Saban Brands, the company behind the Power Rangers brand, and Bandai US are to part company in 2019. Bandai has held the master toy licence for Power Rangers since its inception in 1993, and this mutual agreement brings that 25 year partnership to an end.
The split was announced in a joint statement
"After a successful 25-year partnership building the iconic action franchise, Power Rangers, Saban Brands and Bandai have mutually agreed not to renew their global Power Rangers master toy license agreement, effective April 2019"
Between now and 2019, Bandai will continue to produce and release items under the current Ninja Steel banner and product to celebrate the Power Rangers 25th anniversary.
From 2019 the licence will move to Hasbro who will therefore control four of arguably the biggest licences on toy store shelves - Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers and Power Rangers.
"We’re particularly excited to partner together to help reignite and drive this brand for the next 25 years and more,” Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner tells Heat Vision about the deal. “It’s a partnership that is very collaborative and feels very good to us to be in business with Saban and to help power Power Rangers.”
