Hasbro announced yesterday via press release that they have reached an agreement with Saban to purchase Saban’s Power Rangers and several other entertainment brands, including My Pet Monster, Popples, Julius Jr., Luna Petunia, Treehouse Detectives and others, in a combination of cash and stock valued at $522 million. The first set of products from Hasbro will be available in spring 2019.

Toys R Us UK has gone into administration with immediate effect due to their inability to pay a £15 million tax bill. As of now their online and click and collect services are no more and a sale is expected to start on all remaining items in stores. All stores will remain open whilst the administrators try to find a buyer but if they fail then all 105 stores are expected to close in the summer. you can read more here

Arron Kendall and Simon Thomas of Moorfields Advisory Limited, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QF were appointed Joint Administrators on 28 February 2018. The Administrators now manage the affairs, business and property of the Company. The Administrators act as agents only and without personal liability.

Their website has been updated with the following notice:

Refunds and Exchanges

No exchanges for non-faulty items may be accepted and no refunds will be given.

If the item is faulty then the normal Company policy will be followed in accordance with your statutory rights.

Gift Cards

We are continuing to accept and redeem Gift Cards for purchases made, but please note that we will not be issuing Gift Cards.

No refunds can be given for the balance of the gift cards

Take Time To Pay Agreements

If you have recently settled your Time to Pay agreement and collected your goods, then you are no longer a creditor of the company and nofurther action is needed.

If you have recently settled your Time to Pay agreement and but not collected your goods, then you should collect your goods from store as soon as possible.

If you have not settled your Time to Pay agreement and not collected your goods then you will need to attend your local store by Sunday 11 March 2018 and either:

• Pay the balance for the merchandise they have included in their Take Time to Pay Agreement. The price of the merchandise will be the price in store on the day the customer settles the Take Time to Pay Agreement less the deposit that they have already paid; or
• Purchase alternative goods that exceed the value of their deposit.
• No cash refunds will be issued in respect of deposits paid prior to the company entering Administration

Gold Card and R Baby Club

Loyalty cards and loyalty points will no longer be issued

Toy Shop UK has published the results of its 9th annual Independent Toy Awards, showing what the UK's independent toy retailers think are the best toys for parents to be buying their children this Christmas.

As you would expect there are no Transformers products to be found on this years list, which can be viewed in full here,

Toy Shop UK's awards process is unique within the industry as they ask the 900+ retailers that list businesses on the directory what they think are the best toys within each category and the winners are then revealed rather than selected as votes flood in.

UK Toy Industry Magazine ToyNews recently held a poll where by they asked manufacturers, retailers and inventors within the toys and games industry to name those toys and games which they fle had most shaped the industry, and the results are now in with Transformers appearing at number 14 on the list!

The full list reads as:

1. Lego
2. Barbie
3. Kenner Star Wars
4. Rubik's Cube
5. Trivial Pursuit
6. Monopoly
7. Furby
8. Skylanders
9. Tamagotchi
10. Golden Bear's Teletubbies Toys
11. Settlers of Catan
12. Action Man
13. Pokemon: The Trading Card Game
14. Transformers
15. Card Against Humanity
16. Gameboy
17. Moshi Monsters
18. Meccano
19. Playmobil
20. Simon

The Australian Associated Press have released an article stating that toy sales for the year 2015-2016 are forecast to be the strongest in a decade. According to research performed by the NPD Group the US toy market has seen a 6.2% growth on the previous year with sales up to $19.9 billion (US). In 2014 toy sales rose by 4%.

The NPD Group report that the growth is being fuelled by increasing popularity of collectibles, toys based on Hollywood Blockbusters, and better technology which provides a more interactive experience for children.  It comes as great news to everyone in the toy industry as sales have slowed and sometimes been in decline over the last decade as children have become more interested in technology rather than toys.

"The selection is much greater than in the past," said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TTPM, an online toy review site. "Technology is much better in the toy aisle, and it's really inspiring young kids to play but also bringing older kids to things like radio control and role play items."

Surging demand for all things "Frozen" helped the toy industry achieve a rare gain in 2014. Toys related to the blockbuster about a princess who sets off to find her sister with icy powers were popular. In fact, Frozen was the top toy brand in 2014, reaching $US531 million in sales, according to NPD.

