The story of Cluedo & Clue PART TWO by Bruce Whitehill Mergers and Acquisitions, Promotion and Product Diversification • From the mid-1980s through the 1990s, licensing becomes a major force and the game industry sees a series of company takeovers; the three major ones are: 1. 1984 - Hasbro takes over Milton Bradley Co. 2. 1991 - Hasbro takes over Parker Brothers 3. 1994 - Hasbro takes over Waddingtons • The following is a chronological listing showing some of the licensed Clue and Cluedo products that were sold from 1983 through the mid-’90s. Ad in 1983 British comic book Armchair Detective book of mystery puzzles, 1983 Poster for mystery theatre production in Germany, 1985 Swiss TV edition, 1985 Clue VCR Mystery Game, 1985 The first “screen” presentation of Clue was a VCR game for viewing on TV; the UK title was “Cluedo: The Great Video Detective Game.” Ten suspects search through five rooms after the murder of Mr. Boddy, committed with one of five weapons, in this humorous, campy romp. Murders abound. Clue, the Movie • 1985 film in which all the suspects are being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy, who, as we would suspect, winds up murdered. " • Whodunit? " • It depends on which theatre you went to – " the movie had three endings... Theatre production (poster), UK, 1986 Super Challenge, 1986 The 9 weapons of the Cluedo Super Challenge edition The second VCR mystery, 1987 Magnetic Pocket Edition, 1989 1989 Travel Edition Clue for American kids, 1990 Card game, 1990 Clue Travel Game, 1990 The Great Museum Caper variation, 1991 • The Great Museum Caper, though marked as a Clue variant, was completely different from the original – some say better than the original. Its three-dimensional board makes it particularly interesting. The Great Museum Caper gameboard Clue, the Video Game • A 1992 addition to your local video store. Braille version, 1992 Braille game pieces Clue, the book series • Beginning in 1992, a series of 18 children’s books, each containing 10 mini-mysteries (13 in the first) were written by four or five authors through 1997, with characters based on the 1986 and then the 1992 Clue editions. • A second series of two books, “Clue Mysteries,” written by a new author in 2003 and 2004, took place in England in 1926 and were worded for an older audience. Cluedo for British Kids, 1993 Leeds Centennial Edition, 1993 • Leeds was the home of Waddingtons. Their special 1993 edition commemorated the 100th anniversary of the company and featured illustrations of famous locales in the city. The suspects were all Leeds people who were famous. Leeds Centennial Edition • In addition to the licensed products and special editions, some of the companies updated their box covers. New Parker Bros. box, 1986 Spanish edition, 1980s New Italian edition box, 1986 Small box German edition, 1987 New German edition box, 1993 From 1994 on, " with ownership of both " Parker Brothers and Waddingtons, " Hasbro controlled all rights to " Clue and Cluedo" (among many other things) Also in 1994, Anthony Pratt died, aged 90 His grave is marked with his contribution as the inventor of one of the world’s longest-running favorite games. • Unfortunately, Anthony Pratt signed away the rights to international versions of Cluedo in 19xx, since the game was not yet selling that well. When his patent expired in 19xx, he received no further royalty payments. The royalties he did receive initially kept him for a few years, but he had to go back to work in 19xx. According to his daughter [CHECK], he was never bitter about it – but his family was. [CONTINUE TEXT] Marketing • Hasbro saw the Clue property as a serious money-maker, and the number of Clue and Clue-related products multiplied accordingly. • By this point, all the game titles were called only either Clue or Cluedo. • “Clue,” under that name, is sold only in North America. 1995 Turkish edition 1996 French edition 1997 Limited Gift Edition tin box 1999 Alfred Hitchcock Edition • Each of the weapons in the Hitchcock edition, as well as each of the rooms on the gameboard, all relate to one of Hitchcock’s famous films. 