With the future of the Power Rangers brand seemingly up in the air, some have speculated that under the umbrella of Hasbro, it is now effectively “dead.”
But wait!
We’ve received word today that the legacy of Power Rangers will live on!
…at Playmates Toys.
Here’s the press release from Hasbro:
For those of you saying “I ain’t reading all that, I’m happy for you though, or sorry that happened,” the gist is that starting next year, Playmates is doing a kid-targeted line based on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (aka “their Generation One that no one can let go of”) all across the world, save for Asia. This includes “action figures, blasters, plush, role play, vehicles and accessories.”
This doesn’t mean that The House the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Built owns the brand, though. Hasbro still has that plum sitting comfortably in their pocket, and will continue to reap the rewards of licensing things like “publishing, fashion and footwear, promotions and more.” It sounds like they still have plans to release stuff through Hasbro Pulse, too, and will feature it at big industry events like San Diego Comic Con.
So yeah, “Large Toy Company Hires Smaller Toy Company to Make Their Toys for Them” pretty much seems to sum up the current direction of things. But then, Hasbro’s been subletting their brands out to companies like Super7 and McFarlane for years now, so in a sense, this isn’t anything new.
A couple of other notes of no real consequence:
- Yes, I know that Playmates doesn’t own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand the way Hasbro now owns Power Rangers, but if you can think of a more synonymous brand to use for a header image, I’d like to hear it.
- Yes, I came really close to using the team-up image from the Power Rangers in Space episode “Shell Shocked,” but figured that after more than 25 years — and with Mighty Morphin being the particular call-out of the press release, the more contemporary team-up was the way to go.
Sources: Hasbro, via TOYCOLLECTR and Pixel Dan.
Think this news is morphenomenal? Or just further evidence to the running notion that the Power Rangers brand is “dead”? Discuss it at the “Power Rangers General Discussion Thread” in our forums.
Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!
Source: The AllSpark
