Hasbro

Remember when you were a kid, and you would play with all your different toys at the same time? You’d have the Ninja Turtles team up with the Ghostbusters to take down Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior, and then they’d all get transported to the land of the Thundercats.

Since launching a full-on barrage of Star Wars merchandise on Force Friday, Hasbro's had its hands full. As the first new film-based Star Wars toys and collectibles in a decade, anything with The Force Awakens branding on it has been a hot commodity at retail. It's nearly impossible to find all the figures in stock, and what you do find has been picked clean by eager fans and collectors hoping to be among the first to complete the new collection. Sure, there have been a few pieces that linger (mostly Chewbaccas in any size in my part of the country), but for the most part, if you don't have an inside tip at FedEx or UPS, you're often left scrambling in the hopes of getting anything from the latest shipments. Fortunately, being a member of the toy collecting press does come with some perks to help take the pressure off. Back when Force Friday kicked off, Hasbro reached out to a number of outlets and asked editors to pick either Light Side or Dark Side. There was little else in the communique to hint at what we might be making this choice for, but it wasn't a very hard decision to make. Though the good guys are the ones you want to root for in the movies, Star Wars' bad guys have always had some really cool designs, and have typically made more interesting toys. I mean really, which would you rather have, an old man in a brown robe or a bad-ass in green armor with a jet pack? Yeah, that's what I thought.

With a new Star Wars on the way, the deluge of new action figures and toys has been constant. It's the first time in a long time that there's been any reason to create whole new lines from scratch, with some animated exceptions of course. However, as popular as the animated versions of the Star Wars universe have been, they just can't hold a candle to the hype surrounding an actual new film in the iconic franchise. Needless to say, since Force Friday, Hasbro's been busy. In fact, Hasbro's got so many toys planned for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there are even exclusive sets popping up at select retailers. Take this Desert Assault Walker and First Order Stormtrooper Officer set from Entertainment Earth. A repaint of the widely available Assault Walker and First Order Stromtrooper Sergeant, this exclusive set offers another way to build up the First Order forces for the 3.75" line. We got our hands on one of these sets courtesy of Entertainment Earth, and can only hope that these things actually make an appearance in the upcoming sequel.

There have been Star Wars toys on the shelves at retailers consistently since the mid-1990s. With the re-releases of the classic trilogy and the actual releases of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars has managed to not only stay hot for collectors, but thrive at retail in ways many other toy lines that started in the 1970s could only dream of matching. This year is a big year for Star Wars movies, in case you hadn't heard. That also means it's a big year for Star Wars collectibles. It's such a big deal in fact, that an entire day, Force Friday, was built around the new toy releases themed around the upcoming sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With figures from the upcoming film in high demand, it's a wonder the team working on Star Wars at Hasbro has any free time at all. Fortunately, we caught up with Hasbro's Star Wars team after getting a look at some of the new Star Wars Black Series collectibles coming later this year.

Since Hasbro took over the Marvel action figure license a few years ago, the Legends line has been home to a fairly diverse cast of characters from the classic Marvel Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That trend looks to continue heading into the new year, where Hasbro already has its plans in motion for the early part of the year, including the Captain America: Civil War wave, and the first wave of the newly christened 3.75" Marvel Legends. During New York Comic Con, we were given an early look at some of Hasbro's plans for the Marvel Legends line for the upcoming year. Both the 6" and 3.75" lines will fall under the Legends banner moving forward, with new characters and some familiar faces filling out the rosters on both sides. After seeing everything that was on display, we had a chance to chat with some of Hasbro's Marvel Legends leads, Dwight Stall, senior Marvel product design manager, Mike Breslin, senior director, brand strategy and marketing, and Tony Colella, senior model artist, about Legends and its future.

