WotC Filing: Wizards of the Coast makes up roughly 70% of Hasbro's value

[Steampunkette]

Disney franchises and IPs are very loved and popular but the company is losing prestige, and that can cause a lot of economic damage.

How do you figure?

Cancel Culture may be sometimes totally unpredictable. Some times it starts after a titles to become enough famous.

Cancel Culture doesn't exist. It's just a backlash against impropriety. It's a nonissue being inflated in order to manipulate people into forgiving bad actors, nothing more.

DC animated movie and showed worked very well, and the action-live series. They have got team and money, if movies don't work they should wonder where are the mistakes.

Animated movies and shows? DEFINITELY. Because pretty much all of them take the characters for who and what they are. Every time they try to do a live action movie they try to do a big "Prestige" thing and make it "More Real" and it never works. Why? Because the characters are meant to be larger than life.

Except Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Both of those films -embraced- their characters and the over the top natures of their fights. At least right up 'til Wonder Woman's CGI Fight against the God of War who just used Telekinesis repeatedly rather than, y'know... actually fighting.

And then the Live Action shows only worked in the sense that it was a CW show with supernatural elements. They just took a tried and true formula, slapped tights on it instead of vampires, and let it run.

Where were the mistakes of the second Michael Bay's second TNMT movie?

Well, I mean... he -made- a second TMNT movie so that was his first mistake...

 

[jasper]

What was this 'broader cachet'? I grew up in the '60s, and even had some G.I. Joe stuff (we made our own parachutes for ours and hurled them off of high buildings and such, lit them on fire, etc.). I remember we also had a plastic Jeep they could ride in (not one that was canonical Joe equipment, but it worked). I don't recall any context outside of being male, American, and at least in the 60's white, soldier dudes. They did introduce Joes of Color and whatnot at some point. Honestly, back in those days I think they were more marketed as kind of cool detailed toys that had lots of equipment and whatnot, and kind of appealed more to a fascination with guns and 'army stuff' vs really testosterone-soaked action. Still, I'd call them a pretty niche appeal toy and I personally don't know what the broader cachet would be. Hasbro probably could have tried to introduce 'Joes' in other roles like firefighter, doctor/EMT, police, etc. (it would be hard to imagine less 'action oriented ones' TBH). I don't recall that ever happening. Of course I am no expert on 80's Joe stuff, I was rather aged out of that kind of stuff by then... lol.

So handchiefs, or your mom's good umbrella for the chutes?

 

[Scribe]

I have mixed feelings about the prospect. On one hand, yeah, you make a valid point. But on the gripping hand, I'd sure like like to see GW change how they market their games. Hell, I'd love for them to actually care about making decent games instead of just churning out nice models.

The best things GW has.

1. The Models.
2. The IP.

Then being purchased by WoTC wouldnt put the Models at risk, and likely wouldnt improve the rules.

It would absolutely put the IP at risk.

Its a no win for people who actually like 40K as a setting.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Well, yes, because stock appreciation is tax-advantaged over dividends, because "long-term" capital gains rates are lower than income tax rates. So a sensible modern stockholder who wants the cash a company has earned presses the company to do a stock buyback. The result of this legerdemain is still cash being paid out by the company to stockholders, but with lower taxes paid by the stockholders.

Yes, that's partly true, certainly you would most likely rather your gains be classified as capital gain vs ordinary income. Still, even if you factor in buybacks and whatnot public equity hasn't been performing so well. Its hard to really disentangle the factors though when it is all lumped together (IE inflation, profits, speculation). Just look at the alternative energy industry though, as an example, and you can see that the really good investments are all private nowadays. The companies that will be worth 20x or 100x in 5-10 years, you can pick them out, but you cannot buy in unless you're in a pretty exclusive club.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

So handchiefs, or your mom's good umbrella for the chutes?

I seem to recall we cut ours out of some old cotton cloth or something, so they were big enough to actually work.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

The best things GW has.

1. The Models.
2. The IP.

Then being purchased by WoTC wouldnt put the Models at risk, and likely wouldnt improve the rules.

It would absolutely put the IP at risk.

Its a no win for people who actually like 40K as a setting.

Yeah, I think the color and tone of WH is WAY different from D&D, don't mix them.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yeah, I think the color and tone of WH is WAY different from D&D, don't mix them.

Even if wotc bought them (and I see no reason whatsoever to think they want to), they’d probably not mix them. They probably wouldn’t even publish WH under the wotc name, and would instead create a subdivision, or buy Games Workshop whole and have them keep making the game.

The brand is what matters to them, really. And those two brands are just too different but with some names in common to mix without confusion. The kind of confusion that loses money.

Except Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

And Shazaam. And the preview of upcoming stuff looks really good.

 

[Steampunkette]

And Shazaam. And the preview of upcoming stuff looks really good.

How could I forget SHAZAM!?

Perfect version of the character, great central story, amazing finale with the Marvels all joining in...

Yeah. Shazam is a banger and a half because they let it be RIDICULOUS and wild and fun!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

How could I forget SHAZAM!?

Perfect version of the character, great central story, amazing finale with the Marvels all joining in...

Yeah. Shazam is a banger and a half because they let it be RIDICULOUS and wild and fun!

Hell yeah. They’ve leaned more and more into who the characters are, rather than trying to reinvent them, and it works.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Shazam worked because it was action+comedy, a fun movie could be watched even by people who don't like superheroes. But the children actors get old "fastly".

Didn't Hasbro want to acquire Lions gate?

Hasbro doesn't need GW, but it wants, they could acquire some forgotten franchise of sci-fi/fantasy miniature wargame as a cheaper option. But the true challenge is to sell a product when the most of players only want to play the most popular title because to find players who choose for other titles is harder. And if WotC sells a miniatue wargame using the d20 system, then 3PPs could produce their own proxies and this would be totally legal thanks the open licence. WotC could publish a skirmish wargame with gangs set in Gamma World.

We know nothing about their projects, for example future videogames in developing.