Hasbro

2007-08-07T14:39:33Z

86.41.208.220:

'''Hasbro''' is the owner of the Transformers brand in most markets beyond the Japanese, where it is owned by [[TakaraTomy]].

==History==
Hasbro was originally founded in 1923 as "Hassenfeld Brothers" by brothers Henry and Helal Hassenfeld from Rhode Island. The company originally sold textile remnants, but soon moved into manufacturing pencil boxes and school supplies.

In 1952, Hasbro first rose to fame with the release of a toy named [[Optimash Prime|Mr. Potato Head]], which is still very popular today.

In 1964, Hasbro had an even greater success with the original [[G.I. Joe]] toy designed by Don Levine, which caused Hassenfeld Bros. to grow to be one of the largest toy companies in the USA. In 1968, the company would change its name to "Hasbro Industries, Inc."

Through a series of importing licenses and spin-offs, G.I. Joe would ultimately lead to the [[Microman]] and [[Diaclone]] toylines by Japanese toymaker [[Takara]], which in turn would lead to Hasbro's release of the original Transformers toyline in 1984.

In 1984, Hasbro would also buy out a competing toy company named [[Milton Bradley]] (MB), which whould result in the merged company briefly assuming the name "Hasbro Bradley, Inc." After the merger was completed, the company changed its name into simply "Hasbro, Inc." Milton Bradley's European facilities would also be used to manufacture the initial wave of Transformers toys to be released in Europe before the merger was completed. (See also: [[Generation 1 Europe (toyline)]].)

In 1995, Hasbro transferred control of the Transformers franchise to its [[Kenner]] subsidiary, then phased out the Kenner brand in 2000.

==Hasbro today==

===Employees===

* [[Alfred J. Verrecchia]], President and Chief Executive Officer
* [[Brian Goldner]], President Toy

====Boy's Toys====
* [[Vickie Stratford]], Design Project Manager (Boy's Toys)
* [[Joe Kyde]], Designer (Boy's Toys, Exclusive Division)

=====Transformers Brand=====
* [[Greg Lombardo]], Director of Marketing
* [[Aaron Archer]], Design Director
* [[Eric Siebenaler]], Lead Designer
* [[Jared Wade]], Designer
* [[William Rawley]], Designer

===Relationship with fandom===

[[Image:Hasbrotour-fleshlesskitty.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Hasbro showed they love the fans by giving a tour of their offices during [[BotCon 2007]]. Hasbro showed they hate the fans by including '''this'''!]]

[[Fandom|Fandom's]] relationship with Hasbro is as paradoxical and confusing as our relationships with our [[Wikipedia:Alcoholism|Parents]]. They are an incredible source of joy and happiness, as well as the focal point of rage and blame for pretty much everyone in the Transformers community. To much of the fandom, Hasbro's actual involvement in the Transformers franchise is rarely acknowledged when not negative. Many view their activities to subsist entirely of:

* Slapping fans in the face.
* Getting things all wrong.
* Screwing up Takara's toys.
* [[Chip Chase|Being Lazy]].
* Trying to make money.
* [[Ruined FOREVER|Ruining everything forever]].

When they found the time to create and maintain a successful, celebrated franchise that was the basis of twenty years of obsession and happiness for the exact same fans is unknown.

It should be noted, however, that most of Hasbro's success is down to the inherently successful brands it holds, more than their efforts to keep them float. A similiar phenomenon can be seen by the fact that Marvel manages to stay afloat despite the MU being rather, er, rubbish these days.

Hasbro have indeed made some rather barmy decisions in the past. Some of Hasbro's genuine crimes that certain people like to ignore included:

* Treating Europe like rubbish. Hasbro USA decides exactly what Hasbro Europe can and can't sell. Charging twice as much for product, and generally paltry distribution. Europe never recieved much of the Classics line, the Beast Wars re-issues, most Alternators and Titaniums. Of course, once Israel or some place gets some crappy Protoform figure first, the Americans just have it SO UNFAIR.

* Scrapping all three collector lines indefinitely in and around the same time period(Classics, Titaniums, Alternators). It should be noted that while Classics is returning, there is still a period of over a year with essentially no collector product apart from Masterpiece Starscream.

* The sizes and accuracy of Transformers Movie toys. Characters like [[Brawl]], [[Bonecrusher]] that should be much larger recieved deluxes, and large characters like [[Starscream]] and [[Blackout]] only recieved Voyagers. Arcee is very much out of scale. Brawl recieved a Leader toy eventually, but is not really a notable enough character in the movie to warrant this. Scale has always been an issue for Transformers toys. Megatron's colour scheme is very inaccurate and has put a lot of people off the figure - it doesn't capture the gritty, metallic feel of the movie model. The [[Robot Replica]] looks like it's made from foam. While the sizes can be somewhat excusable since Decepticons don't sell as well, giving Brawl a leader and deluxe as opposed to a Voyager(the in between size) is questionable, and many of the Deco choices(Ratchet in the movie is a more golden colour, Jazz suffers from very flat, boring grey plastic) are lackluster.

