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Hasbro's 1,100 Layoffs - Michael UNPLUGGED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- #retroblasting #hasbro #unplugged
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Hasbro is leaving a trail of human wreckage with 1,100 layoffs and Michael has some thoughts on that...
![[Official Music Video] ฝังใจ - BOW Maylada [Prod. By Tan LIPTA]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rSjk1jKWRN4/mqdefault.jpg)
The C Suite gets golden parachutes, while the workers get golden showers.
But...but...but...but...LOOK AT THE NEW TOYS WE ARE GETTING! #ShitHasbrosSay
"This Holiday Season, Hasbro Executives are hoping their extended Hasbro family enjoy being Ho, Ho, Homeless due to our irresponsible financial management ! " - Hasbro Inc.
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Laying off workers right before Christmas? There's a special hell for that.
A particular U.K Bank tends to do this as well…. 🙄
Its never nice reading about all the retail chains that go bust after the post xmas bubble has popped in Jan each year.
Typical 4th quarter tax write off behavior
I’ve been victim of the dreaded Holiday Layoff as well. 2018. Video Game Industry.
This happens ALL..THE...TIME
I will always remember that Hasbro started off the year by announcing their #1 goal was a 50% increase in profits. Profit first, customers somewhere near the end, and employees last. Gotta keep those share prices up!
I hate Hasbro, but let's be fair: they're a publicly traded company, and as such that's necessarily their main goal.
This kind of MO, mentality and system will be the downfall of Hasbro if they don't wake up soon.
@@SO-ym3zsHumans have no free will, if pressured in any way it is acceptable to fold over and become a nazi, you have no moral obligations. Stop excusing this shit dude.
If this is the expected and only result if being publicly traded then we obviously cannot have oublicly traded companies can we?
But i'm not ready to go full commie so i'd rather we just expect and demand better from theese companies rather than just going "well they have to be monsters"
Companies like Hasbro are no longer toy companies but entertainment IP corporations. They no longer seek to create something new they just milk what they currently have and if they need something new they go and buy it.
Well put and spot on.
What’s sad is the fact that HASBRO triple overcharge their customers for stuff, but you cannot afford to pay your workers?
They can. They just don't want to.
@@bluehero-96yep basically a sweat shop
As the latest in a string of dick moves, the CEO decided to treat himself first
Like the Haslabs Hiss; _which is so "great" !?_
Which should of been on shelves without all the gimmicky crap that nobody wanted, w/ A driver for $100 (or less).
> If A small start-up like RAMEN TOYS can sell A 1/12th scale charger for $250, w/ an MOQ of 2000 (or less). What could A Chinese factory owning- major corporation (as in "corpse") do price wise, w/ an MOQ of A 150,000+. Hmmm.....
It's not about whether they technically could or not. Public companies have a legal obligation to priority the bottom line. They literally can't say "let's take a financial hit for the benefit of our employees".
My prayers go out to the folks who got laid off. Being a broke man, I know what that's like.
Hasbro forgot who was buying their products. Windowless displays, figures that fall apart (D&D) and other quality control issues. Disney didn’t help with characters that nobody likes. Unfortunately, the people who will be effected by this layoff are not the ones who made any of those decisions. What a wonderful Christmas present from Hasbro to those employees.
The big killer was that Hasbro invested in making dolls from *VERY* unlikeable characters of Disney and Disney-owned Marvel, which turned out to be a huge financial sinkhole. It didn't help they tried to impose "wokeness" on D&D and Magic: The Gathering with similarly disastrous results.
They have a wealth of material at their fingertips for Transformers alone, that they could call upon, and release interesting character after interesting character indefinitely, or even come up with something new : but no; we need 30 Optimus Primes and 30 Bumblebees a year and charge around 110 notes for the pair. It's gross mismanagement. And don't even get me started on the QC issues. I've bought 3rd party versions of their most recent lines at a third of Hasbro's retail price, and they're like custom upgrades!
Had the chance to buy the cartoon d+d figs at buy one get one free but didn't do it due to the QC issues. And they could have been made to look much better than they do. It's 2023 and these companies can't get it right.
