Is Hasbro Okay?

[Jonnydark]

I have had a lot of unfortunate moments when certain people hint that Hasbro is kind of going through an awkward phase.



Some things that have happened:


- The former CEO who pushed for Hollywood and was by all accounts a beloved compassionate leader died. so they naturally are a little directionless. But it feels like their current problems are deeper than just this.



- they don't understand their community sometimes. Like when they were going to charge podcasters for using D&D in their shows. At least they reversed course... But just blundering into that seemed really focusing on short term dollars rather than long term good will.



- a employee of a retail store told me "Hasbro is really hard to work with right now... Thats why we don't have consistent levels of Hasbro merchandise stock." This feels so strange to me... It feels like retailers should be their best buds and partners. To have front line retail employees saying stuff like that feels really short sighted of Hasbro. Rise of the Beasts came and went but my local shops had almost no merch for it.



I get that its hard to balance the books and also run a huge multinational. I just wish i could give each of the people working there , executives to the shipping department, the book "The Infinfite Game" by Simon Sinek. Their mission needs to be something more inspiring than make money. They have to have longer term vision than it seems they have now. I know this is such arm chair advice... But they need to figure out their "Just Cause"... Some vision of the future of play, stories and toys that doesn't exist now. Something worth building. There are way easier ways to generate lots of money than transmedia brand marketing. Why do this at all if it isn't for some greater purpose than shareholder profits?



Anyway... I sincerely hope the company finds its cause before completely imploding.

[MotionBlue]

We will know on Tuesday when hasbro releases their Financials.

[delrue]

Hasbro/WOTC also sent the Pinkertons after someone because they got Magic cards early which is a totally cool and normal thing to do.

Hasbro is a corporation who is beholden to their shareholders and as such their only incentive is to make more money even if that comes at the expense of their customers. A company having "values" is just marketing.

[Jonnydark]

A company having "values" is just marketing.

I would agree with you. For the most part when a corporation claims to have values i am skeptical at best, distrusting at worse. Because of exactly that fact you mentioned... Shareholder supremacy. But shareholder supremacy is just an idea. We can have other ideas. Corporations pre 1970s used to do actual public good and actually fostered intense loyalty both up and down the ranks. Then some professors of management had the bright idea to say the only objective of business is to make shareholders money. This was a shitty idea and we're still suffering from it half a century later. But its just an idea. Its just a concept. I can point to dozens of corporations who are starting to do things differently. B corporations are sprouting up everywhere. Companies that genuinely put people first are starting to thrive. Mattel did amazing with the Barbie movie. Its like Black Panther for women. Its possible to care. Its genuinely good business to care.

[RansakWORK]

Originally Posted by MotionBlue

We will know on Tuesday when hasbro releases their Financials.

As realize that Q1 results are polished and skewed to impress investors. Not to provide a realistic view of the companies success

[Dark Rage]

There's mention that they're having difficulty to meet paying shareholders dividends.

That is a big red flag on the corporate financial health and outlook.

As much as the crap we deal with them, I really would not want the Transformers IP to go to a toy manufacturer/company that's even worse for technology, innovation, development and distribution.

Please not to Mattel and not to Bandai.

[delrue]

As I understand it, if Hasbro were to go under the Transformers IP would go to Takara. At that point Takara would need to find a new partner for US distribution.

[RansakWORK]

Also.... by the numbers. Under Chris Cox.. Hasbro has lost over 50% of its value over the last two years. Peaks of 101$ in 2022 with peaks of only 50 bux in 2024.

Chris Cox also tripled his executive compensation from 3.7m to 9.4m by cutting staff to hit his targets.

[Skorpulator]

Megabloks will buy Hasbro.

[Solauren]

Go read Wikipedias entry on Hasbro.


The Wall Street Journal said it best; Hasbro is no longer a Toy company. It's a Geek game company (Wizards of the Coast), with a Toy Division (Hasbro).


Basically, D&D geeks are keeping Hasbro afloat.