* Using translucent, detail swallowing plastics where Matte plastics should be used. For instance, Classics Starscream, especially in the face. Even alternators suffer from this - on the inside legs, cheap looking grey plastic is used. Transformers also tend to be lax on paint apps compared to other lines with a large collector base.
Plastic colour choices can also be questionable, often using pink-ish red plastics([[Classics]] [[Optimus Prime]]) and sometimes giving decent moulds bright, gaudy colours([[Voyager Ratchet]], some [[Energon]] toys), or colours that don't match up with their paint([[Classics]] [[Optimus Prime]], [[Classics]] [[Bumblebee]], a few Cybertron toys)- but if you complain about these, you're a sad McFarlane humping Goth kid who wants EVERYTHING IN BLACK.

* As a sidenote, Raising the price of Marvel Legends, while reducing the paint apps, articulation, and average size, AND removing the comic. This essentially confirms that Hasbro "could" make better figures for the money they're charging, which is a point of worry for some people.

Hasbro's decisions are very often mercilessly defended by certain individuals within the fanbase, and it can be difficult to express any distaste when Hasbro gets something wrong. Many would criticise them for not taking a stronger stance against some decisions made regarding the Transformers movie which made certain aspects of the brand less recognisable, and divided the fanbase.

==Fiction==
===Timelines Descent into Evil comic===
The [[Decepticon]] [[Flamewar]] collects Hasbro memorabilia.

[[Category:Companies]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

Ruined FOREVER

2007-08-07T14:22:06Z

86.41.208.220: Wow, are you really that ridiculous allergic to being unbiased? This previous article was fine. Tweaked up and restored.

[[Image:Ruined_forever.jpg|thumb|250px|We believe in regular Preparedness Drills]]
[[Fans]] realize something [[Hasbro]] does not, that [[Transformers brand|robust 20-year-old billion-dollar franchises]], while seemingly healthy, are in actuality as fragile as two bricks tied together with tissue paper. One mistake, one bad mis-step will cause the entire thing to [[Gold Plastic Syndrome|shatter]] and fall apart; and '''Transformers would be ruined forever'''.

Fortunately, there ''is'' hope. The Transformers fanbase has resolved to remain ''ever vigilant'' against something that could Ruin Transformers Forever, and call out warning if they see something that could potentially do so.

Some Transformers conservationists suggest a more extreme approach, that Transformers should [[Wikipedia:Mickey Mouse|abandon all attempts at re-invention]] and instead [[Wikipedia:Masters of the Universe|cater exclusively to the old-school collectors]]. Though attractive, this approach may prove [[G.I. Joe|impractical as a long-term solution]].

Ruined Forever remains a serious threat to Transformers now and in the foreseeable future, though it's possible a proposed initiative requiring all Transformers fans to purchase an annual "[[Wikipedia:Carbon offset|plastic offset]]" could ensure our fragile brand's existence through the mid-21st century.

Of course, when people say "Ruined", they generally mean the integrity of the characters and fiction. In which case, it's somewhat true, as Armada for a lot of people set a lower precedent for the series to follow(as did RiD to an extent). Ironically, the reason that the movie didn't have the same alteration was because some dirty, filthy, FANS were involved in the making of Animated.

==Things that have '''Ruined Transformers Forever''' in the past==
* [[The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|Death of Optimus Prime]]
* [[Generation 1 (toyline)#1987|The new toys]]
* [[Generation 2|The old toys]]
* [[Beast Wars|Munkies]]
* [[Beast Machines|Bob Skir]]
* [[Robots in Disguise|Anime]]
* [[JaAm|Dreamwave]]
* [[Fans|The Fans]]
* [[Armada (cartoon)|Pokeformers]]
* [[Armada (toyline)|Success]]
* [[Aaron Archer|Closing Orson's World]]
* [[Energon (cartoon)|Voicebox]]
* [[The Beast Within]]
* [[Glen Hallit]]
* [[Kiss Players|Japan]]
* [[Transformers (2007)|America]]
* [[Michael Bay|Bayformers]]
* [[Transformers Animated|Teen Titans]]

In other words, pretty much everything...

[[Category: Fandom]]
[[Category: Things that don't exist]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

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Hasbro

Ruined FOREVER