SDCC 2015: A Look at the Kreon Class of 1985

If you’re looking for good photos of this toy,um, sorry. I don’t have a good photo setup at the moment, but I hope to change that in the future. Enjoy these official press photos, won’t you? Review sample provided by Hasbro and Hunter PR.

When Hasbro announced that there would be a follow-up to last year’s Comic Con Kreon exclusive set, I got giddy. While I’m not a huge collector of Kreons, I understand their appeal. I also can get behind themed sets that are just fun, if not completely goofy. The Yearbook Kreon sets are just that – whimsical presentations of the characters kids of the 1980’s grew up with.

Last year’s inaugural set was the class of 1984, celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the Transformers. Naturally, this year would have to be the Class of 1985, presenting characters that (mostly) had toys released in 1985.

The cool thing about this set is you can enjoy it both in and out of the box, it can be enjoyed. The packaging is a big part of the fun, as it’s designed to look like a yearbook.  The front cover features Grimlock, the back features Devastator,and “Cybertron Class of 1985” adorns both.  The top and bottom are printed to look like book pages with the ttext “Property of Cybertron High” stamped as if owned by a school library.  Open it up, and there you see all the Kreons smiling back at you, all lined up and ready to be displayed in their protective case.  It does remind me of the senior pictures that we had in our yearbooks,complete with name and Senior Award.

If you wanted to stop there, nobody would fault you for keeping the Kreons in the book packaging.  But if you take the Kreons out, then you can have more fun with the included accessories.  Each Kreon has a weapon, but there is also a handful of extra bits, called Artifacts, all tied to some of the best movies of 1985.  We have Unicron Cereal, jackets, a map, and gold coins, but my favorites are the Back to the Future homages — a newspaper, a sports almanac, and the wild, white hair of a certain time travelling scientist.  These little touches of whimsy add to the notion that Kreons are all about fun, with nary a thought of doom or gloom.

You don’t need the previous year set to enjoy this one, but I’ll admit, it will look nice having both sets together. Now I just have to prepare my display setup for eventual classes of 1986 and beyond.

If you are heading to the show, I recommend you take the time to go to Hasbro’s booth and pick a set up. If you aren’t going to Comic Con, either have a friend grab one or pray the Internet gods are on your side when Hasbro Toy Shop gets their limited supply in stock. I love fun exclusives, and this set fits the bill. Well done, Hasbro.