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Hasbro Fears Total Loss of Star Wars as Evergreen Product
🕑 Added 2024-03-21 14:04:00 +0000 UTCAccording to information sent our way via a contact in the toy industry, Hasbro now fears the total loss of Star Wars as an Evergreen Product. The reception of The Acolyte with the dislike ratio is the cherry-on-the-top after Hasbro already had great fear of ANOTHER mostly female Star Wars effort.
According to the source, any additional Acolyte products are being halted by Hasbro so long as they're not under contractual obligation to meet quantity thresholds. The view is that this is a colossal failure. Not only that but Skeleton Crew is not seen as a likely hit either and will land too late to impact Holidays 2024. As a result, Hasbro does not (allegedly) anticipate ANY significant Star Wars merchandise pops until 2026 -- at the earliest -- with The Mandalorian Movie.
This means that Hasbro is now empty of any major Star Wars lift for YEARS. And there's no guarantee that things might ever return to the prior baselines.
But perhaps even worse for Hasbro, Marvel is also in a full tailspin. Execs are stuck on the Deadpool issue because it's problematic to merchandise a hard R film with kid toys. They're also stuck as they have not-Captain America 3 landing and unlikely to drive toy sales to the level that Sam Rogers would. That's not a racial statement, but an iconography statement. They have Thunderbolts that nobody knows and is viewed as another Eternals effort. That leaves Hasbro hoping that X-Men 97 will help sell merchandise, but X-Men 97 may be a property that entices adults rather than kids.
Hasbro needs kids buying toys. Adult collectors have big money, but grandmas buying their baby boys an action figure will always dwarf the prior. For Hasbro -- a company already in danger of bankruptcy -- Disney isn't throwing a lifesaver to them. They're bashing them in the head with a DEI paddle of doom.
Your pal,
Pro
Comments
Kristi Lee
I have a question, could Hasbro work with another company for toys or was the contract with Disney exclusive so Disney was the only company they could work with? Just wondering
Reier Gotter
I saw these figures announced yesterday and immediately thought of your reporting. Kids certainly won’t buy these and I doubt many adults will either. I can’t imagine these Acolyte figures will be made in very high quantities. Hasbro is aware they won’t sell and wants to avoid another Ollie’s dump. I believe the Ahsoka figures were also made in limited quantities.
