You're all off! How can all of you be so blind.
Hasbro has been a powerhouse of younger peoples toys. Mouse Trap, Cuddle bears, Mr Potato Head! Your teenage years, with battleship, super soakers, M:TG, micro machines, and now bratz dolls. And now your adult years, with Avalon Hill games, D&D, more M:TG, and the Tomahawk missile (ok maybe not, but they could!).
They owned our creative imaginations as children, a time when we didn't (hopefully) have to work to make a living. When we remember more happy days and block out the bad ones, where we didn't get everything we wanted that christmas. Sure we could have fun with a cardboard box, but the biggest boxes were the ones Hasbro products we're shipped in. As we grew older we gave up our childish ways (to some extent, never let it be said Im an adult...). Now days they unknowing brains of todays children are seeing mini Hasbro logos all over the place, small subtexts on the TV adds of Video Now, Beyblade. It starts even before you're literate, Playskool, Old McDonald toys!
You've seen hasbro all your life, and may not have known it. But once you grew up their presence wasn't around, the toys less entertaining, the customer loyalty and dollars were disappearing. Consider the aging population, how can you make the money from them? You buy up the companies that have an older market, and make sure you stay family friendly but dont panda to a jeuvenile market. Hold in those aging children who escape with alternate games!
Now, with the aging population becoming increasingly relevant being able to have a scaling product line for toddlers to seniors without a lapsing age group bracket becomes decisive in ensuring a powerful company.
WotC picked up Pokemon-ey and that set off Hasbro's alarms, and looking over the other licences envisioned an army of gamers who from the age of 1 week, to 1 week from dying would be playing with a toy, made for you by the hard working south east asians subcontracted to Hasbro.
All this leads to the inevitable worship of Hasbro! Thats right! You are to worship Hasbro for all its worth. They fund the WotC board of Directors if they cant fund themselves. They may even keep a focus on a mature yet family friendly product range (unlike Games Workshop who somehow lost me when they pandered more and more to kids in their stores; which gave up the game and sold all their minis for redicuolusly low prices
).
How many of you have looked at Heroscape and thought "Heh, cool, I could use that for scenery and a nation map, use some clear spray varnish and coat them, then write on them as needed..." and all we can say is Hasbro has something new... if we even catch on its Hasbro.
The true meaning of the acquisition was to complete THE POWER OF THREE!
Baby - Teen - Adult
you may not know this, but if you look into it all closely, you probably (speculation galore continue!) will find every house or family has hasbro goods, for all the ages, without knowing. Its not to make money, but to own your souls! your precious spirit bits!
WotC is simply the pie that was baked to perfection, and served by Hasbro to us continually with new pie flavours all the time... mmmm pie...
Hasbro: "Making the World smile." because just the children aint enough! When you smile you crunch up your eyes and subliminily see a "Worshop Lord Illpilazzo and Hasbro." [colour=black]Would I lie to you?[/colour]
Fox 'Romnipotent' Mulder, over and out
