Talking Power Rangers With The Hasbro Team At SDCC 2019
by Gary Catig
Hasbro only acquired the Power Rangers property in 2018 but in that short time, the toy company has already made much progress in developing the franchise. There are comic series from Boom! Studios, the show, Power Rangers Beast Morphers on Nickelodeon, and of course the toys and collectibles. We’ve previously shown the figures announced at their panel during San Diego Comic Con and during the show we also spoke with Director of Product Design, Sondra Weiner, and Senior Brand Manager, Beth Bamrick, about what’s next.
Gary: You all had many great announcements yesterday at your panel. I think many people were happy to see the Pink Ranger coming to the Lightning Series. What goes into the decision process of selecting which figures are made considering the large pool you have to choose from?
Sondra Weiner: For sure. Obviously, there are a lot of fan favorites. There’s twenty-six years of history that we have to get through and we’ve only got two waves so far. But definitely we’re hearing what fans want and we also think beyond what is expected. We want to surprise and not only do that but we just want to look at a great variety of characters from MMPR and all the way through.
Beth Bamrick: I would just add that we’re taking an anthology approach. Like Sondra mentioned, we do have a rich history and there are a ton of figures and characters that we want to bring. It’s just a matter of timing and what make sense. There are so many that it’s tough to choose which ones to bring out first. It just goes back to looking at it, what makes sense, what are the fans asking for and putting that all together into the mix.
GC: I see that for your premium Lightning figures, you’re using photoreal head sculpts for the figures. The technology has been used in other Hasbro products like Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series. How do you think this adds to the figures?
SW: We think one of the best things about Power Rangers is that not only are they Power Rangers with their helmets, but they’re civilians too. I think a lot of times you see that pose where they’re in their civilian form and they’re holding their helmet on the side of their hip and I think that’s one of the cool things that’s never been done with Power Rangers. Actually, see them as civilians, as characters that you know from the show aside from being the superhero Power Rangers that they are.
GC: It’s cool that you have all these different Rangers available, but it’d be nice for them to have someone for them to fight. There are a handful of toys based off the villains. Are there plans to expand the pool of these bad guys? I know you have Goldar and Zedd, the Putty that’s in the two pack and Tronics and Blaze in the other lines.
SW: I think that we are showing a glimpse. It’s not all about doing just all the good guys. It’s about every character that you can get from the show so you can have those battle scenes. Those stories you want to reenact. So definitely, we’re looking at everything. It’s just not all about the Rangers.
GC: HasLab is a fairly new initiative at Hasbro. Only a few products have gone that route. Do you see any utility in its use for any future Power Rangers products?
BB: That’s a great question. I think we’re really focused on 2019 and getting it right. I think we’re looking at all the opportunities down the road and we know there are huge opportunities. For now, we just want to make sure we’re bringing fans great product, great characters and great figures. But who knows what the future may hold?
GC: At the panel, it was announced that you will have a Power Rangers/T.M.N.T. comic crossover coming in December. The Rangers have also teamed up with the Justice League in the past. IDW also holds licensing to other Hasbro brands like GI Joe and Transformers. Are there any plans to do crossovers in the comics world with those other Hasbro brands?
BB: We’re probably not the best people to answer that but I will say, again, we just scratched the surface at what we can do with the Power Rangers brand.
GC: Because you only got it in 2018.
SW: Exactly. It’s a lot to take on for us so we’re really focused mostly on 2019 and what the future holds, we’re excited about the potential.
GC: This is focused on the TV show and you can just highlight yesterday. Beast Morphers just came back from a short hiatus. What can fans expect in these upcoming episodes?
BB: I can’t give too much away. We don’t have the date yet when it comes back to Nickelodeon but we’re excited for it. I think fans are going to see a lot of the same great, fun action, surprises and twists that they’re seeing in the first few episodes. We’re excited to see what the fans think about it when it comes out.
GC: I know that you’re focusing on 2019. Do you plan on any big announcements later because we’re a little bit more than half way through the year? Do you when fans can expect things? I know New York Comic Con is in October. I don’t know how much you do there.
BB: I would say stay tuned. We are going to be at some of the other cons. Globally as well.
GC: There is also a Power Rangers specific con as well. Power Morphicon.
BB: I would say stay tuned.
We would like to thank Sondra and Beth along with the rest of the Hasbro Power Rangers team for taking the time out of their busy schedule to meet with Comicon.com.