Hasbro

Hasbro is an American toy company that was founded in 1923. It is currently the largest toy maker in the world, and owns a number of successful toy brands, including Nerf and Super Soaker.

History
Hasbro was initially founded in 1923, by brothers Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfield. As such, the company’s initial name was Hassenfield Brothers. Production on its first toy sets - doctor and nurse roleplaying sets - began in the 1940s. They would see their first successful product, the Mr. Potato Head, in 1952. This would end up becoming the first toy to be advertised on television. Two years later, they would reach a deal with Disney to produce and sell toys based on their various movies and characters.

The G.I. Joe brand was created in 1964, after turning down an agreement to create toys on the 1963 serial The Lieutenant. Initially a military-focused brand of toys, it would be revamped into one based on adventure, in response to the widely-unpopular Vietnam War. Hassenfield Brothers would see its name change to Hasbro Industries in 1968, a consolidation of the original name.

The 1980s saw Hasbro branching out into television once again, with a number of cartoons based on brands and products of theirs. This included a revival of the G.I. Joe brand, an adaption of two Japanese TakaraTomy robot-themed brands, and the creation of the My Little Pony and Jem brands. It was during the early 80s that Hasbro became the largest and most popular toy company in the world, thanks in part to outselling Mattel's Barbie line with the Jem series of products. In 1984, Hasbro would purchase the Milton Bradley company, acquiring them popular board games, such as Battleship, The Game of Life, and Twister. The purchase of Milton Bradley would see Hasbro change their name to Hasbro Bradley; this was reverted a year later.

In 1991, Hasbro purchased the Tonka toy company. With this, they would acquire Kenner Products, Parker Brothers, and the Nerf brand of toys. Production of Nerf products would be given to Kenner full-time starting that year, moving the brand away from Parker Brothers, the initial owner of Nerf. Hasbro would also go on to purchase Larami, the creators of the Super Soaker brand of products, in 1995. The late 90s would see them purchase the rights to more brands and companies, including Koosh, Playskool, and Wizards of the Coast.

A number of the companies that Hasbro previously purchased would be closed in the early 2000s, to shift production focus to Hasbro themselves. This includes Kenner in 2000 and Larami in 2002. Hasbro would also take interest in other forms of media, graduating from television to feature films with the Michael Bay Transformers series. Other brands, such as G.I. Joe and Battleship, received movie adaptions, but not to success like the Transformers movies.

Hasbro acquired the Saban Brands company in 2018, notably including the Power Rangers television series and toy brand.