Hasbro, Inc. (or simply referred to as Hasbro) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The company has over forty worldwide locations.
Hasbro was originally founded in 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herman Hassenfeld as "Hassenfeld Brothers". The name Hasbro is a syllabic abbreviation of the original name of the company. Hasbro is known to deliver products in relation to gaming, consumer products and entertainment worldwide.
Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of Kenner, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Wizards of the Coast, among others.
History[]
Barney[]
License[]
In 1992, Hasbro was named the master toy licensee for Barney & Friends[1] signing $100 million for the toy deal.[2] It was confirmed in December 1992 that Hasbro would be introducing Barney toys to its Playskool line in February 1993.[3] That same year, Barney products started to be released through the Milton Bradley Company division.
Products took in an estimated $500 million that same year. Revenues from Barney products were estimated to have generated more than $130 million that same year, before falling to an estimated $30 million the following year, due to over-saturation of the Barney property.[4] The Barney license shared the blame for a fall in Hasbro's stock, which closed at $31.625 on the American Stock Exchange on October 19, 1994, up $1.125 on the day, but down from a high of $40 in 1993.[4] With the market oversaturated by Barney products within the 1990s, it forced Hasbro to warehouse 250,000 unsold Talking Barney toys.[5] In 1995, Hasbro marketed 140 Barney products, down from 160 in 1994.[4]
Under Habsro, Barney products peaked in 1997, when Barney became the eighteenth best-selling character license globally. In 1998, products fell to number nineteen in sales. In 2000, Barney video games were published through the Hasbro Interactive subsidiary while the license continued to fall; this time to number forty-three.[6] In February 2001, at the same time as Lyrick Studios was being acquired by HIT Entertainment, Hasbro lost out on the new Barney toy license deal. The deal was instead secured by their competitor, Mattel.[7][8]
Media[]
Barney[]
Alan Hassenfeld, chairman/CEO of Hasbro at the time, greets Barney at Toy Fair during a party held for him in New York in February 1999 in honor of Barney's 10th Anniversary.
Video[]
In honor of Barney's 10th Anniversary, Hasbro was helping Lyrick Studios, owners of Barney at the time, produce a television special titled Barney's Hollywood Surprise that was scheduled to air in 1999 followed by a video release for this in 2000.[9] The project was never released.
Trivia[]
- Alan Hassenfeld, who was the chairman of Hasbro Inc. at the time, went to visit A Day in the Park with Barney twice during the first month it opened.[10]
Products[]
Barney[]
Kid Dimension[]
Kid Dimension was a manufacturer of children's toys (including baby and toddler toys) and is notable for producing Barney Merchandise as early as 1992. Their range of products included plastic figures, bubbles, paints, and a line of Barney Vehicles. Under the division was Child Dimension, which was a trademark of Kid Dimension.
| Image | Name | Date | Description |
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| Barney Arts & Crafts | 1993 | Remember how much fun you had as a child, coloring painting and creating your very own "works of art"? Now kids can have a "super-dee-duper" good time with Barney's arts and crafts activity line...a complete assortment of art supplies for drawing, painting, designing and all kinds of creative fun. Kids will enjoy expressing their creativity and achieving a sense of accomplishment while sharing their imaginative ideas with their loveable purple dinosaur friend, Barney. It's a "stu-u-upendous" way to play! Those two wonderful dinosaurs Barney and Baby Bop join children for lots of coloring fun! Kids will love creating imaginative pictures with these friendly playful characters! The line includes products such as a smock, crayons and sponge brushes and rollers. | |
| Bendables | 1993 | Barney and Baby Bop are ready for lots of fun adventures to share with you! Bend them or pose them any way you want. Collect all six Bendables for a new twist on fun. | |
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Bounce Back Pals | 1993 | A "Super-Dee-Duper" friend for baby! Barney is on one side while Baby Bop is pictured on the other side. Soft, inflatable friends for baby. Inflatable Barney and Baby Bop make a delightful jingling sound as they bounce back and forth. |
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Foot Jingles | 1993 | These soft, adorable Foot Jingles are decorated with the lovable Barney and Baby Bop characters! Each fabric sock fits comfortable on baby's foot and rattles with every gentle movement. |
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Fun Splash Sprinkler | 1993 | Barney splashes in his pool as he showers kids with fun! C'mon in - the water's fine! Barney makes a splash on hot summer days as he swims around the pool, showering kids with fun! To use, simply attach BARNEY'S FUN SPLASH SPRINKLER to any standard garden hose, turn on the faucet and the spinning water spout sprays a refreshing stream of water. It's cool...it's fun...it's super-dee-duper!
