Hasbro has lost over 50% of its stock valuation since 2019

-$4.64 EPS

they have some valuable IP for sure (G.I. Joe, Star Wars toys, etc.) and there is some value in WOTC

but a lot of their stuff is old and out-of-style.

Any Marvel IPs are declining in value at this point. The film series is exhausted, and the latest offerings have been bad. Generations Y & Z are simply not that interested in Marvel--they have other interests. The comic book line has completely cratered and is a joke at this point

Hasbro is owned by Vanguard, Blackrock, and some others. Doesn't look like anyone controls more than 10%

Musk could assemble a few more investors and do a takeover pretty easily. Get rid of a good 50% of the product offerings and trim the workforce. Bring in new writers, designers, and talent.

and completely revamp D&D

What would be new and in-style? That latest Jaguar ad?

Most of their IPs are fine and barely need any updating for a sane audience.

My advice:

Transformers: do a Beast Wars reboot that takes advantage of the advancements in cg animation. Show the Beast Wars in their full glory. Best of all, there wouldn't be any human characters!

D&D: make a Neverwinter Nights 3 with modding support and custom servers and so on.

GI Joe: play into 80s nostalgia and anemoia. Diverse cast of patriotic muscle studs.

Alternity: put the pdfs back on drivethrurpg, for a start.

Even if he doesnt do much the freakouts ive seen from him even suggesting he'd buy hasbro have been primo entertainment.

Quote from: Gog to Magog on November 28, 2024, 11:58:11 PMCan speak with a small measure of inside knowledge about Hasbro (and a bit more regarding WOTC)...

They are wildly incompetent and have no idea what they're doing at this point with a huge chunk of their IPs and have even actively tried to downplay a number of them. A primary example is GI Joe which Hasbro has been fumbling for decades which could be a goldmine especially since the rise of the FPS as a primary genre of video game.

They are a company lacking in all agility and have no capability to judge their audience. Success within Hasbro is almost always due to the passion of an individual or small team working on an IP...and if it gets too big it invariably leads to company leadership bungling it by having it taken over and mismanaged. Hasbro has also had hilarious damage done to it by the total collapse of Star Wars toys...which is, of course, quite funny since that failure was caused by Star wars own self-inflicted idiotic suicide via 'modern audience syndrome'.

WOTC, meanwhile, has been a dumpsterfire for YEARS. Recent changes to MTG for example including the ludicrous milking of classic cards and now a shift to 100% licensed sets replacing a full half of their set releases is because WOTC and MTG specifically are not doing anywhere near as well as people want to believe (including people internally). WOTC is desperate to make cash because they are drowning in product they can't sell.

WOTC is entirely ideologically captured and has been for quite a while with them running off the people that had genuine talent years ago. They have been coasting by on other peoples work for well over a decade. Internally, they are honestly more of a cult than a company at this point. To them losing money is eternally blamed on 'bigots' and 'hate campaigns' so, and I mean this entirely seriously, they almost seem to enjoy losing money because it allows them to act with righteous indignation at how good they must be because loss of money is directly equated to rejection by fascists. Failure is largely their metric for ideological purity and ideological purity is a bigger success metric for them internally than actual success.

I am not kidding about this. Their internal cope is so twisted and so all-consuming that they interpret all loss of revenue through this lens , justifying it because they are standing up for their progressive beliefs. The company is an insane asylum.

Man, that sounds bleak. While WotC has always been left-liberal, it was no where near what you describe when I worked there. Of course people like me got pushed out a long time ago.

I only care because WotC owns a lot of IPs that it would be a hassle to write substitutes for. We need to reform copyright so that their old abandoned IPs enter public domain.

After Ridley Scott fucked over the Alien franchise with his History Channel bullshit, Verhoven fucked Starship Troopers, Metzen fucked Starcraft, etc etc., the only other bug hunt IP that hasn't been fucked over is... what... TSR's Bug Hunters?

Every single IP eventually gets fucked over and the law disallows fans from fixing things. Entertainment is a giant scam. Abolish copyright for corpos!

I bit the bullet and bought the new Player's handbook since I plan on releasing material for it under my pseudonym. As I imagine the majority of 3rd party folks plan to, since the majority of 5th edition players will migrate to the new system since it's the "new shiny" and they have absolutely no care about politics.