Take the adventure series line. They made figures from DoD...a film that bombed. I get it..new movie...push the new movie with tie-ins. But they cancel a Mola-Ram figure and we get countless Indy variants? Dont get me wrong I think the adventure series has some nice figures. But there are huge holes in the lineup. Nothing from Kingdom.
Even my local Ollies is littered with worthless Marvel and Star Wars figures. Pretty sure I saw a few Reys and Holdo. The Shuri copter as well fromWakanda Forever.
I've been a victim of layoffs and holiday layoffs. Let me tell you, it's another level of awful to look your wife and children in the eye and tell them that your income has stopped during the holiday season.
I googled it and it said the average person will experience it 2.5 times in their lifetime, so got 0.5 left to go.
Keep your head up, fam. Sending positive vibes into the universe for you and your family.
That’s WHY one shouldn’t have a wife AND kids when you can’t afford one 😢🤦🏼♂️
@koostory1631 when you grow up, I'm sure you will make a fine wife.
This lay off was not a surprise to those paying attention to seeing how much hasbro toys were coming to Ollie's
Hasbro's stock has been cratering all year. They spent $4 billion for Entertainment One. A Hollywood studio who's best offering was Peppa Pig. To put it in perspective Disney paid $4billion for Marvel and 3 for Lucasfilms. They drove Entertainment One into the ground and just sold the wreckage for a few million.
WorldClassBullsh*tter's toy videos may as well be called "ShuriCopters, ShuriCopters, and more ShuriCopters."...
The channel 'World Class Bullshitters' has been reporting on stock piling up and peg warming from Disney / Hasbro for years.
@@andrewtaylor940 Yeah, a lot of incompetence at Hasbro. They can't figure out their distribution problems nor can they make a product that attracts kids. I imagine even their preschool lines are suffering right now.
"All these people just got sacked, but look at all the cool toys coming!" This surprises me not at all. The world seems to be quickly overrun with narcists. It's the Rise of the Antisocial Personality Disorder; ironically a direct result of Social Media.
It's the "but what about meeeeeee" complex.
@@tylerjhamComplacency, Narcissism & Greed are the ruin of humankind.
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100% on target as always Michael! As far as Retroblasting never taking the shallow/vapid route, I will again ALWAYS appreciate how Melinda once generally explained Retroblasting's core vision in one of the earlier videos(summarizing) "So many channels are like just like 'Hey everybody, remember Voltron? Voltron was cool! He was awesome because had the Blazing Sword! And the intro? It was awesome too!' Or 'Hey, remember Thundercats? Panthro was the best!'.... And that's it! That's as far as their analysis and appreciation for something goes! It's just people waxing poetic. But here at Retroblasting, we like to deep-dive into WHY something had so much resonance and impact. And why some properties DIDN'T resonate or have impact. It gives you such an appreciation for things you don't get from people just talking about how 'awesome' everything is and was." I broke out into a little bit of applause!
Proud of you for talking through this like a rational and compassionate person.
I wonder how many people will think about this during the next HasLab announcement. 1100 laid off, 9million in bonus money paid to the top, now fork over hundreds of dollars a piece till we hit MOQ because we aren't willing take a risk.
Maybe Hasbro will just scale their two big lines back to just HasLab vehicles/playsets with figures as accessories/tiers?
No GI Joe or Transformers fan will think about anything except backing it immediately. GI Joe collectors will automatically back anything Haslab puts up.
@@sci-fi.tsunamiNot really the Transformers fans have some objectivisim left. Compared to Gi Joe fans who buy everything.
In transformers collectors groups it is disheartening to see posts about these layoffs intermixed with people celebrating the arrival of their deathasaurus. The general vibe in these groups is that Hasbro is losing money on other IPs conveniently the ones people in the group don’t like
A bad look when some parts of the transformer fandom are disingenuous or outright declare, "Ignore the haters. We get a $200+ figure (Tidal Wave) next year. Get hype!"
Having been laid off a few years ago myself, I am going to say there is no positive spin to it. Anyone who says so is either evil or crazy.
