Claire Gilchrist, Vice President of Hasbro Consumer Products – Asia Pacific, recently visited India to implement new initiatives in the region. Several local media outlets received the opportunity to discuss future plans of the company.
Hasbro will focus on re-introducing the G.I. Joe brand to India after its massive popularity back in the 80s.
The upcoming toyline will revolve around the theatrical release of G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes. Along with the Joe toys, Hasbro is hoping to quadruple the footing in India with other toys such as Micro Machines, Pound Puppies etc.
Hasbro is looking for a TV and a Digital initiative for G.I. Joe as well. While we currently do not have any info regarding the TV initiative, the digital initiative in question is most likely the upcoming mobile game by D3 Go.
Ms. Gilchrist also stated that they have setup several factories in India to manufacture toys based on Hasbro brands and is also the Number 1 toy exporter of the country.
She also addressed the current relationship with Funskool:
“Hasbro has been in India for over 30 years. Our business was looked after for us by our agents. It was mainly done by Funskool, who is our agent and distributer for toys and games. Also, because of the importance of India as a market for growth and expansion, a few years ago the board of directors decided to go direct. So in April 2017, we opened Hasbro India and we started to make a team with whom we went direct to the retailers in India. We still maintain a relationship with Funskool, but it is on a small scale. The business has had fantastic growth. It has grown to almost 10 times in the last couple of years. We felt the time was absolutely perfect to then build on the toy and game business and also now to expand and extend brands into consumer products, into promotions and location based entertainment which is run by the consumer products organisation.”
We thank AdGully and MediaNews4U for the exclusive interview info.
News Post: Hasbro Hoping To Reintroduce G.I. Joe Toys To India
Well I would buy them. Do you think it would be like importing Takara transformers, or Bandai Star Wars figure?
Would be cool if we got funskool repaints of ME figures.
It's a big step to sell them around the world.
So...it will be Fun Skool all over again?
So an impoverished country like India gets Joes but we still don’t? I guess it really is the end of the world.
that is great news IMO if this happens.
I live in Sri Lanka; the neighboring country of India. Trust me when I say that back in 1980s and 90s G.I. Joe was the No. 1 selling toy in both countries. In fact, it was the first branded toy to be sold here. It introduced branded toys to our countries.
I still remember the local shop which had a massive aisle full of Joe toys. I convinced my parents and visited there a week later and it was all gone except for 5 toys.
It was also the first toyline to feature TV commercials with child actors from both countries. One of them grew up to be a Bollywood star too.
G.I. Joe is a recognized brand name in India as much as it was for the US at that time.
Ah, the good ol' days.
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