Toy Fair 2012

[Jeff]

So... this weekend already!  And we don't even have a thread yet?  Crazy!  What do you hope/expect to see?

I'm expecting them to have that MTT there and ready to show off and I'm hoping we get a good look at some of the VC figures on RS's rumor list...  but, with SDCC, Celebration VI, and NYCC all coming later this year, I'm not going to be surprised if they end up having to hold a lot of the Fall stuff back for those shows.

I'd really like to see...
Toy Fair = Full Spring 2012 product line for VC and CW, preview of stuff for Fall including the con/show exclusives
SDCC = Full Fall 2012 product line for VC and CW
Celebration 6 = Spring 2013 product preview for VC and CW
NYCC = all the AOTC 3D re-issue crap product

But, who knows how they will choose to break things up this year...


And a quick note on JD's planned coverage:
Unfortunately, I can't be in NY this weekend to cover the show (ending my streak at 4 in a row ), but I think we will still have some coverage and pics of hte Hasbro event here at JD thanks to a NY forumite who has volunteered to try to get down to the Hasbro show for us.

[P-Siddy]

I hope that there aren't any delays getting in from Milan.

[Scott]

I'm guessing we will see the Hoth Luke Wave Carded and maybe the next couple of Waves of Figures...I don't expect much just based on C6...and I really don't retailers care.

All of that said...I often wonder how and when exclusives are solicited?  Because it isn't at Toy Fair where you would think they would be...must be some sort of internal process between the companies...I still hold out hope for the Ewok Pack(s), Darth Vader Pyre and hopefully Rebel/Astromech packs.  I guess we'll see Friday

[Jesse James]

I'm thinking Scott's spot on, I think they'll show the CW Deluxe line, they'll have the N1 Fighter, the MTT...  They're going to whore Fighter Pods a lot.

I figure 2 to 3 Vintage waves and nothing more.

Between C6, SDCC, NYCC, they're going to have a fairly slim showing IMO. 

I'm interested in seeing the new vinty's and the rest I'm pretty sure I'll be completely disinterested in really.

[Scockery]

IAll of that said...I often wonder how and when exclusives are solicited?  Because it isn't at Toy Fair where you would think they would be...must be some sort of internal process between the companies...I still hold out hope for the Ewok Pack(s), Darth Vader Pyre and hopefully Rebel/Astromech packs.  I guess we'll see Friday

Solicited? I thought Toy Fair was just a showing off to the media, all the business stuff is done months before, mass release and exclusives.

[shmashwitdaclub]

So new stuff will start being shown off this Friday?  Looks like I will be behind on the reveals then most likely.  This Friday I go in for my third surgery for having chronic sinus issues.  I will probably be too messed up on pain pills to look at the interwebs.

Anywho, I am hoping some of that stuff from the recent lists we have seen will be shown off.  All of the new stuff from those lists were golden imo.

And, as always, I am still waiting on this supposed Ewok pack.  I am really hoping for Ewok movie love in that pack.  About a year and a half or so ago I had a question submitted to Hasbro for a QnA on the droidsandewoks.com website.

I originally wrote my question as this:

In the Ewok movie "Caravan of Courage" I am sure you are well aware of the epic scene in which Logray gives our heros "The Sacred Totems of the Legendary Ewok Warriors". In this scene Deej receives his "White Wings of Hope", Weechee receives his "Red Wings of Courage", and Widdle receives his "Blue Wings of Strength". Wouldn't it be cool if in the Ewok exclusive pack(s?) these three Ewoks could have these removable wings to go on top of their plastic hoods? And while we are on the subject, Chukha-Trok would need his "Ivory Tooth" and throwing Axe(s), and a repacked Kaink with plastic hood/robe to better match the rest of the Ewoks could use her magic staff with "Crystal of Power". Then you could round off the pack by including Wicket with his "Magic Walking Stick", Shodu with her wokling (Winda?), Cindel with her "Candle of Pure Light", and, at the risk of delving too deep, Mace with his "Rock"! Man wouldn't that be a cool pack?!?!

But realizing it was crazy wordy I gave them permission to alter it and it turned into this:

1) Seeing that Wicket is coming all by himself on the card with some bonus accessories, I am wondering if the Ewok with multiple accessories format will be permanently replacing the Ewok two packs. If so, our readers have been brainstorming just in case, thinking of cool accessories that future Ewok figures could come with to make up for that lost figure. Some ideas are Deej, Weechee and Widdle with the ceremonial wing headdresses that they wore on their hoods in Caravan of Courage, Logray with an alternate headdress and cloak from the cartoon and maybe his crystal image spinner or sunstar, Kneesaa with Baga the Bordok, a new Kaink with plastic cloak and staff, Shodu with Winda the wokling, and an Ewok with the Han Solo roasting spit or drum. More animated series hoods would be great too! Any accessories that we missed that you guys would like to see?

Answer: Thanks for the thoughts. You are right in surmising that future Ewok packs will be singles, rather than multiples. The Wicket pack has certainly seemed to make a lot of fans happy, so it's possible that we could pursue this for future Vintage Ewoks. Thanks for the comments.

In hindsight I still wish the original version was submitted - I had a lot of fun putting together all the details.

[Nicklab]

IAll of that said...I often wonder how and when exclusives are solicited?  Because it isn't at Toy Fair where you would think they would be...must be some sort of internal process between the companies...I still hold out hope for the Ewok Pack(s), Darth Vader Pyre and hopefully Rebel/Astromech packs.  I guess we'll see Friday

Solicited? I thought Toy Fair was just a showing off to the media, all the business stuff is done months before, mass release and exclusives.

