SDCC 2016: Talking Transformers With Hasbro’s John Warden

I spoke with John Warden at Hasbro’s booth during San Diego Comic-Con. John is most likely to be known for his current work as Design Manager for the company’s Transformers toy line but he has also held the impressive position of Lead Designer for the G.I. Joe line in the past.

What can you tell me about the exclusives available at San Diego Comic-Con this year?

From Transformers, we have three really cool exclusives. First of all, we’ve got the Titan-Class Fortress Maximus, which is a very unique item specifically designed for San Diego Comic-Con 2016. The Fortress Maximus is one of the biggest Transformers we’ve ever created. He has the ability to change into a city as well as a space station. This specific version comes with a Master Sword, which is really unique and hasn’t been out since the 80’s. It also comes with a unique deco scheme that is only available here at San Diego Comic-Con as well as a unique set of labels and exclusive packaging. The face-plate with the head on the Titan Master is unique. And last but not least, it has unique sounds for this version. So it is a must-have.

The other items we have are Titan Force, which is a three-pack of exclusive figures for Comic-Con. We’ve got Brainstorm, which is done up in the IDW-style deco. We’ve also got the Energize Sentinel Prime, which is based the idea that he has been resurrected from the IDW series. Last but not least, we’ve got Wind Blade, who has a City Speaker-style deco. She has the same color scheme as Fortress Maximus. Same blue, same grey – which is really rad.

And then the last exclusive that we have is really special. It rises out of a partnership with Xiao Mi and Hasbro. It was initially a China-exclusive and we brought it over here especially for Comic-Con fans. It is a version of Sound Wave that is able to change into a Xiao Mi tablet, which is just incredible. Fans so far have really been super-excited about this item, not just because of its great design but also its intricate transformation. It is a really elegant Transformer; really cool packaging. Couldn’t be more excited to be here.

How do you decide what toys will be sold as convention-exclusives?

Usually we try to decide our convention-exclusives maybe about one year in advance. A lot of it has to do with pop culture, the world that surrounds Transformers. Throughout the years, Transformers has always been a sort of reflection of pop culture and I think Comic-Con is a great place where fans of all sorts of cool stuff are able to come together and enjoy their hobbies and things that they love about all the wonderfully nerdy stuff. But when it comes to Transformers specifically, we have meetings. We think about what kind of big news we have on the horizon and we try to figure out the items that best fit in the universe of Transformers that help not only grow the franchise but also do a good job of exciting fans and cutting to the core of that Comic-Con fan. Like, what does that fan really want? We have a bunch of meetings about it. A lot of thought goes into it. It is usually about a year of planning or so.

How did you make the transition from G.I. Joe figures to Transformers?

Not a lot of people know that I worked on G.I. Joe but I worked on it for six-plus years. In a lot of ways, it is very different because you are dealing with 3-3/4 inch figures. You are dealing with a different level of detail. You are with a human design and costume design as opposed to robots. But I feel like there is a common core between those wonderful franchises and that is character as well as the emotional attachment that fans like me that grew up in the 1980’s still have. They have wonderful characters like Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Duke, and even some of the strange characters like of the Vipers from the Cobra team. It is about detail and I think when you bring to life one of the details that someone may have forgotten, it’s a subliminal thing. I think there is a lot of that same kind of thinking that I like to bring to my design philosophy and to Transformers, too. When I do a character like Skull Smasher or Hard Head or something like that, when you look at those types of characters and work with the designers on them, we want to cut to the core of what that character means but also to advance it to the next level. In some ways, it’s no different than when I did a version of [G.I. Joe‘s] Snake Eyes with a lot of extra detail on it but in a way that’s, I think, what fans want. It is almost like the memory is stronger than the nostalgia itself.

If you could work on any other toy line, what would it be?

That is really, really hard. You know, at Hasbro, I’ve had the opportunity to work on so many great things that this makes this question especially hard. Through my career, I’ve worked on Star Wars, Pokémon, G.I. Joe, and now Transformers as well as a number of other licensed products. Honestly, I think if I ever had the opportunity, I am a big Robotech fan. I have always liked Robotech. I think a lot of us fans do but I think right now I am just enjoying the present. Being a designer on Transformers feels like the best day of my life somedays. Somedays like this [during San Diego Comic-Con], you get pretty exhausted, just you are on your feet all-day and stuff like that. But it is the energy that the fan community brings, meeting people, and having people come up and talk to you and you tell you are doing a great job, it really gives you a great boost and inspires you to try new stuff. I think of all those things, I just really happy to be on Transformers. I feel like I am really at home on this brand. It is great.