Hasbro’s Transformers: Combiner Wars is gearing up at New York Toy Fair

It’s that time of the year: toys come rolling out for presentation at the annual fair in New York City. Devastator, Defensor, and Ultra Magnus are all ready for slay the battle fields.

What happens when a toy fair comes to town? Transformer fans get excited. Hasbro’s been on a roll—releasing new figures and new information on the fate of the “robots in disguise.”

According to fan news, Hasbro’s looking to make the toys a little larger than your average Transformer in 2015. Popular character products outside of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are Defensor, Devastator, Ultra Magnus with Minimus Ambus.

The AllSpark posted pictures of Devastator, a Combiner Wars Decepticon made out of six Voyager Scale Constructicons figures. Yet at $149.99, the price /4/be too steep for many fans and adults looking to buy the latest product for actual children.

And ENI’s Tformers.com provides more images and information on the necessity of a Transformer being able to articulate a joint when combining. (Poor Scrapper.) The site also states the “individual members as tall as all of G1 Devastator,” so if buying, make there’s room at your kitchen table for the latest family member.

Defensor, the combined form of all the Protectobots, managed to hit a high mark or two as well. Kotaku reports that “Defensor will consist of one Voyager class leader—in this case the power blue fire engine Hot Spot—and four smaller Deluxe class figures.”

Meanwhile, the unexpected winner of all things Transformers seems to be Ultra Magnus, whose guns-and-missile-pods hammer /4/just blow Thor out of the universes. Which shouldn’t be a surprise since Hasbro’s also in charge of the Marvel toys, too. ENI also notes that while rumors persisted of a Leader-class figure, fans didn’t expect one so IDW-based and with a Legion-Class Minimus Ambus. Minimus is, after all, the one donning the Magnus armor in the current comic series.

AllSpark set up a gallery of what’s been introduced and revealed by the toy company.

And it being a weekend for sneak peeks and whetting interest, Hasbro also released trailers for the latest animated series, “Transformers: Robots in Disguise,” which will air on Cartoon Network later this year. The AllSpark posted the news on February 14, almost like Hasbro was sending a Valentine to the fans who stuck around for 30 years. Nice little treat. According to the website, a behind-the-scenes video was also released.

a deluxe class figure next to Devastator. pic.twitter.com/MVLZJrzEXJ— baltmatrix (@baltmatrix) February 15, 2015

It /4/only be February, but it looks like Transformer devotees /4/have a really good 2015.

Of course, Transformer fans also had a pretty good 2014 with the success of fan-voted Windblade and her IDW mini-series. Initially, the poll didn’t include a female robot, which fans in turn requested the option. Hasbro agreed to addition since the character was meant to be a 30th anniversary celebration of the successful toy series.

From there, Windblade took on a pretty unique look as the voting also determined weapon, faction, altmode, colors, some basic personality traits, and name from a list of options.

Mairghread Scott Brings Windblade Soaring Back, Just in Time for “Transformers: Combiner Wars” http://t.co/Mj36hbqdUr pic.twitter.com/0UQUkkweSk— ComicsAlliance (@comicsalliance) February 8, 2015

Lenny Panzica designed Windblade’s look and /4/have been inspired by an onna-bugeisha, a female warrior belonging to the feudal Japanese upper class and considered to be a samurai. Needless to say, Windblade’s aesthetic markings and signifiers helped to define her strength before speaking a word aloud. And since her vehicle mode is a jet, the wings in the back act as excellent stand-ins for swords while in robot mode.

IDW’s “Transformers: Windblade” series featured writer Mairghread Scott and illustrated by fan-artist-turned-official Sarah Stone. Scott managed to create a complicated, young female Transformer that connected with fans while Stone provided a humanistic view with well-developed body language. The two women worked flawlessly and integrated the character into the Transformer mythos.

All the more reason for fans to be excited for Windblade’s return in IDW’s “Transformers: Combiner Wars.”

Yes – later this month! RT @chaosyoshimage: @HasbroNews Will we get to pick the Fan-Built Combiner’s gender/genders? #TransformersQ— Hasbro (@HasbroNews) February 14, 2015

For a first poll-voted creation, Hasbro succeeded. And in 2015, fans will be able to vote on a Combiner, creating another Transformer-that-is-also-a-team into the universe. So some fans are extremely excited to see the latest merchandise, especially G1 formats and looks unrelated to the Michael Bay movies.

And what person doesn’t enjoy helping shape a world?

Sources: The Allspark, Tformers, TFWiki, Kotaku