Transformers: Armada was an American comic book published by Dreamwave Productions that ran for 18 issues from July 10, 2002, to December 10, 2003. Originally written by Chris Sarracini, writing duties were taken over by veteran Transformers writer Simon Furman , starting with the sixth issue. The comic was based on the Japanese anime series of the same name by Hasbro and Takara Tomy , but is set in its own continuity with an independent storyline.
68-649: Hasbro granted the Transformers comics license to Dreamwave in the summer of 2001. After publishing a preview of Transformers: Armada in April 2002, the comic started publication in July, written by Chris Sarracini. During the publication of Armada , Furman was approached by Dreamwave to continue the writing duties, which necessitated him watching all episodes of the anime series that had aired up to that point. The series received positive reviews from critics, although it
136-457: A syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herman Hassenfeld and is incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island . Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner , Milton Bradley , Parker Brothers , and Wizards of
204-547: A "big, epic, [and] world-shattering" storyline that would involve a variety of familiar antagonists. Following the conclusion of the "World Collide" arc with issue #18 in December 2003, Armada was replaced with Transformers: Energon , which began publication in January 2004 with issue #19, continuing Armada ' s storyline. Tom Speelman of Comic Book Resources praised Dreamwave's comic and described it as superior to
272-460: A cartoon series titled The Transformers aired from 1984 to 1987. Following the airing of the cartoon series Beast Wars: Transformers , Beast Machines: Transformers , and Transformers: Robots in Disguise , none of which had any concurrent comics being published, Hasbro would grant the license to Dreamwave Productions in the summer of 2001 to create new Transformers comics. Dreamwave
340-407: A detailed article that Hasbro came close to buying Lionsgate , exploring options to expand its entertainment division and bolster its content production capabilities due to interest in film and television ventures, but the deal fell through. On February 16, 2018, Saban Brands appointed Hasbro as the global master toy licensee for Power Rangers with a future collaboration and option to purchase
408-482: A hypodermic needle-shaped water gun tagged by the press as a "junior junkie" kit. Both were recalled. Romper Room and its toy line had continued success, although Action for Children's Television citizens group considered the program to be an advertising channel for toys. Merrill Hassenfeld took over as CEO in 1974, and his son Stephen D. Hassenfeld became president. The company became profitable once again but had mixed results due to cash flow problems from increasing
476-654: A makeover, with rides being redone and renamed to Hasbro properties. Construction was begun later that month and scheduled to wrap up in late 2020. On August 22, 2019, Hasbro announced its purchase of Entertainment One for about US$ 4 billion. The deal was completed on December 30, 2019. On October 24, 2019, Hasbro announced the closing of Backflip Studios, while its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary purchased Tuque Games in October. On February 28, 2020, Hasbro announced that Campbell Arnott's former CMO David McNeil had joined
544-420: A manufacturer of infant products and the world's largest bib producer, and Knickerbocker Toy Company, a struggling Warner Communications subsidiary. Hasbro paid 37% of its stock to Warner, which was paid into Hasbro's executive-controlled voting trust, and also received a cash infusion. In 1984, Alan G. Hassenfeld took over as president from his brother Stephen, who continued as CEO and chairman. That same year,
612-414: A new five-year contract. As of fiscal year 2012, Goldner had a total calculated compensation of $ 9,684,285. On July 9, 2013, Backflip Studios sold a 70% stake in the company to Hasbro for $ 112 million in cash. On November 6, 2012, it was rumored that The Walt Disney Company was discussing a multi-billion dollar deal to acquire Hasbro. While Hasbro declined to discuss the rumor, advisors stated there
680-523: A new subsidiary called Hasbro Entertainment , founded on August 16, 2023. The company celebrated their 100th anniversary on December 6, 2023. Three Polish-Jewish brothers, Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfeld, founded Hassenfeld Brothers in Providence, Rhode Island , in late 1923, a company selling textile remnants. Over the next two decades, the company expanded to produce pencil cases and school supplies. On January 8, 1926, Hassenfeld Brothers
