Hasbro Acquires the Power Rangers Brand for $522 Million
Tuesday, May 1st, 2018 9:22PM CDT
Categories: Press Releases, Company NewsPosted by: william-james88 Views: 30,643
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And yes, this does mean that Hasbro can now incorporate Power Rangers into their shared universe (in comics, tv, or movies) if they wish it. Who wouldn't want a Megazord/Optimus Prime team up? It will be interesting to see if assets from the Transformers brand will cross over to Power Rangers, in terms of toys. We do know that the Takara and Hasbro's Transformers designers also work on the Beyblade property, for instance, so we could be seeing some shared technology bleed into eventual Power Rangers toys.
What is truly fascinating is that this renews an association between Hasbro and Bandai. In the (now distant) past, Power Rangers toys released outside of Japan were simply the Japanese toys with perhaps differences in deco and of course the packaging. That has changed since, with the toys outside Japan being a different take on the same mecha designs found in the show (both Power Rangers and the Japanese Super Sentai shows use the same giant robot fight scenes). If you thought there were big differences between Hasbro and Takara releases, you are not prepared for how different the Japanese Super Sentai toys were from the and American Power Rangers toys.
It is still unknown just how much Hasbro will collaborate with Bandai regarding the toys, especially with the first line from Hasbro is confirmed to be a pre-existing line from Bandai Japan. They will be tackling Beast Morphers!, which will be based on the 2012 Super Sentai’s Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters line. Here is an example of the costume and mecha designs from this line which Hasbro will in turn be releasing in their own way.
Here is the press release from Hasbro themselves.
“Power Rangers is an iconic brand built on a heritage of great storytelling and merchandising with tremendous upside potential when fully executed across Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Shortly after entering into our licensing arrangement, it became clear that now was the time to begin investing in unlocking Power Rangers’ full potential. We see significant opportunity for Power Rangers across our entire Brand Blueprint, including toys and games, consumer products, digital gaming and entertainment, as well as geographically throughout our global retail footprint. We couldn’t be more pleased that Haim Saban will continue in a consulting role to further guide our development of this valuable property for the next generation of Power Rangers fans.”
“25 years after launching Power Rangers, I believe the future for this brand has never been greater,” said Haim Saban, founder of Saban Brands and creator of Power Rangers. “Hasbro’s leadership in innovation, storytelling and brand stewardship make it the perfect company to further develop the global reach and appeal of the Power Rangers property. I look forward to working with Brian and the team in the years to come.”
Created by Haim Saban and launched in 1993, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers quickly became a pop culture phenomenon. Today, Power Rangers is one of the longest running kids’ live-action series in television history with nearly 900 episodes produced to date. The TV series, currently in its 25th season with Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, and feature films, including 2017’s movie with Lionsgate, follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who morph into superheroes and save the world from evil. Saban’s Power Rangers currently airs in 150 markets around the world and is translated into numerous languages.
The first set of products from Hasbro will be available in spring 2019.
Transaction Details
Hasbro has previously paid Saban Brands$22.25 million pursuant to the Power Rangers master toy license agreement, announced by the parties in February of 2018, that was scheduled to begin in 2019. Those amounts are being credited against the purchase price. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Hasbro will pay an additional $229.75 million in cash and will issue $270 million worth of Hasbro common stock for the Power Rangers brand and several other entertainment brands. The agreement includes all related intellectual property, category rights and content libraries owned by Saban Properties and its affiliates. The transaction is subject to a number of customary closing conditions, including obtaining required regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2018.
The transaction, including intangible amortization expense, is not expected to have a material impact on Hasbro’s 2018 results of operations.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor to Hasbro.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World's Best Play Experiences. From toys and games to television, movies, digital gaming and consumer products, Hasbro offers a variety of ways for audiences to experience its iconic brands, including NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE and MAGIC: THE GATHERING, as well as premier partner brands. Through its entertainment labels, Allspark Pictures and Allspark Animation, the Company is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for children and their families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked No. 1 on the 2017 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by CR Magazine, and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past seven years. Learn more at www.hasbro.com, and follow us on Twitter (@Hasbro & @HasbroNews) and Instagram (@Hasbro).
