The Energon Pub

Hi all,
I'm not sure if the news itself is new but this seems to be: French toy YouTuber Arkeo Toys has posted a documentary called Arkeotoys : le Mystère des Archives Secrètes d'HASBRO ... (Arkeo Toys & the Secret of Hasbro France!).

The 52-minute film where he and other YouTubers, Tiktokers and toy photographers explore this "Ali Baba's cave" of old toys can be watched here: https://youtu.be/Sh2c36CHveM. YouTube's auto-translate of the film into English is rough but you get the idea of what's being said. Perhaps a French-speaking Seibertronian can give us their views?

Arkeo Toys screenie 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

The description for the French-language video (which runs for 52min) is translated thusly by Google:

Have you ever dreamed of unearthing Time Capsules filled with old Toys from your childhood?

This week, @ArkeoToys offers you a unique video shot on the occasion of the opening of an Archives fund, hidden for more than 30 years in a logistics center of the HASBRO brand...

My mission: to probe dozens of pallets to determine how far back these old Toys go!

Tens of thousands of Magic or POKEMON cards, LITTLE PONIES, DARK VADER, MR POTATO and other MONOPOLYs were stored away before the places were computerized.

A collection of inestimable value kept until now in the greatest secrecy... I invite you to follow us in a real investigation in the footsteps of this treasure!

Looking for the last witnesses who saw the birth of some of our favorite games!

A video made by the incredible @RomainHoules, in partnership with the National Toy Museum of Moirans en Montagne and the collective @ToyGame.fr

We would like to thank the entire Hasbro France and WeMaje team for their welcome!

Arkeo Toys screenie 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

What isn't mentioned in the description are the vintage Transformers toys also found in the warehouse. I'm about to watch the full film but here are some screenshots of relevant figures glimpsed in the trailer:
Arkeo Toys screenie 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Arkeo Toys screenie 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Arkeo Toys screenie 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Arkeo Toys screenie 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

From my viewing with Google Translate's rather clunky subtitles, the story behind the film is that Hasbro France's distribution centre at Creutzwald is home to a massive archive of toys and games going back to the early 1980s. For legal reasons the company is obliged to retain one copy of everything that passes through the facility, and in that time 200-300 pallets of product have been accumulated.

Arkeo Toys screenie 12 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Thanks to this beginning before computerised stocktaking these pallets need to be catalogued. Enter Arkeo Toys and some of the ToyGame.fr team who were asked by Hasbro to go through about 70 pallets and see exactly what was there. It's explained that historically such items are disposed of by sale or incinerator(!) once the time limit is passed, however Melanie Bessard of the Musee du Joulet is on hand in to explain toys from this incredible hoard will go on display at the museum while multiples will indeed be sold (and it's clarified that everything remains the property of Hasbro).

Arkeo Toys screenie 14 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

As well as the enthusiastic collectors and French toy social media stars we hear from Hasbro staff including warehouse manager Thierry PF and longtime boss Michel Gruhn, who was a key part of Hasbro France's founding.

Arkeo Toys screenie 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
Arkeo Toys screenie 10 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

It turns out there's not a lot of Transformers content - mostly Beast Wars with a couple of Unicron Trilogy toys spotted - but this is a must-see for any toy collector and I await the results of the full archival programme with much excitement. One wonders how many Transformers toys there are in those Raiders of the Lost Ark-style storage racks!

Arkeo Toys screenie 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Imagine if Hasbro maintained something like this for all the animation production paperwork they ever approved? I'd be in hog's heaven.