While I’ve yet to actually set foot inside New York Toy Fair, I still look forward to the second to last weekend in February every year where toy companies of all sizes come to display their offerings for next four quarters. Among the many toy companies, Hasbro is usually one of the biggest players especially given how many licenses they now control. Naturally the most important license for this site is Transformers, and this year Hasbro did not disappoint. Let’s take a final look at some of the incredible pictures gathered from various media outlets and see what’s in store.
Botbots
I’ll admit. I burned out on Botbots real fast. As it happens, though, Hasbro has no intention of slowing down on releases. I didn’t pay the closest attention to the announcements, but here’s some key pictures of upcoming sets:
Obviously they’re sticking with themed groupings, which works and I’ll be honest, the Hibotchi Heats look pretty great. I’ll likely grab them for sure. But the sheer volume of tiny crazy-bots produced in this line has me limiting my pick-ups as space is a lucrative commodity in my collection these days.
Cyberverse
I’ve discussed it in the past, but the Cyberverse Cartoon is really slipping under the radar. While it’s voice acting and somewhat more vibrant characters tends to carry a more “kiddy” tone, the story and character variety is really quite incredible. The toy line is definitely a mixed-bag with some of the gimmicks being a little too goofy (i.e. Scout Class toys that don’t fully transform), but Hasbro seems to want to remedy that and it’s clear they’re looking to offer toys more akin to Generations, with some lower budget limitations.
There’s a huge variety of characters including Rack N Ruin, a Wreckers fan-favorite that hasn’t seen a toy until now. The Build-a-figure series will finish off Maccadam in a experimental “BAF” Line for the show. Whether we see any others will remain to be seen, but it’s cool that they’re trying something new.
Generations
Okay, so here’s the big one – Generations. Both The War For Cybertron Trilogy and the Studio Series lines are going amazingly strong and Hasbro had an absolute cornucopia of offerings to show off for 2020. Let’s start with Studio Series: Coming in with Blitzwing from The Bumblebee Movie and the remaining Constructicons to form Devastator from Revenge of the Fallen would have been a lot, but we get surprising entries including the one I’m most excited about – Cliffjumber from Bumblebee! We also got some early looks at 3A’s Optimus Prime from The Bumblebee movie as well. It seems like they’re going strong with the Bee movie, but it’s a solid compromise between Bay-verse and G1 so I think that’s a smart idea.
Of course the REAL main course here is the War For Cybertron Trilogy line. With Earthrise beginning to show up, we saw numerous big ticket items, including this years Titan, the much wanted, much anticipated Skorpornok who looks magnificent. He features a double-headmaster gimmick, similar to Fortress Maximas, where Skorponok’s head transforms into Zarak (Fans of the Japanese Headmasters, like myself, rejoice!), and Zarak’s head is a Titan Master.
It’s hard to be fully objective here, as I simply cannot wait for this toy. I’ve never owned the G1 Skorponok, even to this day, which is embarrassing to admit, and it’s definitely not for lack of wanting. This updated take on the figure looks incredible in every mode and the features seem to be well thought out! He should arrive sometime in Fall/Winter of this year.
BUT THERE’S MORE! Also revealed was the next commander class (Siege Jetfire currently is the only toy in that category), we have the fan-favorite, much adored Sky Lynx! And boy oh boy does he look smashing! He also features both Bird and Lynx modes!
But oh man, there’s still so much more. The other big hit was the Voyager class Doubledealer. As a fan of Masterforce (where he’s known as Clouder) I love seeing these later G1 era toys being remade. He features all three modes, Robot, Eagle and Missile Launcher, and looks to possibly be a Titan Master, though that’s not confirmed I yet (at least to my knowledge, it’s probably out there somewhere).
Another big Voyager announcement was the Quintesson Judge. Fans have clamored for a toy of this since the 86 movie, and while Cyberverse did give us a version of one, this looks to be the full monty with rotating face gimmick and what appears to be a base mode alt-mode.
Other notable Voyagers include Snapdragon, looking utterly amazing in all three modes (I don’t seem to have pictures of the Dragon or Spacefighter) and an Earthmode version of Megatron who looks like a heavy re-tool of Siege Megatron.
A bevy of deluxes are pouring in too. Fan winner Runamuck, Arcee, and another Weaponizer Base Airwave are just the start.
Smokescreen is also getting another toy, this time in an Earth mode car design based on his G1 Toy, the Fairlady Z. Also a huge opportunity for army-building in the Alicon!
Battlemasters and Micromasters are getting more love too! The Racecar Patrol joins the Decepticon ranks, while the Space Patrol joins the Autobots, and features the combining alt-mode gimmick like the G1 Toy. We’re also getting Doublecrosser, a two-headed Decepticon shield/ramp to match Soundbarrier for the Autobots. I absolutely adore these guys. I find it charming as hell that they’re simply “ramps” in alt-mode and a double-headed character is pretty rare indeed! (See Rack N Ruin above!)
The other unforeseen news was a series of Walmart exclusives to coincide with the upcoming Netflix Cartoon Series airing this summer. Repaints/redecos of Siege characters in special packaging including a “Spoiler Pack Ultra Magnus”.
BOTTOM LINE
I get so excited at this time of year. All of these toys look like so much fun, and they make me appreciate the toys that have come before even more. 2020 looks to be an excellent year for Transformer fans!
There’s more of course. It’s hard to capture all of the excitement and announcements. PaxCybertron as a media outlet functions as a hub. All the credit for these pictures go to other media outlets: Seibertron.com, Unicron.com, TFDB.com and of course Hasbro’s own press releases. I long for the day I can be there myself and share my own pictures and interviews but in the meantime, I can’t thank these intrepid fans who brave the event to bring news to other fans enough. Be sure to check out the PaxCybertron facebook page where I share fresh posts from all over the web all in once convenient spot.
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