And the Hollywood infatuation is expected to continue with the release of the Star Wars movie on December 18: Hundreds of products, from puzzles to action figures related to Star Wars, are expected to exceed Frozen's success.

Marty Brochstein, who's with the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association, says the LightSaber from Hasbro, which features motion sensor-controlled sound effects, already are on backorder. He says Star Wars appeals to both kids and adults.

"It's multi-generational," Brochstein says.

Hasbro, the nation's second largest toy company, reported a jump in second-quarter profit last month, helped by toys related to "Star Wars."

Hasbro has the major merchandising licensing rights to make Star Wars toys from now until 2020. It's also teaming up with Walt Disney Co's consumer products division to make Frozen dolls in 2016. That deal froze out Mattel, which sells the dolls based on Frozen characters.

Toys R Us' new CEO David Brandon says the retailer is placing big bets this holiday season on brands like Star Wars to help boost sluggish US sales.

"It will be very interesting to see at the end of the holiday season where the growth comes from. And how much growth there is," Brandon says.

Toy companies are pushing remote controlled cars and droids controlled by smartphones. And robotic creatures are becoming more life-like with voice recognition features.

Hasbro's StarLily My Magical Unicorn, for example, responds to voice and touch with more than 100 sound and motion combinations. Mattel also is hoping technology will help it reverse years of slumping sales.

"You want to make sure that you give them enough that they're going to want to walk away from their iPads and phones," said Mattel's Executive Vice President Geoff Walker.

Mattel's new Barbie features speech recognition and can have a two-way conversation with girls. And its Fisher-Price brand has Smart Bear, an interactive plush bear marketed as having the brains of a computer without the screen - and is linked to a smartphone app. Fisher-Price also is pushing a robotic dinosaur.

Credit to Yahoo! News and AAP for the story.

Yesterday was the Hasbro Investor Day conference call where Hasbro present some of their overall plans to would-be investors, press and consumers. The TFW2005 have a summary of some of the Transformers related news including:

• Transformers 5 Placeholder Logo Revealed
• Transformers 5 Info (company-wise)
• Transformers: Micronauts
• Kreo: Armour Hero

The full presentation can be viewed and downloaded on Hasbro's website where you can also listen to the audio recording.

It was confirmed during the presentation that Micronauts will indeed be a part of an expanded Transformers mythos as was the concept tht was sold to Hasbro Inc in the mid to late 2000's by AGE when they sold the entire IP for Micronauts to Hasbro Inc rather than just licensing the brand.

The full presentation also suggests that Hasbro will increase their new tooling in general over the next couple of years, though this is not broken down by toyline so it could just be due to the introduction of new brands such as Micronauts and Stretch Armstrong.

The presentation is a follow-up from 2015 Investor Update that was produced during the US Toy Fair (download it here).

Hasbro will also be increasing their work with mobile game studio "Backflip Studio" so expect additional Hasbro Licensed mobile games to be released within 2016.

Hasbro Inc have now issued their 10K results for Q3 which, on paper, saw year-on-year growth of 2% on net revenue for the group to $1.37 billion dollars.  This had a knock on affect of increasing the valuation of their share prices by 5% to $1.31 from $1.24.  However, the 10-K was filed before the recent legal ruling against the company which resulted in a $75.5 million legal settlement that was reported on this site last month.  This settlement reversed the overall value of the companies stock price from the 5% increase to a 22.5% decrease to a share price of $0.96.  The share price is expected to recover especially over 2014 with the release of more movie tie-in products.

Despite solid international growth as well as strong results in their "Girls Toys" market, the Boys Toy section which makes up 1/3rd of Hasbro's revenue suffered a 17% year-on-year loss to $392 million despite good performances in both the Transformers and Star Wars products.

Source: Hasbro Inc via Via Yahoo! Finance

Every year CR Magazine produces a list of their top "100 Best Corporate Citizens" which recognises companies for their increasing transparency regarding the Company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, including product safety, environmental sustainability and manufacturing ethics as well as philanthropy. Hasbro were placed 7th in this years list with other notable companies include AT&T, Gap, Inc., Campbell Soup Co. and Intel.

