Playskool! The Fisher-Price of Hasbro is often deployed with an air of contempt by toy collectors, but they're missing out - this is one of the areas (along with Imaginext) where toymakers are actually making real toys for kids. The venerable Rescue Bots segment of Transformers continues with numerous new transforming robots in disguise, including new characters Quickshadow and MorBot, which I believe I overheard were the first lady and first villain in this line, respectively.
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The Star Wars line is, surprisingly, impressive - the Rebels ships are presented here as docking vehicles that look gorgeous. The regular action figure line won't be getting the Ghost anytime soon and the potatoes continue, too. The Force Awakens gets Admiral "I gets no promotions" Ackbar, new X-Wing and TIE Fighters, Rey, Rilo Kiley, Corporal Phantasma, and all the rest. Even old man Han Solo is on deck, making this a pretty fantastic line for people on a budget or with kids. It's also one of several scales of Hasbro action figures, along with 3 3/4-inch, 6-inch, 5-inch Hero Mashers, 12-inch, and whatever it is I'm forgetting. MicroMachines. That's one.
Marvel has a giant Hulk-bot as well as numerous players from the newer movies - Ant-Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, and numerous returning favorites are coming to the Super Hero Adventures range. Jurassic World is also looking good, but it similarly underrepresented - the real action is in Transformers. I've picked up a few of these over the years, and I gotta say Playskool keeps tempting me with things that look like a ton of fun - I will probably cave in on Recan Rescue Bots this year.
--Adam Pawlus
