Hasbr-uh-oh - Business and Tariffs Discussion

LordGigaIce

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
Platypus Prime said:
Playmates is already having some weird issues, having lost Ninja Turtles for the first time since the original TV series, while ALSO having Hasbro outsource some of their own IP to them. I find the whole thing to be a rather confusing mess, I admit...
Click to expand...
I think Power Rangers should be enough to keep them going because Hasbro seems to have NO interest in it and will likely be happy to dump it onto PlayMates as long as they're willing to pay for it.

But yeah losing TMNT has to hurt, but I also don't blame Paramount on that. PlayMates was by all accounts rather hesitant to break out of what they'd been doing since day one, and Paramount wanted a grander scale for the line...

I can see why some Mattel investors see a Hasbro merger as preferable, but it would be awful for the US toy industry.

Best case scenario is that the FCC forces the combined company to drop some of its IP to avoid running afoul of antitrust laws, and a smaller company picks them up/hires the personnel who will inevitably be let go and we see one of the smaller companies build themselves up, but even then... a HasTell company would be too big to ever truly be rivaled in the Western market, and that's terrible for the industry overall.
 

Platypus Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
The trouble is, that sort of thing is already sort of happening with Hasbro's 'extended' IP like GEM, MASK, Popples, etc, to very mixed receptions for a wide range of reasons. I could easily see a merged company say "We tried that, it didn't work, so here's why its best for the consumer to do it in house" for their filings.
 

Steevy Maximus

Well known pompous pontificator
Citizen
Platypus Prime said:
The trouble is, that sort of thing is already sort of happening with Hasbro's 'extended' IP like GEM, MASK, Popples, etc, to very mixed receptions for a wide range of reasons. I could easily see a merged company say "We tried that, it didn't work, so here's why its best for the consumer to do it in house" for their filings.
Click to expand...
*Poors one out for Disney's Gargoyles*


I don't see this going anywhere. If shareholders didn't put forth efforts or approve a sale when Hasbro was in a stronger position several years ago (when Mattel was legit struggling), I don't see them accomplishing much right now. The ONLY benefit is that the current FCC might be more amicable to letting the antitrust issues slide more than it might have a few years ago. Especially when it is reportedly a small faction of Mattel shareholders pushing for this (and likely for a "quick payday" fearing a stock collapse if economic headwinds get worse).


IF (big IF) this were to progress, I don't think either company would have to drop any IP. I think the more likely scenario would be a push to disassociate from a number of licenses. Hasttel having Marvel, DC, Star Wars, WWE, Beyblade, Transformers, Jurassic World, TMNT, MOTU, MLP, Barbie, Polly Pocket AND Disney Princess would very much be a near monopoly in Action Figures and Dolls.
 
CoffeeHorse

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
There's no way Mattel would sell to their ultimate rival. They're friends now, but getting bought out would be humiliating.
 
The Phazer

The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
CoffeeHorse said:
There's no way Mattel would sell to their ultimate rival. They're friends now, but getting bought out would be humiliating.
Click to expand...
Shareholders don't care.

Most corporate consolidations are between companies who are fierce rivals. Ultimately the reason for doing this would be to get considerable savings by combining distribution operations to make the logistics more efficient, and both companies famously have fairly jive logistics, so there would be plenty of opportunity there.

Edit: But for the avoidance of doubt, this isn't happening, 4% of shareholders is basically nobody, and the deal would be an antitrust nightmare in Europe.
 
CoffeeHorse

CoffeeHorse

Hanging in there
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
If Cocks is to be believed, Hasbro's logistics operation is actually quite good. It's a bit of a chaotic mess full of redundancies, but that's turned out to be a good thing right now with the rules of global shipping changing every two weeks. Their inefficiency now means flexibility.
 
LordGigaIce

LordGigaIce

Another babka?
Citizen
The Phazer said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Ahem. "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears" and all that.
Click to expand...
I can't speak to the logistics side of things, but that's always seemed wonky, and not even a Hasbro-specific issue.

I do think, however, that Hasbro has been doing quite well for itself given the turbulent waters the industry finds itself in. Maybe you can chalk it up to this fandom always defaulting to the worst case scenario every single time, but the doom and gloom predicted between TFO's disappointment, the Reactive game's cancellation, and Trump's tariffs hasn't come to pass.

So clearly Hasbro has been doing something right in these chaotic times to stay afloat as they have been. And Cocks, as CEO, deserves credit for that. If blame floats to the top, so does credit.
 
Badgertron

Badgertron

Well-known member
Citizen
LordGigaIce said:
I can't speak to the logistics side of things, but that's always seemed wonky, and not even a Hasbro-specific issue.

I do think, however, that Hasbro has been doing quite well for itself given the turbulent waters the industry finds itself in. Maybe you can chalk it up to this fandom always defaulting to the worst case scenario every single time, but the doom and gloom predicted between TFO's disappointment, the Reactive game's cancellation, and Trump's tariffs hasn't come to pass.

So clearly Hasbro has been doing something right in these chaotic times to stay afloat as they have been. And Cocks, as CEO, deserves credit for that. If blame floats to the top, so does credit.
Click to expand...
Tbf, MTG is also doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep the company as a whole in the black.
 
The Phazer

The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
LordGigaIce said:
I can't speak to the logistics side of things, but that's always seemed wonky, and not even a Hasbro-specific issue.

I do think, however, that Hasbro has been doing quite well for itself given the turbulent waters the industry finds itself in. Maybe you can chalk it up to this fandom always defaulting to the worst case scenario every single time, but the doom and gloom predicted between TFO's disappointment, the Reactive game's cancellation, and Trump's tariffs hasn't come to pass.

So clearly Hasbro has been doing something right in these chaotic times to stay afloat as they have been. And Cocks, as CEO, deserves credit for that. If blame floats to the top, so does credit.
Click to expand...

Hasbro UK is literally currently telling retailers they don't know what stock they are getting and when themselves. Literally no idea. Literally they claim to not even know what's in their own warehouse.
 
The Phazer

The Phazer

Well-known member
Citizen
CoffeeHorse said:
Yeah, that's not a broader Hasbro issue. Nobody has ever known what Hasbro UK is doing.
Click to expand...

Hasbro UK got a bit better, and is currently a lot worse. But not in the "we literally don't care" way they did, they currently don't have a functioning ERP system as I understand it. And that's a pan-European issue.
 

Platypus Prime

Well-known member
Citizen
Or at least they think it is...they have no idea what issues have been registered at the moment, that system is down...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Top Bottom