Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS: Mattel Financial Numbers
“EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Mattel reported last week that its third quarter net income slipped approximately 3% compared to 2008 following an 8% decline in net sales.”
“Worldwide gross sales for the Entertainment business, which includes Radica and Games and Puzzles, declined 15% for the quarter, mostly attributable to lower sales of Radica and toys geared to last year’s summer entertainment properties, partially offset by worldwide sales of toys supporting Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story and Toy Story 2, along with stronger U.S. sales of Disney/Pixar Cars related product.”
Mattel probably doesn’t want to read this OTHER STORY.
“PAWTUCKET, R.I.—Hasbro reported an 11% gain in profit during the third quarter, helped by its boys toy business and by licensing revenue.”
VIA KidsToday (trade Publication)
Thanks “Jeaks” for link.
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22 October 2009
27 Comments
Am I the only one that read the above article in a positive light?
“Worldwide gross sales for the Entertainment business, which includes Radica and Games and Puzzles, declined 15% for the quarter, mostly attributable to lower sales of Radica and toys geared to last year’s summer entertainment properties, PARTIALLY OFFSET BY worldwide sales of toys supporting Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story and Toy Story 2, along with STRONGER U.S. SALES OF DISNEY/PIXAR CARS related product.”
If you look at the words I capitalized, it seems to me that Cars sales are one of the few things that are propping up Mattel sales figures. All the other postings I’ve seen here seem to indicate that Cars sales have diminished. Am I missing something?
I love Disney cars, I have no kids to give them too.
I now have over 400 and still buying.
With all the garbage they are putting out there and the new mater cars being made of plastic for the same money I think I am ready to quit buying.
I will buy the last 7 racers if they ever come out. I just feel like I am being taken by the company that makes them. Ever feel like you were being scammed? That is how this feels. Target Final lap cars are ok, but I just returned them all.
Enough is enough, plastic Mater’s, price increases.
Worse of all, why does it seem they made too many of the Kmart Cars? There was only one racer in each case for some of them in Kday 2.
Yeah, It just feels wrong somehow. Which Cars do we keep from Kday 3 and which ones will bomb?
Who Knows….
It does feel frustrating to go to the Kday 3 event and only 3 people showed.
The guy at Kmart told me 300 people showed for Kday 2, huge difference… Who killed the Cars collecting? Was it you? Was it me? who?
It’s a sad day in Radiator Springs Land.
Just in from my Pierce County (WA) weekly tour. First, K-Mart is awash with racers. After K-Mart 2 the racers hung around for about four-six weeks before being absorbed. Today, egads the suckers are peg warmers! And, the price is still $3.69. Maybe the Christmas rush will absorb them. The racers are great for hard core collectors, but, for the little ones- I don’t know? Where are the main characters? None of the shelf except for the lenticulars that were jammed into the case.
The new castings in the Target Final Lap Cars line are more appropriate for readers on this website. The Targets I stopped at are awash in the Final Laps. And haulers at $9.89. Try to find the main character cars- not there??? Why? If your little one sees the movie, which cars will he want? Skip Rictor? Not hardly. This is another instance of poor merchandising. Where is the blend of Cars cases available to retailers? All dumped at Big Lots at $2 each?
I had a conversation with the main Cars buyer for WM in Arkansas. The guy does not have a clue about Disney/Pixar Cars. I know WM tries to drive a hard bargain to get their merchandise, but, really, lenticulars. They’re a rehash of the ‘classic’ line. A long as mom’s keep dumping out the tykes, the ‘classic’ line would have sold. I carry a little notebook in the car for the collectors in the family. Single numbered cars are at 113, not counting 21 of the K-Mart racers. How many castings are you able to locate right now? A mere fraction.
Sales would be better served if Mattel marketed case assortments based on principal characters and another for secondary characters.
Mater Tall Tales, if every household had a 3+ y.o. boy with the Disney Channel – people would be in masses waiting on stock trucks to arrive at stores, beating down the driver and stealing cases. Next would be armed escort for the trucks. Imagine the publicity! I have 2 of everything MTT so far and will continue.