748-629: A television cooking show. Two new 1970s toys were public relations disasters. One of the toys was named Javelin Darts which were similar to the ancient Roman plumbata . On December 19, 1988, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts from sale in the United States due to their hazards as a flying projectile with a sharp metal point causing multiple deaths. The other toy was named The Hypo-Squirt,
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#1732791398559816-528: The ComicBook Nation podcast, the Marvel Comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe –centered Phase Zero podcast, A Wild Podcast Has Appeared , and the daily news and entertainment video series Daily Distraction . In 2023, ComicBook.com collaborated with Entertainment Tonight on The Last of Pods podcast for HBO 's series The Last of Us . By October 2024, Phase Zero had ended and
884-706: The Entertainment One (now Lionsgate Canada ) acquisition on December 30, 2019, franchises like Peppa Pig and PJ Masks . Hasbro also spawned TV shows to promote its products, such as Family Game Night on the Discovery Family network. It is the former parent of mass media and entertainment company Entertainment One . Hasbro sold Entertainment One to Lionsgate on December 27, 2023, however, it kept eOne's family brands and eOne's stake in Astley Baker Davies , placing them into
952-472: The G.I. Joe toy in 1964 which they termed an " action figure " in order to market it to boys who wouldn't want to play with dolls. In 1964 and 1965, G.I. Joe accounted for two-thirds of Hassenfeld's sales. The company had previously sold toys under the Hasbro trade name, and it shortened its name to Hasbro Industries on July 12, 1968, and sold a minor stake in the corporation to the public. The Vietnam War
1020-572: The Transformers Preview one-shot featuring two stories, both written by Chris Sarracini, the latter of which acted as a preview for the Armada comic, and was drawn by James Raiz. Starting with issue #6, the series was written by veteran Transformers writer Simon Furman , with Pat Lee tackling coloring duties. Furman, who had previously described Armada as a "solid series", was approached by Dreamwave to take over writing duties for
1088-465: The 1983 International Tokyo Toy Show [ ja ] , the company licensed the toylines and subsequently launched the successful Transformers toy line along with a children's animated TV series two years later. With the toys and TV series being popular, Stephen Hassenfeld posed with the toys for a People magazine cover photo. In 1982, Hasbro produced the successful toy franchise My Little Pony . In 1983, they purchased GLENCO Infant Items,
1156-643: The CEO and chairman of the board. Between 1978 and 1981, Stephen reduced the Hasbro product line by one-third and its new products by one-half. Hasbro focused on simple, low-cost, longer life-cycle toys like Mr. Potato Head. Hasbro thus stayed out of the electronic games field which went bust in the early 1980s. In 1982, Hasbro revived its G.I. Joe line with the help of Marvel Comics , as an anti-terrorist special forces team based on current events. Following an interest in Takara 's Diaclone and Micro Change toylines in
1224-565: The CEO of ComicBook.com , with Blackmon becoming the site's president. At that time, the site had eight full time staff, with several part-time writers. Terry relaunched the site in May 2014 with new features, such as message boards, polls, and a larger focus on social media. Jim Viscardi served as editor from 2015, with Sam Savage serving as CEO from 2016. In April 2018, CBS Interactive (which later became part of Paramount Global ) acquired ComicBook.com as well as PopCulture.com . Following
1292-449: The Coast was bought in a deal worth $ 325 million. Wizards of the Coast is now a subsidiary of Hasbro and has Avalon Hill as its division. In 2001 money-losing Hasbro Interactive was sold to Infogrames , a French software concern, for $ 100 million. Hasbro entered the building block toy with its Built to Rule line in 2003, which did not hold together well or were too hard for the targeted age group, thus ended in 2005. In 2004,
1360-548: The Coast , among others. As of August 2020, over 81.5% of its shares were held by large financial institutions. Mr. Potato Head serves as Hasbro’s iconic, official mascot along with its preschool children’s subsidiary Playskool . Among Hasbro's products are Transformers , G.I. Joe , Power Rangers , Rom the Space Knight , Micronauts , M.A.S.K. , Monopoly , Furby , Nerf , Potato Head , Ouija boards , Play-Doh , Twister , and My Little Pony , and with
