Hasbro Says Price Increases Will Soften Sales While Mattel Disagrees

I think Hasbro is right- if they're only thinking about parents buying toys for kids- the velocity and volume of buying might go down with the price increase. Adult figure collectors maybe might go down too, but probably won't change much no matter what's going on in the world. Unless there's super high unemployment.

I think Hasbro is right. They are about one more price jump from pricing me out of more serious collecting. And my kids will be getting less too.

yeah, i might go for the price increase too, i've always been stuck to my plan on getting 1 action figure per month til they reach to the price i'm not daring to go for a figure, nuff said there for me.

I'm not a marketer or an economist, but just using common sense, I anticipate that sales will trend downward until wages can begin to match the rising costs of luxury goods. Considering that something like Marvel Legends has increased the price by 20% in the last 14 months, people will not continue to purchase them at the same rate until their wages have also gone up 20% since 14 months ago. Because if they do, they will have less (relative) money in their pocket. Unless the buyer makes a wage that the increased price doesn't impact their ability to afford their other expenses, then they're fine. But that's not most buyers, parents, or collectors.

So I'm a bit frustrated that Hasbro has done so, so preemptively. Yes, they are a business that is out to make money, yada yada, but they raised their prices at a higher rate than inflation. Which means, they raised the price of their toys so that not only are their profit margins untouched, but their profit margin is actually greatened than if they matched inflation 1:1; all at our expense. Anticipating that their sales will decline, they decided to charge us even more than necessary so that their profits remain the same. They passed down all of the increased shipping and production costs onto us buyers, so that they can fill their pockets even more than they previously have.

So yeah Hasbro, I noticed. It's really sleazy, even for a large corporation, and it unsettles me. So I'll be one of those people that are pulling back and reducing your sales over the upcoming years. More and more customers will continue to realize that you have no qualms with screwing us over so that your shareholders are satisfied, and it may come back to haunt you

So if they know it will "soften" sales, why would they do it? Is that what they want? That's ridiculous. True, it might benefit us adult collectors as parents might not be so quick to buy a more expensive product, but what company, in it's right mind doesn't want to reach as many people as it can young or old. This is just putting lipstick on a freaking pig. The suits are lining their own pockets and I don't think they really care if lines like ML and Joe take the fall because of it.

While price increases do suck, there may be a silver lining. Typically raising prices with consistent demand equals fewer sales, as Hasbro is forecasting. This means Marvel Legends won't be a volume business, or at least compared to what it was. They will be forced then to cater to the adult collector market more than they do, which means giving us stuff on our top ten lists, filling out teams, etc. I'm sure they will still crank out the major characters but they may also give us more characters that will sell well to a smaller base.

Yeah the Toys R Us website price is 45 bucks for Movie Baroness clogging the shelves.

Looks like ill be importing all my GI Joe crap in the future

I plan to cherry pick even more but did anyone see the price increase hasbro did on their G.I. Joe figures in Canada? They raised the prices of G.I. Joe to around 45.00 or 35.00 American.

Interesting read. I ultimately think the sales for all toy companies will eventually take a down ward trend as prices continue to go up. The collector market will continue to survive but think toys for kids will suffer in the coming years since there will be differing ways for parents to spend.

Interesting that Mattel didn't mention Masters of the universe, maybe there's something to the 2023 thing or MOTU just doesn't register as they're other properties do. We'll ultimately find out.