno' if she has had enough. Kids can even sit on BUTTERSCOTCH. With built-in microphones, she can even respond to noises around her. Say something and she'll turn her head to find you.
Your kids will want this. And you will have a hard time saying no, because you spend $299 on a 4-inch diecast robot without thinking about it.
When you finally get to the Boys area the first thing you come across is the Titanium series. These are basically diecast representations of Ships, vehicles and figures from various lines. Up until now, these have been just Star Wars, but now they are branching out to Transformers and Battlestar Galactica.
Star Wars had the usual assortment of ships and figures, but what stood out to me was the Boba Fett figure. What is remarkable about this figure is that it comes with a Removable Helmet. This is the first time (That I know of) that Boba's face is going to be shown (as an adult anyway). They could not show us the face there, but they said that it basically looked like Temura Morrison, only very scarred. I can't wait to see this. I was also really impressed by the Titanium IG-88 and Bossk. We need a 4-Lom, NOW! Are you listening Hasbro?
Transformers had both the Autobot Ark and Decepticon ships in titanium form. The Autobot Ark looks suspiciously like the old Milton Bradley Starbird toy. The coolest thing they had was a 6-inch Transforming Optimus Prime and Megatron from the War Within comic series, made out of diecast. These were fully poseable and transformable. Optimus looked great, but Megatron looked terrible '“ I think he was mis-transformed. I'm not so familiar with the character, so I can't be sure. Also on display were smaller, fixed pose Titanium series Transformers.
Battlestar Galactica had a few entries in the Titanium line, but all were from the new series. They had 2 versions of the Galactica itself '“ a small version and a 6 inch version. Also shown were a small viper and raider.
Hasbro's Toy Fair exclusive this year was a gold Titanium Darth Vader Tie Fighter. That night, I checked ebay just for kicks and there were already 3 for sale, with prices reaching $75.
Next up was the star wars display, and this was clearly the line people were there to see. It was chaos in that area '“ everyone jockeying for position to get their shots. On display were Prototypes of new 3 ¾ figures. Themed releases focus on characters from classic clashes from Episode I through Episode VI, including the Battle of Carkoon, the Battle of Hoth, and the Battle of Endor. The 2006 collection includes a mix of kid and fan favorites, and each character includes a bonus mini hologram figure! As part of the 'œUltimate Galactic Hunt,' there will be 'œchase' versions of a few select characters that will be packaged in premium foil-treated packaging. Notable new figures are a new Hammerhead and the Talz Jedi Foul Moudama. They also had a Stormtrooper with George Lucas' head, and a purple decorated Jedi Fighter. The Smaller Unleashed line was also on display, featuring scenes from the battle of Hoth, and a bunch of Wookies.
Star Wars Transformers were on display, and personally, I still don't like them. Your mileage may vary. They are smaller than I thought they would be. I like the vehicle forms, but the robot modes are just silly. The big combining Millennium falcon was on display; made of Robot versions of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Is this line necessary? I mean, I know both Star Wars and Transformer fans will buy pretty much anything, but I can't see this line doing well with collectors.
Moving on, we have GI Joe and the Sigma Six line, along with some of the smaller figures.
I don't follow the line much, but they had some cool battle armor on display. The COBRA MANTIS MECH (w/ DESTRO figure) was nicely designed.
Attackix is another merging of the Star Wars and Transformer Franchises, where you can pit Darth Vader against Optimus Prime. The representation of the characters is just too out there for me, with figures like a pregnant Padme holding a giant shoulder mounted bazooka. Meh.
BDaman continues to be a hit with the young boys, but there is virtually no interest in the collector markets.
Finally we get to Transformers, and it was so quiet you could hear crickets chirp. On display were the new Alternators Mirage and Optimus Prime, as well as several of the previously released ones. Mirage looked excellent. Prime looked a little bulky.
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary was on display; most notable were the new Optimus Primal and Megatron figures. Other figures got updated paint apps and looks like updated head sculpts. I never liked Beast Wars, but if you do, get your wallets out. The Optimus Primal and Megatron are due fall of 06.
The figures all come with a part that when you collect all the parts, you can make a bonus figure.
The main line was Transformers Cybertron, and there were a ton of figures on display. Read the press release to get a better handle on the figures, but stand outs were the planet sized PRIMUS, and the METROPLEX figure.
We saw some cool figures from Super Robot Monkey Team hyper Force Go. Some nice action figures and role play stuff. One thing noticeably absent '“ THE ROBOT! They did have the two vehicles that made the feet of the robot on display, but they did not look like they connected to anything. Bummer.
For Matt, There was a My Little Pony display as well, including some clear ones. How long do you think it will be until someone on ToyboxDX buys one, cuts of the head, and fills it with glow pellets?
