Hasbro gunning for LEGO...

[Ed Mack]

An interesting article about Hasbro looking to acquire Dreamworks Animation to help them dethrone LEGO from the number one toy maker position in the world...

[jaisonline]

An interesting article about Hasbro looking to acquire Dreamworks Animation to help them dethrone LEGO from the number one toy maker position in the world...

 

 

yeah, i wonder how hard hasbro tried (or is trying) to get the star wars license (among others) from the lego group. 

[exciter1]

yeah, i wonder how hard hasbro tried (or is trying) to get the star wars license (among others) from the lego group. 

 

Hasbro can't even keep up with their toy lines and they also struggle with distribution.  I don't see this as a good move.

[zskid00]

yeah, i wonder how hard hasbro tried (or is trying) to get the star wars license (among others) from the lego group. 

 

Hasbro has the Star Wars license for many products.  Or do you think they are trying to get the license for their Kre-o line?

[Young_Gun21]

LEGO won't lose Star Wars. It is a huge part of their line up and with new movies coming out that will give them tons of opportunities to make new sets and cash in.

[jaisonline]

Hasbro can't even keep up with their toy lines and they also struggle with distribution.  I don't see this as a good move.

agreed. however, star wars didn't seem like a priority for hasbro after the last movie.  hence, the poor distribution.  they did a decent enough job with transformers although i hate them being all plastic. oh well, that is for another thread.

 

Hasbro has the Star Wars license for many products.  Or do you think they are trying to get the license for their Kre-o line?

 

no idea.  i hope not but maybe they tried since lego makes tons of cash of sw.  kre-o star trek and transformers items look terrible at least to my eyes.  luckily, Lego obtained the jurassic park license for building toys while i think hasbro can do a good job w/ the non-building stuff.

[DadsAFOL]

Maybe there will be a multi-billion dollar bidding war between Hasbro and Lego the next time the license is up for renewal in 2022.

 

http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2012/february/The-Force-Remains-with-The-LEGO-Group

[Ed Mack]

There might be a battle for it next time around.  It will not be pretty.   A huge game changer if LEGO loses their STAR WARS license in 2022.

[Young_Gun21]

There might be a battle for it next time around. It will not be pretty. A huge game changer if LEGO loses their STAR WARS license in 2022.

Not pretty for LEGO and other bidders but Disney will have a hay day.

[minicoopers11]

There might be a battle for it next time around.  It will not be pretty.   A huge game changer if LEGO loses their STAR WARS license in 2022.

So you're dropping a cryptic hint that we should not sell any of our UCS Star Wars and wait just in case Lego loses the license? /s

[Jojoyojimbi]

you've got to wonder how many star wars fans will boycott Kreo just because they're basically ****, I know Gi Joe fans and transformer fans that won't spend a dime on Kreo sets and ask for custom lego minifigures and MoCs because Kreo is such a crap product

[Crustybeaver]

Hasbro have an uphill challenge ahead of them. IMO they need a game changer, a generation one transformers, a He-Man, a GI Joe, something new that sets the world on fire. It's been getting on 30 years now since G1 Transformers, Ninja Turtles, GI Joe, He-Man, Thundercats etc burst onto the scene. Toy companies have been rehashing themes for far too long, we need something new and exciting. Until that happens I really can't see Hasbro knocking Lego off top spot

[Young_Gun21]

I don't think it'd be out of the realm of possibility for Disney to buy lego at some point down the line.

And then Disney would eventually just own everything. World domination is what they are going for.

[Cross]

Disney is essentially buying everything up they can. Here's to hoping TLG stays private, and keeps their on-going relationship with Disney going strong.

[asharerin]

Disney is essentially buying everything up they can. Here's to hoping TLG stays private, and keeps their on-going relationship with Disney going strong.

 

What if Disney where to buy Megabrands? Now that could be interesting.

[johnwray]

I don't think it'd be out of the realm of possibility for Disney to buy lego at some point down the line.

