HASBRO NAMED GLOBAL MASTER TOY LICENSEE FOR SABAN’S POWER RANGERS
Credit: Saban Brands
PAWTUCKET, R.I. AND LOS ANGELES – FEB. 16, 2018 – Today, Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), a global play and entertainment company, and Saban Brands announced that Hasbro has been named the global master toy licensee for Saban’s Power Rangers. Under the terms of the agreement and in collaboration with Saban Brands, Hasbro will design, produce and bring to market a wide variety of toys, games and role-play items inspired by the franchise and its entertainment properties. Hasbro will hold the worldwide rights, excluding Japan and certain other Asian markets, effective as of April 1, 2019.
“We are honored to create a world of play experiences for such an iconic action brand,” said Brian Goldner, Chairman and CEO of Hasbro. “Saban’s Power Rangers are universally recognized and their hallmark attributes of teamwork and inclusivity perfectly align with our core values at Hasbro.”
“Hasbro leads the way in brand storytelling and creating engaging experiences across its exceptional portfolio of blockbuster and partner brands,” said Haim Saban, founder of Saban Brands and creator of Power Rangers. “Quality, innovation and a focus on designing dynamic products for fans of all ages makes Hasbro a great partner for Power Rangers.”
Created by Haim Saban and launched in 1993, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. Today, Power Rangers is one of the longest running kids’ live-action series in television history with nearly 900 episodes produced to date. The TV series, currently in its 25th season with Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, and feature films, including 2017’s movie with Lionsgate, follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who morph into superheroes and save the world from evil. Saban’s Power Rangers currently airs in 150 markets around the world and is translated into numerous languages.
The first set of products from Hasbro will be available in spring 2019. Both Hasbro and Saban Brands are dedicated to continue growing this iconic brand. In recognition of this investment and during a period of time after Hasbro becomes the master toy licensee, the arrangement provides Saban Brands and Hasbro with the opportunity to initiate Hasbro’s purchase of the Power Rangers property.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play Experiences. From toys and games to television, movies, digital gaming and consumer products, Hasbro offers a variety of ways for audiences to experience its iconic brands, including NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, LITTLEST PET SHOP and MAGIC: THE GATHERING, as well as premier partner brands. Through Hasbro Studios and its film labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation, the Company is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for children and their families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked No. 1 on the 2017 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR Magazine, and has been named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past six years. Learn more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro & @HasbroNews) and Instagram (@Hasbro).
© 2018 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
About Saban’s Power Rangers
Saban’s Power Rangers franchise is the brainchild of Haim Saban, creator and producer of the original, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hit series that launched in 1993. Following its introduction, “Power Rangers” quickly became the most-watched television program in the United States and remains one of the top-rated and longest running kids’ live-action series in television history. The series, currently in its 25th season, follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who morph into superheroes and save the world from evil. It is seen in more than 150 markets, translated into numerous languages and a favorite on many key international children’s programming blocks around the world. For more information, visit www.powerrangers.com.
About Saban Brands
Formed in 2010 as an affiliate of Saban Capital Group, Saban Brands acquires, develops and manages a world-class portfolio of entertainment properties. Saban Brands applies a global 360-degree management approach to growing and monetizing its brands through content, digital, marketing, distribution, licensing and retail in markets worldwide. Saban Brands’ growing entertainment portfolio of brands includes Power Rangers, Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty, Paul Frank, Popples, Glitter Force, Cirque du Soleil Junior – Luna Petunia and La Banda, amongst many others. Saban Brands is headquartered in Los Angeles with a global network of offices. For more information, visit www.sabanbrands.com.
Update: Hot on the heels of today's announcement, Saban's official Power Rangers logo, which will be introduced to the iconic franchise in 2019!:
A morphinominal new look for Power Rangers in 2019. #PowerRangers pic.twitter.com/kNIdJ4qvVi
— Power Rangers (@PowerRangers) February 16, 2018
Also, from The Hollywood Reporter:
Hasbro, Saban Partner For 'Power Rangers' Toys Starting in 2019
The brand moves away from longtime partner Bandai as it approaches its 25th anniversary.
