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Hasbro Dominates With Fan Rallying Star Wars And Marvel Presentations At San Diego Comic Con, Plus Massive Photogallery

By Jeremy Konrad

Going into San Diego Comic Con, the company I wanted to see the most out of was Hasbro. As an avid action figure collector, they hold the license to my two favorite brands, Star Wars and Marvel. They are the single most frustrating and exhilarating company producing toys today. They create impressive lineups for both brands, but then distribution issues and bad case ratios ruin all of the excitement. Luckily, they are addressing that. As I sat there waiting for the Star Wars panel to start, I had my doubts that they could show me figures that would impress me, let alone get me to the level of excitement that I enjoyed when Marvel Legends or the Star Wars Black Series were first launched.

I am happy to say I was wrong.

Staring on Friday with their plans for the Star Wars brand, they showed off an impressive amount of new figures, including quite a few new characters for their 6-inch line. After trumpeting that the line has already exceeded their goals for the year already, they were happy to report that there is no end in sight for the popular figures, and that makes me a happy fan. An impressive lineup is coming, including my personal favorite Bossk, a TIE Fighter Pilot, Han Solo in Stormtrooper disguise, a Clone Trooper Sergeant, and some new deluxe packages, including Hoth Han Solo and Tauntaun, and Luke Skywalker with Wampa (removable arm!). And they all look amazing.

When they first announced this line, I decided I was all in as long as the sculpts and price were where I wanted them to be, and they have yet to disappoint.  Before the 6 inch line, they showed off some new entries to the good ole 3 ¾ inch Black Series line as well: Medal Ceremony Leia (yay! Always need more Leia in the lines), Chewbacca, Clone Commander Wolffe, Captain Rex (new head, new torso, with new details on his armor), Commander Doom from the Clone Wars Season Six) (new figure! From the Lost Missions), Jon "Dutch" Vanders, and Yoda's Test Darth Vader (with Luke's face beneath Vader's mask! This one was the least impressive to me).

They also showed some new figures from the upcoming show Star Wars Rebels. All the main cast, including Hera, Sabine, Ezra, Zeb, and Kanan will be coming, as well as the Inquisitor, a Wookie 2-pack, Mission Series packs for Cikatro Vizago and IG-RN, and then some classic character 2-packs for  Wicket and Biker Scout, Bossk and Ig-88 (Bossk again! They are trying to take all my money!). Saga Legends will be getting a Rebels style TIE Pilot, an At-DP Pilot, a Clone Wars Jedi Temple Guard, Clone Wars Commander Gree, At-AT driver, and Plo Koon realistic style. Vehicle wise, the coolest thing they showed was an Imperial Troop Transport, which is based on the vintage troop transport, for the Rebels line. They also showed off their Star Wars Command line, which is like little green army men, but Star Wars. New sculpts, new figures, and exciting new lines? Sign me up please. They even teased a 6 inch Emperor at the end, maybe with his throne from the end of Return Of The Jedi (probably be next years  SDCC exclusive).

No way would they top that, especially when Star Wars is my bread and butter.

Then I went to their Marvel presentation.

Wasting no time, they launched right into their Marvel Legends line. Revealing new figures for Hobgoblin, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, Captian Marvel (Carol Danvers!), Machine Man, Scarlet Witch, Patsy Walker Hellcat, and Build A Figures for Odin the All-Father and Thanos . Alex Maleev will be providing the packaging art. Not enough for you? How about movie figures for Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Agent Coulson?

For the ever popular 3 ¾ inch figure line Infinite Series, they are NOT abandoning it. Internet rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated. They were very apologetic about distribution issues, swear they are cleaned up, and said the line is going nowhere. Figures revealed there included Black Cat, Bishop, Big Time Spider-Man, Beast, Sandman, Doc Ock, Thunderstrike (!), Colossus, armored Daredevil, Vulture, Shanna, and FINALLY North Star, which has been delayed for 2 years or so.

But wait: there is more from Legends! Guardians Of The Galaxy 5-pack of the current team from the DNA run, Magik, and Dormammu!!!!

After that, I have to give kudos. The panelists faced all of their fans for a Q&A and were asked some pretty tough questions and criticisms about everything from distribution issues, to choices on design elements, and why they never seem to include enough of the female figures in their cases. Each question was handled with class and respect, and it was refreshing to see a company be that upfront and honest with their fans. Distribution was a big problem for them last year, by their own admission. They even talked about personally going into stores and fixing peg warming situations themselves. As far as female figures: they say numbers do not lie, and they do not sell as well as action figures. One question I have for them: if they put desirable female figures more than one per case, would the numbers not improve? One only needs to look at the demand for this past springs Black Widow figure as proof.

Hasbro went and had themselves quite a fine weekend at SDCC, and I hope they can keep them momentum going. I am going to go start looking for a second job now….

Many, many pics down below.

Jeremy Konrad is the Senior Star Wars Correspondent for Bleeding Cool. He is also the co-host of The Dedicated Server. Talk action figures and Star Wars with him on Twitter @jeremyohio


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Hannah Means ShannonAbout Hannah Means Shannon

Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. Independent comics scholar and former English Professor. Writing books on magic in the works of Alan Moore and the early works of Neil Gaiman.
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