TOY FAIR 2001:
HASBRO: Robots In Disguise
Story and Pictures by Daniel Lipkowitz

BRIEF Q&A

We had many questions, but the Hasbro showroom representative had not been briefed on all of the answers and did a lot of guessing. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of his statements, and some or all may prove incorrect. Please take all of this with a grain of salt.

• The spokesman was under the impression that Fox is scheduled to run the 39-episode "Robots in Disguise" cartoon through 2002.
• He believed that the Build King components will be released individually as Deluxes, but did not know what they would be called (no, we don't know how Build Boy would work as a Deluxe).
  [2/21/2000 Update: According to other online sources, Grimlock will be released as one of the Build King components.]
• He was unsure of how, when or whether the repaints of the Deluxe Cars and Megatron/Gigatron would be released.
• He had not been told anything about domestic releases for Black Convoy, Baldigus or JRX, but thought that they may be held back until 2002 to extend the line's lifespan.
• Although Hasbro product lists suggest that the Machine Wars jet molds and two of the Autorollers (possibly the Beast Wars II versions known in Japan as Thrust, Dirge, Autocrusher and Autostinger) may be released here as non-show "Robots in Disguise" characters, the spokesman could not confirm or deny.
• He was unable to tell us about the Beast Machines line and did not know whether Deluxe Obsidian and Supreme Optimus Primal, notably absent in Hasbro's Toy Fair press release, were still slated for release, even with official pictures of Supreme Optimus Primal known to exist.

Altered States Magazine thanks the wonderful Hasbro representatives who guided us through the showroom and hopes to bring you an interview with someone in a position to know more about the Transformers line's present and future very soon.

Altered States Magazine would especially like to thank the kind folks at Hasbro, LEGO, Bandai, Toycom, and the Toy Fair workers for their help.

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All pictures and text are Copyright 2001 Philip N. Zeman, Altered States Magazine, and SkyJammer Enterprises. You may not use these pictures or text without the permission of Altered States Magazine and the author(s). Directly linking to these pictures is forbidden. Please link to http://www.alteredstatesmag.com/