1428-513: The Coast subsidiary "posted revenue of $ 816 million last year, up 24% from 2019, fueled by what Hasbro says were record years for" Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering . ICv2 reported, "the WotC and Digital Gaming segment is over $ 112 million more than the operating profit for Hasbro's entire consumer products segment" and that "Wizards of the Coast on its own is also more profitable than Hasbro's consumer products segment [...]. From
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#17327913985591496-566: The Far East as an important market to expand. In 1992, Hasbro purchased Nomura Toys Ltd. in Japan, and majority ownership of Palmyra, a Southeast Asian toy distributor. These increased the proportion of international sales from 22% in 1985 to 45% ($ 1.28 billion) in 1995. In 1993, Hasbro lost its bid for J. W. Spear & Sons , a U.K.-based game maker, to Mattel . In the US, Hasbro's growth since 1980
1564-832: The Hasbro Toy Group. Meanwhile, Mattel purchased Fisher-Price and retook the top spot in the toy industry. Hasbro Interactive was started in 1995 and released the Monopoly game on CD-ROM. Mattel also proposed a merger that year, but was turned down by the Hasbro board in 1996 due to antitrust issues and Justice Department investigation into exclusionary policies between toy manufacturers and toy retailers, particularly Toys "R" Us . In 1998, Hasbro bought Avalon Hill for $ 6 million and Galoob for $ 220 million. That same year, Milton Bradley merged with Parker Bros. to form Hasbro Games. In 1999, Hasbro paid $ 325 million for rights to Pokémon toys. The same year, Wizards of
1632-583: The acquisition, Savage left as CEO. In April 2024, Viscardi left ComicBook.com to become VP of Business Development at Image Comics , with the site then being led by assistant managing editor Joe Schmidt. In August 2024, Paramount Global sold ComicBook.com and PopCulture.com to Savage's digital media operator, Savage Ventures, as part of its plan to divest assets and achieve $ 500 million in cost savings. At that time, both ComicBook.com and PopCulture.com employed over 40 people. While no layoffs or leadership changes were initially expected, following
1700-538: The acquisition, several employees were let go from the company including Schmidt. The next month, Ben Kendrick was revealed to have joined Savage Ventures and was hired as the editorial director of ComicBook.com , after previously working at Static Media for Screen Rant , Comic Book Resources , and Collider . The site offers news, interviews, and reviews centered on comic books, television , films , video games , and anime among others. ComicBook.com has also produced video content and podcasts, including
1768-479: The anime series of the same name, highlighting the ability of the Minicons to communicate properly through speech, rather than beeping sound. Randy Lander of TheFourthRail.com gave the first issues a score of 7/10, particularly for its presentation of the characters which "plays up their colorful and cool side". Lander also praised Sarracini's writing for being "action-packed", as well as Raiz's artwork, particularly
1836-623: The building block market since the failure of the Built to Rule line, Hasbro re-entered the market with the Kre-O line in late 2011, starting with some Transformers -based sets. In 2012, Hasbro received a $ 1.6 million tax credit from the state of Rhode Island with a promise to create 245 new jobs in the state. Instead, they laid off more than 125 workers. This was followed in 2013 with further layoffs of North American workers, amounting to 10% of its salaried employees. Meanwhile, CEO Brian Goldner signed
1904-403: The chairman position. However, the executives clashed and Shea left after a few months, and Stephen and Alan returned to their previous positions. On June 6, 1985, the company changed its name again to just Hasbro, Inc. The Jumpstarters toys were the subject of a lawsuit in 1985 when Hasbro sued a toy manufacturer for selling toys based on their Transformers design. Hasbro won the suit. In
1972-513: The comic. As he had only seen a rough cut of the anime's first episode at BotCon 2002, he had to catch up with the anime series. The final story arc in Armada , titled "Worlds Collide", started with issue #14. According to Furman, Armada #13 would act as a lead-in to the story arc, with the Minicons playing a significant role and the revelation they have been withholding information from the Autobots. Furman further described "Worlds Collide" as
