Disney buying Hasbro? (No.)

[fatbot]

http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/11/05/disney-buying-hasbro/

Thoughts, comments?

[Robzy]

Disney are building an... wait for it... Empire! :eek:

This deal's getting worse all the time!

[Starscream77]

Yeah that was my first thought (building an empire)

Not sure what to think, hopefully it leads to more animated stuff if it does go through

[Paul Agnew]

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/427/933/f48.png

Hursticon! Throw an Echidna in my face! This! Can't! Be! Happeniiiiiiiiiiiiing! :eek:

[fatbot]

The theory behind the deal is that Disney doesn't appeal to boys, hence the purchase of marvel, then Lucasfilms, now it may be Hasbro.

This also means that if it goes ahead, Transformers & GI Joe will go back to Marvel.

[VERT]

Well if its true at least the future of SW toys is safe. They have only been making them forever... Well Kenner but you know what I mean :D

[liegeprime]

Disney doesn't appeal to boys because they cutifyeverything, even their violence is cutified, there's no gore, no mass slaughter... but then so has the last TF movies :mad::mad:... Shia should be by all rights dead the way he's been tossed around in the 3rd one.. or at least maimed to a vegetative state. But Nooooo, robots can get hacked and killed yet soft squishy humans only get dirty, not even a single horrible gash. :mad::mad::mad:

anyways if Hasbro get's bought off by Disney mebbe we'll see a difference in the management of the product. Does Disney "listen" to fans? or are they just as worse as Hasbro is lately since we are"not the target market" yet it is the fans that kept the product alive all these years even when it was at full wane.

[5FDP]

Don't really care who's buying what or who's selling out, as long as they make good product and entertaining fiction I'll continue to be a consumer. If this sees improvements within the brand, I welcome the news. Time will only tell.

[kup]

The acquisition would give Disney the rights to Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, Beyblade, Battleship, Nerf, and Magic: The Gathering among several dozen other game titles and IP. When you add Marvel and Star Wars to that list it’s a pretty comprehensive lock on boy’s entertainment; a far cry from a few years back when Disney was heavily criticized for losing its grip on boys.


"We are Disney, We will add your intellectual and creative distinctiveness to our own. Your franchises will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

[UltraMarginal]

"We are Disney, We will add your intellectual and creative distinctiveness to our own. Your franchises will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.”

HAHA:D

[kup]

I wonder what will happen to IDW comics! This could potentially mean that the present IDW ongoings may have a premature end as they would be going back to Marvel!

I like Marvel and they could come up with something great but would hate to see a premature end to MTMTE or RID. Assuming that this take over will be swift like it was with Lucas.

[i_amtrunks]

How can they afford these takeovers back to back to back?

[High_Q]

I am looking forward to more Disney/Pixar Label Transformers.

[UltraMarginal]

Disney doesn't appeal to boys because they cutifyeverything, even their violence is cutified, there's no gore, no mass slaughter... .

uhm,
Starship Troopers was a Disney Film;)

[UltraMarginal]

I wonder what will happen to IDW comics! This could potentially mean that the present IDW ongoings may have a premature end as they would be going back to Marvel!

I like Marvel and they could come up with something great but would hate to see a premature end to MTMTE or RID. Assuming that this take over will be swift like it was with Lucas.

Hopefully current contracts are played out at least, to expense of dropping contracts across the board surely couldn't be justified by any potential profit otherwise. The same with Darkhorse and Marvel, I haven't been listening, but surely darkhorse aren't just going to lose the license to Star Wars, not when they've clearly been doing so well with it over the years.

IDW will survive without transformers but I agree that they should at least get to cleanly close out what they've started with their current ongoing comics run.

[1orion2many]

@ Trunks, Disney has been going for a very long time, I think Mickey was invented in 1928 and they had an annual turnover of 36 Billion in 2010:eek:;):D

[kup]

Disney has been going for a very long time, I think Mickey was invented in 1928 and they had an annual turnover of 36 Billion in 2010:eek:;):D

If Lucasfilm was worth 4 billion, how much would Hasbro be worth? For a company with an annual turn over of 36 billion, 4 billion doesn't seem that much.

