Bumblebee movie boost transforms Hasbro first quarter - Reuters

A swing of 20% up in Net Revenue vs. expectations for the quarter is an awesome performance!

 

Turns out making quality media is a worthwhile endeavour.

Who'da thunk?

 

Even better, who'd have thunk actually stocking merchandise when people are looking to buy it actually produces revenue! If only they could have fixed their supply chain issues that historically plague them & tell Walmart to actually stock product. Both would have had even better revenue gains...

 

The title on the main page cuts off at "Prope" and since the caffeine hadn't kicked in yet, I read it as "Bumblebee helps Pope." Sorely disappointed that I didn't get to read the most bizarre cross-branding I'd ever heard of.

 

Well, we all know how religious the fan base can be. But, let's not insult the Space Pope. Last thing we need is another crusade on how successful a non-Bay property is..

 

Hmmmm....they say it was the Bumblebee movie but I know most stores cut 85% of the movie and Cyberverse product out of their planners in Q1. I think this has more to do with strong sales of Siege and Studio Series than anything. But the world likes correlating data and the fact the jump happened riding off a critically acclaimed movie makes for a better headline than "we made better product than in past years and people are buying it".

 

Best part is Bumblebee would help him, because Bumblebee is a big friendly guy who helps everyone.

 

Hahaha, no. You don't ''know that''. Stop being crazy, these numbers are based on worldwide retailer deals, not based on what you saw yourself in your local store or some biased document on the internet by some nerd that WANTED to say "see?! the shit I like is better than the kiddy shit!!".

Hasbro had been saying for all of 2018 that they'd keep Bee product coming to stores during early 2019 up to the release of the movie's home media launch. Across all markets. This is significantly bigger for them than the nerdy lines.

 

This is overall fantastic news. As much as a lot of us G1ers love siege and the nostalgic toys, Transformers need to do well on media platforms to stay relevant and continue to attract new fans. The Bay movies really puttered out in the end, and the movie universe was getting stale. Honestly it was the Bumblebee movie that reminded me that "oh yeah, I love Transformers, I should look into them again to see if they are any good 30 years later." And while Siege got me back into the toys, I'm enjoying the SS also, and none of it would have happened if either Bay kept making crappy movies, or if the Bumblebee movie was bad enough that I skipped it.

Now I'm trying to get my kids into transformers for the next generation. I just learned about Cyberverse, and hope it is good enough to hook them like G1 hooked me. And when they get old enough to watch PG-13 movies I hope they will enjoy the Bumblebee movie and whatever movies come next (If they love the Bay movies I'm disowning them  ).

 

Bumblebee movie and new direction for the Transformers films is good for business, period.

People don't forget bad stuff and it would be total suicide at this point to go back to TLK and what DIDN'T work. It is just best for the brand to keep going up in a positive direction and capitalize on Bee's success rather than slide back downwards.

 

I don't know about you guys but after watching Bumblebee I wanted to buy more SIEGE figures. Not often do I say this but that's a win for Hasbro marketing. I think they knew the movie would fuel desire for SIEGE, even if they're not directly related.

 

No. But I do know that Walmart all but stopped shipments of Bumblebee product and have been riding out product left over from Q4. Target (all 4 in my area) seems to still get some in but it's far less in quantity. Most of the pegs and shelves are loaded with Siege/Studio Select with some Cyberverse.

Also, holiday retailers like Kroger have pretty much moved on from BB movie product in Q1.

Sooooo....what retailer is purchasing massive amounts of Bumblebee toys post Christmas? More likely, it's ALL Transformers toys that have gotten the bump. But I don't think Bumblebee is the primary reason for that. Or do we all actually believe that if we only had a choice of Cyberverse and Bumblebee toys that we'd be seeing the same result?

*sigh*

And again, what retailer was still ordering massive quantities of Bumblebee product in Q1? Target had some. But Walmart was pretty much riding out Q4 product - and axing BB almost entirely going into Q2.

 

What you believe in isn't remotely important for anyone actualy counting numbers and dollars. Hasbro does not make money based on anedocte and online fan reaction, they make money based on retailers buying their merchandise, how much material retailers will be carrying in a following quarter is decided months and months in advance, before the SIEGE line even popped up at stores. What do I care what your Targets have? When I go to my local stores it's more kiddy Cyberverse and Bee and Rescue Bots stuff being carried than SS and Generations yet I know you're not lying about what you saw because I know you're not a pathological liar, so what does this mean?

It means that clearly anecodal evidence is worthless in this argument. It is EVEN MORE worthless because "good reaction to Siege and Studio Series" will only be seen in the future quarters, as retailers react negatively or positively to the performance of that product. We literally haven't had this stuff out in the wild long enough for that. Siege worldwide was only reaching stores properly by mid-february regardless of early photos you had seen online. The time frame simply does not match with what you're claiming.

But what we do know, for objective qualificated fact, is that retailers are usually much more excited to carry product with advertising media such as movies and cartoons than any form of nostalgia higher-priced product. What we also know is that in the business report Hasbro specifically named the home-entertainment success of the movie as the reason they increased profits on this quarter. So this revenue bump from January to April is likely the result of the movie product that had it's launch in the last week of december and its home entertainment launch last month.

 

I already wanted the Siege figures because they feel like a step up in engineering and aesthetic for Hasbro, so I'll say this is a no for me. However, I will say the movie did inspire a desire for more Studio Series figures based on the film!

 

Well dang- now I want to see a film where Bumblebee goes to the Vatican to rescue the Pope from the Decepticons.

 

Well if you continue making good products of course your profits will rise

 

20% increase?

Numbers don't lie, Bumblebee is probably better for the brand's direction than trying to continue a poor performing, poorly received continuity that is post TLK Bayformers.

TF6 wont happen now. The same reason they made films past DOTM is the same reason they won't continue the Bayverse given BB's stellar numbers. To continue Bayformers is to take the best numbers in years and throw it down the tubes, and surely anybody can see a company cares more for finances than for the sake of a nonsensical plot direction.

 

I agree! I think that follows under Business class 101? wouldn't you say?