Hasbro’s Action Figures Unsuccessful Between 1982 and 1993?
I was flipping through Toy Wars* again last night when a section about Hasbro and G.I. Joe caught my eye:
“He [Kirk Bozigian] acknowledged the sorry state of Joe at retail, then informed the salemen that of 257 action-figure lines introduced from 1982 through 1993, only 28 had been successful.”
Wow. I’ll assume that this was a combination of all Hasbro brands (including Kenner and Tonka) at the time, but even then it makes me ask: Which were the 28 successful action figure lines in those eleven years? I think we can safely say G.I. Joe and Transformers were part of the 28, and probably M.A.S.K., but I’m having a tough time thinking of others that I feel confident I could name as successes.
Which action figure lines introduced between 1982 and 1993, by Hasbro and its family of brands, do you feel would have been part of the successful 28 brands?
Related articles
- 1982 Sears Newspaper Advertisement Featuring G.I. Joe Action Figures (battlegrip.com)
- 1987 Newspaper Article on Tonka Buying Kenner (battlegrip.com)
If Tonka is included, I bet Gobots would be one of the successful lines as well.
It’s kind of a weird comment though. This doesn’t specify how many of those lines even were connected to a license (and the marketing power that comes with that)–and even then not all licenses are comparable. So then you’re already comparing apples to potatoes.
Then you’ve got a varying degree of manufacturing quality. Customers can tell when something is junk. Is it really a “sorry state” when half of what’s out there is terrible and the cream rises to the top?
Of course, I could be missing something from the article–like overall sales down and stats on historically bankable licenses that didn’t do well.
Hmmm, maybe kenner’s Batman toys and real ghostbusters?
I’m curious if they actually mean action figure lines. If they were talking about all their toylines, that number would seem more reasonable to me.
Don’t forget C.O.P.S.