Hasbro and Mattel Possible Merger Talks

[LadyMoondancer]

Wow . . . I too would think that anti-trust laws would prevent this.

If they did merge, I wonder if some previously "competing" toylines would be axed.  Not MLP because it doesn't really have any other big "horse" competitors, but I wonder if some fashion doll lines would bite the dust.

Yeah that is what I'd worry about if there was a full company merger. Disney wouldn't get axed of course but I can't imagine a certain line of rainbow colored horse dolls continuing to exist.

I think Equestria Girls would survive because it seems to trend younger than Monster High and Ever After High.  It's like the gateway drug.

[Aquatic Neon]

Interesting wonder what this could mean all I know is I want whoever designs monster high dolls is to make some ponies like Venus Mcflytrap:D

[sd_dreamcrystal]

Wow . . . I too would think that anti-trust laws would prevent this.

If they did merge, I wonder if some previously "competing" toylines would be axed.  Not MLP because it doesn't really have any other big "horse" competitors, but I wonder if some fashion doll lines would bite the dust.

Well they don't have competition in the idea of "colorful" horse lines, but if by big horse line I think along the lines of Breyer.. but those two lines are not really competing at all

However, they would likely 'ax' EAH.. because it apparently competes with Disney. As for EQG and MLP... I don;t think either line will actually be touched unless it was for quality control...

Aren't both these companies actually made of several divisions? Like maybe it's going to be a merger of their smaller divisions like their entertainment or electronic gaming divisions?

That's possible.. both companies do have foot holds in some other types of toys and such.

[Wardah]

Wow . . . I too would think that anti-trust laws would prevent this.

If they did merge, I wonder if some previously "competing" toylines would be axed.  Not MLP because it doesn't really have any other big "horse" competitors, but I wonder if some fashion doll lines would bite the dust.

Well they don't have competition in the idea of "colorful" horse lines, but if by big horse line I think along the lines of Breyer.. but those two lines are not really competing at all

However, they would likely 'ax' EAH.. because it apparently competes with Disney. As for EQG and MLP... I don;t think either line will actually be touched unless it was for quality control...

I don't think Mattel would want to ax EAH either. They put a lot of time and effort into it and don't have to pay licensing fees like they do for Disney. Of course Disney might just take their licenses and go somewhere else. They have a pretty good relationship with Jakks.

[LadyMoondancer]

Ever After High is really clever because the line benefits from the "Disney fame" of the princesses, but Disney can't sue them since none of the dolls ARE the princesses.  They can talk about "the daughter of Snow White" all day long, and as long as they don't SHOW Mom Snow White, Disney cannot stop kids from imagining the mom is "Disney Snow White" in her classic Disney outfit. (And the name Snow White is in the public domain, as are most of the fairy tale characters.)  Brilliant. 

I'm sure Disney would be hiring an evil witch to put a hex on the line if they could!  If Hasbro and Mattel do merge, I do think that's the fashion doll line most at risk.  Because they want to stay on Disney's good side, and Hastel could just concentrate on Descendants.

[gabumon]

One perk i can see is mlp benefiting from the creativity of Mattel.  imho Mattel rocks at coming up with characters and themes, sort of going wild with them.  i don't collect MH but I love seeing what new things they come up with.  I'd love to see that creativity put back into the MLP lines.

[PinkRosedust]

Interesting...I wouldn't mind seeing an MLP themed Barbie!

[Wardah]

Ever After High is really clever because the line benefits from the "Disney fame" of the princesses, but Disney can't sue them since none of the dolls ARE the princesses.  They can talk about "the daughter of Snow White" all day long, and as long as they don't SHOW Mom Snow White, Disney cannot stop kids from imagining the mom is "Disney Snow White" in her classic Disney outfit. (And the name Snow White is in the public domain, as are most of the fairy tale characters.)  Brilliant. 

I'm sure Disney would be hiring an evil witch to put a hex on the line if they could!  If Hasbro and Mattel do merge, I do think that's the fashion doll line most at risk.  Because they want to stay on Disney's good side, and Hastel could just concentrate on Descendants.

Snow White actually made an appearance in the latest movie and she looks nothing like the Disney version.

I do think think Disney is really not that important to Mattel and they only held on to it because they didn't want anyone else (Someone else like Hasbro, who hasn't come up with an IP that wasn't a spinoff of an existing brand in a very very long time. Having access to Mattel's portfolio of brands would be better than Disney as far as Hasbro is concerned) to have it. But why would they get rid of something where they can keep 100% of the profits for something they have to share with Disney. All while Disney makes their own competition with the DS dolls.

[nemubones]

Would be interesting to see if the merger as well as the creative ideas of these two companies pan out.

[Galactica]

Evidently they are "in talks" http://news.toyark.com/2016/02/04/mattel-hasbro-may-talking-merger-190775

My wife heard about it on NPR yesterday, she said they kept referring to Mattel as the Barbie company and Hasbro as the makers of MLP

These companies are so huge though- I wonder if antitrust/monopoly laws would prevent such an enormous merger?

I also wonder if they DID merge, could that mean that they would have better control over quality and price of dolls/toys?  If they raised the price of toys in general, I would be okay with that if it meant a big upgrade in quality...

[Merging with existing thread in PC ~ Kiwi]

[otocolobus_manul]

[Garnet voice] Yikes. They are not good for each other.

But anyways, I'll be interested to see where this goes.

[Silver_mirror46]

I can already hear the anti-trust case being built against this.  Mattel and Hasbro are the only major toy companies based in North America.  Them merging would create a monopoly.

well that would be awkward

[Princess Lala]

I can already hear the anti-trust case being built against this.  Mattel and Hasbro are the only major toy companies based in North America.  Them merging would create a monopoly.

This is right. Imagine McDonald's and Burger King merging....and making the McWhopper

[Al-1701]

I can already hear the anti-trust case being built against this.  Mattel and Hasbro are the only major toy companies based in North America.  Them merging would create a monopoly.

This is right. Imagine McDonald's and Burger King merging....and making the McWhopper

It's even worse than that.  At least the fast food industry has major national and region chains to compete.  After Hasbro at number 2, Leapfrog is an extremely distant third (there are brands owned by Hasbro and Mattel bigger than Leapfrog).  Hasbro and Mattel's dominance has also arisen from them ingesting just about all the other sizable brands over the decades.

[Wardah]

I can already hear the anti-trust case being built against this.  Mattel and Hasbro are the only major toy companies based in North America.  Them merging would create a monopoly.

This is right. Imagine McDonald's and Burger King merging....and making the McWhopper

It's even worse than that.  At least the fast food industry has major national and region chains to compete.  After Hasbro at number 2, Leapfrog is an extremely distant third (there are brands owned by Hasbro and Mattel bigger than Leapfrog).  Hasbro and Mattel's dominance has also arisen from them ingesting just about all the other sizable brands over the decades.

There's MGA, their doll business might not be as strong as it was during the original Bratz heyday but they do own the iconic Little Tykes brand. And there are plenty of other companies out there, just most of them specialize in one segment.

It would probably be more like Walmart and Target merging. Yeah there are other retailers out there but other than Kmart they are all specialized in one thing like toys or clothes or home stuff.