I'll go from the smallest to the biggest, so to start things off (because I haven't found any more information at the time of writing), Hot Wheels x Mario Kart is going to be a thing. Eight characters based on Mario Kart 8's designs (by the looks of it) are going to be coming out around June next year, along with potentially coming with Hot Wheels tracks based on tracks from the game (I cannot confirm that one though). The character selection we're getting is solid and will be perfectly fine if that's all they release. One thing I'll admit I'm not a fan of is the vehicle selection. Luigi, Bowser, Toad and Yoshi use different cart bodies, making the character options feel more unique, I'm all for that, but Mario, Peach, Wario and Rosalina are using standard karts. I can understand why bikes and quads aren't possible, but there are still plenty of kart bodies that could have fit. I just don't see why half the characters are using Standard karts other than "somewhat easy repaints", but that's assuming you can take the drivers out of the karts, something I highly doubt. I do hope they do more then just the eight, but if not, it's still perfectly fine. Also on a smaller note, Master Cycle Zero and Champion's Tunic Link is coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in a free update.
While they were announced before SDCC, Lego did bring a few Lego sets to SDCC based on Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. 70827: Ultrakitty and Warrior Lucy, 70829: Emmet and Lucy's Escape Buggy and 70830: Sweet Mayhem's Systar Starship. Out of all of them, I do like Ultrakitty's set the best, Unikitty got ripped in the five years between movies! How do you go from a 14 piece pink cat with unicorn bits to a gigantic fire lion unicorn hybrid that looks like it's an Ultimate Level Digimon?
She's got an even better workout regimen then Knuckles did when he was getting ready for Sonic Boom. I do like the little brick built Duplo alien that's included in the set along with the fact that Ultrakitty has multiple faces, though for some reason cute Ultra Kitty looks even more intimidating then her "I'm going to rip you into little pieces before devouring what's left of you" face. Sweet Mayhem's ship also looks like it'll be an interesting build to make, and if the theme of the movie is going to be what I think it is, it kinda makes the younger sister (Systar system, get it?) a better master builder then the older brother, because the shape of that ship is not easy to make out of Lego. There's a reason why one of the challenges Master Builders have to go through is "make a ball". It's weird seeing Minifigs and Mini-Dolls in the same set though. The Escape buggy I personally find the most mediocre out of the sets. It's fine for what it is, it just doesn't catch my interest. At least you'll have a lot of options for getting the new Emmet and Lucy minifigs as they're in all three of these sets!
To jump ship from toys to shows, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally getting its final season! 12 episodes made for the new streaming service coming next year to Disney's upcoming streaming service, and look to be finished versions of the episodes released years ago that were still being worked on before the original cancelation, concluding with the arc that inspired the novel Ahsoka (considering as that is the story that runs alongside Revenge of the Sith, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the season finale). I do like the updated designs, it definitely has the feel of the original show while basing the models off of what Anakin and Obi-Wan looked like in Revenge of the Sith. While I doubt I'll get the streaming service (it really depends on how Disney rolls it out, what other content it has, etc), I'm definitely looking forward to this one.
Now onto the big one, because Hasbro had a big blowout of news, Transformers. New Cyberverse figures, Studio Series, Generations: War for Cybertron: Siege (yes that's really what they're calling it), and more (I haven't got much to say on the extra Bumblebee movie merch or Rescue Bots). So then, to go through the list:
- Studio Series: Two new figures based on the Bumblebee Movie are coming out (probably closer to the movie), a Bumblebee as a VW Bug, and one of the new Decepticons announced for the film, Dropkick. Along with that, some repaints to give a Revenge of the Fallen Starscream, Dark of the Moon Ratchet (I honestly didn't know there were enough differences between the films for Ratchet), an Orange Lockdown to have an Orange Lambogini, and a cannon fodder repaint of Stinger. I have got zero interest in the repaints, and while I think the Bumblebee looks kinda mediocre, I will admit Dropkick does look good and might pick it up. Am I the only one who's kinda reminded of Spinister though based on how the copter parts work though?
- War For Cybertron; Siege: While I'm not a fan of the full name and the weapon names sound absolutely ridiculous like the team made a game out of who could make the longest possible names for the guns, the toys themselves do look good. I love all the extra sculpting detail on the figures now, and the characters we see look like fun toys. Chromia looks to be a retool of the female limb bot from Power of the Primes, I'm curious to see if it keeps the combiner plug, though it does look like she's not getting a hand. Cog is an interesting one because aside from the usual Deluxe bot abilities, you can basically rip him apart and use him as weapons for other characters. While I'm kinda mixed on the Sideswipe Hasbro announced before SDCC, I love the looks of the new Hound and new Ironhide. These are perfect examples of what I was hoping the line would have (compared to the Sideswipe and Optimus). It's futuristic, its alien-like, but it's still perfectly clear who these are meant to be. At the same time though, I'm a bit annoyed by it because (and granted they were quick repaints back then) we got those two pretty recently in Combiner Wars. Do these look better? Absolutely! But I would have prefered some more variety. The same does hold true for Ultra Magnus, but I'm willing to let this one slide a bit more as there look to be some inspiration (mostly truck mode) coming from RID 2001. Granted, CW Ironhide was an Offroad repaint and Hound was a Swindle repaint so these new figures are more appropriate for them. It's a "Too each their own", I'd just have prefered seeing someone we hadn't seen in a while. To replace the current Prime Masters, we're getting two new size classes, Battle masters which are Target Masters 2.0 basically. Instead of just guns, these look to be a mix of guns and melee weapons if Lionizer and Firedrive are anything to go by. One thing the line is doing that I'm not a fan of is the "battle damage deco", where some parts of figures will have deco that makes the figure look like it's been damaged in battle. With how sparingly its used in the renders, I kinda wished they didn't bother honestly. It's a design I wish they either went all in on or didn't try, because its very easy to have it look underdone, especially when most of its just, in-universe, scraped paint. Can't wait to see what they do with the Decepticons, especially thanks to those leaks (Leader class Shockwave hype!)
- Some more love for Generation 1 fans in the form of re-releases of G1 Starscream, Hot Rod, Outback, Tailgate, Swerve, and Devastator. Not much to say as they are just re-releases.
- Cyberverse: The new kid-focused line to replace RID 2015. While a lot of the more gimmick focused figures are kind of bland for me personally, I do like the look of the Warrior class figures along with the Ultra Class Shockwave. Like RID 2015, it's not a line I'm going to actively try and get, but I'm not against the odd pickup every now and then. I still have no idea how Acid Storm got an invite to be in the main cast of the show though.
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