“Begun, the Toy Fair has.”
Its time once again for New York City’s annual International Toy Fair. The show where companies will be showing off their wares in hopes of enticing buyers and retailers with their new products. Now Hasbro has already been upfront about the fact that they will be be showcasing any of their Episode VII: The Force Awakens merchandise so we should expect an emphasis on Star Wars Rebels and The Black Series. As always this event has a huge Hasbro and Star Wars presence and we’ll be carrying the action here on From4-LOMtoZuckuss.com so make sure to check back for updates as we follow all of the reveals throughout the weekend’s event.
Make sure to also follow us on our official Facebook page throughout the week for our additional thoughts on reveals.
Before the fair begins we thought we’d look back at what was previewed and announced at last year’s event:
Toy Fair 2014’s Rebels, Reveals and Press Releases
Prior to Toy Fair
Last week e-tailer AndrewsToyz.com (whom is really good at obtaining official Hasbro pics prior to their release) published press pics of six Star Wars Digital Release Commemorative Collection Sets. An upcoming digital release has been speculated and so we expect this sets as well as a release date announced during the show.
Yakface.com has released slides from Hasbro’s Investor Presentation. Very interesting look at the cost of producing their products. Click the pic to check out the slides that pertain to Star Wars lines.
[Update 1]
Hasbro Entertainment Brand Preview Event (1:00 PM Eastern)
In an unexpected move, Hasbro provided no information or images about any upcoming Star Wars action figures. Instead focus was placed on their peripheral kid-targeted lines such as Hero Mashers, Furbacca and Play-Doh sets. We believe this may be the first time since the modern line began 20 years ago that Toy Fair has not provided the media with news of their upcoming action figure product.
Hasbro Booth
Well what continued to feel like being stood up on Valentine’s Day, Hasbro had on display a small selection of Rebels figures and vehicles and none of which we new.
Rebelscum.com has a great gallery of their display booth, hit the linked pic below.
The only reference or nod that Hasbro is even aware of the major upcoming sequel film The Force Awakens at Toy Fair was captured by our friend Gus Lopez.
The only Force Awakens presence at the Hasbro. Need to figure out how to get into the rumored secret showroom… pic.twitter.com/vMBzkNj0FM
— Gus Lopez (@toysrgus) February 14, 2015
Obviously, “hits stores this Fall” is about as vague as you can get and yet is about the only official confirmation that we got about a potential release date.
It is pretty interesting that the most exciting thing to happen for action figure collectors during Toy Fair located in New York City was all the way across the country in the Pacific Northwest were we and our co-hosts at Galaxy of Toys Podcast have begun finding the newest wave of Saga Legends figures at Targets.
[Update 2]
Hasbro Q & As
A few fellow action figure sites who attended Toy Fair were able to sit down with Hasbro for a little Q & A session.
JediTempleArchives.com – Toy Fair 2015: Hasbro Q And A – Your Questions Answered!
SirStevesGuide.com – Toy Fair 2015: Hasbro Star Wars Q&A with Jeff Labovitz
ImperialShipyards.net – Toy Fair February 2015 Hasbro Q&A
Star Wars Action News – Episode 442: Toy Fair 2015 Part 1 – Hasbro, Jakks Pacific, and LEGO (includes Q & A with Hasbro)