Thank you Mike.
Agreed. I once had a friend of mine that was laid off for just two weeks. And he said that it was pretty much the worse two weeks of his life. It's like not just the financial hardship, often there is a deep EMOTIONAL impact and hardship as well. Like you and Michel basically said, even if you do what you can to make the best use of your time in being unemployed, there is still really NO positive spin to being laid off. None.
Yeah, I've been laid off couple of times, once right before Thanksgiving, and it sucked. While I also ended up in better paying jobs, it was still stressful for few months being unemployed. Didn't help the boss had the nerve to challenge me getting unemployment during the holidays (not sure why he did that, I was well respected in the office by colleagues and supervisors, just didn't have workload to keep me on.) Fortunately, unemployment office sided with me and I full unemployment $, including back $.
While I agree it sucks. When I was laid off I received 2 years lump sum pay and 2 years insurance. It was a very good time and I got to find myself and relax. Some of these people have to get similar packages.
I know how those employees feel; I was let go just three days before Christmas 15 years ago. So I said goodbye to the Private Sector and Enlisted.
Me during the Pinkerton raid back in April: Hasbro can't get any worse, can they?
Hasbro after laying off 1,100 employees: Hold my beer...
Seriously, how can the "Hasbros" support this?
I know Hasbro is going to Hasbro, but those toy collecting 'commentators' who are more concerned about their toy supply than the 1100 people (families) who lost a source of income TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS are completely despicable and heartless.
I kinda would like to know who these reviewers are because I watch a few toy reviewers and I can't say anyone of them has been callus to the layoffs.
I don't know but toy collecting is a form of escapism if we are getting upset because someone enjoys what they bought and reviews it without giving social commentary about a company laying off its worker then it might be time to watch a business, news or political channel instead of a toy reviewer. I don't know but this is why people are turning off sports and IPs are failing- most of us don't want the 24 hour a day doom and gloom. We are all going through tough economic times and the problems of the world are very real for all of us- can we at least still have a little escapism without the albatross of the world's problems hung around our necks at all times? If their is one truly callus and uncaring toy reviewer out of the dozens and dozens of them- stop watching their channel because the vast majority of people out there (if not 99%) are really not doing that.
I bought a 30 year old Thomas toy, from EBay and two books that are older than me. I helped others, I didn't buy a cottonpickin thing from Hasbro or Mattel (with Thomas I won't buy from Mattel)
This goes back to Hasbro’s old CEO spending 4 billion dollars on Entertainment One, and 4 years later the new CEO turning around and selling it for 375 million in cash and another 125 million in debt. At the time everyone thought it was a mistake.
unfortunately, big companies like this typically lay off a bunch of people right before the end of the year for many reasons mainly
1) 401K match. Companies nowadays don't match the 401K every month. They will do it all at once at the end of the year. The caveat is that to be eligible, the employee must be active by December 31st. Cutting all these people save the company a bunch of money by not having to fund their 401K match.
2) Big corporations ONLY care about shareholders at the end of the day. Cutting people, especially in Q4 will bolster their share price temporarily.
I mentioned the Hasbro layoffs to my boss tonight and he basically gave me this answer. I send him the WorldClass Ollie's videos every Sunday 😅
Canadian here, so I didn't know that about the Pension Fund in the American Corporate context. Thanks for the info, as it stung a little when I cancelled all my preorders with Hasbro due to their business decision (I really wanted those Vamps and all the announced Classified figures). Reading here that Hasbro (and others) furlough employees right before Christmas to screw them out of the previous year's pension contributions made that mild sting disappear. Fucking Hasbro. I'm a dad and fortunately, never been laid off before Christmas. I have had tough, very lean years though and I know the feelings of embarrassment, inadequacy and anxiety (to no fault of those who were laid off); nevertheless, those feelings remain and it's awful.
A toy company of all types - right before Christmas. Bastards.
Excellent commentary on a troubling situation. Hopefully the truly creative folks effected by the layoffs find toymakers that value them.
