I've seen talk of how Power Rangers doesn't really have listings for next year so speculation is it's going on a bit of hiatus while Hasbro reevaluates the franchise.
Hasbro PulseCon 2023, Hosted by Dan Larson & Thew Adams
- Thread starter LBD "Nytetrayn"
- Start date
Power Rangers being early and short to get it out of the way makes sense to me. Joe at the end a little less so. If they wanted to "Finish Strong" you'd expect Marvel or Star Wars as the final slot.
-ZacWilliam, I'd do some thing like TFs, PR, Joe, DnD/Magic, Star Wars, Marvel.
-ZacWilliam, I'd do some thing like TFs, PR, Joe, DnD/Magic, Star Wars, Marvel.
Well, if Power Rangers is going on a significant hiatus (rumors are everything shelved until 2025), that's not going to be a big presentation. I WOULD be surprised if Hasbro shuttered even the basic kids toys, but shelving Lightning wouldn't be surprising.
GI Joe really isn't much longer. Which doesn't surprise me since the brand is just in limbo until a media project gets going (which, with current strikes, is probably delayed). I'm not expecting much aside from some Classified reveals, but I STILL hold that little flame that the brand team will actually embrace toys again and give us something akin to the Marvel Epic Heroes line(s), or better yet, closer to Spin Master's Batman initiatives.
I WANT to be excited, but my "gut" is telling me that, outside of Transformers, the other brands are going to be low key:
Power Rangers is looking like a hiatus (again, if the kids stuff keeps going, I'm not sure it will be addressed since Pulsecon is highly COLLECTOR geared, not necessarily FAN geared)
GI Joe is just meandering along with solid stuff, but pretty limited in the broader brand scope (Good stuff or not, Classified alone is NOT going to bring in fresh interest)
Marvel and Star Wars are going to be compromised by various changes in the media slate, and again, will focus on the collector stuff, most of which will be previews of stuff months out, at this point. Frankly, I have more interest in the kids stuff than another solid, if uninteresting, $25-30 6" figure.
Transformers should prove to be the most interesting between the 40th Anniversary initiatives, a new film next fall, and something of a narrative driven hybrid line (Generations) PLUS new content for Earthspark.
GI Joe really isn't much longer. Which doesn't surprise me since the brand is just in limbo until a media project gets going (which, with current strikes, is probably delayed). I'm not expecting much aside from some Classified reveals, but I STILL hold that little flame that the brand team will actually embrace toys again and give us something akin to the Marvel Epic Heroes line(s), or better yet, closer to Spin Master's Batman initiatives.
I WANT to be excited, but my "gut" is telling me that, outside of Transformers, the other brands are going to be low key:
Power Rangers is looking like a hiatus (again, if the kids stuff keeps going, I'm not sure it will be addressed since Pulsecon is highly COLLECTOR geared, not necessarily FAN geared)
GI Joe is just meandering along with solid stuff, but pretty limited in the broader brand scope (Good stuff or not, Classified alone is NOT going to bring in fresh interest)
Marvel and Star Wars are going to be compromised by various changes in the media slate, and again, will focus on the collector stuff, most of which will be previews of stuff months out, at this point. Frankly, I have more interest in the kids stuff than another solid, if uninteresting, $25-30 6" figure.
Transformers should prove to be the most interesting between the 40th Anniversary initiatives, a new film next fall, and something of a narrative driven hybrid line (Generations) PLUS new content for Earthspark.
Hmm.
Star Wars - The Newest episode of Ashoka this week had like a half dozen new characters I want toys of. So I'd love any of those.
Marvel Legends: What would excite me... Pantheon Hulk (Please?), 90s Crystal, Crystar preorder, Original Death's Head... hmm... I guess finishing the New Warriors with Justice and Namorita. Rom would of course be awesome. I'm probably not ever getting 3D-Man. I wish I could legitimately hope for Circuit Breaker but I don't think that'll ever happen.
Joes: Anyone weird. Sci-Fi. Nemesis Enforcer, Cobra La Guard, Mercer, Hydro-viper, BAT and Alley Viper V2, Robo Joe. Give me the weirdos. The pulp comic, sci-if and fantasy stuff.
-ZacWilliam, I'm not super holding my breath of course.
Star Wars - The Newest episode of Ashoka this week had like a half dozen new characters I want toys of. So I'd love any of those.
