The Energon Pub

I’ve had the privilege of a lifetime to be part of the creative force at Hasbro. When I was a boy in the early 1980’s, I was encouraged by my Dad, an inner city public school art teacher, to learn about industrial design.It wasn’t until I saw Where the Toys Come From in 1984 on a VHS cassette from my local library that I realized that the worlds of drawing, painting, sculpture, and mass-production engineering collided into a fascinating miasma resulting in the swivel-armed hero that I held in my hand.That next year, I would go on to write a letter for my fifth grade class to Ralph Shaffer, the mastermind SVP who (alongside the mighty James Groman) created the wacky MadBall line in the nearby metro area of Cleveland Ohio. To my surprise he wrote me back and I got a tour… the illustrations on frisket hanging on the wall, originals from Groman himself and the think tank of subversive designers. My career at Hasbro has taught me what it means to dream hard enough that your dreams come to life. And just like the closing act in The Muppet Movie, for 25 years, you as Hasbro’s fans of Transformers, G.I.Joe, MASK, Visionaries, Jem, Pokémon, Star Wars… we came together. Through the crashing anarchy of the rainbow we came together, somehow. Like a family. To hundreds upon thousands of fans that I’ve met at conventions around the world, I say thank you. Your passion for the brands that we all grew up with and loved as children is beyond measure. It has been a privilege and an honor to talk to each and every one of you. We are all Family. Thank you fans and thank you Hasbro for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to bring my childhood dreams to life these past 25 years. Even to bring new dreams to life for a new generation of fans, like my kids who are now adults. As I gaze misty eyed on my career and what magic comes next, my heart is filled with gratitude.Fear not, Autobots. I am sure our paths will come together again. As sure as the sun beams in from above onto the singing Muppets below. Thank you

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

Mkall wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

When Hasbro stops doing Transformers is when I stop collecting Transformers I think.

Emerje wrote:I'm a little confused here. It's terrible that he lost his job and they're calling it a layoff as if there's a possibility of him coming back, but I clearly remember people rejoicing when he left to work on Power Rangers as he's always been against giving more obscure characters a chance and never really demonstrated an understanding of those characters in the first place. I'm thinking much of his layoff has to do with the poor performance of the Power Rangers franchise (whether it was his fault or he's the scapegoat), though Hasbro never really seemed to give it a proper chance to begin with (too much random collector stuff, not enough kids stuff, especially Zords and no new shows).

Emerje

Mkall wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

When Hasbro stops doing Transformers is when I stop collecting Transformers I think.

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Mkall wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

When Hasbro stops doing Transformers is when I stop collecting Transformers I think.

There is great potential with 3rd party releases. Hasbro or not.

Dino-Snarl wrote:Were they hoping to pay salaries with a share of the TF1 movie?

william-james88 wrote:He had transitionned back to the transformers team lately but as middle managenent. As a new corporate model, Hasbro is removing all those types of management jobs, having employees directly report to upper management. All those middle managers, like John now, got laid off.

Bumblevivisector wrote:My first thought as well, but how quickly we forget about the 2nd party;

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

blackeyedprime wrote:Hopefully there is more bad eggs going than the good eggs. Might be why hasbro is licensing out stuff like m. A. S. K if they aren't going to have fewer people to work on it, warden likely could have done some good stuff with that alone.

william-james88 wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:Were they hoping to pay salaries with a share of the TF1 movie?

Thats cold

Bumblevivisector wrote:

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Mkall wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

When Hasbro stops doing Transformers is when I stop collecting Transformers I think.

There is great potential with 3rd party releases. Hasbro or not.

My first thought as well, but how quickly we forget about the 2nd party; even if Hasbro stopped doing TF toys altogether (which still seems a little far-fetched), wouldn't Takara just keep doing their own stuff?

Maybe all the toys would be like Transformers GO, but at least western fans could extend the name to "GO-F*&%-Yourselves-Hasbro-Execs".

Dino-Snarl wrote:

Mkall wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Bumblevivisector wrote:If streamlining means laying off someone who had that big a hand in improving the brand over the past decade or so, it begs the question of where Hasbro thinks it's going.

The CEO answered that, they are going towards becoming a digital game company and license holder, there’s no more big money in toys

When Hasbro stops doing Transformers is when I stop collecting Transformers I think.

There is great potential with 3rd party releases. Hasbro or not.

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to be part of the powerhouse team at TLS Toy under the wise leadership of Dina Al Rifai, Ben Montano, and Jonathan Cathey.

As many of you already know, I come from an “Action Brands” background, but my experiences over the years have also included Pokemon, Shrek, and some Anime Properties. I am excited to dive into the TLS suite of brands!

As I mentioned to Jonathan, Ben, and Dina - I feel that TLS is uniquely positioned to move on trends. Our industry is moving faster than ever, and sometimes big companies have a hard time keeping up with smaller and more flexible teams.

Recognizing trends, memes, and pop-culture moments quickly is the key to unlocking new consumers as well as diving deeper into the psyche of our collectors/kid-adult fans. We live in changing times, and being able to buy a toy, keychain, or plush to connect with other fans (young or old) brings all of us comfort. Toys have a magical way of bringing all of us together.

In my new role, I will be bringing new play and excitement to Nostalgic brands like MASK, while paving the way for new brands of the future!

I am excited to make magic with all of you! #theloyalsubjects #tlstoy #mask #mobilearmoredstrikekommand #mypetmonster #jem #popples #popplesvintage #keeptoystarifffree