 

That occurred to me a few months ago, and it's not far-fetched. A ton of Lego licences are Disney-owned (Marvel Superheroes, Star Wars, Toy Story, Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lone Ranger), so it'd be a solid move to just bring Lego in-house.

 

EDIT: Oh, and let's not forget Indiana Jones.

Edited November 13, 2014 by johnwray

[Ed Mack]

So you're dropping a cryptic hint that we should not sell any of our UCS Star Wars and wait just in case Lego loses the license? /s

It's not so cryptic.  It will be the best of times and the worst of times as a LEGO investor.  Imagine no more LEGO STAR WARS sets being produced.  Even the basic SW sets will explode in growth.  Yet, you will take away the most prized and valuable theme in the LEGO Universe.  Is short term gain worth the long term loss?

[minicoopers11]

It's not so cryptic.  It will be the best of times and the worst of times as a LEGO investor.  Imagine no more LEGO STAR WARS sets being produced.  Even the basic SW sets will explode in growth.  Yet, you will take away the most prized and valuable theme in the LEGO Universe.  Is short term gain worth the long term loss?

Not at all. Would be crazy if this actually happened, there's no doubt. If it got seriously competitive, I think Lego would probably take a loss to keep the line.

[trekgate502]

Does anyone else remember the rumors that Disney was eyeing Hasbro for its next acquisition a year or two ago?

 

I hope it does not happen but I still see how it could.

 

 

Forget that Lego is Lego and everything else is not comparable.

 

What a drivers seat Disney would be in for all of their toys and for what Lego pays them for Star wars - if they owned Hasbro.

 

Or they paid to redo Kre-O to something much better than it is and called it something different.

 

That would Disney being ruthless at its best.  They do know how to do that.  They are an impressive business operation.

 

I hope they leave the toy industry alone.

 

Also just found this that says Disney must bless Hasbro buying Dreamworks.  Hmm...

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102182221

[dubzero]

This is an interesting move for Hasbro. I'm not sure this is very bright on their part since movie production is not their core business.

Remember what happened to TLG when the started chasing squirrels and got away from their foundations.

[exciter1]

It would have been a good move for Hasbro to bid on the TMNT line a couple years ago.  They didn't and the current action figures are probably much more superior than if Hasbro would have owned the license anyway.

[mudcatsfan]

you've got to wonder how many star wars fans will boycott Kreo just because they're basically ****, I know Gi Joe fans and transformer fans that won't spend a dime on Kreo sets and ask for custom lego minifigures and MoCs because Kreo is such a crap product

 

 

Kreo GI Joes are AMAZING. If you'e a fan of the 1980's cartoon & comic era joes of course.

 

Also, i should clarify, i'm talking the individual figures, the building sets kind of suck.

 

Also the most recent round of sets are decent (the terror drome is awesome), but not lego quality.

Edited November 13, 2014 by mudcatsfan

[trekgate502]

I will say this there may be many fans that do not buy Kre-O but I do love Star Trek and Transformers and i do buy some of the Kre-O product.

The NCC-1701 was a fun build.  No its not Lego.  No it is not great at sticking together but in a world where Lego is not going to happen I take what you can get.

I sure hope we do not have to have that discussion about Star Wars someday.  Lego is the best.

[fuzzy_bricks]

Sounds like the merger isn't going to happen this time around.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-dreamworks-shares-20141117-story.html

[scuttfarkas]

It's not like KRE-O blocks are worlds different than LEGO.  They're essentially the same building system.  The actual KRE-O Transformer builds were/are pretty cool.  I did the Bumblebee one.  You didn't use all the pieces when you switched from car to robot....but if you took some of the extras and filled the robot out, he looked good.

 

That being said, their minifigures are pretty poopy.  Nothing right now can compete with the iconic LEGO minifigure look.

 

That being said, if another company wanted to cut into LEGO's brand....I don't think it'd be very hard.  They'd need a flagship theme/license and a desire to increase their quality a little ( be it in brick quality or set design).