Image: Hasbro
Hasbro’s first HasCon is on the way, and what would a convention dedicated to toys be without a few exclusives of its own? Everything from Star Wars to My Little Pony to Magic: The Gathering will have exclusive merchandise at the convention, but the best of all: an Optimus Prime toy that’s part robot, part working power pack. Is it over the top? Sure. It’s still fun.
Hasbro’s first convention will take place in Providence, Rhode Island this year, and the company is bringing a whole host of new toys based on some of its biggest properties it in tow, and io9 has a first look at them all.
Making their debut at the event ahead of standard retail releases later this year are figures from Star Wars and Transformers — starting off with a wonderful 6″ Black Series version of Captain Rex from Clone Wars, a figure that was recently unveiled at Comic-Con, which will set you back $US20 ($25):
Joining Rex in early access at the con is a new $US30 ($38) Titans Return figure set for Arcee. Inspired by the retro generation 1 designs, the Deluxe-Class figure includes a “Titan Master” minifigure for Ultra Magnus, which can transform into an alternate heads for other Titans Returns figures. Both Arcee and Rex will be available outside of HasCon as normal releases later this year.
As well as early access to new figures, the event will also have some toys that are convention exclusives, but will also be available at other conventions beyond HasCon. First up is a repaint of the Marvel Legends Deadpool based on his uniform from the Uncanny X-Force comics available for $US20 ($25), who will come with new accessories and exclusive packaging alongside the new paint job:
Joining Deadpool as a multi-con exclusive is a $US30 ($38) three-pack of Magic: The Gathering cards, inspired by other Hasbro series. The set includes a card based on Grimlock from Transformers, a Goblin card based on NERF, and a special version of a Dungeons & Dragons collaboration card that is literally called “The Sword of Dungeons and Dragons.” On top of all that metatextual glory, there’s also a special dragon token, to differentiate from the versions of it and the Dungeons & Dragons card that will appear in the upcoming Magic set Unstable, due for release later this year. Seriously, you’ll want to magnify this picture and read that flavour text. For Grimlock, especially:
So what’s actually exclusive to HasCon itself? There’s a double dose of My Little Pony — in the form of a $US20 ($25) set of 10 Dungeons & Dragons dice, all sparkly and shiny, in a special box featuring the Friendship is Magic gang all adorably dressed up for their own tabletop adventure:
And there’s also a My Little Pony box, a special packaging of Pony merchandise that includes a kid’s t-shirt, a random Pony Friends figure, a ‘Seapony’ plush inspired by the new movie, a set of MLP stackems figurines, a pen and journal, sets of mini colouring books and stickers, a tumbler, and even a new book from the movie called Friends and Foes. For $US20 ($25), it’s a veritable haul of friendship and magic.
And finally, there’s the Optimus Prime power bank. For $US50 ($63), it’s not a bad power pack itself — emblazoned with the Autobots logo, the 6500mAh battery is more than enough to extend the life of your phone or any other device that can be attached by the accompanying micro USB cable. But what other battery pack can turn into Optimus Goddamn Prime!?
If you’d prefer to use the charge stored in the battery for extremely cool stuff instead of the practicality of charging your devices, you can actually plug the cable into Optimus himself and light up an accompanying sword accessory, which is just hilarious:
Hopefully this is better than that Soundwave who turned into a nonfunctioning tablet from last year! HasCon kicks off in Rhode Island on September 8.