TRANSFORMERS Fans Invade Southern California as New Toy Line Storms Toy Aisles Nationwide

TRANSFORMERS Convention in Pasadena coincides with launch of new TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN movie toys

The 2009 TRANSFORMERS fan convention, which is in Pasadena on May 28 to 31, is destined to be one of the biggest and most exciting TRANSFORMERS gatherings ever!


In addition to celebrating Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS brand’s 25th anniversary and anticipating the June 24th debut of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, new toys and merchandise from the second movie in the franchise go on-sale from coast to coast beginning Saturday morning, May 30th.

The convention, which is known as “BotCon” (with syllables taken from the two TRANSFORMERS factions AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS), is annually the largest official gathering of TRANSFORMERS fans in the world and is open to both TRANSFORMERS collectors and non-collectors — and the young and young-at-heart.

BotCon will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center located at 300 East Green Street in Pasadena, Calif., and will be open to the public on May 30 – 31. Special activities are planned on May 28 – 29 for attendees who purchase multi-day packages.

On Saturday, May 30th, kids ages 5 to 14 will be able to participate in the TRANSFORMERS Challenge, which will award prizes based on how quickly kids can convert TRANSFORMERS toys from robot mode to vehicle mode. Kids may qualify in the preliminary round from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., with the fastest competitors moving on to the semi-final and final rounds that will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. All kids participating will receive a TRANSFORMERS toy, and the fastest kids in both the senior and junior age division will receive a HasbroToyShop.com gift card worth $500. Official rules are posted on www.BotCon.com.

Additionally, BotCon attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to draw TRANSFORMERS characters from Hasbro’s designers, see toys in the new 2009 TRANSFORMERS toy line, buy, sell, and trade TRANSFORMERS toys from throughout the franchise’s 25-year history at more than 200 tables of merchandise, and attend panel discussions and seminars led by TRANSFORMERS experts. Special activities for kids will be held throughout the weekend in the Hasbro booth.

For fans not able to make it to southern California this weekend, they can head to their favorite toy retailer and be among the first to purchase the new toys based on the upcoming movie TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. Highlights from the line include:

• BUMBLEBEE MOVIE VOICE MIXER: In the 2007 TRANSFORMERS movie, BUMBLEBEE was a scene-stealer and an instant favorite among kids and long-time TRANSFORMERS fans. Now, kids can pretend to be the fun-loving AUTOBOT character BUMBLEBEE with a role-playing helmet. The toy allows kids to mix their voice through a “radio” and also features realistic robot battle sounds and “radio” tune-in phrases to add authenticity to the play experience. Recommended for ages 5 and up, with an approximate retail price of $39.99.

• TRANSFORMERS MOVIE CONSTRUCTICON DEVASTATOR: The largest and most powerful foe the AUTOBOTS will encounter in this summer’s TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN is sure to be DEVASTATOR, a monstrous DECEPTICON robot made up of six separate construction vehicles known as the CONSTRUCTICONS. The TRANSFORMERS MOVIE CONSTRUCTICON DEVASTATOR allows kids to re-create the film’s awesome action sequences. Recommended for ages 5 and up, with an approximate retail price of $99.99.

• TRANSFORMERS MOVIE FIGURES: For more than 25 years, TRANSFORMERS action figures have been known for their “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” play pattern, with robots converting into vehicles, and then back to robots again. In 2009, TRANSFORMERS movie action figures featuring the new film’s most popular characters will be available in three scales: DELUXE, VOYAGER (larger scale), and LEADER (largest scale and includes lights and sounds). Recommended for ages 5 and up the DELUXE figures have approximate retail prices of $12.99, VOYAGER figures have approximate retail prices of $22.99 and LEADER figures have approximate retail prices of $44.99.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be a TRANSFORMERS fan and collector than now,” said Brian Savage, director of the TRANSFORMERS Collectors’ Club. “Fans worldwide are buzzing about the upcoming live-action movie TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN and its toy line. Collectors are excited about the TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE toy line that celebrates 25 years of ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and features many much-loved classic ‘bots from the brand’s origin. And kids continue to love the action figures from the popular TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED series on Cartoon Network.”

BotCon general admission sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31. (On Saturday, doors are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Sunday, doors are open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). Special multi-day packages and exclusive TRANSFORMERS products are available on a limited basis. General admission for adults (13 & up) is $15 and for children (12 & under) is $8. Children will be admitted for free with the purchase of an adult admission. Additional information can be found at www.BotCon.com or by calling 817-448-9863.

For 25 years, Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) has provided kids with hours of MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE action with figures that convert from vehicle to robot and back again. Millions of boys around the world grew up creating fantastic adventures and battles featuring heroic AUTOBOTS, such as OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE, clashing with the evil DECEPTICONS, led by MEGATRON. The brand’s popularity became cemented in the pop culture’s upper stratosphere following the 2007 release of the first live-action TRANSFORMERS movie, from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro. The blockbuster film, directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, grossed more than $700 million worldwide at the box office, and TRANSFORMERS merchandise generated more than $480 million in sales that year. On June 24, 2009, fans will experience the next chapter of TRANSFORMERS when Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen hits theaters worldwide.