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under General Tokusatsu News, Power Rangers

After 70 years in business, the biggest toy store there is simply won’t be anymore. Today Toys’R’Us filed papers in court to begin the immediate process of liquidating and selling all of it’s US store operations for both Toys’R’Us and Babies’R’Us.

Toys’R’Us filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in September of 2017 and received an influx of cash of $3.1 billion dollars to maintain business operations over the 2017 Holiday Shopping Season. Through court documents we now see just how bad this Holiday Shopping Season was for Toys’R’Us – Quarter 4 of the 2017 Fiscal Year brought in only $81 million dollars for Toys’R’Us compared to $347 million in Quarter 4 of 2016. To quote CEO David Brandon, their financial results were “worse than worst case scenario”. To remain open, Toys’R’Us would need to spend $50 million to $100 million per month which the company is incapable of doing.

The small, silver lining to this scenario is that there are potential plans for the Toys’R’Us Canada branch to outright purchase a select number of stores – possibly close to 200 – and allow them to remain open. However, until such a deal is reached, every single Toys’R’Us and Babies’R’Us store in the United States will begin the process of liquidation.

It’s a sad day for the toy industry. Toys’R’Us is estimated to make up 15% of all the total toy sales in the United States, putting huge burdens on major manufacturers like Hasbro and Mattel to find a way to make up for that change. Hasbro, in recent investor calls, has already stated plans in place currently to help minimize the overall effect and that they are confident they will come out of this mostly unscathed. Mattel on the other hand is close to filing for bankruptcy themselves, having recently suspended dividend following poor sale results in the recent quarter.

We’s sharing the following jingle by Twitter user @ChaseHolfelder in memory of the “Biggest Toy Store There Is”. Our thoughts are with the estimated 33,000 workers who will soon be out of a job. If there are any changes to the news, or Toys’R’Us Canada does end up purchasing some US stores to keep them open, we will share that with you.

The full press release is after the jump of “Read More”.

[Read more…]

under Uncategorized

Yesterday, CEO of Hasbro Inc. Brian Goldner spoke to investors and press to outline the company’s strategy going forward in the coming years. While a good portion of the conference detailed out Hasbro‘s franchise brands (such as Transformers, My Little Pony, etc.), a portion was spent discussing the recent acquisition of Power Rangers – and more importantly – why they pursued it and their future plans with it.

To quote Brian Goldner directly:

“Let’s start with the consumer and the child in them. First of all, 20% of Hasbro’s revenues are for people who are teenagers and older. So, while kids may be ‘getting older younger’, adults want to ‘stay younger longer’. And so both of those dynamics are important to us. People want to play at every age. The other important thing is: kids getting older younger just means they get to be more ‘decisional younger’. They’re actually expressing their own desires for the things they want to play with. It’s not to say they don’t play with play-things, it’s just instead of thinking about at a non-branded play-thing, they want a brand that’s associated with the character that’s most beloved. That’s why we recently brought on the Power Rangers. And the Power Rangers will now become part of our portfolio because it’s a very young-skewing brand and we know through our research that young children express a preference at a younger age. We want to be with characters and stories that are meaningful to them.”

To sum up Brian’s words – teenage to adult fans make up 20% of Hasbro‘s total revenue. Their goal is to appeal both to the adult who yearns to be a kid again as well as the young kid who wants more than just a toy because it has the name of the series they like but because it’s related to a character they’ve come to connect with. One reason they sought Power Rangers was because of the characters and stories that it has and continues to tell.

Special thanks to Silver Optimus of our sister site TFW2005.COM for transcribing the conference.

under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

With Toy Fair New York 2018 winding to a close, Fortune.com sat down with Brian Goldner, the CEO of Hasbro Inc., and spoke regarding the acquisition of the master toy license of the Power Rangers brand. Speaking with Susie Gharib of Fortune.com, Brian Goldner had this to say about the Power Rangers brand:

“It’s a very young-skewing brand so that the youngest consumer really loves that story, that fun kitsch humor that comes along with that action and adventure of Power Rangers. And then today there’s all these kids who are now adults, are fans of the brand and we think there’s a great opportunity in that fan economy to talk to the Power Ranger fan and give them the products they’re looking for.”

Saban Brands, the parent company of Power Rangers, recently announced both their separation from Bandai America, the toy company that has produced Power Rangers toys for the last 25 years, and subsequently announced their new partnership with Hasbro.

Brian Goldner finishes by saying “We think this brand can be far bigger in our hands over time than it has been in the past.” Join in your thoughts and expectations in our on-going discussion regarding the acquisition of the Power Rangers toy line by Hasbro.

under Power Rangers, Toy Fair

Check out some images of the presentation of Power Rangers at Hasbro from Toy Fair 2018. This is the stage that the new season, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, was announced to the crowd in attendance. The stage features the brand new logo, which we first reported on here, along with a backdrop of various Power Rangers throughout the years.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, the brand new season of Power Rangers from Saban Brands and Hasbro, premieres in 2019 on Nickelodeon. The first Power Rangers Beast Morphers merchandise from Hasbro will be available in Spring 2019. Stay tuned to TokuNation.com for all your Power Rangers Beast Morphers news and information as it becomes available.