© 2018 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
About Saban’s Power Rangers
Saban’s Power Rangers franchise is the brainchild of Haim Saban, creator and producer of the original, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hit series that launched in 1993. Following its introduction, “Power Rangers” quickly became the most-watched television program in the United States and remains one of the top-rated and longest running kids live-action series in television history. The series, currently in its 25thseason, follows the adventures of a group of ordinary teens who morph into superheroes and save the world from evil. It is seen in more than 150 markets, translated into numerous languages and a favorite on many key international children’s programming blocks around the world. For more information, visit www.powerrangers.com.
About Saban Brands
Formed in 2010 as an affiliate of Saban Capital Group, Saban Brands acquires, develops and manages a world-class portfolio of entertainment properties. Saban Brands applies a global 360-degree management approach to growing and monetizing its brands through content, digital, marketing, distribution, licensing and retail in markets worldwide. Saban Brands’ growing entertainment portfolio of brands includes Power Rangers, Treehouse Detectives, Julius Jr., Popples, Glitter Force, and Cirque du Soleil Junior – Luna Petunia, amongst many others. Saban Brands is headquartered in Los Angeles with a global network of offices. For more information, visit www.sabanbrands.com.
Certain statements in this release contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include expectations concerning Hasbro’s potential performance in the future, its ability to achieve its financial and business goals and the expected timing for closing this transaction and may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases. Hasbro's actual actions or results may differ materially from those expected or anticipated in the forward-looking statements due to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Specific factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) the company’s ability to successfully develop and commercialize the brands it is acquiring, (ii) the ability to receive required regulatory approvals in a timely manner, and (iii) other risks and uncertainties as may be detailed from time to time in the Company's public announcements and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings. Hasbro undertakes no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.
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Posted by Quantum Surge on May 1st, 2018 @ 9:37pm CDT
But Beast Morphers need to be improvements from the Neo Saban era. Take notes from the post-Zordon era and the Disney era on how to handle character development as well as not using the MMPR theme for new seasons.
Posted by steve2275 on May 1st, 2018 @ 9:38pm CDT
Posted by Burn on May 1st, 2018 @ 9:40pm CDT
I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens, but one thing I don't want is another fucking crossover. I've yet to enjoy any story that involves Transformers with another franchise.
(Unrelated I know) And keep IDW away from the comics, Boom! is doing a fantastic job.
Posted by Randomhero on May 1st, 2018 @ 9:55pm CDT
Quantum Surge wrote:IDW and Boom can make crossovers, Movie TF and PR verses can make crossovers, Hasbro can tackle animated PR shows (hopefully with new concepts rather than adapting Sentai seasons in animation) to go with TF shows; pretty much everyone gets a crossover! Gonna be cool to see how everything turns out!
But Beast Morphers need to be improvements from the Neo Saban era. Take notes from the post-Zordon era and the Disney era on how to handle character development as well as not using the MMPR theme for new seasons.
Yeah that’s not how that works. Boom has a licensing contract just like IDW does. Just becuase Hasbro buys the powers rangers IP for toys doesn’t instantly mean IDW gets to make comics.
If they are wanted to maybe but that just depends if they want to.
Posted by Rated X on May 1st, 2018 @ 10:04pm CDT
Posted by Lucky Logician on May 1st, 2018 @ 10:08pm CDT
Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
Posted by william-james88 on May 1st, 2018 @ 10:21pm CDT
Burn wrote:ehhhhhh I'm not sure if this is good or not. I'm by far no major fan of Power Rangers (follow it here and there) but I would understand if PR fans don't like this.
I am a PR fan and this sounds amazing. Lately, the toys have been vey similar to the RID Combiner Force combiners, and that is the main line. Hasbro has proven they can make far better combiner toys so I very much look forward to this.
Posted by TulioDude on May 1st, 2018 @ 11:22pm CDT
Hopefully this also leads more funding to a movie sequel.
Lucky Logician wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
This.
Posted by fenrir72 on May 1st, 2018 @ 11:48pm CDT
Posted by fenrir72 on May 1st, 2018 @ 11:52pm CDT
Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
To my fellow critical fan, technically speaking, sentai/power rangers are a rip off (inspired from) of Gatchaman aka Battle of the Planets.5 man team with a token huntress/kid/strongman/fatguy though recently (mid 80s) had two instead on one females.
