As has been their tradition for the last few year, Hasbro kicked off NYCC 2015 with their ‘Twas the Night Before… Party, revealing new items from their action figure brands. We took a look at their Marvel and Star Wars lines, with a focus on their 6-inch figures in Marvel Legends and the Black Series from Star Wars. And we got to chat with our long-time friend, Jesse Falcon, from the Marvel licensing team.
Continue reading “NYCC 2015: Hasbro Marvel and Star Wars Reveals (with AFP video fly-by)”
I recently discovered Action Vinyls, a multi-license line of 3-inch collectible, poseable vinyl figures, while looking for some blind-bagged items my wife has been collecting. And I kind of went a little nuts over their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Vinyls. Check out this Casey Jones, for an example of what I’ve been hunting.
Now it looks like I may have another brand of Action Vinyls to hunt – the reboot of their G.I. JOE line. The Loyal Subjects had vinyl figures for JOE before – checking out GI JOE Series 1, they are somewhat reminiscent of Hasbro’s Mighty Muggs. They were cute, but what they’re planning to release next really kick it up a notch or three. Expect these to start hitting in the 4th quarter this year.
Continue reading “Need a G.I. JOE Fix? The Loyal Subjects are Rebooting their Action Vinyl Line”
I’ll be the first to admit, we’re pretty awful when it comes to planning for San Diego Comic-Con. There’s so much to do and see, and frankly, it’s overwhelming.
But this time around, we’ll have some tools and technology that can help get you to the big show, at least virtually, if you can’t make it to there yourselves. So it makes sense to apprise our favorite folks, those of you who actually read the stuff here at AFP, of what we’re planning and how we’re going to share it with you. And to ask for your advice – there’s one scheduling conflict that I’ll need your help to decide on which to attend.
Continue reading “SDCC 2015: Our Comic-Con Schedule, and How You Can Join Us (Virtually!)”
Toy R Us is renewing its attempt to woo collectors by establishing a “Collector Vector” shop within both its traditional and online stores, and participating in San Diego Comic-Con with ten exclusives from a variety of toy manufacturers. While I’m doing fewer traditional toy runs now, I’ve been to my local TRU recently and have not noticed any change – but online they’ve established a Collector Vector search grouping that currently includes over 200 products and a landing page for their Con exclusives.
While I think TRU will continue to struggle to differentiate itself with collectors, the Con exclusives will help drive some traffic their way. The list includes the Yvonne Craig Batgirl from the ’60s Batman show (thankfully individually-carded and not in a 3-pack with Batman and Robin), a Star Wars Black Series Rancor set in the 3.75-inch scale, a Power Rangers exclusive, and more. They’ll be available at the Entertainment Earth booth (#2343) at the show and online at Toysrus.com/ComicConvention from Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 12, while supplies last, of course.
It’s an impressive list of exclusives – TRU may be on the decline, but they still have some sway with the toy companies.
Continue reading “SDCC 2015: Toys R Us Hosts Exclusives from Bandai, Hasbro, Mattel and More”
Hasbro has been working on launching a portal for its collector-oriented brands. While it made a brief appearance on the Hasbro website around the start of the year, now Hasbro Pulse has been officially launched.
Want an insider’s look at exclusive content and the latest news on brands like Transformers, My Little Pony, G.I. Joe and Star Wars, straight from the heart of Hasbro? Then welcome to the Hasbro Pulse!
Fans will be able to sign up for Hasbro Pulse to receive brand news as it happens, plus access to special offers and more. That means that Hasbro Pulse members will be some of the first to receive new product images, epic unboxing videos, fan polls that will shape the future of their favorite lines… and even more stuff we haven’t dreamed up yet! And all of it is coming straight from the super-fans working at Hasbro, created especially for their fellow fans.
The first four items include a sneak peek at G.I. JOE 2-packs, a Transformers designer look at planning for Brake-Neck and Quickslinger, a behind-the-scenes look at Stephen Hayford’s Star Wars Black Series photography for Celebration VII, and an extremely cool video about the making of the pop-up book My Little Pony: Castles of Equestria.
Right now, Pulse does not have articles for Hasbro’s Marvel brands – but the form for joining includes Marvel as a choice for what you want covered. So be sure to sign up for Hasbro Pulse and show support for Marvel! Hopefully we’ll see new content from San Diego Comic-Con.