Though most of the attention at Hasbro's New York Comic Con preview event was focused on the latest Star Wars and Marvel Legends figures, Transformers had arguably as many great surprises. With both Robots in Disguise and the more adult Generations lines on display, just about every conceivable character was on display. That includes the newly announced Titans Return line, which played host to a number of great reveals that longtime fans have eagerly been waiting for. Likely the two biggest stars of the show, Galvatron and Blaster have been well worth the wait. Galvatron's design is outstanding, and might be one of the best Decepticon figures released in the past few years. Blaster holds a soft spot in my heart, as along with Hot Rod, he was one of the two Transformers figures I remember keeping around until they fell completely apart when I was a kid. This new iteration is bigger for sure, but that size brings with it an attention to detail and design that the classic figures just can't match. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool Transformers collector, but I might just have to start clearing some shelf space to revisit these updated heroes of my youth.

Though much of Hasbro’s upcoming plans for Star Wars remain under tight lock and key, the company did preview a handful of new figures during New York Comic Con. It’s not surprising that so few Star Wars figures are being shown considering just how secretive Disney and Lucasfilm are being about the upcoming sequel. Very few characters not shown in trailers or official photos have been teased or released previously, but that didn’t mean there weren’t a few exciting reveals this week. To this point, the only classic trilogy character to get a new figure for The Force Awakens lines has been Chewbacca, but the Wookie’s best friend and co-pilot will soon join him. Old man Han Solo was the centerpiece of Hasbro’s Black Series unveilings at NYCC this week, and rightfully so. The iconic smuggler with a heart of gold has long been a fan favorite, and he’s one of the few returning heroes to have made an official appearance in promotion for The Force Awakens. Sure, there were some characters on display, too, but it’s hard not to feel a bit sentimental for a Han Solo figure based on a aged Harrison Ford.

Where Hasbro's pre-San Diego Comic-Con event treated us a new Spider-Man line, including Spider-Gwen and more, this week's pre-NYCC show was much more of a mixed bag. Though some of the figures shown actually made a brief appearance in San Diego (Captain America, Mockingbird and Taskmaster), the new additions were a stunning surprise. Of course, as great as it was to see such variation shown in the 6" Marvel Legends line, the news that the 3.75" line would be ditching its former monikers to fold into the Legend banner was just as huge. No longer its own separate brand, the former Universe/Infinite line of figures will now also be known as Marvel Legends moving forward. Though it might cause some confusion among less savvy consumers, Hasbro has been using a similar tactic with the Star Wars Black Series to keep its highly-articulated figures, which are geared towards the adult collector, portioned off from the less articulate series. By bringing the 3.75" figures under the Legends marquee, Hasbro's just making a smart business decision to put its highest quality figures all in the same room. But enough about branding, let's talk about that 1990s Rogue.

Prior to the release of the remastered classic trilogy, the only place to get Star Wars toys was at a garage sale or flea market. That is, unless you wanted to pay a premium for classic figures from the '80s. When the new movies were announced twenty years ago, it allowed for an influx of Star Wars collectibles that had been sorely missed from the marketplace. In fact, the desire for Star Wars figures was so large that once Hasbro started putting out new figures in the '90s, it never stopped. Through various series and incarnations, Hasbro's Star Wars figures have been a steady sight on store shelves for two decades. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens due to arrive in theaters this winter, it presented companies like Hasbro with the chance to bring the first truly new characters to life in figure form. For months, Hasbro teased the lead-up to Force Friday, a global event that saw the simultaneous launch of every single manufacturer's first Force Awakens merchandise. While Hasbro has numerous versions of these characters available, the company's signature Black Series line is undeniably the cream of the crop. After a tumultuous Force Friday which saw sellouts and shortages nationwide, I managed to procure a set of the first wave. I wasn't disappointed with the results, but I had certainly hoped for more from the big reveal.

It wouldn't be a day of the week without another Star Wars leak of some kind. In the lead up to Force Friday, the Sept. 4 launch day for all Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise, more and more action figures and collectibles are finding their way into the wild. That's one of the disadvantages to releasing said merchandise to the retailers early so they can properly prepare their action plans for the big day in a few weeks. While the silence from Hasbro with regards to what to expect from Force Friday had been deafening, these past few days have proved very fruitful for Star Wars collectors salivating for a glimpse at what was coming down the pipe. Several eBay listings popped up today (captured by YakFace) offering potential buyers the very first opportunities to buy new Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures before they actually hit retail shelves on Sept. 4. More importantly, they also gave us our first look at the planned 3.75" figures coming from Hasbro in just a few weeks.