"We are proud to be honored for the second consecutive year for our leadership and advancements in corporate social responsibility, including environmental sustainability, manufacturing ethics, philanthropy, and governance," said Brian Goldner, Hasbro's President and CEO. "This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our employees around the world, and the strides we’re making in helping to build a safe and sustainable world for future generations.”

This is the 2nd such award Hasbro have received this year as in March Hasbro was recognised as one of the "2013 World's Most Ethical Companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, a leading global business ethics think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability.

Highlights of Hasbro's CSR efforts include:

• Reduced packaging: In 2012, Hasbro began to reduce the amount of material used in packaging for products in its brand portfolio. This builds upon Hasbro's ongoing sustainable packaging commitment.
• Phase-out of PVC in packaging: Hasbro has already phased out polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from new product packaging, and will continue to reduce PVC in all packaging until completely eliminated.
• Using Materials Responsibly: Hasbro’s owned and operated North American factory which makes many of the company’s board games and puzzles uses vegetable-based printing inks and aqueous coatings in its printing processes for game and puzzle components, boxes and instructions. Additionally, this factory retains green certification for its printing processes by the nonprofit Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP).
• Product safety: Continuing the company's outstanding product safety record, all Hasbro products meet or exceed federal and international safety standards and regulation, and Hasbro has not experienced a product recall in recent years.
• Philanthropy: In 2012, more than three million children were impacted by Hasbro’s philanthropic programs worldwide which focus on empowering childhood through hope, play and service. Hasbro employees also volunteered just over 20,000 hours of their time and talents to make a difference for children in their local communities.

Hasbro Inc President and CEO, Brian D. Goldner has sold 100,000 shares in the US toy company for a staggering $3.54 million ($35.43 per share).  According to the related SEC filing Mr Goldner executed his option to sell the shares on the 28th February 2012 netting him a cool $1.75 million which almost doubles the value he paided for them when he bought them at $17.97.  Brian still has shares, in fact he owns another 102,209 shares which are currently worth another $3.62 million.

Brian was promoted to CEO and President of Hasbro Inc in 2008, partly due to the success of the Transformers movie, and has worked at Hasbro since 2000. Before that, he served as President of Bandai North America, and worked at J. Walter Thomson Advertising and Leo Burnett Advertising.  He is also currently on the board of Molson Coors Brewing Company.

Hasbro Inc have now issued their Quarterly 10k report, a full copy can by viewed here.  In summary, revenue is up for Hasbro in the last quarter however 9 month revenue and profit is down on last year.

On the Transformers side, increased sale within the US and Canada were used to prop up declining sales in NERF and other lines with the same being true internationally.  Hasbro's increased licensing, when it came to entertainment, was driven by growth from licenses within the Transformers product.  Below you will find an extract covering the main breakdown.

U.S. AND CANADA SEGMENT

The U.S. and Canada segment's net revenues for the quarter ended September 25, 2011 decreased 7% to $764,562 from $825,483 for the quarter ended September 26, 2010. The decrease in the quarter was a result of decreased revenues in the boys, girls, and games and puzzles categories, partially offset by increased revenues in the preschool category. The increase in the preschool category primarily relates to sales related to the introduction of a number of product offerings under the Sesame Workshop license during the quarter. Increases in the preschool category were partially offset by decreased revenues from

PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, and PLAY-DOH product lines. The decrease in the boys category primarily relates to decreased sales of STAR WARS, MARVEL, and NERF products, partially offset by increased sales of BEYBLADE and TRANSFORMERS, including KRE-O products. The decrease in the girls category primarily relates to decreased sales of LITTLEST PET SHOP and FURREAL FRIENDS products, partially offset by increased sales of BABY ALIVE, EASY BAKE, and MY LITTLE PONY products. The decrease in the games and puzzles category primarily relates to lower sales of board games, partially offset by higher sales of MAGIC: THE GATHERING.