There is a Toy Fair event that takes place around October every year that is closed to the public as well as press.  It's very likely that THIS is the event where the manufacturers make the major push to sell potential exclusives to their retail partners.

[Scott]

Cool...I learned something today.  Toy Fair has multiple days where some are closed to the Public/NerdPress where retailers are shown stuff ahead of the public seeing it...I think Toy Fair mania has ebbed a little from a few years ago due to the Comic Cons of the world but it is still a pretty big deal (especially for the small independent toy and game manufacturers)

[Nicklab]

Don't get me wrong:  A LOT of business gets conducted at Toy Fair.  When I was in the waiting room at Diamond Distribution one year, there was a buyer from a significant retailer coming in for an appointment.  And this was at a time when they were handling Diamond Select Toys, Kotobukiya and some other significant properties.  This is going on while these companies are also dealing with press appointments.  Most of the press seems to be focused on the first day or so of Toy Fair since there's such a push to get news out as quickly as possible. 

In the case of Hasbro they are actually located off-site from the Javits Center and manage all of their press and retail appointments far tighter than companies that are on the floor at the convention center.  They had the showroom across the street from the Javits Center that was more tightly controlled, but it wasn't really suited to a presentation.  As a result they were holding that event over at the NY Times auditorium, and they even moved their showroom there as well.  I can't say that I saw the Hasbro people conducting meetings with retailers there, but this location seems far better suited to the high press demand that they've had over the past several years.

[Jeff]

Solicited? I thought Toy Fair was just a showing off to the media, all the business stuff is done months before, mass release and exclusives.

Toy Fair is first and foremost a place where people are desperately trying to sell stuff to retail buyers.  Often time the bigger companies organize media events because everything is set up for the buyers, so it's a perfect time to let the media see stuff too.   It works a little different when you're a big player like Hasbro or Mattel, but yeah - LOTS of buyers from various retail outlets and many of them buy in with companies based on Toy Fair presentations.

There is a Toy Fair event that takes place around October every year that is closed to the public as well as press.  It's very likely that THIS is the event where the manufacturers make the major push to sell potential exclusives to their retail partners.

For those that haven't heard of it, Fall Toy Preview is usually in October and usually in Dallas.  It is definitely CLOSED to all media.  This is where Hasbro and Mattel sell the Spring, post-hoilday toys to the big boys.   I know from a few Target contacts that a LOT of stuff happens here.

Toy Fair has multiple days where some are closed to the Public/NerdPress where retailers are shown stuff ahead of the public seeing it...

For Toy Fair, yeah Hasbro meets with the Target and the Walmarts during this show.  They definitely get private showings of the toys and they definitely talk about exclusives.   Usually, Hasbro has special smaller showrooms set up for these meetings where the big boxes get to see the potential exclusive offerings and discuss exclusive deals...  those smaller showrooms are NOT open to press and guarded pretty well. 

Like Nick said, Hasbro likes to get the media stuff done on Saturday before "regular" Toy Fair begins on Sunday.  Usually the "real" media goes to a presentation Saturday AM, then the fan media goes Saturday afternoon.  Each year whan I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for the fan media thing to start, the people leaving the showrooms are wearing badges from USA Today, ABC, NBC, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, etc.  Then, when Toy Fair officially opens on Sunday, Hasbro has all sorts of meetings with retailers of various sizes and no media is allowed.

[Jesse James]

Then the fun begins, and the only real press in the room is of course disgusted because the rest of us get in their way while they take pics. 

[Brian]

Like others have said, we probably won't see a ton of new stuff unfortunately.  That seems to be relegated more to SDCC (and now NYCC).  I'm sure we'll see the MTT, and hopefully see a couple waves of vintage (on the slideshow if nothing else).  There probably isn't a ton they could show for CW, aside from that Scuba Ahsoka and possibly Maul or the couple other new figures we're getting this year.  That would be neat.  I'd be happy to see anything new, but I'm most interested in the Vintage Collection stuff and maybe getting some confirmation on some of those rumor lists that popped up last week.

[Nicklab]

The UK Toy Fair combined with social media have pretty well negated any surprise factor going into the NY International Toy Fair.  Lots of things wound up leaking out that way.  I think there's likely to be at least a couple of surprises this weekend, but probably nothing major.  The MTT is out of the bag, and that was THE big thing.

Hasbro no doubt has a press release schedule that they'll be adhering to for the remainder of the year.  Those have leaked before, notably when we learned about the new AT-AT.  And they will likely be unveiling certain items at SDCC, others at Celebration 6, and the AOTC-3D line at NYCC. 

[McMetal]

They won't show CW Maul because the episode hasn't even aired yet. I suspect we'll see what's been leaked already - Scuba Gear Ahsoka, the 3 new Deluxe sets, and more of Wave 2...bleh.

I don't even care about seeing new toys anymore - I just want to know what the hell happened to some of the old ones, namely the Mandalorian Assault Transport and those Walmart DVD 2-packs. If Hasbro can clear that up for us I'd be thrilled.

[Pete_Fett]

I don't even care about seeing new toys anymore - I just want to know what the hell happened to some of the old ones, namely the Mandalorian Assault Transport and those Walmart DVD 2-packs. If Hasbro can clear that up for us I'd be thrilled.

Well, I relented and just pre-ordered the Mandalorian Assault Transport online when EE had them up for pre-order. Hopefully they will get them in and be able to fulfill all the orders.

It's very frustrating when you think about it - they could have totally had both the Mobile Tank and the Mando Transport shipping in the same case, yet they chose not to just so they could get more bang-for-their-buck with shipping more of old molds.

The justice would be if a vast majority of these end up dumped at stores like Five Below or TJ Maxx selling for $5 each. I'd gladly grab two more to open at that price.