That thumbnail is so funny but incredibly accurate of what's going on at Hasbro. And during the Holiday season of all times. (Sidenote: I can't wait for the Evangelion video.) Great video as always!
Most people don't care about problems that exist in the country as long as said problems do not affect them directly. They just want to buy their collectable toys, play their video games, watch movies and live in a safe space bubble of joy and happiness. Hasbro firing 1,100 employees with no regard to how their lives are going to be turned upside down is cold and heartless, especially this close to Christmas.
What's crazy is that these sociopaths like Cocks will sit with their families at Christmas, watch A Christmas Carol and feel all warm and fuzzy. While not heeding any of the warnings and life lessons that Dickens was trying to teach us.
How do you know?
@@domls1317 Don't be that guy. You know the point that he's making, don't play ignorant.
That blind positivity is such a dangerous thing. I’ve also been rallying against it, in a multitude of fandoms. I’m usually labelled as being negative when I do.
I honestly wish I knew what to say about this. On one hand, I saw it coming with some of their brands seemingly going under (Power Rangers, Fortnite, etc.) but on the other token, bad business decisions caused them to lose money, but of course Chris (Loves) Cox doesn't want to take the fall and pass the buck to hapless employees who lost their job on Christmas. Instead he gets a big fat bonus for doing absolutely nothing of worth.
I can't even anymore
To follow the train analogy... you do realize that the point of the train is to move people from a to b. if people fall off or all the people are gone.. no point in the train. Thank you Michael and retroblasting for bringing some humanity to the table.
The economy as a whole is in a bad situation. Last yr an exec of Bed & Bath leapt off a building after they had to begin letting ppl go. Bad times are hitting working people all over because the companies are taking hits.
My take on toys has always been they're modern totems for collects against the big bad world. I even have two figures that sit on my desk. But, the reality is, the big bad world is getting worse out there.
Well I know I would buy a heck of a lot more Star Wars toys if: a) they were actually available at retail, and; b) they were based on actual, good, Star Wars movies or shows.
Same for me and add a decent price (here in Canada its 25$ for a 3 3/4 inch fig
So, are you just not seeing all of the great figures based around the Clone Wars, or something?
@@CloneCommanderCrater1102 all I see are Revas
@admiralseabass8993 They've literally only made like 3 different Reva figures (1 TVC, 1 Black Series, and 1 Retro Collection) and most of the other figures they've been putting out recently have been really good. Hell, they just revealed a brand new TVC Jango Fett and a Black Series super battle droid.
This was an exceptionally intelligent, articulate, and most of all, compassionate analysis of a complex issue. I really admire you as a human being. After hearing what you had to say, I’m embarrassed of my own general response which has been “This is what happens when companies put their shareholders ahead of their customers and employees.” While I do believe that to be true, it hardly seems appropriate now.
Most adult collectors (especially for modern collecting) don't care about toys being around for kids now or for future generations, they dont care about the health of the industry or the hobby.....they just want their stuff.
I see this in other collectibles communities, too: this bizarre idea that these companies have some obligation to let collectors have whatever they want, when they want, for the price they want. Publicly traded companies are there for the shareholders, like it or not. That said, I really dislike Hasbro: they drove me out of collecting action figures by making it a miserable, stressful experience.
The problem is actually what's been at the root of the toy industry for awhile: kids don't buy toys anymore. Kids play on their iPhones, iPads, or Xboxes/PC/PS5s. Literally every single time I hit any of the toy aisles in the big box stores (and certainly whenever I hit the local area comic/toy/collectibles stores), you know who I run into in those aisles? Other adult toy collectors, like me. Not a single kid. And why would they? Toys are so stupidly expensive now. Roughly $25 is the starting rate for a 6 inch action figure, or the midsize Transformers. Kids don't have that kind of money, and these prices are way beyond the prices of old which were still in the realm of "splurge" purchases. A parent used to be able to pick their kid up a figure they were asking for when walking by the toy aisle for ten bucks or less. Now, when actual food and household goods cost so much, $25 is a big chunk of cash to just buy a toy on a whim for a lot of people. Adults aren't buying all the pegwarmer figures, so of course these companies are starting to tank. It truly IS what it is at this point, as far as I understand it. This, plus the fact that adults ALSO have stopped buying as many toys thanks to these egregious price increases, it's no wonder HasBlow is losing money to the point where they're starting to liquidate staff, and license their properties to smaller companies, just so they can put some cash back in the shareholders' hands. I get it.
