You've seen it at virtually every carnival, amusement park, and arcade center, and I'm going to bet you've used up your spare change to play a few games. After all, there are more than 100,000 Skee-Ball games around the world.
Now Hasbro (NYSE: HAS ) is getting in on some of the Skee-Ball action. The toymaker is rediscovering the simple pleasures of the "olde-tyme" classic that's been around for nearly a century, by signing a deal with Skee-Ball's licensing agency.
Hasbro's partner in the multiyear deal is Dimensional Branding Group, which has gathered under its banner a cornucopia of established brand names, including Whac-a-Mole, Big Wheel (my first ATV), and a personal cartoon favorite, Batfink, who would hunt down the evil Hugo A-Go-Go. If Skee-Ball is successful, Hasbro has a number of opportunities for going retro here.
The company is tapping into a multigenerational market, since the love for Skee-Ball crosses a wide range of ages. The game provides a sense of nostalgia for grandparents thinking back to playing in their younger years, while kids enjoy the thrill of earning more prize tickets from hitting the 100-point center ring just as much as their parents did decades ago. The game has even made an appearance in an episode of The Simpsons -- pretty good evidence in itself that the game is still popular with today's generation.
Given the number of toy recalls lately, well-known brands from RC2 (Nasdaq: RCRC ) to Mattel (NYSE: MAT ) to Disney (NYSE: DIS ) need to find ways to restore a sense of safety to parents. Can a partnership with a popular game bring back childhood memories and help Hasbro get past its own recall woes?
Perhaps, though it won't be anytime soon. The company won't be releasing its first Skee-Ball products until 2009. But we can at least hope that lining the shelves of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) and Target (NYSE: TGT ) with an American classic will help eliminate some fear in parents who are buying toys for their kids.
More than 80% of the toys sold in the U.S. are made in China, and while Hasbro hasn't released where production of the Skee-Ball products will be produced, let's just hope this one's a safe haven from recalls.
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