Hasbro Is Phasing Out Plastic

Two years ago Hasbro announced that they were going to phase out plastic from new toy and game packaging across its portfolio of iconic brands like NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and POWER RANGERS. We now have a good look at what this looks like in practice. Below is the packaging for Star Wars: Mission Fleet toys, and as you can see the plastic window on the front of the box is completely gone. 

The plastic on the inside which secured toys from shifting around during transportation has been replaced with cardboard and thick paper twists. We've also seen less plastic in use for Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series 6" line already as you can see for the exclusive Trapper Wolf figure (and other exclusives) and the Wampa below.

Besides plastic baggies which hold accessories on the inside of the box, the packaging for vehicles and playsets has not been an issue for quite some time now.

There is still work left to do in order to go entirely plastic free and while having no plastic window on the front of a Black Series 6" figure might be an option, it's certainly not an option for Hasbro's 3 3/4" Vintage Collection, the 3 3/4" Retro Collection or Black Series 6" Kenner tribute figures, where the packaging itself is a big part of the attraction for collectors.

It will be interesting to see if Hasbro is going to make changes to Kenner-style packaging, and looking at it realistically there isn't anything which can be done in order to maintain the iconic look while at the same time eliminating the plastic. Removing the plastic bubble which houses the figure would change the look drastically and would be the end of the Kenner-style packaging as we have come to know and love it over the past four decades. Maybe it's time for a change for the greater good? Either way, we'll be following Hasbro's move towards plastic free packaging with great interest.