Toy Fair 2014

[JediMoses]

I'm curious, what 2 Clones for TCW final season were they planning?  Hmmm...  That's interesting, and will be a topic of some debate since they're eating up some 4" slots.

One kind of looked like Wolffe, but not exactly.  The other was more of a green color, kind of like Captain Lock or whatever his name was, but Phase II for both.  Also sounds like that lost Captain Rex will hit the Black Series too later this year finally.  Outlook not so good for the missing two BAD astromech from the droid factory though

NO Dais for Jabba shown...  Too expensive for the assortment, obviously, but the idea is there.   

Not yet...  but there was a lot of hinting that a dais with Salacious Crumb could maybe be it's own thing at some point.

Was that from chatter on the side, re: clones, etc.?

[Jesse James]

I thought the Clones were part of the presentation (I wasn't there, just the impression I got).  the Dais thing's side chatter though from what I am gathering.

The Clones stuff cropped right up on Twitter as soon as the SW end of the presentation started it seemed.

[JediMoses]

i just had not seen any names associated with the clones report.

[Jeff]

Yes - season six clones was in the presentation; dais chat was on the floor.

In the main presentation, there was a slide with the Clone Wars logo and two unnamed clones from Season Six.  The clones were animated drawings, NOT figures.  They said that the two Clones pictured on the slide would be turned into figures and released in the Black Series to celebrate season six but they could not give us their names yet.

Like I said, one reminded me of a Wolffe type trooper, the other of a Lock type trooper; both in Phase II armor.  No more detail than that right now, but more will be shared at SDCC I guess.

[Jesse James]

Interesting choices...  I really had hoped for a Phase-I Cody to get done realistically, but that seems like just a dream at this point.  Gives me something to work on myself I guess.

[Darth_Anton]

Anyone else's wallet start crying after these Toy Fair pictures start showing up?
The 6 in. The 3 3/4 in. The vehicles. Ugh

Comparatively? Just the opposite. It's doing back flips not having to strain itself much this year.

[Nicklab]

To me, it looks like a manageable year. I've been trying to be a little more cost conscious about things, and this line looks like Hasbro recognizes some of the strain the economy has put on their customers. The figure line isn't exhaustive, but there are some really cool choices in there. The vehicle line doesn't look completely rehashed. And the the 6" figure line is going in an interesting direction with things like the speeder bike and Jabba.

However, the lack of exclusives?  That seems telling.

[Jayson]

They typically don't show (or talk about) exclusives at TF.

[Rob]

Was there a standard-Hasbro style slide show of all the things they were showing?

[Nicklab]

They typically don't show (or talk about) exclusives at TF.

Recently, it would seem.  I've been to a number of Toy Fairs, and they have shown exclusives there in the past.  The new trend seems to be bringing the retailers to the showroom and pitching exclusive ideas for Q3 and Q4. 

[Jesse James]

Yeah I'll be buying vehicles which I've not done in a LONG time it seems, but they're back for me.  For now anyway.

I'll be picking up TBS 4" and a couple 5POA figures, but very few.  For me the added cost is in vehicles then this year I guess.  If cases pan out at 2 per, I may wind up even saving a little there as time goes on.  4/5 I may want cases to myself...  Hell I may want 2 cases of one of those assortments anyway.

[Darby]

Great coverage Jeff!

I'm pretty happy with the showings in general. The 6 inch is stellar, Rebels is very promising, and I like what we're seeing in the 4 inch line. I'm curious about the dais set and whether that will be come exclusive heart breaker down the line. All in all it looks I will be a lot more modern SW this year than I did last, which is unexpected. I really thought this year would trickle away, but it seems like Hasbro is really committed to course correcting and offering something for everyone. Love the new TIE Pilot cardback also.

[Brian]

Thanks for the amazing coverage Jeff!

I have to say, I really dig the Black Series packaging redesign, that TIE Pilot helmet just makes it look cool to me for some reason.  Big improvement over the current design, which is a bit blah.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with what we've seen from Toy Fair.  A pretty nice push for the 6" stuff, just enough of the 3 3/4" to keep us interested, and the first taste of the Rebels product (nice to see some new vehicles coming up).

Honestly, if the 3 3/4" Black Series line continues this trend, I'd be pretty happy.  Not an overwhelming amount of releases, a focus on OT for the most part, and the figures we've seen all look pretty amazing.  I hope it keeps up (whether called Black Series or something else) in the years to come.  Interesting to read at a couple places that Hasbro has specifically been told to stay away from EU and also pull back from prequel stuff.  Surprised that they came out and confirmed that, but it is good to know.  I'm still wondering if we'll still see OT or PT stuff during the upcoming movie years starting in 2015.  I'm guessing there can't be too many spots available for "other" stuff in those years, let alone much focus there as the stores are likely going to want primarily the new movie stuff.  We'll see.

The 6" stuff looks just amazing I think.  I know not everyone is into these, but I'm really enjoying them.  So far, it has been just the right pace that I can afford to keep up, so hopefully that continues.  I can't wait for that Chewie, not to mention Luke and Vader.  On that topic, not that it is a new thing, but wow we are getting lots of Lukes between the various lines in the next year or so.

The Rebels stuff looks cool too, especially the vehicles.  I'm not sure what I'll do about the figures yet, but I'm guessing when the show is starting up and the hype begins I might bite.  Plus, if it is good, that will help as well.  I'm pretty excited for the show itself, and the figures - despite being 5 POA - have some neat designs in there too.  Honestly, I hope if nothing else it is a fun line for kids where the figures can fit in vehicles, are sturdy, and everything works well together.

Overall, not necessarily a TON of stuff for Star Wars, but still more than we've been used to recently it seems.  I know there is a lot I'm looking forward to this year, as we build momentum into the Episode VII onslaught.  Glad to see so much OT goodness everywhere as well.

[Jesse James]

This isn't being talked about much but yeah, people have to be happy with that package.  It's pretty badass looking, kind of obscure but in a positive collector way (TIE Pilots seem like the "cool kids" of the Empire).

And nobody seemed to see a packaging shift like this coming either.  Weird.  I like that they're doing it though.  TBS was ok, but that charcoal sketch looking stuff was odd and didn't look right.  This, just looks better.

[Jabba the Slug]

Does anyone who reads/keeps up with JTA notice their TF coverage article stating that the EU is dead and we'll be getting 0.00 products from that era anymore?

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13152/#details

Considering most of what I buy anymore is from the EU, this is very, very bad news. In fact, hasn't Star Wars as a franchise survived because of the EU? Especially merchandising-wise? Hell, the TCW figure line is an example. Plus, it gives you kind of an image of how Disney is directing "Star Wars" these days.