NEWS: Hasbro Teases ''UNIT:E''

The first mystery of the New York Comic Con comes to us from Hasbro, as they unveil ''UNIT:E.''

The above poster - posted on TFW2005.com - shows a number of rather diverse Hasbro brands under the ''UNIT:E'' banner, with little explanation as to what exactly UNIT:E is.

Let's look at what we do know.

UPDATE: This article at ASMzine.com  states UNIT:E is a 24-page Con-exclusive comic book that combines all of the various properties into one shared universe.

Hasbro registered the UNIT:E trademark earlier this year, which covered:

Toys, games and playthings, namely, toy action figures and accessories for use therewith toy vehicles and accessories for use therewith; toy playsets for use in connection with toy action figures and toy vehicles; toy vehicles and toy robots convertible into other visual toy forms; toy robots; plush toys; stuffed toys; plastic and vinyl toy characters and toy animals; toy figures; radio-controlled toy vehicles; mechanical toys; toy construction sets, building toys, wind-up toys; water squirting toys; toy modeling compounds, toy molds and toy extruders for use with toy modeling compounds; toy balls, namely toy footballs and baseballs; toy baseball bats; toy swords and toy shields and accessories for use therewith; toy projectile shooters and toy projectiles for use therewith; jigsaw puzzles; board games; parlor games; action skill games; card game; role-playing games; trading card games; electronic hand-held games not for use with external displays or monitors; target games; dice games

Sadly the above description is so specific as to become vague. So what do we know about each property?

Candyland is the popular child-orientated board game that teaches counting and colour-recognition. Not really that much to get excited about, then...

Stretch Armstrong was a latex toy filled with a viscous liquid that allowed the rubber-limbed muscle man to be pulled, kneaded, stretched and twisted into a variety of shapes and - upon release - he'd snap back into his original form. Looking at the above artwork, It appears that the modern Stretch Armstrong has been given something of a make-over from his original look.

Interestingly, whilst looking for the above image I came across this story from last year that Taylor Lautner had signed-on to play the stretchy strongman. Given the character's apparent make-over, perhaps this is intended to be a tie-in to a forthcoming movie...

Kenner's transforming vehicles with Joe-scaled pilots line, M.A.S.K. is one of many properties now held by Hasbro. The GI Joe 25th Anniversary line even included Specialist Matt Trakker in the line-up and even went as far as to shoe-horn M.A.S.K. into regular GI Joe continuity. Since then fans have speculated as to whether Hasbro planned to reintroduce the toy line and, if this UNIT:E announcement is anything to go by, perhaps their prayers have been answered.

Jem and the Holograms, a line of Barbie-style dolls but with a rock 'n' roll attitude, the tie-in animated series was recently repeated on Hasbro's The Hub network.

The Action Man is something of a mystery, although it's worth noting that 12'' GI Joe figures were released in the UK as Action Man.

We know that Battleships: The Movie is coming to cinemas soon but ahead of that, it appears Hasbro is attempting to give the brand a sexy, sci-fi edge as Battleship: Galaxies. Could we be looking at a space-based variant of the popular game?

Primordia appears to be a new property and - according to the copyright information - is a registered trademark used for Entertainment Services, Namely, Providing Online Computer Games and Interactive Multiplayer Online Computer Games Via a Global Network. Interesting.

Finally, it appears that Hasbro may actually be moving on what could be one of their most highly-anticipated brands, The Micronauts. Originally released by Mego and based upon the seminal Microman line from Takara, The Micronauts were huge in the late 70s, with the line expanding beyond toys to include novels, clothing, games and even their own tie-in comic from Marvel. With J.J. Abrams attached to direct the still-in-development-honestly big-screen adaptation, perhaps Hasbro knows something about the timing of this movie that we don't.

We'll hopefully know a little more before the end of this year's New York Comic Con but here's hoping that Hasbro will be developing new toys based around these properties and that this isn't simply a promotional poster for the rumoured Hasbro Factory movie.