Hasbr-uh-oh

[The Phazer]

We got a movie line this year as well, with a greater Q4 focus at that. That's on top of Hasbro's 40th initiatives that'll probably goose sales a bit. We'll probably not see a significant softening of Transformers brand revenues until the end of 2025.

That might be true but it's unlikely that an animated feature will be predicted to have nearly the box office and therefore merch shifts that a live action one will by retailers.

Again, we'll see, but I think people in this thread people are papering over the cracks a little bit because of one data point.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

there hasn't been a star wars movie in five years, nobody really gives a jive about the MCU anymore, and kids haven't given a jive about cape comics in decades. Makes sense to me.

I get what you’re saying, but I think the nature of streaming has…lessoned…those issues. Especially when you consider the biggest “thing“ to happen to Star Wars since Force Awakens was a streaming TV series. The luster of MCU has certainly faded, but those films remain in hefty rotation on basic cable and consumers with D+ have access to nearly 50 years of animation content.

I think a better question is: What happened to the kids toys? Hasbro has become so focused on milking us old farts, it feels like stuff FOR KIDS is barely a secondary concern, and that’s reflecting in, broadly, lackluster showings across the board. Going back to my local Ollie’s, aside from the Mission Fleet dump, it wasn’t kids product overflowing across multiple end caps and in the toy section…it was MULTIPLE assortments of Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black.
Compared to what Mattel makes for Jurassic or especially Spin Master’s DC output, Hasbro’s stuff is frustratingly conservative. Doubly so for Star Wars, which brought back a 4“ line...only to NOT offer the same degree of articulation seen in the Marvel segment. Guardians of the Galaxy‘s kids line omitted 3 of the film’s CENTRAL characters (Nebula, Warlock, High Evolutionary) for no discernible reason (aside from keeping the assortments to as few items as possible).

So the issue I have to ask is…Is this a Disney issue or Hasbro issue? Or a little both? Because it sure feels like Hasbro’s sacrificing future generations of fans/collectors for the sake of milking what they can from the existing pool of them.

That might be true but it's unlikely that an animated feature will be predicted to have nearly the box office and therefore merch shifts that a live action one will by retailers.

Again, we'll see, but I think people in this thread people are papering over the cracks a little bit because of one data point.

I think Transformers One is in a better position compared to this time last year due to the strike. Due to the strike, Transformers is well positioned as family friendly counter programming for the fall (akin to how TMNT Mutant Mayhem ended up last year). Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 will be out in June-July, and Disney won’t have anything of significance until the end of November, at minimum.
On the merch angle, TF One should be benefitting from rolling out with the fall product resets (generally mid-late August) and be more “on point” with the film’s release, plus being a “fresher” film by the time holiday sales roll around. And that doesn’t even address that Earthspark should be getting new episodes and whatever Hasbro’s 40th initiatives might bring by that point.

If they keep the budget under $100 million (TMNT:MM was $70 million, Into the Spiderverse was $90 million), they won’t NEED to do especially large business, and I think Transformers will have bigger international returns compared to Ninja Turtles.

If anything is going to hurt Hasbro’s numbers this year, it’s going to be a lack of major initiatives from Star Wars, despite a pair of streaming series, and only two meaningful Marvel films for merch purposes (Madame Webb is getting squat, neither will Kraven. Venom will get some support and Deadpool 3 is the ONLY MCU film this year, period).

 

[Spin-Out]

so chris cox said this jive recently

 

[Dekafox]

tl;dw; Hasbro licensed Monopoly to another developer, who after 7 years of development put out Monopoly Go last April. It's since made 2 billion in the past 10 months, 1 billion of that in the last three. Basically 11 mil a day. While they aren't seeing ALL of that obviously, they're almost certainly getting a nice chunk from licensing which is bound to help going forward(and will likely encourage them to push for even more licensing out properties for mobile games than they already have since they can collect the money with little cost to them). Video is included mostly because it has footage of the actual game, if you wanted to see what it was like.

And to be clear, this is something that makes it more likely for Hasbro to keep on trucking, rather than yet another albatross around their neck, whatever we may think of this kind of game.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Hasbro always turns it around somehow. They make a lot of crazy decisions, but sometimes crazy works.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I've heard that the first signs of the investor class getting cold feet on AI is happening; apparently developers overhyped and under delivered on what it was capable of (shock) so we may see companies pull back from it in the next few years as it no longer holds the special buzzword appeal.

Probably a pipe dream, but one can hope.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

I've heard that the first signs of the investor class getting cold feet on AI is happening; apparently developers overhyped and under delivered on what it was capable of (shock) so we may see companies pull back from it in the next few years as it no longer holds the special buzzword appeal.

Probably a pipe dream, but one can hope.

AI is the current "crypto" or "NFT" hype word for investors.

I think Chris Cox's comments above are just lip service for the sake of investors. Hasbro did a couple of NFT items...but NEVER seemed to go all in on that (and rightfully so).

 

[lastmaximal]

Yeah, I'd be more surprised if there weren't at least an attempt to pivot to leveraging that. The NFTs were also my first thought, followed by relief at how shallowly they'd dipped into that pool.

I wish there were better reasons for them to hold off (like the ethics and human impact and general clutter of it all) but I'm under no illusions that anything but the money motive is the deciding factor.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I'm going to say this much for it: at least the way he's talking, they'd be using it to scrape their own content (of which they have copious amounts) instead of trawling the internet for stuff.

I still don't like it, and to be honest, I don't even trust the statement as such, but if it's the case, at least there's some small moral "yay" there.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

It sounds like they're talking videogames with a lot of procedurally generated content, but calling it AI because that's the new buzzword.

