When you were a kid, you probably played with action figures, or something like them. They were awesome. You also played video games, which were similarly awesome. Now they’re being brought together in a way that against all odds, isn’t horrible and schticky. It actually makes a load of sense.
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Have you tried to put together a Transformer lately? Without an instruction booklet, you stand a better chance of dismantling a nuclear warhead than making Optimus look like Prime, instead of a 16-wheeler with a robot head for a butt. That wasn’t always the case. More »
We took a trip to Hasbro’s toy factory, which you can read about here, but there the most indelible image we came away with was this animatronic Elmo, without his plush skin, laughing us into a shallow grave. More »
Designing toys takes sketching and planning and imagining, sure. But what’s even more impressive is the actual making—still a much more industrial and craftsmanlike process than you’d imagine. It requires, essentially, a whole factory condensed into a few rooms of Hasbro’s headquarters outside of Providence, Rhode Island. More »
Transformers. There’s maybe no more iconic toy, especially if you’re a child of the 80s and 90s. And while the memories of making them shapeshift are indelible, the process of actually building one from scratch is far more involved (or exactly as involved, if you spent your entire childhood dreaming of this) as you’d imagine. More »
Have you seen our peek into how Transformers are brought to the world? Well, that’s one way that the design process happens. The other way is a new poll Hasbro’s got, which lets fans decide everything about the new toy. Autobot or Decepticon, what its vehicle mode looks like, or if he’s a jerk robot who everyone hates because all he does at parties is show off how cool being a transforming sentient robo-scooter is. More »
Netflix has become the place to go for many TV and movie fans when there’s nothing good on cable or satellite TV. Netflix has a wealth of different movies and TV shows that you can stream wherever you want on your mobile device, computer, or on your TV via various game consoles and set top boxes. Netflix has announced a new content partnership with Hasbro.
The expanded multi-year content deal between Netflix and Hasbro is for kids programming. The agreement will see to Hasbro Studios shows coming to Netflix including Littlest Pet Shop and Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters. The expanded content partnership adds these two Hasbro Studio shows in addition to several others already available on Netflix.
Other programming from Hasbro Studios available for streaming includes My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Prime, Transformers Rescue Bots. The content partnership will allow new seasons of each of those shows to be available for streaming via Netflix one month after the season finale airs on The Hub Network.
Netflix has also announced that some of the popular Hasbro programs are now available for Canadian members for the first time. New shows for Canadian members include My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Prime, Pound Puppies and The Adventures of Chuck & Friends. Canadian viewers will also get access to Transformers Rescue Bots, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters and Littlest Pet Shop later this year.
[via Netflix]
Netflix lands new Hasbro kids shows coming this summer is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Jenga is one of those rare games that turns an incredibly simple concept into an endlessly playable challenge. Like Tetris, checkers, or tic-tac-toe, it doesn’t need improving, but that didn’t stop Hasbro. Borrowing an idea from the classic Perfection game, Jenga Boom includes a ticking time bomb base that automatically topples the tower when the timer runs out. More »
Oh, the wondrous experience that is Toy Fair. And that particular experience, as you may know, includes anything from NERF hoop games and foam fusillades, to boxing robots and itty-bitty, tinkering novelties. To make things even better, though, Hasbro was kind enough to invite us over to its 2013 showcase in NYC, where the prodigious toy maker was exhibiting some Furby amigos known as Party Rockers, Iron Man’s Sonic Blasting figurine and Arc Fx Mission life-sized mask, a Sesame Street play-and-learning system for toddlers, as well as a Transformers Rescue Bots Beam Box which enhances the experience by allowing the toys to mesh into a game that can be played on a TV set. There was also a little Star Wars and Star Trek action, of course — and the good news is you, too, can see it all, just head past the break to take a look at the vast gallery and a quick video showing off a few of Hasbro’s new toys.
Gallery: Hasbro’s Toy Fair 2013 booth tour
Filed under: Misc
Source: Hasbro
Look, we loved what Hasbro did with Lazer Tag last year. But, let’s be honest, that thing was pure testosterone. We’re not saying the ladies couldn’t get down, but the alien-blasting AR solo games weren’t exactly designed with little girls in mind. Rebelle ditches the lasers for NERF arrows and slaps a supposedly female-friendly coat of purple and pink paint on the whole thing. While the blasters still operate without the optional Mission Central App cradle ($15), it’s once you get the whole kit together that things really start to fall into place. The attachment lets you drop in an iPhone (4, 4S or 5) and fire up the free companion app. (And don’t worry Google fans, an Android version of the app along with a universal mount are also in the works.) Rather than focus on solo games and individual competition, the Rebelle Mission Central app encourages kids to form squads and compete not just for supremacy over their friends but also for in-game perks, like accessories for their avatars. Those virtual personas can be completely customized, allowing girls to fully embrace their secret agent fantasies.Of course, you can also document your foam-arrow battles and share them.
The blasters themselves are pretty standard NERF fare and all some basic variation on a crossbow design. The rotating barrel Crossbow ($25) has a pump-action and a rail for installing the cradle, a feature that’s not on some of the smaller models like the pocketable, single-shot Sneak Attackers. The other model currently slated for cradle compatibility is the Heartbreaker Bow ($20), which sticks with a more traditional bow and arrow design and has a dash more wickedness to the design than some of the other blasters. The whole Rebelle line is expected to hit shelves in the fall — so little brothers beware.
Gallery: NERF Rebelle hands-on
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
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