Yet Another HasCon Update: Now With Exclusives!

So, we’ve finally gotten a look at HasCon Transformers exclusives along with some of the crossover exclusives.

My thoughts: I’m digging the Titan Master Arcee. It’s been a long time coming and I know of at least one fan who is going to be over the moon the moment he lays his hands on this. (Hey, the poor guy has only been asking for this for the last twenty plus years.) The Powerbrick Prime is cool yet weird; you can use this thing as an actual battery to power your cell phone. Or, if that’s not your style, you can plug that wire into the figure itself and it’ll have a light-up feature. The Titan Master Ultra Magnus is cool and the Magic card? C’mon, who wouldn’t want to stomp some skidplate with Grimlock? So yeah, these are actually pretty darned cool, the set of them. And hey, they’re not simply rehashes of the SDCC exclusives, which is great.

So now we seemingly know all there is to know about HasCon. I’m underwhelmed, to put it gently.

Now, you might have seen a meme on Facebook that features the “What Might Have Been” BotCon set, comparing it to the Powerbrick Prime exclusive. This meme isn’t truthful; we’re getting more than just the Prime. We’re getting Titan Master Arcee with an Ultra Magnus Titan Master and the Magic: the Gathering card set that features Grimlock. In total, we’re getting four exclusives, which isn’t terrible for a first time convention.

However, comparing that to the swag we could get at BotCon, there really is no comparison.

The base toy set? That was five figures. But we also could purchase souvenirs, along with other products, at the show. We could also get an attendee exclusive figure at the convention. Some years, we’d end up with 12 or 14 figures! I mean, think about that for a moment. It’s a lot of toys. Were they worth the money? To me, yes.

On top of this, these aren’t exactly exclusive. Hasbro has said that you can get these at the show first, then they will release these items for purchase–probably through Hasbro Toy Shop–later.

So these are exclusives that aren’t exactly exclusive. Sure, you have first crack at them while you’re at the show but if you can’t make it, you’ll have the chance to pick them up later.

That’s not a compelling reason to go. I’m being very honest here. Add that to the current situation with Scamper and I’m thinking that Prime and I are making the right decision. However, one of our friends is going, so he’ll be picking these up for us; we won’t have to worry about watching HTS for a day sometime in the future. Talk about a win/win.

Though it does sting, not seeing him. That’s not awesome at all. That’s the one thing that’s going to suck. As for the rest, I don’t think I’ll be missing much. Well, except for the Hall of Fame dinner. Not attending that is going to suck quite a bit. But there’s the internet for that.

Again, I’m not feeling any real excitement. I’m just ambivalent about this. This isn’t like it was ten years ago, when I was champing at the bit to get to Rhode Island, to get to BotCon to see my friends and hang out with everyone. I think that’s the biggest tragedy here: my total and utter lack of enthusiasm. I’m wondering if that lack of enthusiasm is rippling through the fandom. The response to the exclusives has been positive. The overall reaction to HasCon itself has been tepid at best. I can’t help but wonder if this will be one of those (non)events where tens of people show up.

We’ll know for sure in September. But beyond that, I honestly can’t say.