[Megatron]

Welcome to the NWO.

[gamblor916]

Disney hand out C&Ds left right and centre. I wonder if they'll finally crack down on KO's and third party toys if this goes ahead?

[kup]

Disney hand out C&Ds left right and centre. I wonder if they'll finally crack down on KO's and third party toys if this goes ahead?

Big potential of that happening but on the other hand, it would not surprise me if Disney decides to properly cater to fans with dedicated collector lines filling in the gap. Disney seems to be smarter in that sense and I doubt they would allow themselves to be Walmart slaves like Hasbro.

[Tallestblue]

But this would mean all the awesome collector type Transformers ould be Disney store exclusives...much like what was done with Power Rangers when Disney owned the brand. Remember Disney Power Rangers? the majority of us PR fans are trying to forget....

[Kazza]

I wonder if this will effect Takara Tomy as well, and if there will be revisions in later masterpieces. Disney is most definately an empire if they do aquire hasbro... and they will have such a monopoly in the kids/toys market.

[Robzy]

Yeah, I'm curious too how this will affect the toys we get. Also wondering if it will have any impact on what Takara/TOMY release :confused:

And finally, what about the movies? Will Disney be making their own TF films in the future (like they will with Star Wars) instead of Paramount? Let's not forget that Disney has to pay Paramount at least $115 million (from The Avengers and Iron Man 3) as apart of the deal for getting the rights and setting up Marvel Studios.

[Tober]

Hasbro has the license for a lot of Lucasarts product. Maybe that's what the talks are mostly about...

Paramount should have a contract for the next 3 TF Movies, which would make things 'interesting'.

Oh, and Lucasarts/ILM did a lot of the work on the Transformers movies, so there's that too.

[griffin]

I think the parties probably just touched on future merger options, while trying to sort out the current impact of the Lucasarts buyout. If it does go ahead, I think we could see major changes, as Disney would need to prioritise the greatest return to their core brand, over a subsidiary brand.
Even if this went ahead, it wouldn't occur too soon.

Future Movies - quality shouldn't be worse. Probably be better, as we saw how well Avengers turned out, under the ownership of Disney. Imagine that sort of action and plot-integrity with a TFs movie.

Toys - some elements will be better if they dictate the assortments, but ultimately the toys would be scaled back as Disney would be more invested in the multimedia elements, with toys being mere merchandise on the side. The toylines would be less extensive, as would the engineering, to match the younger Disney demographic. TakaraTomy would be an unknown element, as the Japanese like cutesy stuff, but also has a more dedicated collector demographic... so TT could obtain some independence to continue producing their own products, like they do at the moment.
Exclusives would also be less frequent under the "mere merchandise" model, and we'd probably see a lot more Disney-store exclusives (and crossover toys with their characters - which could see the JP ones being immediately re-released in American Disney stores).
And remember what happened when Hasbro bought out Kenner. Just like most take-overs, cost-cutting comes from consolidating or absorbing resources. If Disney ever did buy out Hasbro, there would be major consolidation with where-ever Disney creates their toys, possibly seeing the eventual closing of the Hasbro offices in Rhode Island (which is on the other side of the country to Disney offices in California).

Cartoons - Disney is more likely to absorb the HUB channel, using any shows that fit in its brand demographic. That would mean an end to TFPrime, like it did with Animated (which was axed to make way for a brand new show for the brand new HUB channel).

Comics - Consolidation (cost cutting) would naturally see all Hasbro IPs going to Disney's Marvel, prompting resets/relaunches, like IDW did when they got the TFs license.

Other Merchandising - We'd finally get a proper range of licensed merchandising, as Hasbro's prohibitive licensing structure (that prevents companies from taking the expensive risk) would be handled directly by Disney... and we see from their stores (and in regular department stores) that you can get just about anything with a Disney character plastered over it. Just not sure how much Adult merchandise Disney does though.