I think the short films are cool but there is enough Tales to have made a movie of Mater and the Tall Tales Company. Disney/Pixar missed the boat on that one. Mattel, imagine those sales numbers!
I agree with PirateDad post, except that it appears the fat bumpers are getting thinner!
Mattel hurt themselves and the numbers will stay down until we come out of the recession or they lower the prices, place your bets! 4th quarter may be better because of the holidays but 1st quarter 2010 will drop back unless they drop the prices to help move the lenticulars and final lap stock.
My 5 y.o. boy thinks the lenticulars are cool, so I started buying them to get him a set.
Now, the lenticulars don’t make any difference for him when he is creating his own scenes on his CARS rug and when it is time for him to pick a new car he has the option of either an extra classic from my collection (which I originally bought for him when extra bucks were available) or a lenticular, he picks the extra classic.
Mainline classic singles used to be $3.47 at WalMart, lenticulars are $3.97 and now final laps are only available at Target $4.99, so far I have purchased only the new final laps for him and I (2 each blowing bubbles mater, polly puddlejumper, skip ricter). I can’t get the $3.47 Mainline singles any more, but I can get final lap classics for $4.99, that’s $1.52 increase which leaves me with a choice, lenticulars or final laps. So far it’s been lenticulars for the classics but I think I am the only one buying them as the pegs are still jammed with them. Final lap classics are not moving either, too expensive.
I have alot of kids, so I don’t have alot of cash, and I’m sure there are alot of families with the same problem I have.
So, take your medicine Mattel – it will help you digest your misery!
If only they would make the infamous seven missing race cars. Guarenteed $$$$ in the pocket!!!!
Hasbro had a better year so far because of their marketing to ‘boy’ toys. Check out the Hasbro website. Plenty of cool stuff. I forked over more than $115 today on the Marvel Universe figures, wave 1 for 2010, which are not even on the retailer shelves yet or eBay. That’s money Hasbro did not have to share with wholesalers and retailers markups. 100% of the sales price went to Hasbro, and, their prices are cheaper than the current prices at Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Fred Meyer.
Maybe if Mattel production met demand their bottom line would have been better. Of course, none of the retailers know squat about Cars toys anyway.
Well I love the MTT and I figure that the same folks who shell out money for characters like Chuck Manifold are going to have no problem buying all the characters from MTT.
Lenticulars on the other hand…ugh. I have probably 95%+ of all of the characters ever made, but I wouldn’t want these things if they were handing them out for free.
GIMMICK.
well there it is in black & white, Mattel is helped out by Cars line. You mean this little line of diecast cars can actually make money? Who would of ever thought that?
Not any surprise Mattel didn’t “Wake Up” from their induced coma… They didn’t (and still don’t) think there was any point in listening to the barrage of complaints and suggestions phoned into them. Many others have profitted from selling their toys, but the manufacturer hasn’t? But they have tried their very best not to meet the customers needs, why isn’t there an increase in sales?
So, what’s the next great decision? Make more toys with lead paint, or offer more variations of Lightning McQueen?
I know I’m going to be slammed for this but here goes…
I don’t think making all the different versions of MTT is helping their bottom line. It’s just too much. I don’t think there is (or will be) a market for all those cars.
Also, I agree lenticular cars are stupid. If they wanted cars with moving eyes, they should have made them from the beginning of the line. To go back and re-do the whole line is just a waste.
Agreed on the lenticulars 🙂
I agree to a point on the MTT…they should have been a more limited run, the first case sold out in seconds, and had the second case been ALL new, it too wood have sold out in seconds!
The Tales are not well known enough to warrant the same volume of Cars made…much like the Storytellers…how many did they sell, BUT more importantly how many did Target have to Clearance, at like $1.48???
The Lenticulars was GREED pure and simple, and I hope it bites them on their fat bumpers!!