Are you ready for Buste–er–Beast Morphers?

under Power Rangers

Hasbro hits the ground running with their new ownership of the Power Rangers toy license, confirming the next iteration of the franchise today at ToyFair!

In 2019 we can look forward to Power Rangers Beast Morphers! This new series will be an adaptation of the 2012 Super Sentai Series Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters!

A brief teaser synopsis for this series was released at the convention panel:
Set in the future, a secret agency combines a newly discovered substance called “Morph-X” with animal DNA to create the Power Rangers Beast Morphers team. The Rangers must fight off an evil sentient computer virus bent on taking over the source of all Ranger power, the Morphing Grid itself. Featuring never-before-seen leather suits and an all-new beast-themed arsenal (including dynamic new Zords), fans should get ready for a season full of secret ops and morphinominal fun.

This marks the first time Power Rangers has ever gone BACKWARDS in choosing a Super Sentai source material, and definitely opens an incredible number of possibilities for Hasbro’s use of the license.

Sadly, photography & video were not allowed at this presentation. But stay tuned to TokuNation as we keep you up to date on all Power Rangers Beast Morphers news!

under Power Rangers

After the shocking announcement yesterday that Saban Brands was parting with long-time manufacturing partner Bandai America many fans were left speculating what would happen to the future of the Power Rangers toy license.

Well, wonder no more!

The toy license for Power Rangers has been given to HASBRO– a giant in the toy industry best known for hit series like Transformers or My Little Pony.

This new agreement, to start in 2019, is described by Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner (a long-time friend of Power Rangers mogul Haim Saban) as a “reinvention of the Power Rangers brand.” Furthermore, Goldner states that Hasbro will be “mindful of the franchises’ history and legacy material” when considering releases.

More details about this exciting new partnership are likely to be revealed during this weekends’ New York Toy Fair 2018– so stay tuned to TokuNation as we keep you up to date on this remarkable new moment in Power Rangers history!

Update – full press release after the break!

[Read more…]

under Power Rangers

We learned two days ago through sources at this year’s New York Toy Fair that the Power Rangers toy license was going to be up for grabs and would be leaving Bandai America after 25 years. We cannot 100% confirm this as fact but we have from multiple sources that the Power Rangers license is now part of Hasbro, or at the very least, will be soon.

Just a few minutes ago, Saban Brands announced that Bandai America will no longer be part of the Power Rangers franchise after April of 2019. Because of that announcement we’ve chosen to move forward with posting these rumors.

We will have more information on this as we move forward.

under Power Rangers Movie

We’re reporting on this bit because of the fact that Lionsgate was the movie studio behind the Power Rangers Movie. Hasbro had been in negotiations with Lionsgate for a formal takeover, giving the toy company its first real movie studio under its belt. Hasbro has been attempting for years to go from “toy maker” to “entertainment producer”, such as the failed Hasbro channel via Discovery Channel known as “The Hub” some years prior.

Could this have been a roadblock from green-lighting a Power Rangers Movie sequel? We may never know but it certainly doesn’t hurt that a major competitor to Saban Brands and Bandai America, Hasbro, failed to acquire the studio that has the rights to the Power Rangers Movie.

Thanks to the Hollywood Reporter for the news and for our sister site TFW2005 for the heads up.

under General Tokusatsu News

This one is a little bit out of left field! For those who follow various or not-so-known tokusatsu series, the Armor Hero line from China is their own version of Super Sentai and/or Kamen Rider. Recently, the toys have picked up some popularity here in the United States with tokusatsu collectors, with the recent mech being considered a vast improvement from the last few years.

Today, during the Hasbro Investor’s Conference Call, Hasbro revealed that they have partnered with China to develop their line of building toys, known as KRE-O, for the Armor Hero series in China. These toys will be exclusive to China.

While this may not seem like huge news, in a way it is – Hasbro now has its hat in the ring with a tokusatsu series that rivals Bandai and TOEI. With a global partnership like this being created, one has to wonder … if the Power Rangers 2017 Movie is successful, does this partnership leave a door cracked open for potential Armor Hero showing in the United States?

Join the discussion! Special thanks to our sister site TFW2005.COM for the update!

under San Diego Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con 2013 is over but the images just keep on coming! We got some hands-on time with the upcoming Power Rangers 20 Monopoly. This item is shipping to stores NOW! You can find it online as well as any game specific stores (unfortunately not available in major retailers).

Check out pictures of each card (Villains, Allies), each pewter piece, and more!