Hasbr-uh-oh - Business and Tariffs Discussion

[Platypus Prime]

There's no chance any company is taking a full loss on the product plus a fee just to take the loss. They simply won't import it in the first place, and that's where a lot goes wrong. No matter how the wholesale/retail split really works, the profit margins aren't 145% anyway. Something has to give and that will either be quantity of product, with less coming in that they know won't be as popular, or quality, making the product cheaper in some way, which we've already seen several times, or worse, both.

I don't know what is happening, and I hope for those who ordered Liokaiser this mess is over before it impacts it. I didn't get the chance to get one but I really want to see some great pictures, not a lot of issues with QC.

 

[lastmaximal]

You may have to settle for a lot of great pictures of issues with QC.

I was also going to be able to scale back a bit this year (waiting for later to pull any triggers on combiners), but honestly with what could happen to the prices of everything ELSE from food to other types of goods (a lot of my tech is showing its age...), I may end up being priced out of even older TF stuff on the secondary market.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

You know, I would say our first principle in all of this is don’t overreact. And I think our retail partners have appreciated that perspective. Now Hasbro, Inc. is able to come from a privileged perspective on that. You know, somewhere around 45% to 50% of our US sales are either domestically sourced or based on digital or licensing from domestic companies. So that gives us a little bit more buffer than the typical toy company which is 80% plus of their volume comes from China and most of it the rest from Southeast Asia.

Hasbro's going to be okay.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Though now it will give their CEO the idea that he was right the whole time and the export of physical IP will continue to other companies, potentially letting them take the risk, without the buffer to survive if things go wrong. We may be seeing a lot of what happens now with off-brand car parts.

 

[Dekafox]

And the De minimis changes are now in effect

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/economy/de-minimis-packages-tariff

120% or a flat fee of $100 on anything below $800 -per package- via USPS, and the flat fee goes up to $200 in a month. Standard 145% tariff values for UPS, DHL(if they resume deliveries to the US at all), and FedEx.

 

[ZacWilliam1]

Well at least my Hydrophant slipped through under the wire.

-ZacWilliam, wonder if the hate on this one will make the moron in charge of it give it up quickly

 

[Rhinox]

And here is where we will see the tide really start to turn on Trump.
This hits directly at his base.

We will see the propagandists react very quickly. They know they have to turn the narrative or this buries them all. Watch Fox close in the next few days. They're going to be working hard on the spin, but I think we're reaching the end of Rupert's good graces. It's going to be on Newsmax and OAN to carry the torch.
The online propagandists are going to be working hard as well. Watch the facebook bot nets try and pull out a line that they'll copy across all accounts deflecting blame.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

And here is where we will see the tide really start to turn on Trump.

If I had a nickel every time I heard that, I could probably afford to cover the tariff costs.

 

[Princess Viola]

It's not 100% related to Hasbro but honestly nothing made me realize how out of touch I must be when I discovered that there are just...so many people who spend so much money each month on Temu/AliExpress/Shien hauls because what the hug. Because 99.99% of the time when I've seen a YouTuber do an unboxing video where they spent like $500 on jive from those sites, almost everything they get is just...complete crap, a scam, or - if it was something actually legit - way overpriced.

Consumerism is a hell of a drug.

Obviously this sucks ass for every ******* thing from China outside of that but Christ were people that addicted to buying product?

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Obviously this sucks ass for every ******* thing from China outside of that but Christ were people that addicted to buying product?

Yes
*gestures to the adult collector market*

 

[LordGigaIce]

DAMN HASBLOW CAN'T RESPECT THE FRANCHISE

buys entire AotP wave one

STUPID CHUG SLOP

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Hasbro, Funko And Mondo Price Increases Coming

I am sorry to report more bad news when it comes to price increases from various action figure companies due to Tariffs. First an update on the Hasbro front.

toynewsi.com

A notice appeared this weekend on Hasbro Pulse, indicating "Lock in Preorder Pricing by May 9". According to BBTS, as well as notices from makers Mondo and Funko, price increases are coming. The ToyNewsI reported (speaking with BBTS) has indicated that after May 9th, Hasbro prices will be going up. All preorders locked in by May 9th will be honored, but there is no guarantee about pricing after that point. Entertainment Earth has already instituted site wide price increases nearly 30% on some items in response to impending price concerns.

