At its annual Toy Fair preview presentation today, Hasbro announced a new CCG being launched by Wizards of the Coast later this year. Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters will see initial release in hobby stores in the second quarter. Then after the summer premier of an animated television show on the Hub network, Kaijudo will hit mass-market retailers in the third and fourth quarters. Kaijudo is tied to the Duel Masters TCG and animated series in Japan but has been adapted to a new storyline featuring Ray, “a young hero with a rare ability to befriend and duel alongside fantastical creatures.” Also supporting the Kaijudo brand will be an online battle game.

In other news from Hasbro, the company has seen the value in head-to-head competitive play for developing excitement among customers. Capitalizing on that this year will be  Bop it! Smash and Connect 4 Dunk games. Hasbro has sold 11.5 million Bop-its thus far.

Another battle game will be Star Wars Fighter Pods collectible figures.

Monopoly isn’t being ignored. Though not the company’s largest brand, Monopoly is still growing (“double digits 2005-2011”, counting the electronic banking edition and slot machines). And to accommodate the interest of consumers in faster game play, the next version will be Monopoly Millionaire (“first to a million wins”).

Toy news that caught my attention during the presentation:

  • In the NERF Firefly line, discs are charged inside the blaster so that they light up when launched.
  • There will be a Star Trek line of Kre-O constructable toys.
  • Furby is coming back for the girls category

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