2040-683: The company as the managing director for Pacific operations. On September 30, 2020, Renegade Game Studios announced they had acquired licensing for creating tabletop games for multiple Hasbro brands. Several of the games would be using the 5E role-playing system owned by Hasbro's subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. On February 25, 2021, during the 2021 Investor Event, Hasbro announced a company reorganization with three divisions: Consumer Products, Entertainment, and Wizards & Digital. The Wall Street Journal reported that "Hasbro's net revenue fell 8% last year to $ 5.47 billion, due in part to retail shutdowns related to Covid-19," however, its Wizards of
2108-495: The company entered into a deal with Paramount Home Entertainment to release its programs based on its games and toys on VHS and DVD. In 2008, Hasbro acquired game maker Cranium, Inc. for $ 77.5 million. The deal was announced on January 4 and closed on January 25. Hasbro and Universal Pictures signed an agreement in February 2008 to derive four films from seven Hasbro properties for production. In May, Bennett Schneir
Transformers: Armada (comic book) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-522: The company having gone from sales of $ 104 million in the year he took control to 1989 sales of over $ 1.4 billion. Alan succeeded Stephen as chairman and CEO. In 1991, Hasbro purchased Tonka Corp. for $ 486 million, along with its units Parker Brothers , the maker of Monopoly , and Kenner Products . Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers were merged into one division. Alan moved to expand Hasbro overseas with new units in Greece, Hungary, and Mexico. Alan saw
2244-490: The company introduced Flubber , but reports of sore throats and rashes from the product and knock-offs prompted an investigation by the Food and Drug Administration and a voluntary recall by Hassenfeld Brothers. The company was approached in 1963 to license a toy based on The Lieutenant , which they turned down because they did not want to be tied to a possibly short-lived television series. Instead, Hassenfeld Brothers produced
2312-485: The company praise from Greenpeace executive director Phil Radford , who said: "The new Hasbro policy will also increase the recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper in its toy packaging. Hasbro's new commitments are great news for Indonesian rainforests and the people and wildlife that depend on them." By April 2011, Hasbro started 360 Manufacturing Services, a contract OEM game manufacturing operating out of Hasbro's USA plant. Having been absent from
2380-553: The company to post a $ 1 million loss for the year. In 1970, Hasbro began a plan of diversification and opened the Romper Room Nursery School franchise chain to cash in on President Richard Nixon 's Family Assistance Plan which subsidized day care for working mothers. By 1975, the company had ended the nursery chain. Hasbro also entered the cookware field with the Galloping Gourmet line based on
2448-503: The company was the nation's sixth best-selling toymaker, and then acquired the Milton Bradley Company , which was the nation's fifth best-selling toymaker. This brought The Game of Life , Twister , Easy Money , and Playskool into the Hasbro fold and on September 10 transformed Hasbro into Hasbro Bradley . Stephen Hassenfeld became the merged company's president and CEO, with Milton Bradley chief James Shea Jr. taking
2516-528: The company's treatment of the Empire Pencil subsidiary as Empire received lower levels of capital spending relative to profits than did the toy division. With Merrill's death in 1979, Harold did not recognize Stephen's authority as the successor to the chairman and CEO position. As a solution, Hasbro spun off Empire Pencil in 1980, which was the nation's largest pencil maker, with Harold trading his Hasbro shares for those of Empire. Stephen then became both
2584-609: The control of its chief content officer. Hasbro announced that it would launch its own convention, named HasCon , and featuring "all things Hasbro" in 2016, with the inaugural event being held at the Rhode Island Convention Center in September 2017. On November 15, 2017, Mattel, Inc. rejected an offer from the company. At the time, Mattel's worth was $ 5 billion, while Hasbro's worth was about $ 11 billion. On February 27, 2018, Variety reported in
2652-403: The designs of Cybertron. Lander also argued that although he found Transformers: Generation One as a better series overall, Armada was better for new readers. Sam Windholz gave the first issue 3.5/5 stars, stating that although there were a few issues with it, issue #1 proved to be a "promising start". Windholz also praised the comic's artwork, especially the depiction of Cybertron. Concerning
