• MSNBC/AP, Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:30 AM

Hasbro hopes the July 4 release of the DreamWorks/Paramount movie "Transformers"--based on the company's "robots in disguise" toys introduced in the 1980s--will herald a new era for the company. In the past few years, Hasbro has remade itself from a toy maker to an entertainment company.

In 2000, the Pawtucket, R.I.-based company was struggling. It lost $144 million after fads for Pokemon trading cards and the electronic pet Furby faltered. Part of the problem was an over-reliance on movie-related toys, like tie-ins to the "Star Wars" franchise, says Sean McGowan, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Hasbro's executives have gone back to basics, turning their focus to time-tested core brands consumers know and trust: Playskool, Monopoly, My Little Pony, Transformers and others. They've developed new versions of Monopoly, released a line of Playskool products for CVS drugstores, including diapers and baby bottles, and created a "My Little Pony" live stage show to name a few.

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