From a mechanical perspective... I truly hate that it's actually good.

I won't get into the weeds of it here... But honestly if Elon did buy it, you wouldn't need to change the current edition in terms of mechanics. It would just be changing it in terms of aesthetics.

Get rid of the safety tool shit and just talk about session zero, put some more adventurous art in, and have some new folks write interesting setting material where Conflict is King. Other than that, the core rules seem to be good.

But honestly I don't think Elon is gonna buy it, I think he's just trolling.

Well I think its an interesting proposition but A few things do bug me about it so I figure I'll throw that line of thinking out in to the light and see what comes of it.

the first thing that comes to my mind is "exactly how much?" of these given IPs does hasbro own ?
Starwars is a good example they own the rights to make the toys but the truth is they are taking marching orders from Disney on a number of points in that area. What about there other IPs what do they own of that ? I can see a lot of road blocks that could very easliy come up and cause issue to any grand plans. I know transformers is another one given that its originally owned by several Japanese firms and have no idea who own exactly what parts of that conglomeration.

The next thought after the who owns what parts of what situation is would Elon be able to run that kind of business ? He's a tech and hard sciences guy I don't know how well he would do running an entertainment company. Also keep in mind that entertainment is one of the places hit hardest if the economy slumps even slightly.
I could go on explaining some of USA particularly USA children's entertainment problems and how part of it is that company's cant do things the way they used to but I'll leave that go for now.

Quote from: Gog to Magog on November 28, 2024, 11:58:11 PMInternally, they are honestly more of a cult than a company at this point.

Ironically that's how they started.

Quote from: Gog to Magog on November 28, 2024, 11:58:11 PMTo them losing money is eternally blamed on 'bigots' and 'hate campaigns' so, and I mean this entirely seriously, they almost seem to enjoy losing money because it allows them to act with righteous indignation at how good they must be because loss of money is directly equated to rejection by fascists. Failure is largely their metric for ideological purity and ideological purity is a bigger success metric for them internally than actual success.

While it makes sense for those who ideologically oppose capitalism to consider financial success a liability, the truth is they'd absolutely point to it as a validation of their ideology if they were.

Quote from: Chris24601 on November 29, 2024, 08:05:30 AMMy hunch is Elon wouldn't even need to fire most of WotC, just the thought of working for the 'Right Hand of Orange Hitler' would drive nearly all of them to performative resignations.

When everyone is guilty by association there's just no other choice. After all if there's just one Nazi at a table...

Quote from: Osman Gazi on November 29, 2024, 10:48:24 AMIf Elon buys Hasbro, I see the D&D brand getting "Blueskied"--i.e., just like liberals are abandoning x/Twitter and joining BlueSky, I see someone else (like Piazo) getting those.

Unlike when D&D 4e went down in flames they're so internally divided at this point that I don't see any alternative getting the majority. Hell they're already eating each other on #Bluesky.

You also can't influence culture and 'own the chuds' with a game your ideological opposition has no interest in, which was the whole reason they infiltrated #Hasbro in the first place.

Ideally they'll retreat to their safe spaces (which are getting smaller by the day because of how they alienate each other) to play the games they like, and we'll get to do the same. However I sadly suspect they're too authoritarian to stop attempting to ban and censor others in communities they're not a part of for long.

Quote from: Rhymer88 on November 29, 2024, 02:01:30 AMI have no idea what he'd do, but if that was the course, would it be all that bad?

All he needs to do is train a few AIs and let passionate and talented creators flex without interference, and I think he can manage that.

Quote from: MerrillWeathermay on November 29, 2024, 11:09:44 AMHasbro has lost over 50% of its stock valuation since 2019

Don't forget the class action suit they're facing because of that.

Quote from: Orphan81 on November 29, 2024, 02:51:33 PMhonestly I don't think Elon is gonna buy it, I think he's just trolling.

Which is exactly why I think he's serious.

Quote from: M2A0 on November 29, 2024, 02:18:06 PMMan, that sounds bleak. While WotC has always been left-liberal, it was no where near what you describe when I worked there. Of course people like me got pushed out a long time ago.

