Posted in: Collectibles, Hasbro, san diego comic con | Tagged: Beast Wars, collectibles, hasbro, san diego comic con, sdcc, sdcc 2018, transformers, war for cybertron

That Third Decepticon in 'Bumblebee', and More from Hasbro Toys at SDCC

Words and Photos courtesy of Bleeding Cool's Mike Sangregorio:

During San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Bleeding Cool met the team for the various Transformers lines to discuss what was forthcoming for new and old fans alike. Announced during the convention was the War for Cybertron Trilogy, a narrative that will play out across the toy lines against the background of the Autobot/Decepticon rivalry on their homeworld before it spread to Earth.

John Warden discussed the Siege on Cybertron line, which is the first part of the Trilogy, as well as other Generation 1 (G1) oriented offerings.

A key focus of these lines is scale. Feedback from fans has consistently mentioned accurate scaling amongst the toys to each other as something that fans want to see developed further. The Siege line has paid special attention to this. The newly introduced Cybertronian Omni-dimensional Modular Battlefield Assault Tech (COMBAT) System will allow fans to construct their own battlefields on their shelves at home.

The Battlemasters are a new subgroup that harken back to the Headmasters and Targetmasters of G1. Each will come with a fireblast effect that will allow fans to customize weapons firing and energy coming off bladed weapons for display purposes.

Also returning are the Micromasters, featuring some of the exact same characters from the G1 line (on display was Big Shot of the Autobot Battle Patrol, among others) with new, updated, and modernized sculpts. As these will be part of the larger Generations line, there is no limit on which characters from which eras can be used.

Warden mentioned that they "are looking for ones with exciting Altmodes… those that present an opportunity to do a better version of a great idea that came before." Each of the effects will scale up as fans move to larger price points, but all characters will remain in scale across the various Classes (e.g. Voyager, Leader). The Optimus Prime of this line will come with a smaller, white robot that can be removed, another reference to his G1 counterpart.

Chromia, one of the G1 female Autobots, will be included with the line and was on display at the booth. Warden was quick to confirm that she is not part of a Combiner set, regardless of any of the confusion that came along with her formal announcement. Chromia is an example of the role or faction that each character in the line will be given. She is now an espionage agent and demolitions expert with Energon Mines that can be attached to enemy combatant figures. The focus is on creating a fan's idea of how a battlefield can be constructed.

In other cases, such as with the character Hound, the intent is to bridge the portrayal in Siege with that of what was shown in the cartoon for G1. This will show how the character develops over the course of three years. Hound is now a munitions expert who will eventually become a scout by the time of the pilot episode of the original cartoon.

Warden also mentioned that Walmart will be offering exclusive versions of some of the original G1 Transformers in their original, authentic packaging. Older fans will have the opportunity to repurchase a variety of the figures as they first appeared in the 1980s and share what they loved with new fans. Warden confirmed that "these will be die-cast and will have weight to them."

The reissues will have little, if any, modification and will, for the most part, be made from the same molds as the originals. One change that will be made is that Starscream can now hold Megatron while he is in his altmode, something his original figure could not do but that the character frequently did on the cartoon show. Warden wants these to be "as authentic as possible but with Easter Eggs thrown in."

John Frazier discussed the upcoming Bumblebee line based on the film. He acknowledged that the approach was a bit different from the other live-action films. Here it was important to acknowledge the various attributes of the title character. "Bumblebee has such great depth of character." The Energy Igniter Line "celebrates his fast and speedy side" and will feature toys that can move their own. To "celebrate his fun, musical side" we have DJ Bumblebee. He will repeat anything said to him, in any language, over a selection of songs. "PowerCharge Bumblebee will have lights, sounds, and an adjustable BeeVision mask as was featured in the trailer."

The main villain of the film was revealed at the convention to be classic Decepticon Blitzwing. No word yet on what his figures will be. Transformers: Cyberverse is an upcoming cartoon and toy line. It will focus on Bumblebee but will also feature a variety of other classic characters.

The Convention exclusive figure was a version of Optimal Optimus (from Transformers: Beast Wars) in the color scheme, and style, of his earlier Optimus Primal form. This offering was decided upon by fan poll and is part of the Generations line. Specifically this figure represents Primal bearing the Matrix of Leadership.

As part of the Power of the Primes story he comes with the four remaining Prime Master figures that fans will need to complete their collection of the Sparks of the Thirteen Primes of Cybertron. Each Prime Master can fit interchangeably into the included Matrix of Leadership. The figure comes with a throne base that features a wheel to display all 13 Prime Masters.

Drew Nolosco discussed the brand-new Transformers Trading Card Game. This is a new system of combat featuring oversized Character Cards (one side of which has a 'robot form' and the other the altmode). Fans can build their decks from a variety of items and special moves based on the criteria offered by the heroes and villains. Special incentive will be awarded for key combinations of characters such as the leader of the Insecticons receiving a bonus from the number of his swarm in play. The gameplay mechanics are simple, designed for children, but become increasingly complex depending on your skill level. As this is Generations, it was quickly pointed out that characters from a variety of different lines may be offered in the future.

'Til all are one.

Photo gallery below.

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