I am one of those collectors not buying anything. Haven’t bought anything besides a couple hot wheels in at least 6 months. Can’t justify $25 or more for repaints and 3rd level characters no one asked for
Lack of empathy is a HUGE sign of personality disorder.
I feel bad for the ones losing their jobs right before Christmas. Hasbro needs to clean house up top.
Not as simple as this but something to consider: 9 Million ÷ 1,100 = $8181.
There are people in this world that are more concerned about BEING good as opposed to actually DOING good
My condolences go out to everyone affected by this. It’s terrible to hear/see this. I hate corporate. I’m all about the working man. I’m so sorry
I’m sure that a(nother) price hike is to come, and let’s cut some more accessories and use cheaper plastic while we’re at it!!
Yeah, as a Joe collector, the guns that come with the figs is a bizarre sloppy mess.
I just finished watching your video and I had to let you know that I REALLY appreciate your commentary on this topic. I’m a toy and comic collector who has a lot of different feelings about this hobby and our community. But I tune in to different TH-cam channels because there’s always something to learn and a perspective that may be in my blind spot. I’ve been just as bothered by hasbro’s actions over the past several years even though I still love Marvel Legends. But the news of the 1,100 people losing their jobs right now just before the holidays? It may be the final nail in the Hasbro coffin for me. It’s true that corporations do this regularly and so many of us are vulnerable to downsizing. But damn…how can I continue to support Hasbro in good faith after so many poor decisions. And this decision…this one truly hurts the most because this isn’t about packaging or product availability or QC concerns. These are people’s lives and I for one would be absolutely destroyed if I lost my job. There’s no way to spin this in a positive light and no amount of new figures or Haslab’s that balance the scales of this being okay.
I just really appreciate your honesty, compassion for those that are facing the difficulties Hasbro is putting them in, and your ability to deliver a thoughtful but direct rebuke of what hasbro’s done. Being a toy fan can be really complicated sometimes, but you really did a great job explaining how this situation shouldn’t be complicated at all- 1,100 people should still have there jobs.
Great commentary on this awful situation Michael. I can't even get excited right now for Hasbro products. To cut 20% of your workforce right before the holidays while your CEO took home over 10 million with bonuses this year is disgusting!
Thank you for having the decency to cover this important event. A very sad state that could have been avoided.
Without question the #1 toy channel on TH-cam since 2012 - Period. I don’t waste my time anymore elsewhere. Genuine, thoughtful, respectful, and always delivered in an educated manner. Thank you RB.
All I can say is thank you. Thank you for saying what everyone should be saying.
This is why I watch your content. Michael, you get it. Always keeping things in perspective and real. Thank you.
Do children even play with action figures anymore? When I was a kid a long, long, long time ago, action figures were a big deal. It's why I gravitated into collecting them as an adult. I honestly don't know if today's kids are into action figures. When I see other people in the toy aisle at a retail store, it's people who appear to be looking for stuff that they themselves want, not for their children. That's even if they have children.
Hasbro needs to just sell the haslab stuff in stores for decent prices.
Could not wait to hear Mike's feedback!
Was waiting for this. As always you're the lone voice of reason.
Hasbro is an old, uninspired bloated corporation that only gets it right 20% of the time. Let other companies rise while they fall. Hopefully the people who have been let go will put their skills and experience to use with companies and management that actually care, or start their own. P.S. - After watching how Hasbro operates for the past couple years, anyone who is still holding Hasbro stock is just as bad as the CEO's IMO.
I agree Michael it’s part of the reason I sold my collection and got out of the hobby. There’s honestly more important things in life than plastic garbage, unfortunately many people who subscribe to this hobby lack the humanity to see it because they rather stay tucked away in their own sad delusional little world. I appreciate you calling it out.