Indeed. Back in the early 00s it was far FAR more sane (if that is when you are talking about). As was the video game industry (which I was in at the time). Since then, however, there's been a winnowing of sane staff who are pushed out or allowed to leave because they do not meet the ideological purity test.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan on November 30, 2024, 05:02:16 AMWhile it makes sense for those who ideologically oppose capitalism to consider financial success a liability, the truth is they'd absolutely point to it as a validation of their ideology if they were.

Of course. That is how cults operate. If the doomsday prophecy comes true, they are validated. If the doomsday prophecy doesn't come true, why that means that they were so faithful that the whole world was spared! A cult is not allowed to be wrong. It is anathema to the very underpinnings of it. All things must validate the outlook of the cult.

The big thing with the crazy "progressives" is that they cannot be thought of in terms of the political mind. They are not political. Their thought process is religious. Fundamental religious. Once you look at them through the lens of religiosity everything they do and why they behave the way they do makes far more sense.

Quote from: Gog to Magog on November 28, 2024, 11:58:11 PMA primary example is GI Joe which Hasbro has been fumbling for decades which could be a goldmine especially since the rise of the FPS as a primary genre of video game.

Damn. This is the FPS shooter I didn't know I wanted until I just heard the idea for it.

But I wonder if it'd make sense for Elon to just buy Hasbro, sell the IPs off in pieces and keep D&D. I know Hollywood is still pretty much all about existing IPs, even if Marvel has gone stale. And they seem to be running out of old IPs to mine.

Quote from: Dracones on November 30, 2024, 07:08:31 PMDamn. This is the FPS shooter I didn't know I wanted until I just heard the idea for it.

Exactly. GI Joe should have been Overwatch before Overwatch. It has the perfect formula and roster for it...but Hasbro refuses to leverage GI Joe as a brand.

Quote from: Dracones on November 30, 2024, 07:08:31 PMBut I wonder if it'd make sense for Elon to just buy Hasbro, sell the IPs off in pieces and keep D&D. I know Hollywood is still pretty much all about existing IPs, even if Marvel has gone stale. And they seem to be running out of old IPs to mine.

Have they, now?
Let's see what movies they can make:
My Pet Monster, Galaxy Rangers, Dinosaucers, Robotman, Heathcliff, Silverhawks, Galaxy High, Pee Wee's Playhouse, Turbo Teen, Kissyfur, Gummi Bears, Madballs, Mighty Orbots, Meatballs & Spaghetti, The Littles, Army Ants, Barbie & The Rockers, Terrahawks, Strawberry Shortcake, Stella, Dragon's Lair, MUSCLE Things, Hell Town, Small Wonder, Trollkins, The V, Max Headroom, Airwolf, MASK, Spiral Zone, Silver Spoons, Q*Bert, Zybots, Visionaries, BraveStarr, Inhumanoids, Jayce & The Wheeled Warriors, Super Naturals, Captain Power & The Soldiers of the Future, Goldie Gold, Golden Girl, Air Raiders, Crystal Castles, Groo the Wanderer...

And, the girl I was in love in when I was 16: Maxie!  (well, teh model who portrayed her in the commercials)

This is just one decade alone, and off the top of my head!

Quote from: Cathode Ray on November 30, 2024, 08:54:48 PMGroo the Wanderer.

This alone is a gold mine.

Quote from: Zalman on December 01, 2024, 05:43:31 AM

Quote from: Cathode Ray on November 30, 2024, 08:54:48 PMGroo the Wanderer.

This alone is a gold mine.

Fuck! Now I want some cheese dip

There's tons of IPs that are being ignored. In Hasbro's case, they own the entirety of TSR's back catalog. Instead of reviving Star Frontiers, Star*Drive, or whatever, they decided to immediately spend millions of dollars on latest new original IP Exodus. Which will probably bomb due to its extreme ambition and Hasbro's history of incompetence.

This is precisely why copyright terms need to be shortened to something economically reasonable, like 20 years. At least for abandonware. The way it works now is a fascist suppression of free speech that stifles competition and innovation. Not only are your favorite childhood games abandonware, but scientists and farmers routinely rely on abandonware software that they have no right to repair due to copyright.

We already know from the Burroughs Estate that trademark is plenty sufficient to protect rights after copyright expired.