Potential Hasbro and Mattel Merger?

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According to a report today from Bloomberg Business, Hasbro (owners of the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering brands) and Mattel have been in talks about a possible merger. The talks started in 2015, and were instigated by Hasbro.
The article listed the net worth and stock values of the two companies: "Mattel shares rose 1.7 percent to $32.29 at 4:26 p.m. in New York, valuing the company at about $11 billion and extending a streak that has seen the stock gain 19 percent this year. Hasbro rose 1.3 percent to $75.96 after climbing as high as $78.45, valuing the company at about $9.5 billion." Bloomberg experts say that a merger would allow for a stronger competition against Denmark's LEGO.

This isn't the first time that the two companies have talked about a merger.

The important question for tabletop gamers, should the merger go through, is how would the Wizards of the Coast​ division fare in all of this?

 

[Whisper72]

Barbies and Dragons...
Monster High Dungeons

And, Mattel has much of the Disney franchise.... Dungeons & Disney....

I see possibilities...

 

[Will Doyle]

Competition against LEGO? You mean a company that produces an over-priced product but is still relatively niche in the market? They don't produce half the types of products that Hasbro and Mattel have, and neither of those companies produce anything in the same style of what are essentially overblown puzzle toys as LEGO.

By sales, the Lego Group is now the world's largest toy company.

From the Wiki:
In the first half of 2015, The Lego Group became the world's largest toy company by revenue, with sales amounting to US$2.1 billion, surpassing Mattel, which had US$1.9 billion in sales

And:
http://fortune.com/2015/01/26/heres-why-mattel-ousted-its-ceo-bryan-stockton/

 

[Chimpy]

If it can get more people into tabletop gaming I don't think I have too much issue with it.

 

[Ricochet]

Competition against LEGO? You mean a company that produces an over-priced product but is still relatively niche in the market? They don't produce half the types of products that Hasbro and Mattel have, and neither of those companies produce anything in the same style of what are essentially overblown puzzle toys as LEGO.

This is like saying tire manufacturers are concerned about being able to compete with window-glass manufacturers. Related markets, but completely separate products.

Beyond that, there's almost no other serious competitors to Mattel or Hasbro on the market.

I would hardly call Lego niche. It is the largest grossing toy company in the world with one of the most valuable brands in all of entertainment.

Anyway, merging these two could go either way for the D&D brand, but seeing as I am happy with how 5e is going now, I will go 'old man' on this issue and hope things stay the same and they don't merge.

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

Maybe we could get a Hot Wheels inspired version of Car Wars, with little magnetic guns/rocket launchers to customize?

 

[Queer Venger]

They'll combine and have a mega-booth at Comic Con ;-)

 

[Mercule]

Funny. I thought this had already happened. No doubt I heard one of the earlier rumors and took it as fact.

Clearly, I'm less than concerned over it.

 

[Jabborwacky]

D&D Barbie anyone?

Supported by the up and coming Pretty Princess Handbook. Will have extensive public play testing!

 

[Cergorach]

Everyone that hopes for cross-pollination, we've not seen it within Hasbro since WotC got bought by Hasbro 10+ years ago. No GIjoe RPG, no D&D Monopoly. The best we can hope for is that it doesn't affect WotC and especially D&D. But I have my doubts...

 

[Ezequielramone]

Personally, I don't care if they ruin magic, videogames or tabletop games, as long as they don't change the way dungeons and dragons (pen&paper) is taking.