Quote Originally Posted by kup View Post
Then again this is a Bay thread but he seems to be more into butt shots.
And I thank him all the more for that.

Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
That's not entirely true. Most of the money would have been pocketed by Michael Bay and Paramount/Dreamworks. Yes, Hasbro would also make a handsome earnings on the side because of royalties/licensing for using the Transformers names, images etc. - but I don't know if I'd call that "direct funnelling." <shrug>

Also...
+ Masterpiece came out long before the movie (2004)
+ Classics also started before the movie (2006)
+ While Animated came out after the first movie, it was conceived/developed before it. Animated was to be Hasbro's "back up" in case the first movie flopped.
+ Alternity <---as a TakaraTOMY developed line, I really don't know how much movie earnings from Hasbro would have gone into this. I would be surprised if Hasbro split their earnings with TakTOM.
Oh yeah Goki, there's no doubt that the largest proportion of returns would've been directed at Michael Bay, the Actors, Paramount & Dreamworks but of that pie Hasbro (As you say) would've definitely made a nice return for themselves and after shareholders have taken their part the rest I'm sure would've gone into R&D.

So whilst most of the money would've gone else where, funds still would've definitely been directly designated for R&D IMO.

  • Whilst the Masterpiece line certainly was in production before the movies, funds still would've flown onto the line in the cases of MP-9, MP-10 & MP-11.
  • Indeed, the 'Classics' line was made during the production of the 1st film but the Universe 2.0, Generations & Reveal The Shield would've certainly been beneficiaries.
  • Again; whilst it would've initially been funded prior to the movie, Animated by the end of it's run was sure to have received financial benefits derived from said earnings but unfortunately for it and Hasbro - Cartoon Network execs are D***s.
  • Being that HasTak are so intertwined with their most profitable major property, I'd be very surprised indeed if the Japanese blokes didn't receive their due for the IPs they created - In a lot of ways Hasbro is just a bloated marketer for TakTom IMO, as most of the work on the toys are done by the Japanese and as evidence you only need to compare TFs with Starwars TFs; the later of whom have definitely been confirmed to be developed by Westerners at Hasbro.