Hasbro Transformers Q&A – May 2010 Answers

You asked and Hasbro answered! Hit the jump to see the answers from Hasbro and Hunter PR!

  1. For about five years, over the course of the Unicron Trilogy, it seemed like Hasbro was taking a relatively passive role when it came to the creation of tie-in media, or at least willing to let other companies like Takara (now Tomy) write the cartoon and then Hasbro would adapt it for the North American audiences. Then, during the creation of the Movie franchise and Transformers: Animated, Hasbro has been taking a very active, prominent role in the creation of tie-in media. Over the past decade, what are the most important lessons you think you’ve learned about storytelling, brand development, and working with creative partners, and how has that influenced the direction you’re driving the brand today?
  2. At various points, licensees like Marvel Comics and some of the Japanese-market publications have held “Create a Transformer” contests. Does Hasbro/Tomy own the rights to characters generated in such contests, and if so, could we ever see, say, Sunbender or Star Upper again?


  1. Throughout the years Hasbro and Takara Tomy have worked together to create exciting entertainment for the Transformers brand. During the Unicron Trilogy, Hasbro had partnered with Takara Tomy to create that entertainment. With the production studios being oversees, the final products resulted in Japanese-centric entertainment. The development of the films and Animated series were created in a partnership Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, and Cartoon Network. Each of those were created to service both the studio and Hasbro/Takara Tomy needs for quality entertainment and product potentials.
  2. Hasbro owns the rights to the Transformers brand and all of the assets that are associated with it. As for a Sunbender or a Star Upper product, we do not have any plans right now to do either of these figures as they just do not fit with our current design and marketing strategies.

Thanks to Hasbro and Hunter PR for the answers! Got more questions? Watch for the next call for submissions!