Pawtucket toymaker obtains rights to 5,000 characters
Hasbro Inc. stock skyrocketed last week to its highest levels in about a year. And it only took a superhuman effort – well, sort of.
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Last week, Pawtucket-based Hasbro, the world’s second largest toymaker, announced it had obtained the rights to develop toys based on Marvel Entertainment characters including Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Captain America.
In all, Hasbro has the rights to more than 5,000 characters in the toy and game categories – including action figures, board games, puzzles and preschool toys – for characters that were developed by Marvel.
“I think it is a match made in heaven,” said Stevanne “Dr. Toy” Auerbach, a toy industry analyst in California. “Hasbro is a good energizing force for both the comic book and toy industry.”
Marvel needs a new outreach for its old comic book characters, while Hasbro is searching for some fresh energy in its product line, she said. The combination of comics and toys can be beneficial for both.
Baby boomers have the nostalgia of the old comic books, and they should enjoy seeing the toys coming out for their grandchildren, she said. The possibility also remains to resurrect the comics in some sort of anthology.
The five-year license – with the option to be extended – will begin with retail sales in January 2007.
“Hasbro’s mutli-year agreement with Marvel provides Hasbro with proven properties in categories where we have been longtime industry leaders,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s president of the U.S. Toy Segment, in a statement.
Research and development and creative work will begin this year, with the first full product line expected to center on the Ghost Rider comic book and the Spider-Man 3 movie that is scheduled for release in May 2007.
The license agreement guarantees Marvel $205 million in royalty and service fee payments – $70 million of that will be paid upon the release of Spider-Man 3 and $35 million with the release of Spider-Man 4.
While trumpeting the agreement with Hasbro, Marvel announced the termination of its current licensing agreement with Toy Biz Worldwide, placing Marvel in charge of producing all toys for the next year until the Hasbro deal kicks in.
“Hasbro has a deeper, wider range and type of product, and they can do a lot more than pretty much any company than Mattel,” said Auerbach.
Wayne Charness, Hasbro spokesperson, said the homegrown core brands of Hasbro like Tonka, Playskool and Nerf will continue to be the main offerings, but the company is always looking for the right strategic licenses to add to its portfolio.
A recent Bloomberg News report said Hasbro had to renegotiate its agreement with George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, in 2003 to reduce the guaranteed payments after sales related to “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Cones” were lower than expected.
It is not uncommon for a movie to come up short in producing the money expected in a licensing deal, said Auerbach.
The run of six Star Wars movies is complete and the series is transitioning into a TV series, according to Charness, noting the agreement with Marvel is a good complement to this line.
