Via MTV Geek News.

“We have it on good authority that serious discussions are happening at the highest levels of both Disney and Hasbro to fold the largest toy and game company on the planet into the Mouse.”

Mattel is actually larger now.

It is certainly plausible now they own Marvel & Star Wars, they can bring in Kenner/Hasbro Toys into the inner folds … plus with Hasbro’s stock down, it would be a plan to bring in some very iconic characters that are obvious movies & TV properties …

Transformers, GI Joe, My Little Pony, Beyblades, MAGIC: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, Jem, Tonka plus more … and while brands like Nerf, other Parker Brothers games, Spirograph, Scrabble, Lincoln Logs, Easy Bake Oven and dozens of others might not lend themselves to TV-movie properties, they are beloved brands that work with merchandising and other licensing tie-ins for the theme parks or at retail.

In other words, why not? Disney with its movies, TV, retail stores and theme parks is one of the few entities that can get max value by buying characters to fill vertically. Most other companies outside of selling toys would not derive that much more value from Mr. Potato Head (Hasbro) but Disney could plop him in front of a tent with $40k of merchandise anywhere in the theme park. Or move the Scrabble Championship to WDW.

Plus, it puts major roadblocks for Universal who will get no more licenses for Marvel characters-attractions going forward – if Disney also owns Transformers, that would be another boys line locked out. So, Universal might be forced to jump in on the bidding BUT with the SW line generating a substantial portion of Hasbro’s revenue (and to a lesser degree, Marvel), Universal would be buying Hasbro without the SW or Marvel licenses – if not immediately, pretty quickly down the line so Disney might be the only bidder at the current price.

Or Disney could buy Mattel but Mattel’s stock is pretty pricey now. Disney would be able to buy one or other, not both Hasbro or Mattel as their combined toy market in the US is around 75% …