2720-530: The end of 2015, Disney gave Hasbro a chance to gain the license given their work on Star Wars , which led to a Descendants license. DCP was also attempting to evolve the brand from one of them less as damsels and more as heroines. In September 2014, Disney announced that Hasbro would be the doll licensee for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1, 2016. On July 13, 2016, Hasbro acquired Dublin-based Boulder Media Limited and placed it under
2788-399: The end of its run, the title scored out of the top 50. Transformers: Armada was collected in three trade paperbacks —titled First Contact , Fortress , and Worlds Collide with five, six, and seven issues, respectively—which were published from 2003 to 2004. After IDW Publishing acquired the Transformers licence, the paperbacks were re-released in 2008–2009, and an omnibus collection
Transformers: Armada (comic book) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-417: The fields of comic books , television , films , video games , and anime . The site came online in 1996 serving as a holding page for sales links and press releases related to comic books under various domain names, before becoming ComicBook.com in 2004. In 2007, Joe Blackmon founded the website as a comic book news site. The site was relaunched in 2014 following Shannon Terry becoming CEO. ComicBook.com
2924-401: The franchise. On May 1, 2018, Hasbro agreed to purchase Power Rangers and other entertainment assets from Saban Brands for $ 522 million in cash and stock with the licensing fee recently paid with credit. The sale, which also collaborated with My Pet Monster , Popples , Julius Jr. , Treehouse Detectives and additional properties, was expected to close in the second quarter until it
2992-748: The hotel when it opened in 2019. Hasbro granted Kingsmen Creatives a license to build a chain of NERF Action Xperience family entertainment centers, with the first to be opened in Singapore in fall/winter 2019. In November, the company issued a license for family entertainment centers to Kilburn Live, who were to launch a new division for the centers. That December, the company granted a license for theme parks to Imagine Resorts and Hotels, co-founded by Bruce Neviaser. Neviaser had previously co-founded Great Lakes Companies, which launched Great Wolf Resorts indoor waterpark resorts. On December 18, 2019, Hasbro and West Edmonton Mall announced that Galaxyland would get
3060-520: The intent to sell its last two factories, in Ireland and East Longmeadow, Massachusetts (including its 360 Manufacturing Services), to Cartamundi . The deal was set to close in sixty days. Hasbro signed a five-year deal with Cartamundi to produce their board games at the East Longmeadow plant. With Mattel adding two competing lines, and the expiration of their Disney Princess license at
3128-650: The late 1980s, Hasbro moved to increase international sales by taking toys overseas that had failed in the US market and selling them for as much as four times the original price. This increased international sales from $ 268 million in 1985 to $ 433 million in 1988. In 1988, Hasbro purchased part of Coleco Industries' indoor and outdoor children's furniture and ride-on toy product lines for $ 21 million including two just closed manufacturing plants in Amsterdam, New York. In July 1989, Hasbro acquired bankrupt Coleco for $ 85 million. Stephen Hassenfeld died later that year with
3196-521: The mid-1980s, Hasbro moved past Mattel to become the world's largest toy company. Hasbro then moved to outsell Mattel's Barbie in the fashion doll market with the 1986 introduction of Jem , a record producer/rock musician dual identity fashion doll. Jem initially posted strong sales but plummeted and was withdrawn from the market in 1987. Hasbro followed up in 1988 with Maxie , a Barbie-sized blonde doll, so that Barbie clothing and accessories would fit. Maxie lasted until 1990. Under Alan's initiative in
3264-526: The number of toys in the line to offset G.I. Joe's declining sales. Hasbro ended the G.I. Joe line in 1975 because of the rising prices of plastic and crude oil. In 1977, Hasbro's losses were $ 2.5 million, and the company held a large debt load. That same year, Hasbro acquired licensing rights to Peanuts cartoon characters. With the financial situation poor, Hasbro's bankers made the company temporarily stop dividend payments in early 1979. The toy division's losses increased Harold Hassenfeld's resentment regarding
3332-477: The outside, Hasbro looks like a toy company, but with these numbers, it's revealed to be a geek game company with toy and entertainment divisions". In April 2021, Hasbro agreed to sell eOne Music unit to Blackstone for $ 385 million, offloading part of the Entertainment One operations that it acquired in 2019. ComicBook.com ComicBook.com is an entertainment website that offers news in