Marvel Legends: What would excite me... Pantheon Hulk (Please?), 90s Crystal, Crystar preorder, Original Death's Head... hmm... I guess finishing the New Warriors with Justice and Namorita. Rom would of course be awesome. I'm probably not ever getting 3D-Man. I wish I could legitimately hope for Circuit Breaker but I don't think that'll ever happen.
Joes: Anyone weird. Sci-Fi. Nemesis Enforcer, Cobra La Guard, Mercer, Hydro-viper, BAT and Alley Viper V2, Robo Joe. Give me the weirdos. The pulp comic, sci-if and fantasy stuff.
-ZacWilliam, I'm not super holding my breath of course.
I’m hoping for maybe a hint of the rumoured Vector Prime.
And maybe Thundertron.
And maybe Thundertron.
I just want to know what the next Haslab is.
Yeah. I saw an entire wave for Black Series and Vintage lines out of that episode. Possibly even a trooper builder set for the vintage Empire side.
Joe could have another HasLab announced. Not sure where state the current one, if there is one, is in. But Joe collectors always seem to go wild. That HISS tank for Classified was a work of art.
Even if PR takes a hiatus, pump out some zord sets like that cheaper MMPR set that came out last year and they will stay on + side of thing$.
will Pulse have that PL Hot Shot available tomorrow?
I'm honestly shocked that we haven't gotten more of those fancy Megazord releases. We were rumored to get the Tigerzord next, but so far, no firm word.
In any case, I'd think Titanus would be a shoo-in for a Haslab project, especially if they made sure it could work for future Ninjazord and Shogunzord releases.
In any case, I'd think Titanus would be a shoo-in for a Haslab project, especially if they made sure it could work for future Ninjazord and Shogunzord releases.
I still think Hasbro is leaving money on the table by not doing a “Epic Heroes” product line for Star Wars. If nothing else, the status of the “kids stuff” will be more interesting since Mission Fleet appears to be puttering out. I saw a LOT of recently released Mission Fleet stuff at Ollies on discount. Hell, I just found out the “big ship” for the year is the Jedi Shuttle, but have seen NO marketing concerning it.
GI Joe just wrapped its HasLab for the Dragonfly, so I don’t expect another until next summer.
The thing with Power Rangers is that those “cheaper zord sets” still require a not insignificant investment. Though, again, given the context of Pulsecon, it’s hard to say if the hiatus will just be for collector centric offerings, or the ENTIRE brand. With a new series set to premiere and run through the year, I find it a questionable business decision to discontinue ALL merchandise support.
Powerlinx Hot Shot will be available at the end of the day, after the showings. Pulse Premium members get an hour early preorder period.
I'm hoping the HasLab will be either Primus or SS86 Devastator. I'd love to see Primus have a bunch of alternate parts as stretch goals. E.g. either a G1 head or a Cybertron head. Alternate planet surface plates to give it a G1 look with openings to lower levels, a Cybertron look with all the towers, or a Bayverse look with the hexagonal structures. Or barring that, I'd at least like to see the different takes on Cybertron reflected in different regions on the planet surface.
As for Devy, I love my CW Devy and he's not going anywhere. Having said that, he's too big compared to the other combiners, and the individual bots are kinda gigantic too. The Constructicons are among my favorite TFs, so I'd love to have an update that both improves on it and comes in at a smaller size.
The only other thing that jumps to mind that wouldn't be a big disappointment is maybe a full God Ginrai, but I expect Hasbro considers him to just be PM Optimus, so not appropriate for a HasLab.
Aside from TFs, I think the thing I'm most hoping to see is a blue dragon Diceling. I'll be upset if they don't finish off the chromatic Dragon set.
As for Devy, I love my CW Devy and he's not going anywhere. Having said that, he's too big compared to the other combiners, and the individual bots are kinda gigantic too. The Constructicons are among my favorite TFs, so I'd love to have an update that both improves on it and comes in at a smaller size.
The only other thing that jumps to mind that wouldn't be a big disappointment is maybe a full God Ginrai, but I expect Hasbro considers him to just be PM Optimus, so not appropriate for a HasLab.
Aside from TFs, I think the thing I'm most hoping to see is a blue dragon Diceling. I'll be upset if they don't finish off the chromatic Dragon set.
I don’t think we will get anything from the Japan G1 shows. Devy is the best guess without knowing anything. Maybe some ultimate version of Optimus that’s between the Earthrise and MP whatever version is the latest.
After seeing the live action Devastator get produced the way it did? G1 Devastator is popular enough I don’t see Hasbro “gating” him behind a HasLab.