The big question is: if Lenticulars fail to give Mattel better numbers, will they see it as a failed idea, or ‘waning public interest?’
It would be so easy for them to dismiss low lenticular numbers as saying the public’s affection for the 2006 film has cooled considerably.
As for ‘Tall Tales,’ I got the feeling you may not know about this series’ basis unless you have the Disney Channel…but then again, I guess most kids do have access to the DC.
The diecast line is the equivalent of the 3 3/4″ action figure line: they’re small enough and at least affordable enough to keep people coming back for more. Not many kids would be rich enough to collect each and every vehicle if it was in 1:24 scale.
As long as I’m on the subject…
Mattel why would you think raising the price of a single Car to $4.99 is a good idea? You are pricing some people out of the market. How come Hot Wheels are still $.97 and Cars keep going up? You are going to destroy your cash cow!
Oh and the Story Tellers line. What marketing genius decided to re-release last years Story Tellers and without a re-release of last years book on the shelf to explain who they are. That makes a lot of sense. Why not try to get the new ones out and also the new Christmas line early. Think people would buy them before Christmas…maybe.
Wow, I don’t usually go off LOL 🙂
I have a 4 year old boy, and he found MTT on YouTube. Yes, my 4 year old can navigate YouTube. (Whether or not that’s good parenting is a separate debate.) Anyway, like many 4 year olds, when he sees the cartoon, he wants to use his toys to re-create it. The first MTT came out a year ago, and he just got Mater the Greater. Where are the Bulldozers? Or, heaven forbid, where is Dragon style McQueen, the car he wants more than any other thing on this planet right now? You think this will still be interesting/relevant to him in six months?
I took him to the Kmart event and he got all excited when he thought he saw Tokyo Mater in the box, until he realized it was just Brand New Mater with shifty eyes. Needless to say, we didn’t buy it.
Wake up Mattel. Release the cars along with the new Tall Tales, just like you do for movies.
The only other car he ‘had’ to have was Frank, and I never once saw it in a store. Had to buy it from fleaBay.
Target isn’t helping either. We go in there about every other week, and he can get any new car he doesn’t have. But all they’ve had for months are Broccoli McQueen and Stacy. Mattel – kick back some MDF to Target to put those on clearance, clear out the pegs, get some new inventory and watch your turns accelerate dramatically.
In short, give your customers what they want, and sales will improve. Duh.
Just wait until the 4th Quarter numbers come out and they wake up to what Lenticulars are doing to their business!
They could have surpassed Hasbro’s profit gain had they not switched over to Lenticulars and made all the Target exclusives available worldwide.
Maybe after 5 years they’ll wake up, unless they succeed in killing the line before.
“unless they succeed in killing the line before”
That gave me chills! I say “LONG LIVE THE CARS LINE!”
I always think to myself how much better it would be if one of us cars fans were the manufacturers. At least we would not make as many blunderingly awful decisions!!
“..offest by..stronger U.S. sales of Disney/Pixar Cars related product.”
well it could be offset by worldwide sales but it seems Mattel only wants to sell in the US.
i have an idea for mattel,
PROMO’S YOU BAS#%**S !!!!
remember the buy 5 get one free, how many peg warmers went during the sidewall and n2o cola promos//
we want our promos
I don’t want any promos! They never have Canadian ones so I have to buy them at outrageous prices and pay for shipping!
NO MORE OUTRAGEOUS PRICES!
Hey if we have more promos I will get you one or two at retail, just keep my email…jperez@wsgr.com
In Palo Alto, California
SOOOO Speed Racer BAD…Cars GOOD???
woooo hooo
22-Oct-2009
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Maybe they should have kepted selling toys at the same price instead of paying for BIG FANCY PACKAGING and still the same OLD LITTLE car they would have sold more and made more and its customers would have been happy… BUT REALLY FINAL LAP $4.96 for a KING, DOC, etc????
does not matter what the stores are charging, the stores are still buying them so mattel is still getting there money and i am tired of hearing them cry about money when they are making plenty