TOY FAIR 2012: Mega Bloks

2012 looks to be a banner year for Mega Bloks. The popular building toy company had an impressive showing at Toy Fair, with expansions to their Halo line, as well as an all-new Amazing Spider-Man movie series, and their biggest and most ambitious new line, World of Warcraft! Check out the full offering of what Mega fans have to look forward to this year!

While their Marvel license is ending, Mega still has a new line of Amazing Spider-Man movie sets. These will be the final Marvel themed series for Mega, and feature figures and playsets based on key scenes from the new film. Each set in the series will highlight the stars of the new movie, with a multitude of Spider-Man and The Lizard figures to collect… While we could not take any photos of the Spidey movie toys on display, the line looks pretty great, with all the fun playsets and cool figurines we’ve come to expect from Mega Bloks.

Mega has been releasing Halo sets, vehicles and figures for a few years now, but the line is set to blow up in 2012! As in the past, sets are being planned on key iconic locations and scenes from the games, for collectors and kids alike to build recreations of their favorite scenes. This years, fans can expect to see the Sabre and Gantry, whose final design was based on a fan vote. Armory packs will include a figure with removable armor, gear and display base, while the Combat units serve as army building packs of 3 figures, available to amass your USNC and Covenant armies. The Brute Chieftan looks particularly impressive, and includes the long fan-demanded Gravity Hammer accessory. Other vehicles slated for the line are a new version of the Rhino, the Warthog and more. The third Battlescape playset will follow up the first two from the past two years, which can of course be combined to form a pretty enormous landscape to host your battle scenes.

For collectors who like to throw some chance into the mix, 2012 will also see two new series of blind bag single figures. Series 4 and 5 of the blind bag edition will include plenty more Spartans, USNC troops and Covenant enemies, including a whole sub-line of clear plastic chase figures.

In addition to the Halo building line, Mega also unveiled their new micro-scale Halo Universe. The non-building toy line features diecast mini figures and vehicles. The launch wave will include a large assortment of mini figures available in multi-packs, with one monochrome silver figure per pack. Vehicles and playsets will also be available in the Universe line, which looks impressively expansive and a great avenue for the space-conscious collector.

The most impressive Mega display at Toy Fair was their brand new World of Warcraft line. This line is so expansive, creative and cool looking it swayed even a die-hard WoW hater like me. Mega is jumping in to this line heads first, and World of Warcraft will be a major focus for them in 2012, with lots of products available at every price point imaginable.

All sets will be modeled on the two warring factions of the Lions and the Horde, with a conflict theme throughout every facet of the collection… you simply choose your side then build your army! Faction packs are the introductory sets, and each includes a figure, a weapon, a faction flag and stand plate for the base. Next up, the Mounts series will each include two figures with accessories and a creature or vehicle for them to ride on. Conflict playsets are the next level up: each include two figures and two mounts for a full battle in a single package. What’s very cool about the WoW figures is, much like Mega’s Halo line, all figures are made to be customized, with swappable armor, helmets and weapons.

Larger playsets will also be available, featuring dragons, zeppelins, and other amjor set pieces straight from the game. The Arthas and Sindragosa playset features the Dragon (which includes some non-buildable parts like the well-sculpted wings), which packs some figures accessories, and of course the 72-piece creature. Siege Engine Attack set includes a Horde siege engine as well as a Lion fortress tower to attack. My personal favorite had to be the Goblin Zeppelin, which is a great take on the purple flying machine, which includes a Lion launcher to combat it from the ground. The top-tier set is called Deathwing’s Stormwind Assault, sporting an even bigger, 100+ piece deluxe dragon figure along with an entire castle playset to defend and/or for your dragon to lay waste to. Look for the entire World of Warcraft series to hit shelves this Fall.

What I love about Mega Blok’s offerings this year is how well they effortlessly bridge the gap between fan-based collector properties and kid-friendly sets that look like tons of fun to play with. While collectors will go crazy with the chance to build their own Goblin Zeppelin, Oscorp laboratory or USNC fleets, kids will geek out over owning a huge dragon and a castle to attack, or a block-style Spider-man figure. It’s the best of both worlds, and with this kind of geeky mass appeal Mega should have some proven winners on their hands in 2012.