TK Toy Expo 2024 | Hasbro, Jada & YoloPark

The last day of the Toy Kingdom Toy Expo was quite a busy spectacle for those who have been in the event for the last four days. Of course, there have been surprising reveals and other major activities happening around the event. But here’s a round-up of product tie-ins and some new ones to look forward to on local retail For Hasbro, the mainline Legacy United and Studio Series and sub-series continue to expand what the “Generation” flagship range of assortments is all about. In the past months, the roll-out availability has been slowed down due to the local distributor’s financial struggles emerging from the pandemic has been quite a challenge.

TK Toy Expo 2024 | Transformers Legacy United

It’s been almost six years, and the return of the Toy Kingdom Toy Expo after six years of hiatus was a welcome event for hobbyists and toy enthusiasts. The event has been around as far back as 2012 and it is a biennial event happening every other year until the pandemic happened four years ago cancelled this said event. Now, the return for the much-adored Toy Expo is not the same as you have experienced since 2018. But that did not stop the Toy Kingdom from presenting every product they had in their store this year’s participation, which includes the Transformers brand by Hasbro distributed in the Philippines by Playkit Inc.

TF Sightings | SS86 Ratchet and Frenzy (Red)

Despite not having many new products in retail, the Toys R’ Us flagship store in Robinsons Galleria still manages to get a pinch of an update to their glass display shelf whenever the local distributor has for select stores have foot traffic that has caused some controversy for some local collectors not having them nearby theirs. Not even its store rival Toy Kingdom flagship store in SM Megamall, which was a few blocks away with a similar glass display, even gets a decent update with all the silent word of mouth going around that the local distributor is tightening their belts due to the rise of interest rate and price point hike going up TRU still gets new stock.

TF Sightings | Legacy DLX W2 & Motormaster

There’s not much new sightings nearby Makati area, but suddenly in some places where not most people thread to visit you find that some of the retail stores gets their new wave of Legacy unnoticed. It’s not that the global market is changing after the pandemic it’s all about market strategy for most stores like Toy Kingdom. And just that, The Wave 2 Deluxe and Commander Class has subtle appearance in a place, where rarely is an off-grid place. But for those passionate enough they won’t let any stone unturned and this new world is certainly a challenging one to find these on display are most of the times do not make it to the display since TK has already shopping it to their customers on Viber.

TF Sightings | Megatron H.I.S.S. Tank & Baroness

The new Transformers assortments featuring the Velocitron Spedia 500 brings in also the new wave of Legacy as previously reported. There’s more where that came from, and surely there is no delay this time or short on stocks to fill up the retail isle that has been depleted post-pandemic. Not all retail stores are carrying all these new assortments, and the local distributor is more strategic with the locations with more foot traffic than just stocking up every branch that’s not getting enough people to pass by, and the term ‘hole in the wall’ seems like a thing of the past if you notice some stores with no new Transformers.

TF Sightings | Velocitron at TRU Glorietta

Just when you thought Transformers Legacy will be the only assortment that would be seen in Philippine retail this popped up unexpectedly at one of the selected Toys R’ Us Stores that still getting new assortments once in a while comparable to the other branches that haven’t seen the light of day. The Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection was one of those assortments that is only for Walmart Exclusive stores has been on display for the last few couple days, but they’re not as plentiful as most new Transformers toys displayed in the past. They fly off the shelves and rarely get any new stock…

TF Sightings | MicroMachines: Playsets

Micro Machines is one of the popular properties in the 1980s and 1990s, which was originally manufactured by Galoob (now part of Hasbro) has been known to produce micro scale vehicles and playsets and has been popular with its original TV commercial by John Moschitta Jr., who became known as the Micro Machine Man, and also voiced Blurr in the 1986 Transformers Movie. The toyline has been revived several times throughout the 2000s and a few years back, but popularity sometimes not on every 1980s property until they get mashed together with another popular brand like Transformers.

TF Sightings | Legacy at TRU Glorietta

Transformers Legacy is slowly appearing on Philippine retail as previously reported. There are some of the assortments did not made it to the display due to immediate high demand to particular characters that were part of Wave 1, and there also those that prior to the arrival there have been people keeping an eye on this release. Finally, Toys R’ Us has gotten their allocation as most countries have started to report their local sightings. The Legacy has arrived and let’s hope plenty more to will make it to the shelves as this latest sighting takes you to the Glorietta branch for TRU, where the ones never seen in the previous report will be updated here…

TF Sightings | Legacy at TK Makati

The highly anticipated follow-up to the Generations toyline after Kingdom introduces Legacy, which is a new beginning for the Transformers brand that has been talked about since the later part of 2021. It has already appeared in select markets in Asia, and it has been sighted recently in the Philippines. Legacy is an entirely new toyline expanding the Generations branding, and also have some carry over from the previous trilogy that has been a ‘shoo-in’ until the brand's new range assortments has been officially released for retail consumer. This was expected to arrive in the local scene since the announcement of the April 2022 street date.