Upper Deck and Hasbro are teaming up on a multiyear global licensing partnership that will put some of Hasbro’s most beloved brands onto new trading cards and tabletop games. The collaboration covers Transformers, Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and Jem and the Holograms, with the first wave built around a 40th anniversary trading card set for the 1986 animated feature Transformers: The Movie. Executives from both companies describe the project as a way to deliver premium, nostalgia-driven collectibles that speak to long-time fans while inviting new audiences into these franchises.
According to coverage of the announcement, the Transformers: The Movie launch product is a “Gen 1”–style set with an unabashedly 1980s aesthetic, celebrating the look and feel of the original robots in disguise. The initial drop is planned as a Target-exclusive release in mid-September, followed later in the year by a larger 100-card hobby set for specialty card and hobby shops. One of the rarest pulls will be a highly limited card autographed by Peter Cullen, the iconic voice of Optimus Prime, making the set especially attractive to collectors chasing high-end hits.
This new initiative arrives on the heels of another major Transformers card project: Dynamite Entertainment’s Transformers 40th Anniversary line, which focused on the broader brand and featured multiple configurations such as hobby boxes, blasters, and premium sketch boxes. Those Dynamite sets pulled from decades of toy packaging, comics, and design art and packed in base cards, rainbow holofoils, animation cel inserts, and ultra-rare metal and sketch cards. Upper Deck’s partnership, by contrast, zeroes in first on the 1986 film itself, giving fans a focused way to relive the movie’s pivotal moments and characters through a fresh trading card treatment.
Beyond Transformers, Upper Deck and Hasbro plan to develop both trading cards and tabletop games for Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and Jem and the Holograms, with more products expected before the end of the year. Upper Deck’s Director of Entertainment Brands, Travis Rhea, has described trading cards and gaming as equal pillars of the deal and suggested that while fans will see early releases soon, the larger slate of marquee brands will roll out more fully around 2027. Rhea also noted that getting products into the market within the first year of a licensing partnership is unusually fast for trading cards, crediting Hasbro’s deeply involved licensing team with helping both sides move quickly while still doing justice to the IP.
The move builds on Upper Deck’s growing presence in entertainment-driven collectibles, which already includes licensed trading card sets and games based on DC Comics superheroes and a range of Marvel Studios properties. Rhea has said that the company previously experimented with Hasbro-adjacent content years ago, creating limited trading cards tied to the Marvel Legends action figure line as incentives for GameStop buyers, but that a broader partnership took several years of negotiations and careful planning to come together. With the Hasbro deal now official, Upper Deck is positioning these new products as premium, story-rich collectibles that tap into generations of fandom across multiple iconic toy and media brands.
For collectors and tabletop players, the Transformers: The Movie anniversary set is likely just the opening salvo, hinting at future releases that could spotlight classic teams, villains, and vehicles from across Hasbro’s portfolio. Upper Deck and Hasbro are framing the line as a celebration of the moments and characters that made these properties resonate in the first place, suggesting future sets and games will lean hard into key story arcs, toy-era visuals, and fan-favorite designs.
