With the recent news of Transformers: Bot Shots website going live, Hasbro’s new Hasbro Gaming initiative is now officially in motion. Last week, Hasbro applied for new Trademarks, promising a new future to the toys we collect. And Bot Shots may just be the start.
With Hasbro Gaming we are treated to an ‘Innovative New Play Experience‘. Find out more about it, after the jump. Back in mid-February, while all of us were enjoying TFW2005’s coverage of Toy Fair 2012, Hasbro was telling their investors of the Business Plans they have for 2012 and beyond. It is a custom of Hasbro to greet their Investors to the Toy Fair to reveal the upcoming figures. They invite the Investors to come and celebrate with them at the Toy Fair by informally informing them at the 4th Quarter Earnings Calls.
First thing mentioned about Transformers is BotShots.”In 2012 we are now able to execute this strategy. We are doing this over 4 major exceptional elements; Innovation, New Initiatives, International Growth and Immersive Experience” said Hasbro CEO and President Brian Goldner. “Let us talk about what you will see in 2012. First in the area of Innovation. It’s all about Global Consumer Insight as we create this new innovation; looking at consumers around the world and all kinds of new ways to play. You are also going to see lines of products with ‘Gamification’ of the play, not just ‘Games’. What we mean by that is adding competitive elements; Battling, Racing, Strategy & Tactics. We are also moving Hasbro from ‘Games’ to ‘Gaming across all platforms’ how consumers want to play games.”[/I]
With it we learned of the new initiative called “Hasbro Gaming”.
Last week Hasbro went ahead further and applied for bunch of new Trademarks.
- PRIME PICTURES
- BOT SHOTS
- COME ‘N PLAY
- LET’S ROCK
- HASBRO GAMING
- CANDY LAND
- KRE-O TRANSFORMERS
- KRE-O CREATE IT
- BUTTERFLY ISLAND
- BONKA ZONKS
- MLP
- FRIENDSHIP BALL
- LPS
Out of these new Trademarks; CANDY LAND is for the upcoming movie, BUTTERFLY ISLAND, MLP, FRIENDSHIP BALL are for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, LPS for Littlest Pet Shop etc.
PRIME PICTURES is listed under following categories: Entertainment services, namely, the production and distribution of motion pictures, ongoing television programs, television game shows, and animated television series; entertainment and educational services, namely, ongoing programs in the field of children’s entertainment accessible by television, satellites, radio, audio, video, electronic media and computer networks; providing news and information in the field of education and entertainment; entertainment services, namely, the production of pre-recorded dvd’s featuring movies and animated cartoons.
At the event John Frascotti; Global Chief Marketing Officer explained what’s happening this year. “2012 importantly is the first year where we totally merchandised these properties (referring to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Transformers: Rescue Bots, Transformers: Prime and Strawberry Shortcakes on screen) with comprehensive merchandising marketing and retail activation. Allow me to share few examples of how we are doing that” said Mr. Frascotti as he continued. “Let’s start with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. This has been a breakthrough show for us. It’s clearly penetrated the culture. We were recently recognized by ADAGE as one of the hottest brands in America. What we are seeing is significant result in terms of viewership, especially among the older girls; 6 to 12 year old girls who are not only watching the show but now starting to get more deeply into the brand. To leverage this audience at retail, what we’ve done is develop entertainment themed programs. Last year was Canterlot, this year it’s called the Royal Wedding; a truly global theme. We’ve integrated it to the TV Show and then we bring it to the market with merchandise across several categories, not only toys but among all our major licensees that cover 14 major categories. Moving onto Boys with Transformers: Prime; an Emmy award winning show for us. The second season of Transformers: Prime premieres [back then] next Saturday on the Hub. Our global merchandising is a spot-on reflection of the TV Show. It features a bold new look for Transformers. And we’ll have strong presence for this as well as cross category licensing. Not only do we have Transformers: Prime we also have a brand new TV Show for our younger Transformers Fans called Transformers: Rescue Bots. This show was built on the insight of younger children of 3 to 5 want to play with the same brand, the same toys as their older siblings do. So we developed Rescue Bots. Retailer and consumer response to this has been very strong. In fact we heard from various retailers that they are planning to expand their shelf-space for the franchise.”
