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Hasbro announced yesterday via press release that they have reached an agreement with Saban to purchase Saban’s Power Rangers and several other entertainment brands, including My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, Treehouse Detectives and others, in a combination of cash and stock valued at $522 million. The first set of products from Hasbro will be available in spring 2019.
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It has just been announced that the administrators have failed to find a buyer for the 100 UK stores of Toys R Us and so all of the remaining stores will close within the next six weeks with 1/4 of the stores having already been closed or being due to close by the end of this week.
Buyers are still being sort for the US stores and the Canadian side remains open at this stage.
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Toys R Us UK has gone into administration with immediate effect due to their inability to pay a £15 million tax bill. As of now their online and click and collect services are no more and a sale is expected to start on all remaining items in stores. All stores will remain open whilst the administrators try to find a buyer but if they fail then all 105 stores are expected to close in the summer. you can read more here
Arron Kendall and Simon Thomas of Moorfields Advisory Limited, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QF were appointed Joint Administrators on 28 February 2018. The Administrators now manage the affairs, business and property of the Company. The Administrators act as agents only and without personal liability.
Their website has been updated with the following notice:
No exchanges for non-faulty items may be accepted and no refunds will be given.
If the item is faulty then the normal Company policy will be followed in accordance with your statutory rights.
We are continuing to accept and redeem Gift Cards for purchases made, but please note that we will not be issuing Gift Cards.
No refunds can be given for the balance of the gift cards
If you have recently settled your Time to Pay agreement and collected your goods, then you are no longer a creditor of the company and nofurther action is needed.
If you have recently settled your Time to Pay agreement and but not collected your goods, then you should collect your goods from store as soon as possible.
If you have not settled your Time to Pay agreement and not collected your goods then you will need to attend your local store by Sunday 11 March 2018 and either:
Loyalty cards and loyalty points will no longer be issued
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The NPD Group report that toy sales within the UK dropped by 2.8% in 2017 pointing at Brexit, under-performing licenses and issues around counterfeit toys as the primary causes. Total revenues for the year are reported as being £3.4 billion meaning that despite the decline the UK is still positioned as the largest market in Europe with three years of growth between 2014 and 2016.
Natasha Crookes, director of public affairs and communications for the BTHA stated that "the increasing breadth and depth of counterfeit toys is a real concern, with over £400 million worth of sales being lost to the industry, as well as the cost to companies from the theft of innovative design".
When asked to comment on the growing UK Collectable market Ms Crookes commented that they were "an unstoppable force within the industry". Figures show that the sector grew by 17%, dominated by Fingerlings, with the category now making up 9% of the overall value and 19% of all units sold. Frederique Tutt, global toy analyst for the NPD Group added that they "have seen significant year on year growth" in Collectables.
Doll play-sets, pre-school figures and action figures also all saw strong 2017 sales so it was not all doom and gloom outside of the collectable sector.
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Toy Shop UK has published the results of its 9th annual Independent Toy Awards, showing what the UK's independent toy retailers think are the best toys for parents to be buying their children this Christmas.
As you would expect there are no Transformers products to be found on this years list, which can be viewed in full here,
Toy Shop UK's awards process is unique within the industry as they ask the 900+ retailers that list businesses on the directory what they think are the best toys within each category and the winners are then revealed rather than selected as votes flood in.
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Hasbro Inc has filed for a patent covering a new piece of technology that would allow children to 3D-scan their toys to their smartphone as well as send them as an output directly to a 3D printer!
The US Patent Office website was updated last week with details that describes Hasbro’s concept as a "rotating platform on which kids can place their toy in order to scan it as a 3D image". it goes on to describe how the user would then have the ability to incorporate the 3D scan into a game, or output it to a 3D printer.
The application covers the design for a base station, turntable with a manual crank for kids to rotate, a bluescreen style backdrop and a dock for holding on to an iPhone.
The original application can be found here with a more detailed explanation and coverage on 3ders.org. Late last year Disney's applications for 3D scanning was approved and Hasbro have mentioned 3D printing for their brands several times over the last couple of years.
With Hasbro Inc aiming for more immersive play and cross over of digital and analogue play-time for children, this scanning technology is further evidence of the direction in which they are likely to head.
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Hasbro Inc. are currently recruiting for a new Transformers product designer based at their headquarters in Pawtucket RI. You can find details regarding the vacancy below and can apply via website
Date: Feb 5, 2016
Location: Pawtucket, RI, US
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Hasbro will be presenting their 2016 investor update from ToyFair today at 8am EST (13:00 GMT) where they will reveal their plans for the next year including new products, new brands and shall give details on the 2016-2017 Transformers entertainment offerings including details of what came out of the Writers Room.
Check back later today for further updates.
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Hasbro have announced increased net revenues for the full-year of 2015 of 4% to $4.45 billion. Part of the growth was due to the success of the Star Wars property along with the Marvel and Jurassic World products with both over-performing when compared to their expected revenues.
Transformers revenues dropped by 1/3 which is blamed on an unfair comparison with 2014 as that was a movie tie-in year but still performed far better than was expected in a post movie year. Typcially Hasbro Inc see a 50% drop in revenue in the year directly after a movie release.
At the end of the call it was confirmed that further information regarding the upcoming entertainment releases for the Transformers brand shall be given out this Friday including details of the writers room.
The Star Wars movie tie-in products swapped US to international sales figures from around 54%-46% split in favour of US and Canada (pre -The Force Awakens product) to 46%-54% afterwards.
During the call, which is currently ongoing, Hasbro announced that they will be releasing several new internal brand (i.e not licensed) over the next couple of years.