Cybertron is a safe option, but there are deep cuts like Grandus or Grand Mal Megatron that might be options. Given the freedom crowdsourcing allows, an outlier idea to me is a full, Mt. St. Hilary/crashed Ark play set. Offer an opening drive path, a Teletron 1 station and a couple of modular “rooms”. Stretch goals could be things like recharging beds or Wheeljack’s workbench. Have the exterior be scaled to titans, have interior be scaled to basic deluxe/voyager figures
Cybertron is a safe option, but there are deep cuts like Grandus or Grand Mal Megatron that might be options. Given the freedom crowdsourcing allows, an outlier idea to me is a full, Mt. St. Hilary/crashed Ark play set. Offer an opening drive path, a Teletron 1 station and a couple of modular “rooms”. Stretch goals could be things like recharging beds or Wheeljack’s workbench. Have the exterior be scaled to titans, have interior be scaled to basic deluxe/voyager figures
The new season of Power Rangers is very much not going to run through the year considering it's only 10 episodes and they're all dropping at once on Netflix in like a few days IIRC.
That being said, yeah I do 100% agree that like Hasbro is likely not gonna just let the brand not exist in terms of merchandise, even if the planned reboot or whatever doesn't come until like 2025. Even with a hiatus, there's still so many things they can release product of to keep PR on toy shelves.
Of course this ignores it being some sort of roleplay item like Matrix of Leadership or something. We haven't had one of those since 2006.
I'm at work and can't watch the video, but regarding the Devastator discussion, I'm going to go full heretic and say that I wish they would give any new Devvy an interchangeable limb design, and throw out a few new Constructicons to mix things up: a sky crane helicopter, a boring machine (with obligatory drill nose), maybe have a couple smaller things like a fork truck and steam roller combine into one limb, just evolve the whole team beyond the original 6.
Also, make them Core size class.
Also, make them Core size class.
Love the hybrid vehicle/Rocklords. I was curious what they would do there, since I would have been surprised to see them just turn into roundish rocks.
Looks like we have a Tidal Wave and a Magmatron incoming, both of which are super exciting.
Thundertron is a great looking toy. Space Pirates of any type are always welcome.
Looks like we have a Tidal Wave and a Magmatron incoming, both of which are super exciting.
Thundertron is a great looking toy. Space Pirates of any type are always welcome.
Ok, Thoughts,
Poster: So Commander Magmatron and Titan Tidal Wave I guess. But I guess could imagine it going the other way around too.
Infernac Universe Armorizers - Ok these get me just for combining two (three?) obscure references at once. Rock Lords, The rock monsters from Headmasters and named as an Inhumanoids reference (Infernac is where Metlar lived). I wonder if the they are from a Universe where the Inhumanoids conquered Earth or something.
Tasmania Kid - Looks Perfect. Also Crossovers Pikachu remold? It REALLY makes me want a Stampy.
Chase - Woo. Need. He's gonna be hanging out with Strongarm. He really, really makes me want the rest. Generations Heatwave is maybe my most wanted Voyager.
Thundertron - I LOVE this so much. He looks amazing. The original is something I love in robot mode but always found annoying in lion mode, it was just awkward and unposable. This looks to fix that. Great Zoidz reference too.
And Tigerhawk - Looks good. He mostly made me want to see Silverbolt, but he's neat.
-ZacWilliam, some definite preorders here.
Poster: So Commander Magmatron and Titan Tidal Wave I guess. But I guess could imagine it going the other way around too.
Infernac Universe Armorizers - Ok these get me just for combining two (three?) obscure references at once. Rock Lords, The rock monsters from Headmasters and named as an Inhumanoids reference (Infernac is where Metlar lived). I wonder if the they are from a Universe where the Inhumanoids conquered Earth or something.
Tasmania Kid - Looks Perfect. Also Crossovers Pikachu remold? It REALLY makes me want a Stampy.
Chase - Woo. Need. He's gonna be hanging out with Strongarm. He really, really makes me want the rest. Generations Heatwave is maybe my most wanted Voyager.
Thundertron - I LOVE this so much. He looks amazing. The original is something I love in robot mode but always found annoying in lion mode, it was just awkward and unposable. This looks to fix that. Great Zoidz reference too.
And Tigerhawk - Looks good. He mostly made me want to see Silverbolt, but he's neat.
-ZacWilliam, some definite preorders here.
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