U.S. and Canada segment net revenues for the nine months ended September 25, 2011 were $1,660,664 compared to $1,694,713 for the nine months ended September 26, 2010. The decrease in the nine months ended September 25, 2011 was the result of decreased revenues in the girls and games and puzzles category, partially offset by increased revenues in the boys category. The increase in the boys category primarily relates to increased sales of BEYBLADE products, which were reintroduced in late 2010, as well as higher sales of TRANSFORMERS products as a result of the June 2011 movie release, TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON. These increases were partially offset by decreased revenues from MARVEL, NERF and STAR WARS products. Decreases in the girls category were primarily driven by lower sales of LITTLEST PET SHOP products, partially offset by higher sales of MY LITTLE PONY and BABY ALIVE products while decreases in the games and puzzles category primarily relate to lower sales of board games partially offset by increased sales of MAGIC: THE GATHERING.

U.S. and Canada segment operating profit decreased to $128,789, or 16.8% of net revenues, for the quarter ended September 25, 2011 compared to $158,763, or 19.2% of net revenues, for the quarter ended September 26, 2010. For the nine months ended September 25, 2011 operating profit decreased to $227,526, or 13.7% of net revenues, from $278,635, or 16.4% of net revenues, for the nine months ended September 26, 2010. For the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 operating profit was negatively impacted by a the decline in net revenues as well as higher royalty and selling, distribution and administration costs. Operating profit margin for the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 was negatively impacted by a decline in net revenues and higher selling, distribution and administration costs. In addition, the operating profit margin for the nine month period of 2011 was impacted by a higher mix of shipments of closeouts during the first half of the year, which represents carryover inventory from year end 2010. Although this inventory was written down last year, the subsequent sales have minimal to no profit.

INTERNATIONAL SEGMENT

International segment net revenues increased by 23% to $563,310 for the quarter ended September 25, 2011 from $458,917 for the quarter ended September 26, 2010. Net revenues for the nine months ended September 25, 2011 increased 27% to $1,192,113 from $942,047 for the nine months ended September 26, 2010. For the quarter ended September 25, 2011, International segment net revenues were positively impacted by currency translation of approximately $35,200, or 8%, as a result of the weaker U.S. dollar during the quarter. For the nine months ended September 25, 2011, International segment net revenues were positively impacted by currency translation of approximately $72,500, or 8%, as a result of the weaker U.S. dollar in the first nine months of 2011. Increased net

revenues in the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 were driven by higher sales in the boys category primarily as a result of higher sales of BEYBLADE, NERF, and TRANSFORMERS products, partially offset by decreased sales of MARVEL and STAR WARS products. Revenues in the girls, games and puzzles and preschool categories decreased slightly. The decrease in the girls category was driven by decreased sales of LITTLEST PET SHOP products partially offset by increased sales of FURREAL FRIENDS and BABY ALIVE products. Decreases in the preschool category are primarily the result of lower sales of PLAYSKOOL products partially offset by sales related to the introduction of a number of product offerings under the Sesame Workshop license as well as higher sales of PLAY-DOH products. Decreases in the games and puzzles category were driven by decreased sales of board games, offset by higher revenues from MAGIC: THE GATHERING products in the quarter. International segment net revenues for the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 increased in all regions, which includes Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin and South America.

International segment operating profit increased to $100,739, or 17.9% of net revenues, for the quarter ended September 25, 2011 from $70,818, or 15.4% of net revenues, for the quarter ended September 26, 2010. For the nine months ended September 25, 2011, operating profit increased to $132,756, or 11.1% of net revenues, from $79,984, or 8.5% of net revenues, for the nine months ended September 26, 2010. International segment operating profit was positively impacted by currency translation of approximately $4,300 and $6,500 for the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011, respectively. The increase in operating profit was primarily a result of the impact of increased revenues partially offset by higher royalty expenses as well as higher expenses as the result of the Company's investments in expanding its operations in emerging markets. Operating profit margin for the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 was positively impacted by higher net revenues.

ENTERTAINMENT AND LICENSING SEGMENT

Entertainment and Licensing segment net revenues for the quarter ended September 25, 2011 increased 69% to $46,316 from $27,478 for the quarter ended September 26, 2010. Net revenues for the nine months ended September 25, 2011 was $98,144 compared to $83,038 for the nine months ended September 26, 2010. Licensing revenue related to entertainment brands tends to lag traditional toy and game revenue due to when licensing partners report their revenue to the Company. As a result, there was increased licensing revenue in the third quarter of 2011 related to the June 2011 movie release of TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON. In addition to movie-related licensing revenue, licensing revenue related to movies and television programming increased as well. Included in revenues for the quarter and nine months ended September 25, 2011 is a one-time movie-related payment of $5,000 received from Universal Studios.