  May 2000 BarneyOnline sweepstakes image of the sprinkler |
| Fun-Time Barney & Baby Bop | 1993 | Toys within the line include:
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Infant Floor Gym | 1993 | A colorful floor toy with soft textures, friendly characters and a peek-a-boo mirror! |
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Musical Jack-in-the-Box | 1993 | Turn the crank for a fun surprise...and up pops Barney before your eyes! |
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Peek 'n Play | 1993 | Peek 'n Play is a barrel of rollin', tumblin' fun featuring two of your child's best friends, Barney & Baby Bop! With colorful balls that jingle and roll inside the durable, soft tube, Peek 'n Play will delight baby with sight, sound and tumbling play! |
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Radio Control Wagon | 1993 | It's "stu-u-upendous" fun for kids and their adorable dinosaur friend Barney! Children love to make Barney zip along in his cute, colorful wagon! An easy push of the button makes the wagon spin around or roll along, so preschoolers can enjoy radio control fun - with their pal Barney along for the ride! |
| Talking Baby Bop | 1993 | Talking Baby Bop is similar to the other vinyl figures released by Child Dimension, with the exception of being slightly larger. Two variants of Talking Baby Bop were released: a Baby Bop holding her yellow blankey, and a pajamas-clad Baby Bop with her blankey. Each version says two unique phrases when their belly is pressed.
The standard variant says:
The pajamas variant says:
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| Talking Barney | 1993 | Talking Barney is similar to the other vinyl figures released by Child Dimension, with the exception of being slightly larger. Two variants of Talking Barney were released: a yellow shirted Barney, and a pajamas-clad Barney. Each version says two unique phrases when their belly is pressed.
The yellow-shirted variant says:
The pajamas variant says:
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| Vehicles | 1993 | Vehicles within the line include:
Trivia: This line would eventually be rebranded by Playskool, a subsidiary of Hasbro, and re-titled as Die-Cast Vehicles in the mid-90s. When Playskool distributed new vehicles, they included the character of BJ. | |
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Wrist Jingles | 1993 |
Milton Bradley[]
Milton Bradley (MB) was an American board game manufacturer established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. It became a division of Hasbro in 1984. When the company was purchased by Hasbro, it merged with Parker Brothers, another Hasbro division, to be reincorporated as Hasbro Gaming.
| Image | Name | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
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Barney Light & Learn | 1993 | Now your child can practice simple object matching with that loveable dinosaur, Barney! Inside, you'll find twenty different activities featuring Barney and his friend, Baby Bop. Just touch an "answer dot" with the tip of the Barney Wand. If you're right, Barney's light blinks and he makes a happy sound! There are two skill levels, so younger and older Barney fans can enjoy the fun and challenge of Barney Light & Learn! |
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Barney Memory Game | 1993 | Find the most pairs of matching pictures of Barney & his friends.This game is designed to teach and encourage memory skills to young children. Players try to make pairs of the 72 cards that feature pictures of Barney and Baby Bop. When all the pairs have been matched, the players count up their score. The player with the most pairs of cards wins the game.
 Game cards  The game instructions |
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Barney Waterfuls | 1993 | Ready for some deep-sea fun with your favorite dinosaur buddies? Pick a partner - either Barney or Baby Bop. Now push your WOOSH button to float the pearl into your partner's shell. The other player does the same in this fast-action game! Score a point whenever the pearl floats into your shell. If you're first to score ten points, you'll win! |
| Puzzles | 1993-2000 | Put the puzzle pieces together to form a complete picture of Barney and his friends! | |
| Barney Memory Game | 1997 | Memory fun with Barney! Can you remember who's hiding where? It's fun to find matching pictures of Barney, Baby Bop and BJ, pair by pair! Just flip over cards, two at a time, trying to make a match. If you find the same two cards, you keep them! Find the most pairs and you're the winner!
