Toy Fair Australia 2014 - part 2

[griffin]

In the last couple days I have been given permission to post up the rest of my photos, and some old photos of grey-scale prototypes that I wasn't allowed to before.

First up, the Goldie Marketing stand, which is producing the 30th Anniversary figurines that are going to be sold in other countries like America and Europe.
The Australian Toyfair display and their website video gave up enough new info to have it's own news posting here, but here are the photos again, for all the Toyfair related pics.





Series 1 figurines (three-packs on the left, the 5-packs were at the bottom), plus the Optimus lenticular "puzzle/poster".
NOTE the 15 figurines in the middle display case - each row is a 5-pack, each column is a 3-pack.


Series 2 figurines (three-packs on the right, the 5-packs were at the bottom), plus the Megatron lenticular "puzzle/poster".
NOTE the 15 figurines in the middle display case - each row is a 5-pack, each column is a 3-pack.


At the Hasbro exhibit, like most other exhibits, there were some promo booklets, including one for Transformers. I got one, and have been dying to
share, so now that I have permission to do so, here they are.
There is nothing new or "news-worthy", but this is such a nicely done
12-page booklet, I didn't want it wasted on just Retailers' eyes... fans should get to see it as well. (names and photos of Hasbro contacts inside
have been removed)











This next page will interest some gamers, as it confirms a number of rumoured Transformers games on other fansites, including...
3 Mobile games - TF Legends, TF Movie 4, TF Angry Birds Go!
1 Online game - TF Universe
1 Arcade game - TF Human Alliance
4 Console games - TF Movie 4, TF Supreme, TF Movie 5, TF Spirits Rising.
(the "4th Movie" game is most likely the Rise of the Dark Spark game)
The odd thing though is that it lists the 5th Movie game, as if it is coming soon (as this booklet is only really promoting the Brand for the next year or
two).
If this is indeed suggesting that the 5th Movie (and game) are coming out next year, it would back up what the Nikko RC rep claimed (that the 5th
Movie is coming out in 2015, as they were both filmed together... and that is why their license is only covering them until 2016).
This is still an unsubstantiated rumour though, as existing news reports claim that 5 & 6 won't go ahead if the 4th isn't a success, and I haven't
seen anyone else claim this on any other fansite yet (so I doubt it is true), but if it does turn out to be true, at least our site was the first to break the news.



And now the celebrity pages, for the benefit of Retailers to be aware that the Brand is now a cultural icon, earning it celebrity status...








Wrapping up with some last minute stats.


The back cover.


Thanks to the guys at Hasbro Australia, I was emailed a couple of photos of some of their wall art (because it was blocked by people on the day I
was there). Unfortunately, the Transformers one is still obscured by furniture, and the MLP one was taken at such an angle, that when I shrunk
it down to fit the screen, some of the writing can't be read... so I've included a link to the full-size image below the reduced image.



I was amazed to learn that MLP was out a year before Transformers, and asked for this photo for any MLP fans I know we have here.


The full size image, for anyone wanting to read all the text boxes.
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/toyfair/2014tf52.jpg


And now for a couple of prototype photos that I had from past years, that Hasbro didn't want released at the time (for marketing reasons).
From 2011 is the Jetwing Optimus, that was originally a Japan and Australian exclusive... but then Amazon went and did one in Gen1 colours for America a year later.


And from 2013, the Metroplex box mock-up image that gave us our first look at Scamper (it wasn't on display at the US Toyfair, so it would have been a world first, if I'd been allowed to share). But I've learnt not to bite the hand that feeds you, or else you won't get fed any more (which is more important than some short-lived attention-seeking ).
I like the FOC game Metroplex art used on the mock-up (the actual box has new, original artwork that reaches out at you).

[Skittles]

love mlp one thanks for the picture

[Lint]

I initially read REMOXES as REMOVED and the sentence still made perfect sense to me

[Hursticon]

I can haz dem 3 Soundwaves Plz!?!

Hehe, I can wait to get a hold of those 3 Soundwave vinyls - They look pretty cool.

[griffin]

It's a pity that they didn't have Soundwave as a character 3-pack like the others. It would have been a nicer evolution set, than buying the individual figures.

[ILikeSoundwave]

It's a pity that they didn't have Soundwave as a character 3-pack like the others. It would have been a nicer evolution set, than buying the individual figures.

At the American toyfair there was a Soundwave 3 pack shown.

[griffin]

It took me a while to find it, but yes, it seems that there might be a Soundwave 3-pack... but I have a feeling that it might be a mock-up, because the box says "series 1", but two of the Soundwaves are in not released in "series 1".
(and the Australian display looked to have the correct assortments in the multi-packs of both series, as they might have had better pre-production samples by the time our Toyfair started)


The other odd thing I noticed (which could also just be early prototype packaging), is there are two types of 3-packs - one type is in a box with window, while the other type is a long card with three bubbles.
Maybe they are releasing both versions, as a way to make more money by offering different Retailers different versions. I thought it was odd that they have blind packs as well as single carded-figures, but maybe some Retailers prefer one or the other (or both - blind bags at the registers and carded figures in the main toy section).

[Hursticon]

Just so long as I'm able to get my hands on all 3 iterations of Soundwave, I'll be happy - But indeed, it is another opportunity missed by not giving the Superior one his own 3-pack.

[griffin]

Just noting for myself, and others, for future reference - the 2015 Toyfair will be Tuesday 3rd March to Friday 6th March.
(dates can change though, as they did this year after it coincided too closely to the Grand Prix)

It is strange that they never stick to a set weekday or weekend format each year. It seems to start on a different day of the year each year.

[griffin]

I just found that the booklet I scanned and posted in the first post, was similar to one that was released for the UK retailers, which can be seen online here.
Ours was 4 pages shorter, and about half of it was recycled... but at least ours had some new info and pics.
(and I was so excited about sharing this, only to find out later that most of it already existed online)