Toy Fair 2015 Preview: Hasbro

Next up in our Toy Fair previews is a company with a very large amount of stuff included in the coverage: Hasbro. Coverage at Hasbro is divided into distinct segments, such as Marvel, Transformers and Star Wars. Here’s a taste of what you can expect from Hasbro.

Marvel is all about this little film called Avengers: Age of Ultron. Expanding on a concept introduced last year for Guardians of the Galaxy, the main line will apparently be 2.5″ scale. the smaller scale however, allows for incredible playsets and accessories, including THIS!

And this

Transformers moves into the new “Generations” theme: Combiner Wars. This new theme features an incredible G1 style reimagining of Optimus Prime and Megatron, among other characters. How incredible?

THAT Incredible!

Also, Hasbro is asking for the help of Transformers fans again this year.

HASBRO INVITES TRANSFORMERS FANS TO CREATE MASSIVE TRANSFORMERS CHARACTER TO ENLIST IN THE COMBINER WARS

Fans Can Soon Create an All New Transformers Character in “Fan Built Combiner Poll”

Pawtucket, R.I. (January 15, 2015) —TRANSFOMERS fans around the world are invited to help create a new character for the popular TRANSFORMERS brand — but not just any character. Following on the heels of the 30^th anniversary “Fan Built Bot” poll, which led to the fan-assisted creation of the popular new AUTOBOT character, WINDBLADE, Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is launching the new “Fan Built Combiner” poll. This crowdsourcing project seeks fan input to create a new team of TRANSFORMERS robots that combine into one giant new character in celebration of the theme of the 2015 TRANSFORMERS GENERATIONS line, COMBINER WARS!

Starting soon, with exact dates to be announced, the official TRANSFORMERS brand app (formerly the official TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION app) will be updated and fans will be able to log-in and answer a round of questions to help shape the identity of the new Combiner characters. The Fan Built Combiner poll will allow fans to determine everything from the types of vehicles involved, to whether the characters will be AUTOBOTS or DECEPTICONS, and eventually the name of the new character.

Voting for each round will be open for one week, after which the results will be announced and a new round of voting will begin the following week, with three rounds of questions in all. A full reveal of the new Fan Built Combiner is expected later this year, with the character available as a toy in 2016.

“The first ‘Fan Built Bot’ effort was massive, resulting in the creation of WINDBLADE who has her own widely popular comic series from IDW Publishing and toy product,” said Tom Warner, senior vice president of the TRANSFORMERS franchise at Hasbro. “With the TRANSFORMERS GENERATIONS: COMBINER WARS line celebrating the venerable COMBINER characters from throughout TRANSFORMERS history this year, this is the perfect time to let fans help create something even bigger than a new TRANSFORMERS character — a Combiner team that will become part of TRANSFORMERS lore.”

The new “Fan Built Combiner” character will be part of the TRANSFORMERS GENERATIONS: COMBINER WARS toy line. Like all the toys in the line, which debut in stores this month, the new Combiner figure will be able to mix-and-match limbs with other figures in the line so kids and fans can create their own custom TRANSFORMERS COMBINERS figures.

To participate in the vote, fans will need to download the free official TRANSFORMERS brand app on iOS [http://hasb.ro/TF4APAIT514] and Android [http://hasb.ro/TF4APAS514]. Starting with the Fan Built Combiner update, launching soon, the refreshed app will become the premiere destination for TRANSFORMERS fans and will feature first-look and behind-the-scenes images and information on new TRANSFORMERS: GENERATIONS toys. Additional information will be available at TRANSFORMERS.COM as well as the official TRANSFORMERS Facebook page at Facebook.com/Transformers.

STAR WARS is a bit of good news and bad news this year. I’ll let Hasbro explain in this very kind letter that they sent to the toy media.

Dear Star Wars fans,

With Toy Fair approaching and Hasbro’s annual Entertainment Brand Preview Day scheduled for Saturday, February 14th, we wanted to reach out and clarify what Hasbro’s Star Wars presence will entail at this year’s show.

As usual, Hasbro will be exhibiting a variety of fun and exciting Star Wars products from across its portfolio of brands, including Star Wars action figures, Star Wars Galactic Heroes and more. There will be no toys based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Star Wars Episode VII) shown at Toy Fair this year.

Obviously, we know that there’s a huge amount of anticipation for Star Wars toys this year, and we wanted to be forthcoming about this as we know it might make a difference for some of you in regards to travel plans. While we’re happy to host all of you at Entertainment Brand Preview Day and look forward to having you check out the latest and greatest toys from Star Wars and Hasbro’s other exciting brands, we want you to have as much information as possible to be able to plan your travel and coverage.

We’re extremely excited for the year ahead—which will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting years ever for fans of Star Wars and Hasbro’s Star Wars toys—and we look forward to working with each of you extensively over the coming year.

Also, another nice surprise from Hasbro is the announcement that they have been awarded the master toy license for Jurassic World. I look forward to seeing what they have planned.

So, join us on Saturday, February 14th for our Hasbro coverage.