Videogames remain Hasbro's forever dream, and they're hoping they've found a shortcut.

 

[Sabrblade]

John Warden has been laid off by Hasbro:

John Warden on Instagram: "I’ve had the privilege of a lifetime to be part of the creative force at Hasbro. When I was a boy in the early 1980’s, I was encouraged by my Dad, an inner city public school art teacher, to learn about industrial design.It

613 likes, 122 comments - johnwarden_art on October 23, 2024: "I’ve had the privilege of a lifetime to be part of the creative force at Hasbro. When I was a boy in the early 1980’s, I was encouraged by my Dad, an inner city public school art teacher, to learn about industrial design.It wasn’t...

www.instagram.com

I’ve had the privilege of a lifetime to be part of the creative force at Hasbro. When I was a boy in the early 1980’s, I was encouraged by my Dad, an inner city public school art teacher, to learn about industrial design. It wasn’t until I saw Where the Toys Come From in 1984 on a VHS cassette from my local library that I realized that the worlds of drawing, painting, sculpture, and mass-production engineering collided into a fascinating miasma resulting in the swivel-armed hero that I held in my hand. That next year, I would go on to write a letter for my fifth grade class to Ralph Shaffer, the mastermind SVP who (alongside the mighty James Groman) created the wacky MadBall line in the nearby metro area of Cleveland Ohio. To my surprise he wrote me back and I got a tour… the illustrations on frisket hanging on the wall, originals from Groman himself and the think tank of subversive designers. My career at Hasbro has taught me what it means to dream hard enough that your dreams come to life. And just like the closing act in The Muppet Movie, for 25 years, you as Hasbro’s fans of Transformers, G.I. Joe, MASK, Visionaries, Jem, Pokémon, Star Wars… we came together. Through the crashing anarchy of the rainbow we came together, somehow. Like a family. To hundreds upon thousands of fans that I’ve met at conventions around the world, I say thank you. Your passion for the brands that we all grew up with and loved as children is beyond measure. It has been a privilege and an honor to talk to each and every one of you. We are all Family. Thank you fans and thank you Hasbro for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to bring my childhood dreams to life these past 25 years. Even to bring new dreams to life for a new generation of fans, like my kids who are now adults. As I gaze misty eyed on my career and what magic comes next, my heart is filled with gratitude. Fear not, Autobots. I am sure our paths will come together again. As sure as the sun beams in from above onto the singing Muppets below. Thank you.

 

[The Phazer]

I'm sorry for him, that's a lame thing to happen. Hopefully new opportunities present themselves.

I continue to doubt that Hasbro is being run in a sustainable fashion.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

His departure (after 25 years) makes me think there's been some "streamlining" on the managerial level. Which means somebody still there just inherited Transformers AND GI Joe responsibilities.
I can't be too fussed either way, I mean, fan or not, that's how corporate operates these days. We've seen dozens of people cycle through the Transformers design team since I really became aware of "them" in 2003.

Hopefully, his abrupt exit isn't a "canary in a coal mine" situation for Hasbro. Q3 results are tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see to see how (or if) lay offs like his are addressed besides an item line. I'm seeing what big players in the action toy space are doing, and I DO feel Hasbro is starting to lag behind.
Mattel is still doing solid stuff with Jurassic and WWE, Jakks has Nintendo and Sega covered with a solid range of products, Jazwares launched Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron and seems to have taken a solid bite out of Hasbro's Star Wars share, Playmates recovered from Voltron and Rise of TMNT and is on solid ground with Mutant Mayhem and soon Power Rangers and new guys like Nacelle Toys and Loyal Subjects are making some big moves into the collector space.
And despite some crappy film offerings, Spin Master and McFarlane are both, seemingly, doing well under their split licenses agreement.


I'm sure Mr Warden will land on his feet. Fellow Tranformers alum Ben Montano just got snagged by Loyal Subjects as they gear up to relaunch a bunch of legacy Hasbro properties. Maybe the next time we hear of John Warden, he'll be set up at Playmates over TMNT and Power Rangers?

 

[Sabrblade]

His departure (after 25 years) makes me think there's been some "streamlining" on the managerial level. Which means somebody still there just inherited Transformers AND GI Joe responsibilities.

There were other layoffs beside him as well, sadly.

BMac chimed in on his own Instagram to say that he himself wasn't one of other layoffs.

 

[Rhinox]

I'm sorry for him, that's a lame thing to happen. Hopefully new opportunities present themselves.

I continue to doubt that Hasbro is being run in a sustainable fashion.

I have the same doubts. Seems that since the last CEOs passing there's been no real plan forward. Just a neverending game of kick the can down the road and wait for the next big thing.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Damn. I was really looking forward to his return to the brand. His enthusiasm is not something they teach in business school. They were lucky to have him. Goldner understood that sort of thing, but it's clear that Cocks doesn't.

 

[Dekafox]

They also booted the head of Outreach for WOTC, who said it was part of a company-wide reorganization, apparently.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

This is not a good sign for tomorrow's Q3 report.

 

[Rhinox]

Not a bit. The movie not doing as well as it should have really came at a bad time.

 

[Badgertron]

This is not a good sign for tomorrow's Q3 report.

Yeah, I've got a feeling in the pit of my stomach that we're going to be getting even more bad news in the coming weeks, across all of their brands. Possibly even sweeping changes (admittedly we've already been getting those, I didn't see them outsourcing a bunch of brands like Power Rangers like, at all).