Their storylines were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the Saban edited versions. Heck, sometime too serious/mature for a show intended to sell toys.
Posted by bacem on May 1st, 2018 @ 11:59pm CDT
sorry, that is the first thing popped on my mind...
Posted by Emerje on May 2nd, 2018 @ 12:07am CDT
Lucky Logician wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
On the mecha side Super Sentai wouldn't introduce combining robots until 1981 themselves with Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. Neither were the first to introduce the concept, there are plenty of older examples in Japan including the stuff Takara was cranking out under Diaclone in 1980 or the series World Events intended to make into Voltron, but got sent the wrong "the one with the lion" show instead of GoLion, Future Robo Daltanious from 1979.
Emerje
Posted by Mechastrike on May 2nd, 2018 @ 12:20am CDT
Posted by Burn on May 2nd, 2018 @ 12:55am CDT
Mechastrike wrote:i thought Bandai owns Power Rangers/Super Sentai. how did Hasbro acquire the brand?
Saban Brands owned the Power Rangers, Hasbro acquired it from them. Bandai simply had the license to make the toys, but they'd already lost that to Hasbro in February.
Posted by ShinkenPrime on May 2nd, 2018 @ 1:16am CDT
Bonus points if they can actually get the Japanese toys sold here again.
Posted by Deadput on May 2nd, 2018 @ 1:31am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on May 2nd, 2018 @ 3:21am CDT
Posted by Mechastrike on May 2nd, 2018 @ 4:54am CDT
Burn wrote:Mechastrike wrote:i thought Bandai owns Power Rangers/Super Sentai. how did Hasbro acquire the brand?
Saban Brands owned the Power Rangers, Hasbro acquired it from them. Bandai simply had the license to make the toys, but they'd already lost that to Hasbro in February.
last February? i didn't know that.
Posted by Zordon on May 2nd, 2018 @ 5:11am CDT
Posted by Aimless Misfire on May 2nd, 2018 @ 5:22am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on May 2nd, 2018 @ 7:07am CDT
Posted by That_Guy on May 2nd, 2018 @ 7:42am CDT
Aimless Misfire wrote:And now Power Rangers fans will no longer see toys in the stores. Hope you guys like empty pegs & stores that NEVER restock. Because that's all you get with Hasbro.
I put this solely on the shops themselves. Seeing shelves in Canada and going HOLEY MOLEY because whether it was Toys R Us in the U.S., Walmart, Target etc none were as stocked as they were for Transformers. Even with Bandai the same can be said about Transformers, Toys R Us always had them, including Legacy (which I'm more sad about now because they just now started to release Zeo [at least the morpher and gold ranger staff]). You go to Walmart or Target you see more Star Wars and DC/Marvel (more Star Wars). The stores order the toys, Hasbro just distributes where the toys are being ordered. Countless times I have gone to my local Walmart and see the same empty pegs and the only Movie Nitro figure had it's head missing (same with the Vulture for a Spider-man toy). This isn't a Hasbro issue, this is a shop issue when ordering stock for their shelves.
Edited as I remembered something as well: Boom is doing great! Especially with their current run with Shattered Grid!
Posted by AlphaBass on May 2nd, 2018 @ 8:00am CDT
Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
Well, at least Voltron bested Power Rangers that one time.....
And I would guesstimate PR made way more money than Voltron at this point, so....
Posted by reluctantyouth on May 2nd, 2018 @ 8:20am CDT
Posted by L3281 on May 2nd, 2018 @ 8:54am CDT
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:01am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:04am CDT
L3281 wrote:I just hope they keep Power Rangers as far from Transformers as possible. I don't want the IDW reboot cluttered with even more unnecessary crossovers than we have now.
The comics licence is still with Boom! Not with IDW.
@reluctantyouth you do realise that the western power ranger toys haven't been the bandai Japan ones for a while now don't you? I'd argue that hasbro will have better quality then bandai America put out.
Posted by King Kuuga on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:13am CDT
Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
Even aside from the previously pointed out fact of Sentai's first combining robot being released the same year as Golion, the two shows had pretty much nothing else in common except giant robots, and giant robots were already a genre unto themselves at that point anyway. I believe the most generous thing that can be said about this non-existent competition is that GoLion was the first five piece combining robot toy (to my knowledge).