Collector Club - hehehe.... dare I give my thoughts/hopes on what happens there. :p


So many elements that would go in our favour, and against... if it were to ever happen, we're just going to have to adapt as a fandom. And worse case scenario, we have 28 years of Transformers toys, story and history to fall back on.

[Robzy]

Paramount should have a contract for the next 3 TF Movies, which would make things 'interesting'.

It would be very interesting, because Paramount are getting a huge amount of money from Disney/Marvel studios for doing nothing (no marketing, no upfront funding for the movies) because of the Marvel deal. :eek: They must be loving the fact The Avengers was so successful! It could possibly be the same sort of deal with things like TFs and GI Joe... Disney produces the films, and Paramount make money off the top!



Future Movies - quality shouldn't be worse. Probably be better, as we saw how well Avengers turned out, under the ownership of Disney. Imagine that sort of action and plot-integrity with a TFs movie.
Yes, but that's partly because Disney stepped back and showed faith in the Producer/Director team. Imagine if Disney gave Michael Bay (if he's still attached) that amount of freedom... :eek:



we're just going to have to adapt as a fandom.
Ahem... transform even? ;):p

I agree though. I think it will sort itself out. I just hope the MP line continues to grow... that's my new MOTU Classics :D

[Shirokaze]

My brain tells me it would result in an overall positive outcome, but I still can't help but be worried.:confused:

[gantz]

I remember freaking the hell out when Disney bought out Marvel.

And things have been better since :)

[Tober]

There might be a sudden decrease in 3rd party product too...

[Trent]

There might be a sudden decrease in 3rd party product too...

I hope not. 3rd party and MP are pretty much all I'm interested in anymore.

[Lord_Zed]

If it does happen I'd be surprised if anything major changed in the foreseeable future.

Nor do I see an Optimus meets Mickey crossover being any more likely than it already is.

I would presume both Paramount and IDW wont be giving up their licenses any time soon, It's not like Marvel got Spiderman back when Disney took over. it was pretty much business as usual. Correct me if i'm wrong but i'm pretty sure Boom studios still has the license for Disney characters in comic format, it's not like Marvel has added Darkwing Duck to the Marvel Universe or anything.

And for Hasbro I think it will be much the same. Hasbro already make a lot of toys from Disney licenses and some that Disney now also owns. And despite there already close relationship Disney also have a whole lot of other companies producing products for them, sometimes really badly, anyone remember the crappy toys for Tron legacy and Pirates of the Caribbean?

I'm pretty sure Disney understands branding that's one of the reason their building this mega empire, and I'm pretty sure they understand that sometimes it's better not to have a big Disney logo on things.

Anyway them purchasing Hasbro makes sense, they need someone to produce the endless merchandise spawned form the next six Star Wars, Pirates, Marvel films.

[SMHFConvoy]

uhm,
Starship Troopers was a Disney Film;)

I was going to point out Tron: Uprising. An insanely awesome cartoon. Also Motorcity an animated series from the guys who did Megas XL. Both series aimed at boys and definitely not "cute" violence.

I'd take this all with a grain of salt anyway.

[popculturepooka]

Also by Disney: Gargoyles and the John Carter movie (which was a GOOD movie despite bombing).

[Trent]

The Crow was a Disney movie. (Well, it was a Miramax movie, but that is owned by disney). And that is a fairly violent (if old) movie. And awesome to boot! (It's in my top 5 of all time.)

[Quickstrike]

Remember Disney Power Rangers? the majority of us PR fans are trying to forget....

It did give us Power Rangers RPM though. Maybe my favourite season!

[liegeprime]

uhm,
Starship Troopers was a Disney Film;)

not enough :p... it's CGI insects ripping humans but yeah, not enough to counteract the gazillions of pwetty princessess stories et al.... although I did enjoy Finding Nemo :p beast wars rebirth anyone? :D

@gamblor: I don't think Disney can take on China .... dunno where in Facebook I read it but China has KOed Disneyland there so I highly doubt they can stem KO TF products at all. Apple couldnt, I doubt they can....

as for products... well they like to cutify things so mebbe we'll get more of Myclones ( see my sig) I wouldnt say no to that heheeh:D:D

[5FDP]

The Crow was a Disney movie. (Well, it was a Miramax movie, but that is owned by disney). And that is a fairly violent (if old) movie. And awesome to boot! (It's in my top 5 of all time.)

