Hasbr-uh-oh

[Undead Scottsman]

His departure (after 25 years) makes me think there's been some "streamlining" on the managerial level. Which means somebody still there just inherited Transformers AND GI Joe responsibilities.

it wouldn't shock me if they just eliminated his position entirely. He oversaw the GI Joe and Transformers teams and likely acted as the go-between between them and the higher-ups; so cutting him out means the people running the teams would just answer to whoever was his boss now instead of going through Warden.

Or we'll hear about a replacement.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I doubt he'll be replaced. Cocks is on a consolidation warpath. On the bright side, he does not seem to be giving upper management a free pass. The executives are all getting asked to do more. In that one regard, and absolutely no other, I like his style.

They should have found a role for Warden though. Hasbro needs people like him, and he had a lot more left to give.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Yeah, I've got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that we're going to be getting even more bad news in the coming weeks, across all of their brands. Possibly even sweeping changes (admittedly we've already been getting those, I didn't see them outsourcing a bunch of brands like Power Rangers like, at all).

I've been saying for YEARS the only reason I think GI Joe Classified even got going was because of the hanging "tease" of continued film development. The line seems to have "earned its way"...but it still feels like a brand that's straddling the line between being retained in house, or being licensed out (as was rumored MANY years ago).

As is, I'm increasingly surprised at Hasbro's retention of Marvel AND STar Wars...and if those two aren't maybe being detrimental to development of internal efforts. Hasbro's exited the construction block category (not that KreO ever did that well), and will be out of the crafts segment by next year. About half of their internal dolls and action figure brands have been licensed out, as well as their vehicles segment.

I can't help but feel like these are all "panic-ey" short term things. Playmates can't make new Power Rangers shows. Loyal Subjects can't afford to make a new MASK series. Basic Fun picked up Littlest Pet Shop, but it doesn't appear to making any big impacts...probably because Basic Fun is limited in what they can do to market it.
But if Hasbro REALLY wants to grow those brands, there needs to be media/marketing support I'm not sure Hasbro is wiling to invest in. And if they were, they'd probably want to make the most of it, like making the toys.

I have the same doubts. Seems that since the last CEOs passing there's been no real plan forward. Just a neverending game of kick the can down the road and wait for the next big thing.

I agree. I might not have agreed with every decision Goldner made, but it was always clear to an "end game" to building Hasbro into an "IP Company".

Now? Hasbro has dismantled all its investment (AGAIN) in that goal for short term gains (AGAIN). They still WANT to be an IP Company, but destroyed their means of cultivating or revitalizing said IP. I'm still waiting for the scrapping or selling of Atomic Arcade and its AAA GI Joe game.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I'm sure not many people in the building knew what Goldner wanted to do with eOne in the first place, but it does feel like they gave up on it too quickly.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I doubt he'll be replaced. Cocks is on a consolidation warpath. On the bright side, he does not seem to be giving upper management a free pass. The executives are all getting asked to do more. In that one regard, and absolutely no other, I like his style.

They should have found a role for Warden though. Hasbro needs people like him, and he had a lot more left to give.

I have to wonder if how Power Rangers (oof) and Ghostbusters (6" line dead at retail, only haslabs, reissues and some upcoming o-ring toys) turned out during his tenure played a role in his being let go, but I feel like bringing that up is kicking a guy while he's down.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I'm sure not many people in the building knew what Goldner wanted to do with eOne in the first place, but it does feel like they gave up on it too quickly.

The eOne purchase was in 2019, in the before times when money was cheap. It wasn't until four years of pandemic and inflation that they wound up divesting themselves. (I wonder if the D&D movie tanking had something to do with it.)

...man, that's ANOTHER great movie that didn't do well. Even when Hasbro succeeds, they fail.

 

[Darth_Prime]

it wouldn't shock me if they just eliminated his position entirely. He oversaw the GI Joe and Transformers teams and likely acted as the go-between between them and the higher-ups; so cutting him out means the people running the teams would just answer to whoever was his boss now instead of going through Warden.

Or we'll hear about a replacement.

 

[Sabrblade]

First Hasbro auctions off the entire warehouse of practically every single Power Rangers costume and prop, and now this happens to Transformers.

 

[Badgertron]

I have to wonder if how Power Rangers (oof) and Ghostbusters (6" line dead at retail, only haslabs, reissues and some upcoming o-ring toys) turned out during his tenure played a role in his being let go, but I feel like bringing that up is kicking a guy while he's down.