Anyway, given how lackluster the franchise has been since Saban's reacquisition of it, and the decline of the Legacy line after a change in leadership at Bandai, general consensus among the ranger fandom seems to be that this is a good move. I know I'm eager to see how they handle it. It would be difficult to do worse than Saban has, at least. Now if we could get a goddamn Legacy Shogun Megazord.....
Posted by TulioDude on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:20am CDT
fenrir72 wrote:
Their storylines were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the Saban edited versions. Heck, sometime too serious/mature for a show intended to sell toys.
Nay,that isn't always the case.
Posted by Sabrblade on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:24am CDT
That last one is due to Nickelodeon's whole "no seasons longer than ~20 episodes" thing. Hasbro can't fix one that if the show stays on Nick.ShinkenPrime wrote:Between skipping series, combining series and just trying to make a single series last 2 years...I'm hoping Hasbro rights the ship.
Posted by o.supreme on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:27am CDT
AlphaBass wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
Well, at least Voltron bested Power Rangers that one time.....
And I would guesstimate PR made way more money than Voltron at this point, so....
Both Voltron and PR are but small pieces in a much , much wider brand of Japanese fiction that goes back further in time than either of them.
Still, this move is a bit puzzling. If anything, I thought Saban would have sold it back to Disney. This is the 2nd Japanese property (the other being Distributution of Studio Ghibli films), that Disney has let go. Of course having Pixar, and Marvel, and Lucasfilm, they aren't hurting for cash...oh well.
I have never purchased a PR toy, but I know Bandai is known for quality in Japan, not sure how it's US product compares. Also I wonder how feels knowing their western *counterpart* for lack of a better word, just picked up the brand of one of its greatest competitors. Of course, if Bandai in Japan purchases ....
Posted by Sabrblade on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:31am CDT
Disney didn't even want Power Rangers in the first place. They treated the series and its production company like a redheaded stepchild. The good seasons we got out of the Disney Era were all from the efforts of the show's production staff rather than from Disney itself.o.supreme wrote:Still, this move is a bit puzzling. If anything, I thought Saban would have sold it back to Disney.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:55am CDT
o.supreme wrote:AlphaBass wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
Well, at least Voltron bested Power Rangers that one time.....
And I would guesstimate PR made way more money than Voltron at this point, so....
Both Voltron and PR are but small pieces in a much , much wider brand of Japanese fiction that goes back further in time than either of them.
Still, this move is a bit puzzling. If anything, I thought Saban would have sold it back to Disney. This is the 2nd Japanese property (the other being Distributution of Studio Ghibli films), that Disney has let go. Of course having Pixar, and Marvel, and Lucasfilm, they aren't hurting for cash...oh well.
I have never purchased a PR toy, but I know Bandai is known for quality in Japan, not sure how it's US product compares. Also I wonder how feels knowing their western *counterpart* for lack of a better word, just picked up the brand of one of its greatest competitors. Of course, if Bandai in Japan purchases ....
The US Power Rangers toys can be a hit and miss depending on the marketing whims of Bandai of America, especially when it comes to the Zord Builder gimmick. Starting with Operation Overdrive, they're simplified in various degrees, eliminate the electronics, and the marketing of the add-on Zords is a nightmare at times (right now, if you wanted one, you pay for a Megazord redeco. No kidding!). To give credit, they did release the big Zord toy for this year. Just ridiculously oversized to turn it into a play set for greater appeal.
And TakaraTomy shouldn't have to care, really. There's no real conflict of interests as Hasbro doesn't deal with Bandai of Japan directly, especially if they continue the tradition of designing the toys for the US market instead of importing the (hugely expensive electronic) DX Sentai toys.
Posted by william-james88 on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:24am CDT
King Kuuga wrote: Now if we could get a goddamn Legacy Shogun Megazord.....
Oh fuck! I just realized that with this change of hands, the Legacy line might totally change and we wont get a shogun zord compatible with the falcon zord they previously released.
o.supreme wrote:I have never purchased a PR toy, but I know Bandai is known for quality in Japan, not sure how it's US product compares. Also I wonder how feels knowing their western *counterpart* for lack of a better word, just picked up the brand of one of its greatest competitors. Of course, if Bandai in Japan purchases ....
