I don't think you should post threads in this folder. It's a place-holder (for the folders beneath it), not a place to start a conversation.
Not an intentional joke, no. Hasbro had all sorts of plans for the use of the "Avalon Hill" name that they had only just acquired. I think that maybe their plan was that games branded as "Avalon Hill" would be more "sophisticated" fare than other "family" type games published by Hasbro.
Needless to say, it didn't really happen.