UK Toy Fair Talkabout

[grahamthomson]

This thread can be for all your Toy Fair needs!

This link has a press release from Hasbro detailing their plans for Transformers (toys and television series) in 2008.

• The Animated show will start around Easter on Nickelodeon
  
• The Animated toys will be out "mid-year"
  
• The Universe/Classics 2.0 will be out Autumn/Winter
  

[kayevcee]

"Animated Range - £4.99 - £49.99"

What's £4.99 in the Animated range? It's too much for legends and too little for basic figures. Fridge magnets or something?

-Nick

[The Doctor]

One can always hope!

-Ralph

[Shockprowl]

Maybe they've got some mini-Autobots and/or Cassets in mind? yeah right...

[Nigel]

kayevcee said:

What's £4.99 in the Animated range? It's too much for legends and too little for basic figures. Fridge magnets or something?

-Nick

I know. Or, at least, I think I do. More on that shortly.

I was going to open a thread about my trip to Toy Fair yesterday, but as G's started this one, I shall use it instead.

Visiting the Hasbro stand was a priority this year, with the new ranges due and after only managing a very brief and insubstantial visit last year. Unfortunately, when I phoned last week to make an appointment, they refused because I'm not a direct customer (I use their distributors); similarly, when I tried at the stand, they wouldn't give me an appointment but I would be able to go in with someone from the distributor. So I did get in, but unfortunately the rep who took me in was a bit of a prat, knew nothing about the products and only seemed interested in Star Wars (which I didn't get to see because Hasbro were giving a presentation in the Star Wars room). As I wasn't with a Hasbro rep, I didn't get to see the toys Transformed and can't give any information on pricing, dates etc beyond what's already known. I also neglected to get a catalogue. D'oh! (I have been in touch with a supplier today to rectify that.)

First up, Marvel Transformers. Little has so far been revealed about this range, of course, but I can now confirm the speculation that they are superheroes that transform into vehicles. There were three on display: Spider-Man was displayed in his motorcycle mode; Venom was partly transformed into a sports car mode; two Hulks were on show, one his own form and one in tank mode. There was also a mockup of the Iron Man packaging; he appears to transform into a jet. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but from a price list I have previously received, they are priced the same as SWTF. I imagine these might be popular with children, with lots of play value, but I'm not sure how popular they'll be with adult Marvel and Transformers collectors. Unsurprisingly they apear to have more intricate transformations than the old Marvel Shape Shifters and look a lot better than Mega Morphs.

Universe. There were three on display: Prowl (car mode), Powerglide (jet) and Sunstreaker (half-transformed). Although mid-transformation, Sunstreaker looked like he might be better in the flesh than the pictures suggest. Powerglide, assuming it is the final paint scheme, is not the silver mentioned on the Transformers website (see the Universe thread) but a khaki, desert-type colour.

Animated. This formed the larger part of the display. Toys on display included a couple of Primes, Megatrons and Bulkheads; Slag (dinosaur mode) was there and I think so was Bumblebee (car mode). The robot Bulkhead was larger than the vehicle; wasn't there mention of a Leader Bulkhead the other day? It seemed rather small for a Leader, but it had some sort of rocket pack which perhaps has electronics to put it in the higher-priced class. (This is speculation, as I wasn't able to be talked through them.) There were a couple of items that I hadn't heard of before: a transforming Optimus Prime arm blaster that looked like it transforms in the same way as the Movie blaster; and a small, new class of Transformer which I assume to be the £4.99 toys mentioned above. Around the 3.75" mark, I would describe them as larger Legends with better transformations. Starscream and two others (Bulkhead and Bumblebee, if I remember correctly) were shown. Finally, there were bump-and-go toys, similar to Movie Cyber Slammers; I thought that they looked better than Cyber Slammers, though I only have CS Prime myself to compare them with.

I wasn't able to see the SWTF. There were no Alternators nor Titanium in the Transformers display.

Products on show at other companies' stands included plush logos (like smaller versions of the cushions) and a movie portable computer-thingy along the lines of the Optimus Activity Station.

[Shockprowl]

Thanks for the report chap, sounds ok, apart from no Titaniums. Interesting 'bout the new 'category' of toys. I'm not thrilled with the Marvel-formers at all. Roll on Classics!!!

[Bogatan]

Shame it appears just to be a budget line rather than part of the main line. I miss my basics. Course if they are of a similar quality to the old basic class but smaller I might be tempted to buy a full line if available rather than the full size ones.

Andy

[Hero]

Would'nt the £4.99 range be the human characters also?

===HERO

[Nigel]

Correction. Yesterday, I wrote that the bump and go toys were like Fast Action Battlers. Obviously, this should be Cyber Slammers. I have modified the post.

[Nigel]

Something I was going to mention from Toy Fair was the toy auction held in aid of Barnardo's, with toys signed by celebrities. Some of these made sense (Kylie and the Sugababes signed their dolls; Christian Bale signed a Batman; Evel Keneivel signed his stunt set - I daresay this went for a pretty penny) yet others were quite bizarre - Jimmy Sommerville signed a Dalek and Jonathan Ross signed a SWTF Death Star. (That's the bit that makes it relevant to this forum. )

Anyhoo, the real reason for popping back into this thread. I went to another big trade fair last Wednesday and saw new Transformers tat from some existing licensees.

Firstly, Alpa UK had some new movie stationery items; most are already in the stores. They also will be releasing an Animated line (not displayed) and the rep said they should have first refusal for the second movie.

Wesco had some fun new items, including a projector torch; a Bumblebee "transforming" torch, an 08 Camaro perhaps 3/4 size of a Deluxe toy, with a fold-out torch (basically the same mechanism as the toothbrush released by Grosvenor last year); and a Whizz Watch (I think that was the name), a watch with a detachable RC Bumblebee. Whizz Watches and projector torches were also shown for a couple of other licenses, if I remember correctly.

Zap Ltd were showing an Animated duvet cover. The rep couldn't confirm that it will definitely be produced but it seemed pretty likely; other bedroom furnishings would also be produced, as with their movie range.

The items I was most excited about were the birthday cards from Gemma International. These were not, as you might expect, a continuation of their movie line, nor Animated, but the original characters! Good ol' Optimus was on the front of each, with a combination from Jazz, Bumblebee and Megatron inside. Rather than a badge, several cards had a (Tech Specs type) decoder attached, with a secret message inside. There was also matching wrapping paper. There was no rep available to ask when they will be released, so best keep an eye on Woolies.