Hasbro profits

[MerricB]

Full article on Gamingreport.com:
http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=15966&mode=thread&order=0

The references to Wizards:
"Revenues in the Games segment were $796.0 million for the year and $270.3 million for the quarter, compared to $804.5 million and $293.5 million in 2003, respectively. Many new product introductions, including DVD and trading card games performed well, partially off-setting an overall weakness in the traditional board game business. Full year operating profit decreased to $137.6 million, compared with $175.3 million last year, reflecting a change in the mix in trading card game revenues and higher development and royalty expenses associated with DVD games."

"Full year operating profit increased significantly to $142.1 million, compared with $91.3 million last year, due primarily to increased gross profit arising from higher revenues on high margin products, such as MAGIC: THE GATHERING and FURREAL FRIENDS."

What is "Beyblade"? I've never heard of it, and it seemed to not do very well for Hasbro...

As expected, no mention of D&D (we're such a small market!)

Cheers!

12AR013

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Beyblade is another Pokemon-esque battling anime that didn't catch on as well as some seemed to expect...that's what they get for pushing the fad to death. It dies.

 

[Mercule]

I keep passing BeyBlade in Target -- it's right by the Legos and Transformers, here. I haven't spent too much time looking at it, beyond a WTF? reaction. From what I can tell, it's battling tops (the kind you spin). I've got no idea how the scoring works or where the collectability comes in, but it seems to boil down to fancy tops with interchangeable spikes on the edges.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

You got it, Mercule.

My son went through a BeyBlade phase; it was quite popular at school. He spent a lot of his allowance and birthday money on BeyBlades. Now, they mostly collect dust....but once in a while I hear him and his friends say, "Let it rip!" (the BeyBlade battle cry) as the tops battle once again.

 

[DarkSoldier]

20 years ago, Beyblades were called Spinjas.

 

[Estlor]

Sweet! I remember Spinjas. I had a couple sets of those floating around for a while...

Yes, Beyblades were an attempt to continue cashing in on the "gotta catch 'em all" mindset of Pokemon. It worked for a while, but these fads continue to pass in and out so quickly that I think it got swallowed up by something else (what's that called... Yu Gi Oh or something that Mattel is hawking).

Of course, otherwise, Hasbro is doing well for themselves with Transformers, GI Joe, and Star Wars (for the most part). That's probably why D&D is left relatively alone.