It's really sad how Ghostbusters was only really given a couple waves of Plasma & Retro. It could have potentially really taken off if they had at least tried some Real Ghostbusters figures alongside it. Indiana Jones was...well, a limited cast to do things with overall, but probably could have done with another wave. Power Rangers was...well, I wonder if it could have been saved if the zords were actually commander class figures, and were available at retail. And didn't have the apparent QC issues (oh, and weren't tied to NFT's...).

 

[lastmaximal]

This is frustrating. Warden is too good to not have on a team somewhere.

Hasbro for the last couple of years has really felt reactionary. Longer term plans demand a lot of investment, which is harder now, but the payoff would be so much more than the recent string of "let's try and milk this nostalgia thing and kill it if it doesn't pay off IMMEDIATELY" and "what's selling? Milk the hell out of that while we can".

Power Rangers could have done a lot more; so much of it is practically evergreen. I'm still baffled by the idea of letting that lie fallow.

 

[Princess Viola]

The thing with Power Rangers is like...y'all if only there had been some of kind of established formula for the franchise.

Like something that had been shown to work for over 30 years, allowed for a relatively cheap production with a good and stable return, and didn't rely on endless 90s nostalgia.

Alas, such a thing was not to be and Power Rangers was just destined to die, Hasbro did all they could.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Has Power Rangers taken gap years before or are we at an unprecedented level of failure?

 

[lastmaximal]

I think it's been "almost cancelled" and such before (once before In Space, and another time or two with network changes and company shakeups) but I think this is new. Admittedly I wasn't paying attention during the 2000s so I've almost certainly missed something.

Still. I don't think it's ever felt this bleak. You'd think that, show in production or not, they could still make some scratch from continuing to churn out some toys. Idk how costly it would be to tool up some new helmets and unmasked heads (for series which had bucks and accessories already tooled) for Lightning Collection for a couple of waves, supplemented by some package refreshes of earlier now-rare things. But they seemed to really want out of that fast, for some reason.

 

[Princess Viola]

The closest you could say Power Rangers has had to a gap year would be in 2010.

They didn't have a new show that year, they just aired an edited version of like half of the first season of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

But like even if the show wasn't new that year, Bandai still made and released new toys so you know.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

Was lightning collection selling well? I was under the impression that after the first few series, the popularity of the rangers goes down a lot, and so eventually Hasbro just ran out of characters with fanbases big enough to sustain sales and that's what killed the line. Well, that and poor quality control.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Well, that and poor quality control.

Can't help but think this probably accounts for a lot of Hasbro's woes as of late.

 

[Badgertron]

I had really hoped they'd let the Transformers team loose on redesigning the Megazord from the ground up (keeping the silhouette and major design elements) but the situation between Takara & Bandai might have been insurmountable.

 

[LordGigaIce]

The partnership between Saban and Badai and Disney and Bandai was perfect because neither Saban or Disney are Bandai's competitors.
Hasbro taking over the PR toy licence, and eventually owning the brand, was always awkward because not only is Hasbro a competitor of Bandai of America but Hasbro's a working partner with TT, a competitor of Bandai of Japan.

Now yes they've all played nice before on various collab projects. Money cures all ills. But taking a Bandai of Japan line like Super Sentai and importing it to the West as Power Rangers under Bandai of Japan is a different thing then doing that with a competitor like Hasbro.

Hasbro's best bet was to continue Power Rangers as an independent entity. To get away from relying on Super Sentai entirely and start designing their own suits, their own monsters, their own zords, and making it an entirely unique production.
Which negates what's attractive about Power Rangers to investors and accountants, that it can be made cheap because the action scenes and toys have already been designed elsewhere.

Goldner seemed to think he could make that work as part of a grand plan to leverage Hasbro's IP as much as possible but he either never shared those plans with his colleagues or they didn't think they were viable without him. Either way the shunting of Power Rangers and now this with Transformers... is concerning.

 

[lastmaximal]

I don't know that that was their best bet. It seemed like an easy money spinner to keep the annual shows going, although I can see where it gets foggy in terms of making toys stateside. I have no knowledge of how the toylines performed. Still, having so much of the production of the show already done has always been one of the genre's advantages.

(I will say the biggest APPARENT upside of Hasbro Power Rangers seemed to be "articulated Megazords"; I was blindsided by how good they could make a 6-inch Ranger toy line. Alas, such articulated Megazords were turned into their premium offerings, which... Nah.)

 

[Blot]

Was lightning collection selling well? I was under the impression that after the first few series, the popularity of the rangers goes down a lot, and so eventually Hasbro just ran out of characters with fanbases big enough to sustain sales and that's what killed the line. Well, that and poor quality control.

Not helped by the bizarre idea that they should make the Monsters of the Week toys higher cost deluxe figures, and then make them out of scale with the rest of the line because "well, monsters should be bigger".