Our friend and Canadian correspondent Mike MacDonald reports in with his trip to this past weekend’s Toronto Fan Expo 2014.
I made the drive up the 401 this past Saturday with my family to Toronto Fan Expo. The crowds were absolutely crazy, I’ve never seen such traffic at a con before. I’m not sure what the hubbub was about this year that made it so crazy busy but I managed to squeeze through the crowd and make my way to both the LEGO and Star Wars Rebels booths to check things out.
First stop was the LEGO booth where there was a big Star Wars presence, after being greeted by full sized LEGO versions of Rocket Raccoon and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, that is.
Across from the two Marvel heroes was a full scale version of Rebels droid, Chopper. The little droid was also automated, his head turning back and forth as people walked past. There was also a contest to guess the amount of bricks used to build Chopper (and I’m completely forgetting what the prize was, sorry)! There was also a display of every Star Wars LEGO figure ever created. Who knew there were that many farm boy Luke Skywalker figures?
Across the aisle from LEGO was the Star Wars Rebels booth featuring a large backdrop and full sized 
models of Ezra, Chopper and the Inquisitor. On display in a glass cabinet were various action figures from Rebels and The Black Series, LEGO sets and the new Star Wars Command kits. I really liked the colour scheme of the Rebels products, the bright orange/black reminds me instantly of Rebel Alliance fighter pilots. This is the first I’ve been able to see the Rebels animated style figures and they are striking in their colours and design. They have a very “cartoonish” style and they represent their TV counterparts very well. This combined with the fact that they have 5 points of articulation really enhances that these are (sorry adult collectors) going to be fun toys for kids to play with.
models of Ezra, Chopper and the Inquisitor. On display in a glass cabinet were various action figures from Rebels and The Black Series, LEGO sets and the new Star Wars Command kits. I really liked the colour scheme of the Rebels products, the bright orange/black reminds me instantly of Rebel Alliance fighter pilots. This is the first I’ve been able to see the Rebels animated style figures and they are striking in their colours and design. They have a very “cartoonish” style and they represent their TV counterparts very well. This combined with the fact that they have 5 points of articulation really enhances that these are (sorry adult collectors) going to be fun toys for kids to play with.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it over to the Hasbro booth (Seriously, the crowds were INSANE) but I did ask the Hasbro rep at the Rebels booth about release information. As we’ve heard from Hasbro already, the new figures won’t be available until the fall (I was hoping to score a Chopper while there).
The rep then handed my wife, my daughter and I a few Toys r Us discount cards. The card features lenticular images featuring the Empire and Rebels characters based on how the card is tilted. The card provides a 10% discount at Toys r Us on “any regular priced Hasbro Star Wars products and LEGO Star Wars Building Set…Excludes…sets $229.00 and up.” It is reusable both online and at store level and the card has a tear away keychain fob with a barcode so it’s even easier to get a discount. It’s valid until the end of 2014 and only good in Canada.
On a personal note, I was able to fill some holes in my collection and picked up a TVC B-Wing, a remote controlled R5-X2 (nicely spotted by my wife!), a couple vintage Marvel Star Wars comics and had a great conversation with Biggs Darklighter himself and fellow Canadian Garrick Hagon.You can follow and read more from Mike on his blog Looking Away to the Horizon! Just click the pic below!
