Hasbro held an off-site brand event today in New York City where they featured a selection of new offerings and showcased some old favorites.
On display at the entrance were some REALLY old faves
The toy company’s first display showed off their 2023/2024 Transformers line.
This Earthspark Power-Sleeve debuted here. It shoots foam darts and extends a green “blade”This modular Cyber-Combiner Bumblebee also premiered here. Its parts can be interchanged with Mo Malto for dozens of novel combinations.Here are more of Hasbro’s Cyber-Combiners line.More familiar were the brand’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts figures, which are out currently. The Optimus Primal in the upper left corner talks and responds to commands, a less intricate (and less expensive) version of the Robosen Optimus Prime. As a Studio Series fan, though, I was more excited about that version of Primal, whose screen-accurate details make him a much-desired piece for my collection.Beyond Studio Series, Hasbro showcased these mainline ROTB figures, including the Bumblebee who, with a little assist from Air Razor, can fly.
Though the Transformers debuts were exciting, Hasbro had fantastic pieces from their Star Wars and Marvel Legends line as well. Many of these pieces were seen on Hasbro’s PulseCon livestream, but seeing them live helped me really appreciate the sculpts of these figures.
These Star Wars Black Series holiday figures can be divisive, but I’m a fan of them. Most will be available at mass market, says Hasbro, with the exception of one Walmart exclusive – a departure from years past where one had to source these figures from multiple stores. This is Hasbro’s incoming wave of Bounty Collection minifigures, now incorporating Droids into what was a Grogu-dominated line.These Walmart exclusive light-up Droidables offer lights and sounds in bobble head-esque sculpts. This interactive Chopper is out now, but you can never have too much Chopper.On the Marvel side, this water-shooting Doc Ock seemed the most fun, with lots of play features and articulation for its small scale.We had seen these Marvel Legends figures at PulseCon, but it was fun to see the iconic three Spider-Men here.Here’s Mary Jane and her Peter Parker behind her to the right.Here’s a better shot of the Marvel Legends DaFoe Goblin.…and Tobey and Tom on blister cards.I really dug this 3.75-inch Thanos whose glove can be placed over his hand (instead of interchanged with it). The style reminded me of the old Marvel Universe figures.
In addition to these legacy toylines, Hasbro also included popular brands like Nerf, My Little Pony, Furby, and others in their line-up.
Of the Nerf options, this one was by far the most exciting. It fires those little foam darts with such speed, force, and rapidity that it will make those of us who thought our Ballzookas were the height of power weep with joy. Seriously, I got to try this thing, and I thought the darts were going to fire through the vinyl curtain set up to catch them. However, at an MSRP of over $120, it’s an investment.This My Little Pony playset opens up to unveil a whole funscape for fan-favorite equines.These are the new generation of Furbies, and I have to admit: they’re cute.
On the card game front, Hasbro has big things planned for their Magic line.
Yeah, that’s an Ian Malcolm card. This line of Magic cards is more generically “dinosaur,” but it includes some fun crossovers with their Jurassic Park/Jurassic World license.Art cards like these are in another line of Magic cards, all with credit given on-card to the artists behind them.For folks on the younger side, Hasbro had their full current line of Young Jedi Adventures figures on display.Additionally, these Spidey figures with their removable helmets are sure to excite the same demographic. I just thought it was cool that Spidey got a Roton!
In addition to these figures, Hasbro exhibited its already-available games like Twister Air and new variants of Clue and Monopoly.
One such crossover even included the brand’s main competitor!
All in all, Hasbro put together an exciting round of toys. The event was smaller than in past years, where full Transformers displays consumed entire quadrants of lower-level showrooms, but the toy joy still shined through. I was even surprised by how much I adored the new interactive Furbies, a toy I’m not typically that enthralled with. Notably absent were Power Rangers toys, aligning with reporting around the slowdown of the Lightning Collection, and the lines they did feature were definitely tailored to specific fan favorites. This is understandable, of course, given the size of the event. Ultimately, I’ll be interested to see how fans receive the pieces that are on their way, and whether any of these popular lines become this holiday season’s hot toy!
Jonathan Alexandratos is a toy writer based in NYC. They write about toys, culture, and the nexus of both.