“I want to take few moments to update you on Kre-O. We launched Kre-O in 10 markets last year with Kre-O Transformers” said Mr. Frascotti. “Now, the entertainment segment of the ‘Building’ category is 38% of the overall segment. And last year we captured 5% of the market share with that entertainment segment. This year we are distributing Kre-O to 25 markets around the world. We had very strong retail activation for Kre-O, very strong retailer enthusiasm for this line as we take it around the world. Then as we look forward to this year we have Kre-O Battleship; launching in connection with the movie including Tanks, Ships and Helicopter but the key product is ‘USS Missouri’. And to Kick-off this product line, we developed a new CGI Mini Movie trailer which will appear in theaters and in television in conjunction with the launch of the movie. So, Kre-O Transformer last year, Kre-O Battleship this year… what do we have for 2013 is a very exciting news we are going to share with you this morning. Let’s take a look. [A trailer starts playing and it’s…]So yes, in 2013 our Kreons will go boldly where no Kreon has gone before, with the introduction of ‘Kre-O Star Trek‘. In partnership with Paramount, we’ll be introducing a complete line of Star Trek Kre-O in conjunction with the feature film that’s been directed by J. J. Abrams. And of course the main product will be USS Enterprise. And as we continue to grow our Kre-O Brand with new Brand Introductions of course we will continue to introduce new units to our inaugural brands. This year for example, we have 7 all new sets coming in for Kre-O Transformers.”
It seems like we’ll be seeing some awesome new ideas from Hasbro. Keep-In-Touch with TFW2005 for more news on this development.
Infosaur
It's not my bag, but Game Informers has been raving about some Pokeman style game where you get little Robot Heros size figurines that contain some sort of RIFD chip.
You buy a "base" which contains some sort of video game console, think last gen Nintendo. By placing the figurine on the base it unlocks the character in the game and you get to play him.
I don't know the name but apparently the whole thing has sold out and the entire toy industry is VERY interested in this concept.
For a while I though this is what BotShots was.
TuEstPwned
I'm a Brony. You have to watch the show in order to understand.
notpicard
A whole game initiative and still no Attacktix wave 2?
I picked up a few botshots but realized that I don't want too many of them because the rock/paper/scissors things aren't randomized. I expected them to spin when the toys transform so that there is a fun element of luck.
Philip164
Star Trek Kero's? It could work, but I would like to see some pictures first, then I like to see a fan made video, of Star Trek Kreon's and Lego Star Wars Mini figures together.
Bot-Shots look, ok I noticed after work today at Walmart they got a bunch in (no prime figures). They look ok, but it looks to me like a overpriced "Rock, Paper, Scissors" game; if they had cards to work in a strategy in the future I might bite. Now compared to TF1 Transformers cards, Bot-Shots copying of Bakugan is probable the best direction for a Transformers tabletop game. I can see even with Bot-Shots short comings this game will probably sell well with kids. Bot-Shots needs to have a upgrade with Cards.
MLPFIM games? Honestly I don't expect anything more complicated than "Rock, Paper, Scissors".
VaderPrime1
I would love TFP video-game!
kidnicky
Bot Shots=childish
Lego Star Wars =adult
?
Enigma2K2
Two words… Hasbro Interactive…
Yeah, I'll wait before I get my hopes up.
Shockblast2
It is their "initative" to take you for as much as possible by spending the least amount as possible. The new scout size "deluxes" are just a preview.
Grimwing
dcarpenter46
All I can say is give me my Kre-o Ironhide please, I need my lil Ironhide Kreon Figure.. lol.. That and could you please maybe do a 35th Ann version of Megs like you did with Prime just a lil while back. We also need a Hasbro masterpiece Megs. And if we could get more of the ToysRus reissues, that would be awesome, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker etc. If not, people are going to keep bugging me for this stuff, lol..
daytimeninja
I'm honestly not too excited about any of this.
I don't collect Bot Shots or Kre-o, and don't plan to. Bot Shots seem too childish for my liking, and being an avid Lego Star Wars collector Kre-o seems almost like a knock off to me.
Having said that I'm still excited to see what Hasbro has in store for everything, and who knows, maybe this year I'll finally test out Kre-o!
Railguard
ok, the hell with bot shots just give me more tfs!!
RedAlert Rescue
I really must watch Ponies – I understand it's appealing to those who like Power puff girls especially. looks like it's worth a look anyway… which I have yet to do.
HuffR_WFCTX_91135
Once the show dies out so will they
Bloomin trenders.
LogicalLuke
You aren't the only one by a longshot. It's creepy….like Mr.Creepy/Creepio's creepy.
Paxtin
Hasbro's really gunning for that title of entertainment tycoon, arn't they.
Wouldn't you be?
Infosaur
I'm actually more excited by the Kre-O Battleship than I am by Kre-O Star Trek.
CardboardRobot
Yeaa! More distractions for the toys that actualy brought us here
shroobmaster
I like how Hasbro is afraid of telling their share holders that greasy sweaty 20 old men are the new pony audience.