Toy Fair 2012: It's A Wrap

Toy Fair 2012 is a wrap. Our photo gallery of Hasbro's showroom from their collector/media event is now live and can also be seen on our Flickr photostream. Additionally, we've added a pair of videos to our YouTube channel and a number of informational tidbits on our Twitter stream. Hasbro's debut of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation line surprised those of us who expected a movie-centric line aimed solely at kids. Sure the figures do include giant projectile firing gimmicks, but the design and marketing teams at Hasbro continue to build on the collector-friendly aesthetics and characters that made the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary lines popular among longtime collectors.

G.I Joe: Retaliation Cast Visits Hasbro's Toy Fair Gallery

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Adrianne Palicki and D.J. Cotrona, stars of this summer's G.I. Joe sequel, made a guest appearance at Hasbro's Toy Fair gallery over the weekend. Joined by G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu, the trio got a first-hand look at their likenesses as immortalized in plastic by the Hasbro design team, as well as the other merchandise Hasbro has on display at their Toy Fair gallery. Notice Cotrona's badge on the last photo in the image gallery, which reads "Hasbro Movie Preview Night."

A No Kwinn Situation

What a difference a few months makes. During our New York Comic Con 2011 coverage, we uncovered Hasbro's plan to offer Inuit mercenary Kwinn as their G.I. Joe exclusive figure for New York Comic Con 2012. We've now learned that Hasbro will not be attending New York Comic Con 2012, leaving Kwinn unaccounted for, for the time being. We're hoping G.I. JoeCon 2012 brings some resolution to this "no Kwinn situation."

Toy Fair 2012 Hasbro Showroom Photos

Even though they revealed a majority of their 2012 G.I. Joe line leading up to Toy Fair, Hasbro still had plenty of surprises on hand at their annual collector/media event. With 50 figures (includes vehicle drivers) planned for 2012, the first wave of G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures was just an appetizer for Hasbro's main course, which comes in the form of subsequent waves of both movie accurate and "off screen" character-comprised waves.

Streaming Live From Toy Fair

Our live streaming video coverage from Toy Fair starts today at around 1 p.m. EDT! Once again, follow our Tweets for updates and keep an eye on the video player above (or directly on our Qik page) to catch the latest real-time video streams from the show (we'll tweet 5 minutes before we stream). In the meantime, you can enjoy some of our previous live streams from our 2010 coverage.

Our Toy Fair Coverage Begins Saturday Afternoon

Our Toy Fair coverage kicks off this Saturday with a first look at Hasbro's G.I. Joe lineup starting at around 1 p.m. EDT. We'll be tweeting, taking photos, recording video streams and asking your questions for Hasbro live  from the showroom floor. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute coverage and notifications on when we'll be "going live" with video streams and taking your questions for the Hasbro team.

Hasbro G.I. Joe Retaliation Figures - A Closer Look

When Hasbro pulled the curtain on their G.I. Joe: Retaliation lineup, today, it surprised many collectors who expected they'd have to wait until Toy Fair, next week, for a full reveal. While the news was exciting, the small photo sizes on Hasbro's Web site left much to be desired. The big guns came out this afternoon (literally and figuratively), however, with large, hi-resolution photos, courtesy of Hasbro's PR firm.

Hasbro Reveals G.I. Joe: Retaliation Lineup

The cat's out of the bag! Hasbro has updated the G.I. Joe section of their Web site revealing a majority of their 2012 G.I. Joe: Retaliation lineup, including figures, battle packs, vehicles and role-play items. Also shown are Hasbro's San Diego Comic-Con 2012 exclusive figures--Kim Arashikage (Jinx) clad in both an updated classically-inspired, red shinobi shozoko and an un-masked variant wearing a white--and vehicle--a Transformers cross-over Shockwave / Hiss Tank v5. Hasbro teases that 14 items are yet to be revealed, one of which can be deduced to be a Joe Colron figure based on the on-page description that reads "...including an all-new, super-heroic take on ROADBLOCK, as well as JOE COLTON, the original founder of the G.I. JOE team."

USA Today Offers First Look at Hasbro's G.I. Joe Retaliation Figures

With Toy Fair quickly approaching, USA Today gives us a first look at some of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures Hasbro will have on display in New York, in a little over a week. The sneak peek includes a slideshow with figures of Roadblock, Cobra Commander, Cobra Trooper, Duke, G.I. Joe Trooper, Red Ninja, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Zartan. The aesthetic is similar to the direction we've seen Hasbro take with the final two waves of the 30th Anniversary line. The figures have realistic qualities to them with lots of natural drapes and folds in the fabric sculpt, as well as nods to pop culture reference like the G.I. Joe Trooper, who could easily serve as Spartan alongside Halo's Master Chief. Toy Fair runs February 12-15, with our coverage beginning on February 11.