WotC Hasbro CFO Sharpens Focus on Cost Savings As Toy Shoppers Pull Back

[Henadic Theologian]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hasbros-cfo-sharpens-focus-on-cost-savings-as-toy-shoppers-pull-back-949493ad

Part of their goals for the cost savings is to reinvest in WotC, what form that takes is unknown.

 

[cranberry]

I wonder that in the long run, if they'll make the decision to drop everything except D&D and MtG.

 

[mamba]

I wonder that in the long run, if they'll make the decision to drop everything except D&D and MtG.

probably not everything, but quite a bit

 

[CleverNickName]

I wondered how long this would take. I've noticed that my nieces, nephews, and all of my friends' kids no longer had any interest in toys once they were old enough to use a smartphone or video game console. The exact age varies, and is usually decided by their parents, but once they reach it they no longer play with dolls, cars, action figures or even Lego sets. Every birthday or Christmas, they ask for game credits on the Apple Store, Steam, or Xbox Live. I have one lone nephew who collects Magic cards, but he won't play with them...he keeps them in a special binder that nobody is allowed to touch (reminds me of my comic book collection when I was a kid). When he actually plays--and he plays a lot!--it's online.

Things have been trending in this direction for a while now. I'm not surprised Hasbro (and Mattel, and other game/toy companies) are making adjustments to their business plan.

 

[bedir than]

I wonder that in the long run, if they'll make the decision to drop everything except D&D and MtG.

This is unlikely, as brands like Transformers, Pepa and several others are part of the Franchise Brands program, capable of billion dollar a year revenue (Transformers and Pepa already are IIRC).

 

[Vaalingrade]

Those are a lot of buzzwords you don't want to see when it comes to human costs.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I wonder that in the long run, if they'll make the decision to drop everything except D&D and MtG.

Probably not, there will always be market for toys but we are (and have for some time) living in an interesting demographic transition. The children's toy market is shrinking (there are less children and the adult nostalgia collectors' market has probably also entered demographic decline, but I am not sure that the investor class has come to terms with the long-term implications of all of this.

 

[Stormonu]

I need them to rerelease the GI Joe Rattler and Tomahawk, then they can cut back on the toy lines.

As @CleverNickName pointed out, interests for the younger generation has moved to online activities and those of us trying to recollect our childhood have to be picky about what we grab when a new single 3 1/2 figure is in the $20 price range.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

And parents don't want to buy expensive toys when children are happier with cheaper but with more elements, even with no-brand toys.

For some time the playmobil was a almost forgotten brand, if my memory doesn't fail, in the boom of the action-figures in the 90's, but later the playmobil returned, and they are more popular than ever. Even there was a movie.

I wonder if an option could be a physical product with digital content, for example an action figure with a card what gives a skin for Fortnite, for example.

There are less children, and the collectors want a good quality-prize ratio.

I wonder if Hasbro will merger with other company, but we know this would be the field of speculation.

 

[darjr]

I see kids wanting to play with toys all the time. But often they are more than the “action figure” or plastic blob kinds of toys. My grandsons friend brought in an old broken roomba they dismantled recently, for ex.

And a lot of tablet/phone stuff.