We also passed by the creepy Fur-Real pony. From the Hasbro release:
BUTTERSCOTCH MY FURREAL PONY
(Approximate Retail Price $299.99; Recommended Ages: 4 & up; Available: Fall 2006)
"Mom, can I have a pony?" is a question that parents have heard from little girls for generations. This year, Hasbro's FURREAL FRIENDS brand gives girls the next best thing! BUTTERSCOTCH MY FURREAL PONY is a life-sized plush miniature pony that loves to be groomed and cared for. BUTTERSCOTCH has many features similar to that of a real pony, including moving eyes, ears and head, soft fur coat and a swishing tail. Through sensors, BUTTERSCOTCH can feel when she is being groomed and will move her head toward you, and may whinny or snort. The more you touch her, the happier she becomes. Just like a real pony, BUTTERSCOTCH loves carrots and can be 'œfed.' Hold the pretend carrot to her face and she will open her mouth for it, or shake her head 'œno' if she has had enough. Kids can even sit on BUTTERSCOTCH. With built-in microphones, she can even respond to noises around her. Say something and she'll turn her head to find you.
Your kids will want this. And you will have a hard time saying no, because you spend $299 on a 4-inch diecast robot without thinking about it.
When you finally get to the Boys area the first thing you come across is the Titanium series. These are basically diecast representations of Ships, vehicles and figures from various lines. Up until now, these have been just Star Wars, but now they are branching out to Transformers and Battlestar Galactica.
Star Wars had the usual assortment of ships and figures, but what stood out to me was the Boba Fett figure. What is remarkable about this figure is that it comes with a Removable Helmet. This is the first time (That I know of) that Boba's face is going to be shown (as an adult anyway). They could not show us the face there, but they said that it basically looked like Temura Morrison, only very scarred. I can't wait to see this. I was also really impressed by the Titanium IG-88 and Bossk. We need a 4-Lom, NOW! Are you listening Hasbro?
Transformers had both the Autobot Ark and Decepticon ships in titanium form. The Autobot Ark looks suspiciously like the old Milton Bradley Starbird toy. The coolest thing they had was a 6-inch Transforming Optimus Prime and Megatron from the War Within comic series, made out of diecast. These were fully poseable and transformable. Optimus looked great, but Megatron looked terrible '“ I think he was mis-transformed. I'm not so familiar with the character, so I can't be sure. Also on display were smaller, fixed pose Titanium series Transformers.
Battlestar Galactica had a few entries in the Titanium line, but all were from the new series. They had 2 versions of the Galactica itself '“ a small version and a 6 inch version. Also shown were a small viper and raider.
Hasbro's Toy Fair exclusive this year was a gold Titanium Darth Vader Tie Fighter. That night, I checked ebay just for kicks and there were already 3 for sale, with prices reaching $75.
Next up was the star wars display, and this was clearly the line people were there to see. It was chaos in that area '“ everyone jockeying for position to get their shots. On display were Prototypes of new 3 ¾ figures. Themed releases focus on characters from classic clashes from Episode I through Episode VI, including the Battle of Carkoon, the Battle of Hoth, and the Battle of Endor. The 2006 collection includes a mix of kid and fan favorites, and each character includes a bonus mini hologram figure! As part of the 'œUltimate Galactic Hunt,' there will be 'œchase' versions of a few select characters that will be packaged in premium foil-treated packaging. Notable new figures are a new Hammerhead and the Talz Jedi Foul Moudama. They also had a Stormtrooper with George Lucas' head, and a purple decorated Jedi Fighter. The Smaller Unleashed line was also on display, featuring scenes from the battle of Hoth, and a bunch of Wookies.
Star Wars Transformers were on display, and personally, I still don't like them. Your mileage may vary. They are smaller than I thought they would be. I like the vehicle forms, but the robot modes are just silly. The big combining Millennium falcon was on display; made of Robot versions of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Is this line necessary? I mean, I know both Star Wars and Transformer fans will buy pretty much anything, but I can't see this line doing well with collectors.
Moving on, we have GI Joe and the Sigma Six line, along with some of the smaller figures.
I don't follow the line much, but they had some cool battle armor on display. The COBRA MANTIS MECH (w/ DESTRO figure) was nicely designed.
Attackix is another merging of the Star Wars and Transformer Franchises, where you can pit Darth Vader against Optimus Prime. The representation of the characters is just too out there for me, with figures like a pregnant Padme holding a giant shoulder mounted bazooka. Meh.
BDaman continues to be a hit with the young boys, but there is virtually no interest in the collector markets.
Finally we get to Transformers, and it was so quiet you could hear crickets chirp. On display were the new Alternators Mirage and Optimus Prime, as well as several of the previously released ones. Mirage looked excellent. Prime looked a little bulky.
Beast Wars 10th Anniversary was on display; most notable were the new Optimus Primal and Megatron figures. Other figures got updated paint apps and looks like updated head sculpts. I never liked Beast Wars, but if you do, get your wallets out. The Optimus Primal and Megatron are due fall of 06.
The figures all come with a part that when you collect all the parts, you can make a bonus figure.
The main line was Transformers Cybertron, and there were a ton of figures on display. Read the press release to get a better handle on the figures, but stand outs were the planet sized PRIMUS, and the METROPLEX figure.
We saw some cool figures from Super Robot Monkey Team hyper Force Go. Some nice action figures and role play stuff. One thing noticeably absent '“ THE ROBOT! They did have the two vehicles that made the feet of the robot on display, but they did not look like they connected to anything. Bummer.
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