Thats not really how it works. Power Rangers is not a Bandai Japan brand and the toys havent even been made by Bandai Japan for almost a decade.
It will be easier if I just show you a review for you to see that its totally different from the Hasbro/Takara dynamic and differences between releases.
So in short, quality is poor and cheap, the differences between brands is apples and oranges, and Power Rangers has not been affiliated to Takara's competitor for almost a decade.
Posted by o.supreme on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:36am CDT
william-james88 wrote:So in short, quality is poor and cheap, the differences between brands is apples and oranges, and Power Rangers has not been affiliated to Takara's competitor for almost a decade.
Thanks for the info. Man it must suck to be a PR fan. With Transformers, sure the product was slightly better, and had decos or slight modifications that a portion of the fan base (myself included) preferred, and the prices while higher were not that bad. Now of course, the toys are virtually the same. I had no idea that the toys produced for the PR market were completely different from those produced in Japan for Super Sentai. Getting watered down *knock-off* like toys must be frustrating, and even worse, the imports seem very expensive.
Posted by o.supreme on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:48am CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:49am CDT
The Legacy line is high quality stuff, at least, when it comes to the megazords.o.supreme wrote:william-james88 wrote:So in short, quality is poor and cheap, the differences between brands is apples and oranges, and Power Rangers has not been affiliated to Takara's competitor for almost a decade.
Thanks for the info. Man it must suck to be a PR fan. With Transformers, sure the product was slightly better, and had decos or slight modifications that a portion of the fan base (myself included) preferred, and the prices while higher were not that bad. Now of course, the toys are virtually the same. I had no idea that the toys produced for the PR market were completely different from those produced in Japan for Super Sentai. Getting watered down *knock-off* like toys must be frustrating, and even worse, the imports seem very expensive.
Posted by Sabrblade on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:49am CDT
Nope! Disney still had RiD.o.supreme wrote:So, I was just reading on other sites, acquired other Saban Brands as well, not just PR. Could this finally be our chance at getting RiD on DVD?....
Posted by o.supreme on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:55am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:Nope! Disney still had RiD.o.supreme wrote:So, I was just reading on other sites, acquired other Saban Brands as well, not just PR. Could this finally be our chance at getting RiD on DVD?....
Then needs to acquire that back. I mean, as you said earlier, Disney probably doesn't even realize they have it, and don't care. They did not air it on any of their channels, or release it on DVD to capitalize on the popularity of the live-action films. It's not available on any streaming service. It's doing nothing for Disney, might as well make some chump change by selling it back to its original owner.
Posted by L3281 on May 2nd, 2018 @ 10:56am CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:L3281 wrote:I just hope they keep Power Rangers as far from Transformers as possible. I don't want the IDW reboot cluttered with even more unnecessary crossovers than we have now.
The comics licence is still with Boom! Not with IDW.
Well that's a relief. Hopefully it stays that way.
Posted by King Kuuga on May 2nd, 2018 @ 11:02am CDT
william-james88 wrote:King Kuuga wrote: Now if we could get a goddamn Legacy Shogun Megazord.....
Oh ****! I just realized that with this change of hands, the Legacy line might totally change and we wont get a shogun zord compatible with the falcon zord they previously released.
I'm crossing my fingers that Hasbro will be as attuned to the fanbase as they said in their Toy Fair statement and continue the Legacy Line in a similar vein to what BOA was doing. At the very least, a Legacy Shogun Megazord compatible with the existing zords. I'm not the biggest fan of Zordbuilder, and the legacy season 1 zords could stand for a redo aside from the Soul of Chogokin versions, but I'd also rather not restart a legacy Zord collection from the ground up.
Honestly what I'd really like is something similar to the Playmates Voltron model, release larger individual zords at a $20-30 price point and build a bigger megazord than the standard deluxe release. And better quality than the awful 2017 movie toy, bleh.
WilliamJames88 wrote:o.supreme wrote:I have never purchased a PR toy, but I know Bandai is known for quality in Japan, not sure how it's US product compares. Also I wonder how feels knowing their western *counterpart* for lack of a better word, just picked up the brand of one of its greatest competitors. Of course, if Bandai in Japan purchases ....