My FAVOURITE movie of all-time :cool: R.I.P. Brandon Lee :(

[BigTransformerTrev]

So much form my Transformers/Looney Tunes crossover then :(.

Waaay back in the day I used to write a bunch of TF crossovers (I was particularly proud of my Soundwave vs The Borg story on the lexicon site :) ). Just to be silly I started writng things like all the Marvel super heroes & villians showing up fr a massive brawl and before things could kick off they got stepped on and killed by Trypticon who happened to be walking past and not paying attention to where he was going.

One of my fav's I wrote was the G1 Decepticons dimension hopping and coming to a land where no matter how many times Megatron blasted a certain duck, instead of it dying it just got crispy and told Meg's he was 'dispicable' and Starscream trying to fly fast enough to catch a certain bird running through the desert. As for Ravage vs Taz - lets just say it was fun!

Sigh, I cant see 'Shockwave' vs 'Chip & Dale - Rescue Rangers' having the same appeal.

[griffin]

No official word, but inside financial sources are hosing this down as just wild speculation, as this is considered very, very unlikely at this time.

Thanks to all the fan speculation, the share price of Hasbro spiked (http://news.providencejournal.com/business/2012/11/kostrzewa---wall-street-focuses-on-spike-in-hasbro-stock.html)... so thanks to us, not only does Hasbro earn billions in profit, but the shareholders were able to make a fortune from our gossip. Within a day, the keen shares-punter could have seen a 6-7% profit from Hasbro shares, as the shares went up 7%, then went down 6%, and back up almost 7% within a day... with about 7 million shares traded.

[Gouki]

No official word, but inside financial sources are hosing this down as just wild speculation, as this is considered very, very unlikely at this time.

Well considering there was no official word to spark the speculation at all, that's not surprising.

[kup]

No official word, but inside financial sources are hosing this down as just wild speculation, as this is considered very, very unlikely at this time.

Thanks to all the fan speculation, the share price of Hasbro spiked (http://news.providencejournal.com/business/2012/11/kostrzewa---wall-street-focuses-on-spike-in-hasbro-stock.html)... so thanks to us, not only does Hasbro earn billions in profit, but the shareholders were able to make a fortune from our gossip. Within a day, the keen shares-punter could have seen a 6-7% profit from Hasbro shares, as the shares went up 7%, then went down 6%, and back up almost 7% within a day... with about 7 million shares traded.

You sound as if you don't want Hasbro to prosper :p

[SuspectimusPrime]

So much form my Transformers/Looney Tunes crossover then :(.


So much for Disney potentially cleaning up the Collector's Club and booting Brian Savage out onto the streets.

[Cat]

It's unlikely any shareholders benefitted from the rumours.

The timing and short turn-around time make it quite unlikely, worse when trader's fees are deducted.



Edit: Not that that matters to our discussion.

[kup]

It would have been cool if Hasbro went through some change. They are clearly stale at the moment with no proper focus aside from whims from Walmart.

The only interesting thing happening from them is that arguably 'side' projects they have such as the WFC/FOC games and the odd clever exclusive release like G2 Bruticus (Molds may be crap but the way it was packaged and presented was pretty good).

[Sky Shadow]

(I just slightly changed the title so - until we live in a world where we know that Disney actually is buying Hasbro - the thread title doesn't look like there's actual news on this front every time it's unearthed.)

[kup]

(I just slightly changed the title so - until we live in a world where we know that Disney actually is buying Hasbro - the thread title doesn't look like there's actual news on this front every time it's unearthed.)

True, it became obsolete when it was officially rebuked but there is always the possibility of 'secret dealings' but they are not news until we hear something.