The NPD have released figures that show that the UK toy sales market is currently the strongest its been since 2002 with an 11% growth in the period Jan-Oct.  Things are not all rosy however as sales of Action Figures are actually in decline was consumers have switched to building sets.

More to follow

According to figures released by the NPD Group, toy sales within the United States were down 2% for the first 6 months of 2009.  Sales were at $7.8 billion compared to $7.95 billion for hte same period in 2008.  For the 12 months ending on the same date, sales fell from $22.06 billion to $21.6 billion.  NPD toy industry analyst Anita Frazier is quoted as saying “Even as the economy worsened earlier this year...there wasn't evidence of greater declines post-holiday."  Its not all bad news though as some areas of the toy industry did see an increase including the Action Figure are of the market where sales rose by 13 per cent for the first half and four per cent for the 12-month period.

You can read more here.

The UK toy market just got slammed by the chairman of the BTHA (British Toy and Hobby Association) Roger Dyson.  In an address to visitor's of the association's Industry Day, he pointed to a number of difficulties faced throughout 2008, which led to the UK becoming "The worst performing toy market in the developed world when compared with 2008."  Dyson gave a few reasons for the decline

"The administration of Youngsters in April was challenging enough for many of our members, but the reqercussions of the administration of Woolworths have still not subsided and are unlikely to to, at least until 2009 is well past.

"The changing landscape of retail in teh UK is and will continue to be a challenge to our members for some time to come but our industry will as ever change and adapt to what will continue to be an ever changing economic and retail environment." ... "We face a further difficulty, lower turnover leads to lower marketing spend which leads to lower sales, we are in a downward spiral that we need to reverse."

Its time for us to once again bring you the NPD retail charts, this time for the month of June 2008.  Its bad news for Transformers in terms of revenue generated as the brand falls out of the top 10 revenue chart completely.  In terms of units sold, those Movie Legends hung in their in 6th spot.  Overall, Transformers sales were high enough to keep both the Movie Legends and the Movie Deluxe figures in the Year To Date chart at the half way mark of 2008.  In general the number of action figures sold fell, though Transformers, Ben 10 and Indiana Jones all performed pretty well.  None of the Movie tie in lines (Indy, Hulk and Ironman) performed anywhere near as well as Transformers and Spider-man 12 months ago, though shelf space was getting limited with other movie tie-in figures being released in July. Anyway, here are the charts

UK June 2008 (£ Sales)
1 BEN 10 FIGURES 10CM ASSORTMENT - BANDAI
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
3 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES - BANDAI
4 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH - BANDAI
5 ALL SURFACE SWINGBALL - MOOKIE
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH - HASBRO
7 INDIANA JONES WHIP ROLEPLAY - HASBRO
8 ITNG 12-INCH TALKING PLUSH - HASBRO
9 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT - MATTEL
10 HSM COUNTRY CLUB FRIENDS - MATTEL

UK June 2008 (Unit Sales)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
3 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
4 MATCH ATTAX CARDS 07/08 TOPPS
5 SPEED RACER DIE-CAST VEHICLES MATTEL
6 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
7 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
8 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
9 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES BANDAI
10 DR WHO SONIC SCREWDRIVER CHARACTER OPTIONS

Year To Date (£ Sales)
1 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
3 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
5 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
7 ITNG 12-INCH TALKING PLUSH HASBRO
8 HSM COUNTRY CLUB FRIENDS MATTEL
9 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
10 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE DELUXE HASBRO

Year To Date (Unit Sales)
1 HOT WHEELS BASIC CAR ASSORTMENT MATTEL
2 CARS VEHICLE ASSORTMENT MATTEL
3 BEN 10 FIGS 10CM ASSORTMENT BANDAI
4 TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEGENDS HASBRO
5 POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE FIGURES BANDAI
6 ITNG MINI PLUSH HASBRO
7 WWE RUTHLESS AGGRESSION VIVID
8 BEN 10 15CM ACTION FIGURES BANDAI
9 DR WHO 5-INCH FIGURES CHARACTER OPTIONS
10 BEN 10 OMNITRIX FX WATCH BANDAI