Hasbro Teaming Up With Wicked Cool Toys To Bring Back MicroMachines

[JayC]

It's time to take a trip down memory lane—in a tiny car! It was announced today that Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) has entered into an agreement to appoint Wicked Cool Toys as global master toy licensee for one of the hottest toy lines of the 1980s and 1990s, Micro Machines. Wicked Cool Toys' portfolio includes original IP as well as the master toy licenses for top brands including Pokémon and Cabbage Patch Kids®. Micro Machines, a top-selling line featuring collectable component style "playsets" and miniature vehicles, originally became a hit in the mid-1980s. The new line of Micro Machines is expected to hit store shelves in the fall of 2020.

Michael Rinzler, co-president of Wicked Cool Toys, said, "Micro Machines is one of those amazing nostalgic brands that still has appeal 30 years later. There is huge potential to bring it back." Jeremy Padawer, co-president, continued, "Considering recent toy unboxing trends, the brand's multigenerational appeal, and the vehicle category's ripeness for something 'new' again, we believe Micro Machines will be a global phenomenon."

The original Micro Machines line was made by Galoob which is now part of Hasbro. Many different styles of Micro Machines were released including popular model cars and trucks, emergency vehicles, motorcycles, and airplanes. In addition, several Micro Machines lines were created based on top franchises. The toy line is as much known for its petite size as it is for its popular advertising campaign. Each spot ended with the slogan, "If it doesn't say Micro Machines, it's not the real thing!"

Casey Collins, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Entertainment and Licensing at Hasbro said, "We are thrilled to be partnering with Wicked Cool Toys, an entrepreneurial toy company that has a proven track record in relaunching classic brands with product innovation and a modern, sophisticated marketing approach. We are excited to collaborate to introduce Micro Machines to a whole new generation of kids."

Further details about the new Micro Machines line will be released later this year.

[Thinwheat]

Interesting move. I had a bunch of Micro Machines toys as a kid. 
I wonder if this will be something modern kids are interested in though? Or maybe it's targeted at adult collectors. 

[80sboy4]

I love this move, remember having a ton of these things as a kid. Used to use them with my G1 Transformers bases. Looking forward to seeing what comes of this and what the interest will be.

[Bespin refugee]

I never collected the actual Micro Machines lin, but, I did  collect the SW 3 packs, and I liked Action Fleet. I didn't collect too heavily though, as the 3 3/4" figures were my main focus. I would like to get some of the prequel vehicles I missed.

I also remember the ads with the 'speed talking  guy'

With Hasbro buying out Galoob, do they not have the 'infrastructure' (designers/molds/etc...)to produce them themselves? I take it it's cheaper to basically start over w/ another company?

[DylanRaven055]

I remember these, never had any, I believe, but I certainly remember the tv spots and stuff.

[Goldbug]

so they are competing with themselves (Tonka minis) and Driven brand https://www.target.com/b/driven-by-battat/-/N-8vul1

[JayC]

5 hours ago, Goldbug said:

so they are competing with themselves (Tonka minis) and Driven brand https://www.target.com/b/driven-by-battat/-/N-8vul1

Are those Jazwares? 

The only Micro Machines I ever collected where the Star Trek ones back in the day. While these are pretty generic, Jazwares has said they will be announcing new licensed stuff for the line next year. Will be curious to see what those are.

[Goldbug]

Tonka is Hasbro who is licensing Micro Machines to Jazwares it is just a weird thing to do

[InspectorZartan]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:35 AM, JayC said:

Are those Jazwares? 

The only Micro Machines I ever collected where the Star Trek ones back in the day. While these are pretty generic, Jazwares has said they will be announcing new licensed stuff for the line next year. Will be curious to see what those are.

Those Star Trek ones are the only ones I had too!  
 

I have been thinking of getting a little Micro Machine shelf set up for one of my toy rooms.  While I never had them myself I did play with them and would kind of like to see them better represented in my collection.  Not sure if it will be cheaper to actually buy a shelf worth of new ones at retail versus a random assortment of vintage ones on eBay.  
 

Why Hasbro isn’t just making these themselves seems odd to me.