For the last 2 years, I've avoided the Hasbro and Mattel booths because they stress me out! 2008-10, got tix, waited in line, and bought the exclusives only to either keep them in storage or sell them off later. It didn't make sense to spend so much time and effort on something I don't truly enjoy. The thing that made me skip on Hasbro altogether was trying to get the Skystriker Starscream in 2011. That thing sold out real quick! I was annoyed to see scalpers wheeling cases of them away while I couldn't even get 1. Just 1! All that stress and nothing to show for it. Mattel can be equally stressful and I haven't been too thrilled about their offerings in the past 2 years.
Another factor is that I've focused my collecting on only HT since then. I think to myself, would I rather have these 2-3 hasbro exclusives or a brand spankin' new HT to buy from one of the merchants or after the show?
This year, Hasbro has the TF/GI Joe set with Jetfire and Hound. 2 characters I've always really liked but felt were under-represented. Here we go again