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UK Toy Industry Magazine ToyNews recently held a poll where by they asked manufacturers, retailers and inventors within the toys and games industry to name those toys and games which they fle had most shaped the industry, and the results are now in with Transformers appearing at number 14 on the list!
The full list reads as:
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The UK toy fair is over and with Hasbro Inc deciding that an appearance was not worth it and that Germany would be the best option for their European offices focus from fans around the world now point at the Spielwarenmesse Nürnberg Toy Fair 2016 which takes place today. The German fair is well known for leaked product reveals and shall be followed by the US Toy fair.
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For years Hasbro Inc produced most of its toys and games out in China then a few years ago they shifted to factories in Vietnam, partly due to increase labour costs in China, and now it looks like they are moving again but this time to India. According to an article published on The Wall Street Journal on January 6th Hasbro are looking at India as a solution to Vietnam becoming saturated with factories.
“John Leung, chairman of GFT Group Ltd., a manufacturer of Transformers, “Star Wars” and other toys for Hasbro that is based in China’s Guangdong province, said he plans to start producing soon from a rented factory in Chennai.
Eight years ago, GFT shifted much of its production from China to Vietnam, where today the company’s workers earn around $215 a month, less than Chinese counterparts’ salaries. But Vietnam is quickly becoming saturated with factories, Mr. Leung said.
“In the next eight to 10 years, Vietnam will be finished,” he said. He said Hasbro, based in Pawtucket, R.I., had urged him to set up shop in India.”
Credit to TFW2005.com for the news
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The Australian Associated Press have released an article stating that toy sales for the year 2015-2016 are forecast to be the strongest in a decade. According to research performed by the NPD Group the US toy market has seen a 6.2% growth on the previous year with sales up to $19.9 billion (US). In 2014 toy sales rose by 4%.
The NPD Group report that the growth is being fuelled by increasing popularity of collectibles, toys based on Hollywood Blockbusters, and better technology which provides a more interactive experience for children. It comes as great news to everyone in the toy industry as sales have slowed and sometimes been in decline over the last decade as children have become more interested in technology rather than toys.
"The selection is much greater than in the past," said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TTPM, an online toy review site. "Technology is much better in the toy aisle, and it's really inspiring young kids to play but also bringing older kids to things like radio control and role play items."
Surging demand for all things "Frozen" helped the toy industry achieve a rare gain in 2014. Toys related to the blockbuster about a princess who sets off to find her sister with icy powers were popular. In fact, Frozen was the top toy brand in 2014, reaching $US531 million in sales, according to NPD.
And the Hollywood infatuation is expected to continue with the release of the Star Wars movie on December 18: Hundreds of products, from puzzles to action figures related to Star Wars, are expected to exceed Frozen's success.
Marty Brochstein, who's with the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association, says the LightSaber from Hasbro, which features motion sensor-controlled sound effects, already are on backorder. He says Star Wars appeals to both kids and adults.
"It's multi-generational," Brochstein says.
Hasbro, the nation's second largest toy company, reported a jump in second-quarter profit last month, helped by toys related to "Star Wars."
Hasbro has the major merchandising licensing rights to make Star Wars toys from now until 2020. It's also teaming up with Walt Disney Co's consumer products division to make Frozen dolls in 2016. That deal froze out Mattel, which sells the dolls based on Frozen characters.
Toys R Us' new CEO David Brandon says the retailer is placing big bets this holiday season on brands like Star Wars to help boost sluggish US sales.
"It will be very interesting to see at the end of the holiday season where the growth comes from. And how much growth there is," Brandon says.
Toy companies are pushing remote controlled cars and droids controlled by smartphones. And robotic creatures are becoming more life-like with voice recognition features.
Hasbro's StarLily My Magical Unicorn, for example, responds to voice and touch with more than 100 sound and motion combinations. Mattel also is hoping technology will help it reverse years of slumping sales.
"You want to make sure that you give them enough that they're going to want to walk away from their iPads and phones," said Mattel's Executive Vice President Geoff Walker.
Mattel's new Barbie features speech recognition and can have a two-way conversation with girls. And its Fisher-Price brand has Smart Bear, an interactive plush bear marketed as having the brains of a computer without the screen - and is linked to a smartphone app. Fisher-Price also is pushing a robotic dinosaur.
Credit to Yahoo! News and AAP for the story.
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Yesterday was the Hasbro Investor Day conference call where Hasbro present some of their overall plans to would-be investors, press and consumers. The TFW2005 have a summary of some of the Transformers related news including:
The full presentation can be viewed and downloaded on Hasbro's website where you can also listen to the audio recording.
It was confirmed during the presentation that Micronauts will indeed be a part of an expanded Transformers mythos as was the concept tht was sold to Hasbro Inc in the mid to late 2000's by AGE when they sold the entire IP for Micronauts to Hasbro Inc rather than just licensing the brand.
The full presentation also suggests that Hasbro will increase their new tooling in general over the next couple of years, though this is not broken down by toyline so it could just be due to the introduction of new brands such as Micronauts and Stretch Armstrong.
The presentation is a follow-up from 2015 Investor Update that was produced during the US Toy Fair (download it here).
Hasbro will also be increasing their work with mobile game studio "Backflip Studio" so expect additional Hasbro Licensed mobile games to be released within 2016.
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The PlayWithThisToo team, most of whom are former Hasbro employees who worked on the Transformers brand, have finally launched their Kickstarter for their 6" interchangable action figure series which is based on the Pretender concept, along with the characters colour schemes. The kickstarter aims to raise $80,000 and after the first 24 hours has already raised 41.3% of the target.
You can check out the kickstarter here.
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Black Starscream
Choose Your Fate
Ep 1-3: Autobots Trans-scan
OTFCC 2003 (USA)
US Sheet 1
Transformers Animated