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Follow the Egg Game | 1998 | Join Barney and pals on a very special adventure! Share the magic of Barney in this colorful egg hunt! Choose a pawn - Abby, Cody, Marcella or Miss Goldfinch. Then move it along the path by spinner color. When you reach a Magic Egg space, spin the wheels and press a dot with the electronic Barney wand. If Barney lights up and makes a happy sound, collect an egg taken! Each egg taken is more colorful than the next. The last egg shows something special - Twinken! Can you reach the Finish Space first to win? |
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Barney First Fishing Game | 2000 | This game is similar to "Hungry Hungry Hippos". The game features a plastic "pond" with paddle triggers for each player. Players begin hitting their paddles making the fish wiggle and flop in the air, trying to get their color fish to land in their area. |
Parker Brothers[]
Parker Brothers was an American toy and game manufacturer. In 1991 it became a Hasbro brand and eventually and merged with Milton Bradley to be reincorporated as Hasbro Gaming.
| Image | Name | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
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Barney Balloon Race Board Game | 1993 | Players race across the board to join Barney the Dinosaur in his hot-air balloon and go for a ride. If you pass or land on a...
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Barney Jumbo Card Game | 1993 | For a "stu-u-u-pendous" game of fun, it's Barney and Baby Bop...and you! Barney is pretending and everybody's collecting matcing pairs of his pretending poses.
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Barney Sounds of Fun Electronic Talking Board Game | 1993 | Listen to Barney and Baby Bop, then use your imagination to pretend you are a frog, or "moo" like a cow. |
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Barney Picture Game | 1993 | The player must travel around the neighborhood matching colors and collecting photos of friends, Barney and Baby Bop. |
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Barney's Rainbow Egg Game | 1998 | Just like in the movie, the game starts at the barn, where a star had just delivered Twinken's Rainbow Egg. Each player spins and moves Barney on his way. When aayers lands on a "Find Me", they match pictures. On "Let's Pretend", players play-act, and at a "Rainbow Egg" space, they
toss Twinken's egg. Along the way, you'll be rewarded with Star Chips. Whoever collects the most wins.Game includes Barney figure, 3-piece gameboard, 7 "Let's Pretend" and 8 "Find Me" cards, 21 star chips, Twinken's Rainbow Egg, Spinner, and instructions. |
Tiger Electronics[]
Tiger Electronics Ltd. is an American company that's best known for its handheld electronic games. Since 1998, the company has been a subsidiary of Hasbro.
| Image | Name | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
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Barney's Learning Laptop | 1999 | Barney’s Learning Laptop was designed to be a preschooler’s first laptop! One which preschoolers can use to learn numbers, objects, colors, shapes and music. Who better to learn all of that with than their favorite purple dinosaur….. BARNEY!
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Sing Your ABCs Smart Sticks | 1999 | The Barney Sing Your ABC’s Smart Stick is a hand held electronic learning aid for preschoolers that helps teach the letters of the alphabet using the popular ABC song. Come learn and play with Barney!
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Barney Telephone Fun Smart Sticks | 1999 | Barney’s Telephone Fun Smart Stick is a hand held electronic learning aid of preschoolers that helps teach children their home phone numbers and their emergency numbers. They can even call Baby Bop for added play! |
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Celebrate With Me Barney | 2001 | Celebrate With Me Barney is a hand held electronic learning aid for preschoolers that reinforces counting, number identification, and logic skills. Your child will also have fun with the “Happy Birthday" song.
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References[]
- ↑ Licensing Diary: Barney and Friends February 1, 1996 Retrieved December 17, 2022
- ↑ Clipped From The Atlanta Constitution March 9, 1993 Retrieved December 17, 2022
- ↑ PBS role in purple reign at issue December 17, 1992 Retrieved December 17, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Blue Year for the Purple-and-Green Dinosaur October 20, 1994 Retrieved December 18, 2022
- ↑ Media Franchising - Google Books Retrieved December 18, 2022
- ↑ FISHER-PRICE ACQUIRES RIGHT TO PRODUCE BARNEY LINE February 22, 2001 Retrieved December 18, 2022
- ↑ HIT confirms £190m Barney deal
- ↑ Bob Builds a Future with Barney February 28, 2001 Retrieved December 18, 2022
- ↑ Toy Fair Provides Video Inspirations Retrieved December 19, 2022
- ↑ PARK LOVES REACTION TO ATTRACTION July 17, 1995 Retrieved December 18, 2022
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