Thats not really how it works. Power Rangers is not a Bandai Japan brand and the toys havent even been made by Bandai Japan for almost a decade.
It will be easier if I just show you a review for you to see that its totally different from the Hasbro/Takara dynamic and differences between releases.
So in short, quality is poor and cheap, the differences between brands is apples and oranges, and Power Rangers has not been affiliated to Takara's competitor for almost a decade.
In all fairness, sometimes the BOA version of the toy improves upon certain areas of a megazord. Usually proportions or stability. They're budget releases sure, but generally worth the $30. BOJ's toys are also veering towards being very silly. Lest we forget, the 2016 main megazord was literally three cubes stacked on top of each other and skewered.
Posted by william-james88 on May 2nd, 2018 @ 12:52pm CDT
o.supreme wrote:So, I was just reading on other sites, acquired other Saban Brands as well, not just PR. Could this finally be our chance at getting RiD on DVD?.... S!F produces both TF series and PR on DVD, so here's to hoping.
Why read other sites? We report it in the very first paragraphe of the article.
Posted by o.supreme on May 2nd, 2018 @ 1:04pm CDT
Posted by Rated X on May 2nd, 2018 @ 2:04pm CDT
Emerje wrote:Lucky Logician wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
On the mecha side Super Sentai wouldn't introduce combining robots until 1981 themselves with Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. Neither were the first to introduce the concept, there are plenty of older examples in Japan including the stuff Takara was cranking out under Diaclone in 1980 or the series World Events intended to make into Voltron, but got sent the wrong "the one with the lion" show instead of GoLion, Future Robo Daltanious from 1979.
Emerje
I think a lot of people misinterpreted my comment so let me be more specific on why I call Power Rangers the biggest Voltron rip off in history....
First of all remember im from the US. I dont know anything about Japanese cartoons that pre-date voltron. And as a child we here in the US knew it as Voltron. It was the brand. As a 7 year old thats all I knew. Hell I didnt know Diaclone either. All I knew was those after school and Saturday morning cartoons. Thats it.
Now lets fast foward to the early 90s when power rangers came out in the US. I was not into cartoons or toys at the time. I was in high school. But they were so popular you couldnt help but notice them. Naturally I watched the show a few times out of pure curiosity.
My biggest issue with the show was live actors (actual humans rather than cartoon) And to make it even stupider they were ninjas. So it was a ku-fu fest of brightly colored leotards with motorcycle helmets. After 15 minutes of foolishness each episode would climax in a voltron style battle with a zord and some kind of monster. It was so stupid because after watching nearly 20 minutes of saved by the bell humor mixed with horrible kung fu scenes, all of a sudden it becomes killer robot combiners from outer space.
So the reason I call it a voltron rip off is because you have a team of 5 pilots that have adventures and then combine their vehicles to form a giant robot to battle a different monster every episode. But at least in voltron the pilots were just pilots, not ninjas. And at least in voltron, they stuck to animation rather than switching from human actors to metal costumes, stop action toy sequences or whatever they used to do the "zords". It was just really stupid. I mean really stupid. It was a rip off of voltron with live actors and a TMNT twist because ninjas were more popular that robots by the 90s in the US.
Horrible show, just horrible. Even captian power was better.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on May 2nd, 2018 @ 2:09pm CDT
Rated X wrote:Emerje wrote:Lucky Logician wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
On the mecha side Super Sentai wouldn't introduce combining robots until 1981 themselves with Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. Neither were the first to introduce the concept, there are plenty of older examples in Japan including the stuff Takara was cranking out under Diaclone in 1980 or the series World Events intended to make into Voltron, but got sent the wrong "the one with the lion" show instead of GoLion, Future Robo Daltanious from 1979.
Emerje
I think a lot of people misinterpreted my comment so let me be more specific on why I call Power Rangers the biggest Voltron rip off in history....
First of all remember im from the US. I dont know anything about Japanese cartoons that pre-date voltron. And as a child we here in the US knew it as Voltron. It was the brand. As a 7 year old thats all I knew. Hell I didnt know Diaclone either. All I knew was those after school and Saturday morning cartoons. Thats it.