Mattel has scuttled any of their future financial outlooks, citing uncertainly about consumer spending due to the tariffs and indicated they will "adjust prices as necessary" for the US market.

Keep in mind that a number of smaller toy manufacturers have already frozen shipments from Asia, putting into question the availability of toys and goods this holiday season.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Hope that counts for Amazon and GameStop...

 

[lastmaximal]

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/05/business/barbie-mattel-toy-tariffs-price-hike

This is Mattel, but I'd be surprised if this weren't indicative of how similar big ships like Hasbro would have to respond to this situation.

Mattel said that tariffs hadn’t affected its earnings for the first three months of the year. To mitigate future losses, it plans to diversify its supply chain outside of China and “where necessary, taking pricing action in its US business.”

That’s Wall Street speak for higher prices.

...

. On Monday, Kreiz said it will be relocating production of 500 toys from China to other countries.

However, that production will not shift to the United States. Kriez told CNBC Tuesday that even if tariffs on toys remain, it would still be cheaper to manufacture toys outside America.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

After what just happened to Mattel's stock a few minutes ago, I expect other toy companies to suddenly be very quiet about announcing price increases.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Thing is, though, they can't hide them, and having them suddenly appear with no warning would probably be even worse PR than giving plenty of notice. Either way it's bad for the consumer the company is relying on, and the companies investors who know that the company will be loosing money. There's no upside to this mess for the toy industry, it's just not a viable situation...

On that note, I can kiss the Bandai "Life On Earth" Mantis and Locust set I was eyeing, and the MOTU Thundercats Lion-O and Mumm-Ra goodbye, can't I?

 

[Princess Viola]

fucked up how mattel is only making 500 toys and that's it

 

[lastmaximal]

fucked up how mattel is only making 500 toys and that's it

I mean, if kids don't need 30 dolls...

 

[Sabrblade]

Kids do play more with phones and tablets these days, anyway.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

After what just happened to Mattel's stock a few minutes ago, I expect other toy companies to suddenly be very quiet about announcing price increases.

I don't know why that happened unless nobody reads and wait for CNBC interviews or what. Mattel made their statements DAYS ago when they released results. And it's not like Hasbro and others haven't already made statements to the effect of tariff impact on revenues or price increases.

Thing is, though, they can't hide them, and having them suddenly appear with no warning would probably be even worse PR than giving plenty of notice. Either way it's bad for the consumer the company is relying on, and the companies investors who know that the company will be loosing money. There's no upside to this mess for the toy industry, it's just not a viable situation...

On that note, I can kiss the Bandai "Life On Earth" Mantis and Locust set I was eyeing, and the MOTU Thundercats Lion-O and Mumm-Ra goodbye, can't I?

Can't say for the Bandai stuff...but Amazon still has the MOTU/TCat crossover figures up for preorder with a price guarantee (which is cheaper than anyone else, at the moment).

fucked up how mattel is only making 500 toys and that's it

Their margins are INSANE


I've been lackadaisical in posting these, but ALL the public toy companies reported strong Q1 results, with Q2 looking solid. Kind of reminds me of this "thing" I've seen in medicine:
I've been working in an ICU for nearly 20 years. One of the worst things we see is "the rebound day". A patient that has long been in decline suddenly has a day where they see an abrupt improvement, sometimes shockingly so. That is almost ALWAYS a precedent to an equally abrupt crash, if not outright death.

I feel like the strong Q1 results (likely similarly strong Q2 results) are the toy industry's "rebound day". It's a false sign of improvement that is going to precede a HUGE fall come Q3 and Q4. Companies were rushing shipments in Q1 and 2, and consumers are still in "stock up mode", creating a short term boon that I don't see lasting once prices go up.