In what’s likely to be one of the biggest announcements to come from this year’s New York Toy Fair, Hasbro has been named as the master toy licensee for Saban’s Power Rangers. Hasbro will design, produce and bring to market a wide variety of toys and role-play items inspired by the long-running TV and movie series.
Beginning in spring 2019, Hasbro — which became the leading toy seller worldwide last year — will release toys based on the popular brand, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2018. The toy manufacturer will control the master toy license for Power Rangers worldwide, with the exception of Japan and a small number of other Asian markets, where it will remain with longtime partner Bandai.
“We’re particularly excited to partner together to help reignite and drive this brand for the next 25 years and more,” Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner tells Heat Vision about the deal. “It’s a partnership that is very collaborative and feels very good to us to be in business with Saban and to help power Power Rangers.”
The partnership is also, in part, the result of a longterm friendship between Goldner and Haim Saban, the creator of Power Rangers and founder of Saban Brands, which stretches all the way back to the earliest day of the Power Rangers franchise.
“Our friendship started, as a matter of fact, when Brian left the advertising agency he worked at and moved to Bandai, which had the license at the time,” Saban explains. (Goldner went on to become the President of Bandai Namco America in 1997, a role he stayed in for three years; the company controlled the toy license for Power Rangers for that period.) “Since then, we’ve been in touch on and off, on different subject matters. From time to time, Brian would say to me, ‘So when are you coming to Hasbro?’ [Laughs] This is just the culmination of events that have been happening for some time. We’re just beyond thrilled.”
As part of the new partnership, Hasbro will add teams of workers dedicated to the brand in its West Coast offices, allowing for “hourly and daily” collaboration with the crew at Saban in developing new product. Both Goldner and Saban praise the ease of collaboration between the companies already, with the latter joking that “both teams seem to get along so well that they don’t need Brian or me. The two of us have other things that we do, other than Power Rangers, even though it might not seem like it. Brian is running a multi-million dollar toy company!”
The two also agree on the potential for the partnership to grow the Power Rangers brand in multiple areas, as the show heads into its 26th season on Nickelodeon. (The network this week renewed the series through 2021.) “We’re particularly excited to introduce the brand to the youngest Power Rangers fans, but we’ve also talked for many years about the growth and development of the fan economy,” Goldner says, referring to the growth market of the older fanbase. “We do believe that fans today have more interest in, and more access to, fan-oriented products. The online retailing world allows us to retail products at higher price points, along with conventions, to move product that are aimed at older fans. You can only imagine with the amazing creativity of the Power Rangers show, as well as Haim’s own creativity, that this allows for some very exciting things as we move forward.”
Saban pointed to recent marketing research to back up the idea of Power Rangers fandom as a relatively untapped market. “In terms of user-generated content, Power Rangers has more views that all — I repeat, all — superhero properties combined,” he says, pointing to research from content management company Zefr. “This is a staggering fact. I know this sounds crazy, but I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface.”
Although Goldner is careful not to spill any secrets about future releases from Hasbro, he does say that the company will work with legacy material from the franchise’s history, as well as keeping up to date with the show’s latest incarnations as they happen. “I think there’s a lot of love for the classic characters,” he admits. “I was around in the first years when Haim and Saban decided to renew the concept every year, and we could see how it renewed interest every year. It allowed the creative to change and the brand to evolve. We want to continue to evolve and reinvent. We’re very dedicated to continuing to evolve and rededicate the brand every year.”
Saban, meanwhile, framed his excitement about the future of Power Rangers — which he describes as a “three-way partnership between Saban, Nickelodeon and Hasbro” — by underscoring the importance of his latest partners. “Toys are absolutely essential to Power Rangers,” he says. “Toys are basically the leading merchandising and licensing partner that we have. It’s very important.”
--Ends--
More Nick: Saban Brands and Nickelodeon Announce Extension of Power Rangers Broadcast Partnership through 2021!
Originally published: Friday, February 16, 2018.
Additional source: Screenrant.
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