Now lets fast foward to the early 90s when power rangers came out in the US. I was not into cartoons or toys at the time. I was in high school. But they were so popular you couldnt help but notice them. Naturally I watched the show a few times out of pure curiosity.
My biggest issue with the show was live actors (actual humans rather than cartoon) And to make it even stupider they were ninjas. So it was a ku-fu fest of brightly colored leotards with motorcycle helmets. After 15 minutes of foolishness each episode would climax in a voltron style battle with a zord and some kind of monster. It was so stupid because after watching nearly 20 minutes of saved by the bell humor mixed with horrible kung fu scenes, all of a sudden it becomes killer robot combiners from outer space.
So the reason I call it a voltron rip off is because you have a team of 5 pilots that have adventures and then combine their vehicles to form a giant robot to battle a different monster every episode. But at least in voltron the pilots were just pilots, not ninjas. And at least in voltron, they stuck to animation rather than switching from human actors to metal costumes, stop action toy sequences or whatever they used to do the "zords". It was just really stupid. I mean really stupid. It was a rip off of voltron with live actors and a TMNT twist because ninjas were more popular that robots by the 90s in the US.
Horrible show, just horrible. Even captian power was better.
Everything is a rip-off nowadays by current popular definitions. Even Transformers was a rip-off of Gobots back in the day (remember, Gobots came first).
Posted by King Kuuga on May 2nd, 2018 @ 7:50pm CDT
Rated X wrote:Emerje wrote:Lucky Logician wrote:Rated X wrote:Ewww...power rangers. The biggest Voltron rip off in history.
For the record, Super Sentai (Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) premiered in 1975. Beast King Go Lion didn't come around until 1981.
On the mecha side Super Sentai wouldn't introduce combining robots until 1981 themselves with Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. Neither were the first to introduce the concept, there are plenty of older examples in Japan including the stuff Takara was cranking out under Diaclone in 1980 or the series World Events intended to make into Voltron, but got sent the wrong "the one with the lion" show instead of GoLion, Future Robo Daltanious from 1979.
Emerje
I think a lot of people misinterpreted my comment so let me be more specific on why I call Power Rangers the biggest Voltron rip off in history....
[lots of stuff]
I can understand how it would seem like a ripoff when you were younger and didn't know any better, but now you ARE older and you DO know better. Giant robots and the people that pilot them are a genre, superheroes are a genre, Power Rangers combined the two to give you fights at different scales. Was it capitalizing on what was popular at the time? Absolutely. The live-action Ninja Turtles movies were fresh in people's memories and dinosaurs have always been en eternal kid favorite, but Jurassic Park also came out right around that time, making them an even more popular concept. Put them together and it's no wonder it sold like hotcakes. But taking popular concepts and putting a different spin on them does not a ripoff make.
Posted by Blitzwing is bae on May 3rd, 2018 @ 9:35am CDT
ITs a qoute from the office u.s. btw
Posted by Sabrblade on May 25th, 2018 @ 12:09pm CDT
Saban Brands LLC, owner of the Power Rangers and other entertainment properties, announced the layoff of 60 employees as Hasbro Inc. is set to buy the company.
Century City-based Saban Brands will shut down July 2, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification letter sent to the state of California from Saban Brand lawyer Lawrence Stone, an attorney at Jackson Lewis.
The letter was dated May 1, which coincides with the date toymaker Hasbro announced its acquisition of Saban Brands.
Saban Brands parent Saban Capital Group, an investment firm that specializes in entertainment investments, will continue as a company, according to the letter. It has equity in Paul Frank Industries and Celestial Tiger Entertainment among other companies.
Occupations of the listed layoffs run the gamut from creative director to financial analyst to director of accounting. Fifty-one of the 60 layoffs are set to happen on July 2.
Not known is whether Hasbro will re-hire any employees subject to layoff. The letter made no mention of rehires, and a message left with Saban Brands May 23 was not immediately returned.
Posted by Emerje on May 26th, 2018 @ 12:48am CDT
Emerje
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on May 27th, 2018 @ 2:01pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:L3281 wrote:I just hope they keep Power Rangers as far from Transformers as possible. I don't want the IDW reboot cluttered with even more unnecessary crossovers than we have now.
The comics licence is still with Boom! Not with IDW.
You mean like how Star Wars was safely with Dark Horse when Disney bought it...