3400-489: The plastic fields during World War II to support its toy line. The Hassenfeld brothers, immigrants from Ulanów , Poland, also spent the war years helping to rescue and employ fellow Jews from Ulanów; Jacob Klapper, a holocaust survivor born in Ulanów, recalled being told when he arrived in the United States that Hassenfeld Brothers would employ any survivor from Ulanów, no questions asked. Hassenfeld Brothers' first popular toy
3468-675: The revival of the My Little Pony franchise, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic , which became the network's highest-rated program and attracted a significant cult following among teens and adults . The Hub Network was rebranded as Discovery Family on October 13, 2014. In 2013, Hasbro renewed its deal to produce Marvel Comics and Star Wars toys through at least 2020. In 2011, Greenpeace accused Hasbro of purchasing paper for its packaging from ancient forests in Indonesia. Hasbro changed its paper purchasing policy, earning
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#17327913985593536-644: The third best-selling comic of the month. Issue #3 was the first one to sell less than 100,000 copies, while #4 was the first one to not rank in the top 10. Sales continued to plummet from that point on. Issue #8 scored out of the top 20, #10 scored out of the top 30, and by #14 the series failed to rank in the top 50. By the end, Transformers: Armada #18 sold 28,059 copies and ranked 70th in Diamond's rankings. The series' first trade volume, First Contact , had 2,549 units accounted in Diamond distributed comic shops during its release month, April 2003, placing it 22nd on
3604-502: The trade paperbacks chart. The second trade, Fortress , had 1,952 units accounted in September that same year, and place 37th on the chart, while the third and last trade, Worlds Collide , sold 1,358 units in April 2004, scoring 59th place on the charts. The omnibus published by IDW Publishing in August 2010 sold 707 units and scored 132nd on the list. Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. ( / ˈ h æ z b r oʊ / ;
3672-520: The writing, Windholz compared it to Generation One , described Armada ' s writing as simpler and using more exposition. Marc Deschamps of ComicBook.com described Transformers: Armada as one of the "most underrated Transformers stories ever", particularly praising the "Worlds Collide" story arc. Transformers: Armada #1 was the best-selling comic in July 2002, according to Diamond Comic Distributors ' ranking for that month, with around 145,567 copies distributed. High sales continued with #2 being
3740-603: Was Mr. Potato Head , which the company purchased from George Lerner in 1952. In 1954, the company became a Disney major licensee. In 1960, Henry died and Merrill took over the parent company, and his older brother Harold ran the pencil-making business of Empire Pencil. Hassenfeld Brothers expanded to Canada with Hassenfeld Brothers (Canada) Ltd. in 1961. In 1962, Hasbro purchased the former Potter & Johnston manufacturing company building on Newport Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island . The Pawtucket plant facilities were eventually expanded to over 300,000 square feet. In 1963
3808-489: Was "absolutely nothing going on" they knew of between the two companies. Additionally, financial analysts said the deal was illogical, as the rumor came out just a week after Disney had acquired Lucasfilm . Hasbro was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, citing that the "company enhanced its vacation policy by giving new employees three weeks off in their first year instead of having to wait five years." On November 12, 2014, it
3876-494: Was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996 by artist Pat Lee and his brother Roger Lee. Following the end of Beast Machines , Hasbro and Takara partnered to reboot the franchise and create a new cartoon series and toyline; the Transformers: Armada anime series would start airing on Cartoon Network in 2002. Dreamwave would first publish a Transformers comic in April 2002, with
3944-483: Was acquired by CBS Interactive (which later became part of Paramount Global ) in 2018 before Paramount Global sold it to Savage Ventures in 2024, and Ben Kendrick was hired as the editorial director . ComicBook.com began as a holding page containing sales links and press releases related to comic books and had various names used by various companies: in 1996, American Entertainment used it for their websites, Smash , Another Universe , and Mania Magazine . The site
