HasCon a big hit
Fans flock to debut of convention that celebrates everything Hasbro
PROVIDENCE — When Lee Griswold was 10 years old, he was first exposed to Transformers – the superhero and arch-villain robots that morph into various vehicles – and from that moment on, he was hooked.
The Bethel, Connecticut, resident said that while getting to see the modern-day Transformers inside the Rhode Island Convention Center and Dunkin’ Donuts Center was a key draw to the first-ever HasCon – Hasbro’s premier fan and fami- ly event and convention – what truly made the day special was sharing it with his Transformers-loving 10-year-old daughter Willa.
“I love Transformers and I’ve been a fan ever since I was her age. It’s a shared interest,” Lee Griswold said. “As the father of a daughter, it’s rare to share something like that. Generally, most girls are into dolls and Barbies but she shares an interest.”
Willa said that she’s loved Transformers as far back as she can recall, saying that her first versions of the toys were the ones she inherited from her father.
“I love cars, she loves robots. She likes the characters, she relates to that while I relate to the cars,” Lee Griswold said. “It’s a great bond.”
That sort of familial connection was on display inside the two downtown Providence venues over three days, as thousands descended on the first-ever convention celebrating all things Hasbro. The Pawtucket-based company hosted the destination as a way to draw fans from around the world together to share
their appreciation of the brand’s products.
Products from movie franchises including Star Wars, The Avengers, and Transformers were alongside games including Pie Face, Monopoly, and Jenga inside the sprawling convention that filled the Rhode Island Convention Center and Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Fans were drawn to exhibits, question-and-answer sessions with celebrities, autograph signings with professional athletes, and exclusive toys available only at HasCon.
Continuing on the day’s theme of family bonds, Robert Correia of West Greenwich and his 15-yearold son Andrew had just grabbed a seat inside the Convention Center after an exhausting morning of viewing exclusive Transformers and interacting with original designers of the products and the people behind the voices of the popular 1980s animated television show.
Robert said he was a Transformers fan growing up, saying “the thing I love the most is (Andrew) actually likes a lot of the old stuff that was hard to get when we were kids. I’m mainly here for him. But I’m reconnecting with my childhood, especially all the vintage stuff.”
Andrew said he’s been a Transformers fan his entire life, as what drew him to the show and toys were the engineering side of it.
“I’m a fan of cars and I like the way the cars you wouldn’t normally see turn into robots,” he said.
While Saturday’s slate of festivities kicked off at 9 a.m., some fans lined up outside of the civic center as early as 6:30 a.m. Among them were father and son duo Tom and Sam Owen of Fall River.
Sam, 10, said that he was most looking forward to the role-playing games Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons inside the convention center, saying that while he was just starting to play the game, he had a great teacher – his father.
Tom Owen said that he has been playing Dungeons and Dragons since the 1980s and Magic the Gathering since the early 1990s, well before Sam was born. To be able to share his love of the games and the experience of HasCon with his son made the early-morning, pre-dawn drive worth the while.
What was it about the games that attracted Tom in the first place?
“All the video games now had a basis on the role-playing games of the 1980s,” he said. “There’s a little more strategy, you’re playing against a thinking person. It’s exciting to be here as a family.”
“There’s an old-school renaissance,” Tom continued. “I think it’s important to unplug as a society. We get caught up too much in instant gratification, but we need to get separated from our screens and try more social interaction.”
Doing so, he said, “gives us better thinking ability, bet- ter ties to our community, and better friends.” Tom said that his friends today are the same friends he made by playing Dungeons and Dragons in the 1980s and Magic the Gathering in the 1990s. “They’re still my best friends,” he added.
Sam, meanwhile, said that he likes card games because of the ability to trade and collect the cards, saying he’s an avid fan of the Pokemon card game, and that was additionally what drew him to Magic.
Also standing in the throng of fans outside of the arena early Saturday morning was fellow Dungeons and Dragons player Dan Colby of Portland, Connecticut. He said he was chomping at the bit to get inside to see the D&D exhibit and to test out the games, while additionally previewing new adventures.
Having played the game for 20 years, Colby said that he appreciates the social interaction aspect of it, saying that he prefers the face-to-face interaction that comes from playing a tabletop game versus sitting behind a computer or video game screen.
“There could be a lot of critical thinking, there’s a lot of human interaction, a lot of friendships are built from it,” Colby said. “Finding a good D&D group is like finding a good spouse. You build meaningful, long-term relationships.”
While playing the games inside were a big draw, equally as popular were the various toy and action figure exhibits. To many inside HasCon, the figures aren’t going to be brought home, unboxed, and played with until the paint chips and the pieces fall apart, but rather they’re going to stay in the box and go on a mantel as a valued collector’s item.
Mark Glackin drove all the way from Philadelphia with the intention of being one of the first people in line Saturday morning. He achieved that goal, arriving just prior to 7 a.m. and grabbing a seat directly in front of the glass doors to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Glackin said that he’s been an avid toy and action figure collector since the early 1990s. He said his favorites were always Star Wars and Marvel Legends and what brought him to HasCon was the opportunity to purchase the convention-exclusive toys including Deadpool – a Marvel superhero.
“When they announced this would be in my driving area,” despite it being about a five-hour drive, “I said I’d check it out,” Glackin said.