1999 International Multilingual Edition 2000 Super Challenge Edition, UK 2001 German Super Cluedo 2002 Clue, The Card Game 2002 The Simpsons Edition 2003 Retro Edition (from Winning Moves) 2003 Clue FX (Electronic) 2003 Dunhill Edition, UK 2003 Murder at Tudor Hall, UK 2005 Clue Mysteries 2005 Clue (with English & Spanish) 2006 Clue DVD Game 2006 Travel Game, UK 2006 Bookshelf Edition, German 2007 Asterix Edition, France • In 2008, a beverage company in the UK celebrated its 100th anniversary. Vimto, a shortened form of the original name: Vim Tonic, is both the name of the company and of its drink that started as a health tonic and evolved into a purple carbonated soft drink. • A Cluedo game subtitled “The Case of the Missing Birthday Cake,” was used as an advertising and promotional gimmick. 2008 Vimto Cluedo • Juicy Couture is a fashion outlet founded in Los Angeles in 1997 and bought by Liz Claiborne; it offers clothing, accessories and perfumes, said to be high-end but low cost. The trendy brand became a phenomenon when Madonna sported one of its velour tracksuits in 1991; other celebrities followed and Juicy Couture was in vogue. • The name became so popular that in 2009, USAopoly, under license from Hasbro, issued the Clue Juicy Couture game. 2009 Juicy Couture (from USAopoly) 2009 Clue 24, CTU Lockdown 2010 Clue Family Guy • Stay tuned to your favorite TV show coming into a Clue game near you. • (This appears to be a particularly American phenomenon.) 2010 Clue wood box edition 2011 Clue Library Classic 2011 Clue World of Harry Potter Merchandise • Clue- and Cluedo-related products, other than games, were produced in abundance beginning in 1993. What follows in a sampling. Limited edition van, 1993 500 vans made for 1993 championships, USA Series of jigsaw puzzles, ca. 1994 Clue, the Musical, 1995 • Premiered in Baltimore, Maryland, and began with three cards that were put aside, so there were a large number of different endings over the long run of the play. Chewing gum (Chicklets), 1996 Cookie tin, USA, 1998 Keychain, USA, 1998 Clue, the PC game • 1998 “Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion,” for computer (alas, not for Mac), called “Cluedo: Murder at Blackwell Grange” in the UK. Clue mini game, Wendys premium ! (4 in. / 10 cm x 4 in. / 10 cm), Hasbro, 1999 Dexterity puzzle, 1999 Wendy’s premium Clue Alias Kit ID badge, 1999 Wendy’s premium Clue magnifying glass, 1999 Wendy’s premium Stearman bi-plane ornament 1954 Corvette convertible - Ms. Scarlet and the knife, 2004 Poppets candy with Cluedo theme challenge, 2005 Cluedo theme flu ad, 2006 Cluedo umbrella from the underside, 2007 One in a series of Cluedo mugs, 2010 Clue candy Clue poster or gift wrap Clue tee shirt Clue, the app, 2011 • Available now for your iPhone, iPad, cell phone, tablet or whatever other devices use these things. Clue, the TV series, 2011 • A five-part mini-series that ran as half-hour segments in the U.S. and featured a cast of teenagers. Sherlock, 2011 BBC-TV series • 2013 Clue movie from Universal pictures to be directed by Gore Verbinski, who did all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. • In the 35 years after Clue/Cluedo was first introduced, there was basically just one game. The arrangement of spaces on the board and the number of rooms, suspects and weapons remained pretty much the same, as did the gameplay and rules. Some countries had their own title for the game, and some changed the names of the characters or of the rooms. • In England and the U.S., there were at least 4 different box covers designed between 1949 and 1984; the images were different in the two countries. In both countries, the earliest edition came in a square box with the gameboard separate; later (or at about the same time), a rectangular box was issued with the board inside using the same cover graphics as on the square one. • In the last 20 years, there have been over 45 editions and variations, plus at least 6 based on TV shows and movies, as well as Clue-themed books, a play, a movie, a musical, and more than 40 miscellaneous products based on the brand, including books, tee-shirts, watches, puzzles, mugs, umbrellas, candy, ornaments, giftwrap, toy cars, toy trucks, key chains, chewing gum and cookie tins. • Waddingtons, Parker Brothers and now Hasbro have made a small fortune on the Clue/Cluedo property. The game’s inventor, Alfred Butts, died in virtual obscurity, his royalty agreement – which he received on the British games only – having run out decades ago. • For additional information and images, go to these Clue/Cluedo fan sites online (last checked June 2012):" http://www.cluedofan.com/" http://rm7guy.co.uk/Cluedo.htm" http://www.kennethhand.com/clue/index.html" (The first site, regularly updated, even has a petition to British TV stations for the Cluedo TV series to be shown on British television again.) Thanks for your time! .