4012-462: Was acquired by Fandom in 2000 before it was changed to Cinescape in 2001. By 2004, the site was renamed ComicBook.com . In 2007, Joe Blackmon and a business partner founded ComicBook.com as a comic book news site, and by 2010, it was co-owned by William King of Magellen Press. At this time, it had formed into its own website, posting news about comic books and other fields related to comics. In January 2014, 247Sports CEO Shannon Terry became
4080-431: Was at its height in 1969, so Hasbro redesigned GI Joe to be less militaristic and more adventure-oriented. Its promotional efforts included the catchphrase "Boy Oh Boy! It's A Hasbro Toy!" in television commercials and print ads. Also in 1969, Hasbro bought Burt Claster Enterprises which produced " Romper Room " and had just begun a Romper Room toy line. A month-long Teamsters strike and Far Eastern supplier troubles caused
4148-546: Was finished with Saban's collab. On October 19, 2018, the company announced plans to cut jobs amounting to less than 10% of its 5,000-plus global workforce in response to changes in how consumers buy toys. In 2018, Hasbro signed a number of licensing agreements for hospitality deals based on Hasbro brands. On May 1, 2018, the Monopoly Mansion hotel agreement was announced by Hasbro, with M101 Holdings overseeing construction and M101's Sirocco Group assigned to manage
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#17327913985594216-486: Was formed for TV development, production and distribution. On December 11, 2012, Hasbro transferred all entertainment divisions to Hasbro Studios, including their LA-based film group, and Cake Mix Studio, the company's Rhode Island–based producer of commercials and short form content. Hasbro collaborated with Discovery on The Hub , a cable television network targeting younger children and families, which launched on October 10, 2010. The venture found unexpected success with
4284-458: Was from acquisitions and the leveraging of the new assets. New product development was not as successful except for film and TV tie-in product lines with Jurassic Park and Barney . Thus, US sales were stagnant in the early 1990s, falling from 1993 to 1995. To turn domestic performance around in 1994, Hasbro merged the Hasbro Toy, Playskool, Playskool Baby, Kenner, and Kid Dimension units into
4352-604: Was hired to lead its Hasbro Films division, while Hasbro also reacquired series based on their properties from Sunbow Productions . The year of his promotion to CEO of Hasbro, Brian Goldner was named CEO of the year by News Corp affiliate website MarketWatch .com. Goldner became the first person not from the founding Hassenfeld family to hold the position. In 2009, the Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. brands were retired after eleven years and eight years of Hasbro ownership respectively. That same year, Hasbro Studios
4420-547: Was incorporated in Rhode Island; Hillel left for another textile business while Henry took charge of the corporation. They began making their own pencils after their pencil supplier began making pencil cases as well. Hassenfeld Brothers produced modeling clay and then doctor and nurse kits as their first toys, and they became primarily a toy company by 1942. Hillel died in 1943 and Henry Hassenfeld became CEO, while his son Anthony Merrill became president. The company entered
4488-475: Was published in 2010. The Transformers franchise was created by American toy company Hasbro , based on the Japanese toylines Diaclone and Micro Change from Takara . Hasbro would partner with Marvel Comics to develop the world and mythology of Transformers , with Marvel also publishing a comic book series that ran for 80 issues, from September 1984 to July 1991. Concurrently with Marvel's comic,
4556-417: Was reported that Hasbro was in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation . The proposal reportedly calls for the combined company to take the name "DreamWorks-Hasbro" and for Jeffrey Katzenberg to become its chairman, but as a matter of policy, neither Hasbro nor DWA publicly comment on mergers and acquisitions. Two days later, the talks were reported to have fallen through. On July 14, 2015, the company announced
4624-494: Was viewed as inferior to Dreamwave's concurrently published series, Transformers: Generation One . Upon its launch, the title was a commercial success, with its first issue being the best-selling comic of July 2002. Sales remained high throughout the first seven issues, with each one scoring in the top 15 of the Diamond Comic Distributors ' rankings. However, sales started plummeting after that point and by
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