Recently, it was revealed that the Power Rangers franchise has chosen Hasbro to be its master toy licensee. In practical terms, this means that interested individuals can expect Hasbro to produce a wide range of Power Rangers merchandise, with examples ranging from toys and games to role-play items, starting in April of 2019. The reveal came as something of a surprise because it is the conclusion to a 25-year team-up between the Power Rangers franchise and Bandai America, meaning that it is a significant chance of direction.
The exact reason that the Power Rangers franchise is concluding its relationship with Bandai America is unclear at this point in time. Some people have speculated that it has something to do with the low sales numbers from Power Rangers toys related to the Power Rangers movie from 2017, but this remains nothing more than speculation.
Instead, what is more interesting is the further reveal that Hasbro might buy out the Power Rangers franchise once it has been the master toy licensee for some time. As a result, it is natural to wonder whether Hasbro has been thinking about using the potential of the Power Rangers franchise to make Power Rangers movies. After all, it is known that Hasbro has a strong interest in making more movies besides those based on the Transformers franchise, though most of its non-Transformers-related efforts have not produced much fruit so far. Granted, the poor performance of the Power Rangers movie from 2017 might deter such an ambition on Hasbro’s part, but considering the fact that the Power Rangers franchise is still running strong, it is clear that it possesses potential that could be brought out by more capable hands that are better prepared to handle it.
Regardless, more information is bound to come out in the not so distant future, which should provide interested individuals with more information about what they can expect. In the meantime, the Power Rangers franchise continues on, as shown by the latest announcements about the upcoming season.
Curiously, the 2019 season will be the first time that the Power Rangers franchise has returned to cover a season of the Super Sentai series that was skipped over. For those who are curious, the upcoming season will be based on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, which was centered a core cast who were empowered in the same incident that created their evil AI antagonist. Of course, the upcoming season of Power Rangers will see significant changes, as shown by the marketing blurb for what is being called Power Rangers Beast Morphers, which states that the core cast will be fighting a sentient computer virus that is seeking to claim the power source of the Power Rangers.
Amusingly, it should be mentioned that Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters seemed to have been inspired to a significant extent by the Super Sentei series’s western counterpart. For example, its mecha are called zords. Furthermore, its core cast shout “It’s Morphin Time!” when they have their transformations. As a result, it will be very interesting indeed to see what becomes of Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters once it has been turned into Power Rangers Beast Morphers.
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