The CEO at my company sent us an email this week to let us know that 1500 people are getting laid off so that the company can remain competitive in this technological race (meaning they want to reallocate that money to implement AI, so that even more workers can be replaced). This week we received a holiday greetings email from him reminding us that the "real magic lies in human creativity and empathy" and that "in a world increasingly driven by technology, the value of genuine human touch remains irreplaceable". People in power positions are sick in the head. And, as you pointed out, they cannot take responsibility for their own failures.
This is exactly like Santa laying off all the elves 2 weeks before Christmas.
Hasbro has taken a lot of the fun out of collecting. I stopped buying anything new a couple of years ago. I'm tired of the prices, the poor quality, and the fact that anything remotely worthwhile seems to go straight to the secondary market. Why in the world would anyone keep supporting a company that is just run so badly, so consistently is just beyond me. Thank you for some words of realism on this issue. I feel terrible for those people.
Toy collecting should be fun. If it's not, it's a sign that it's time to move on.
@@MrSkullhead1 Which is exactly what I've done. I'm out of collecting anything modern.
@@autoneurotic Same here.
Well, it looks like Ollie's has got the new Rey movie toys already covered!
Maybe they could have Rey go to Waconda.
@@django60617Rey and Wakanda go to Ollie's. With stopovers at Ross and Bargain Hunt
Hasbro had 1200 employees to lay off? I thought they farmed it all out already. What’s more is Haslab just took in 7 million dollars of ghostbusters fans money.
Very well said and to the point. As much as we like our collections, how hard is it to take a moment and reflect on the future hardship for those who have been laid-off? However much someone may demand "positivity" on our discourse about our collecting, there is no positive spin to this news. And just like Michael said, the Hasbro higher ups continue to fail upwards, while the workforce pays for the consequences.
"Who says that", people with a comfortable life and 0 empathy
McFarlane's Hasbro License is to produce his Page Punchers, a comic book packaged with a tiny bare bones figure. He will be doing GI Joe, Transformers, and Power Rangers. Using Robert Kirkman's new line of comics.
I'm a wrestling fan, so sudden or sometimes unexplainable lay offs are part of the fandom. As far as Hasbro it's more than a few factors, the movies released this year underperformed to put it nicely. There was a glut of product with the TF movie that just sits on shelves, and Star Wars is not the same money making franchise it once was. That's more on the actual media content than Hasbro to be fair.
Then distribution and pre orders and just simply getting the product. That's definitely on Hasbro, shortpacking fan favorites to generate false rarity, as well as releasing figures as exclusives that by every metric should be mainline toys. In the 80s I never said "oh i never saw a USS Flagg or Fortress Maximus." Every toy I saw in the product catalogue I, at least, saw in stores even if I couldn't afford it. That's ridiculous.
So some things were things they couldn't foresee, but definitely there are things they have control over and completely messed up. As with any large company though, the workers feel the crunch first, as unfair as it is.
Sorry Son, No Christmas Dinner But Here's Some Eternals Toys No One Wants.
MY GOD MAN, YOU ARE SOOOOOOO HITTING THE BULLSEYE ON THIS, YOUR RIGHT-THERE IS A HUGE DISCONNECT ON REALITY!!! thank you for doing this!
When I heard this news, I thought it was going to cast a shadow over Hasbro's livestreams... but you're right, I forgot that too many people in the toy industry just want to "stay positive" and shut out the world around them. I get using something to escape the real world, but let's not pretend the real world doesn't exist at all. Downplaying people losing their jobs because you're excited for toys has gotta be the one of the most childish things imaginable.
“The adult collecting community”…..the very reason i don’t socialise with adults who collect toys. None of my friends collect toys. I do it for me and me alone. The adult collectors i’ve met in the past and online are waaaaay too “special”. Reality doesn’t exist for a lot of them and it’s s constant consume consume consume over anything (and everything else)….personal hygiene is high in the list. The ones i’ve spoken to in the past at conventions and the like were so limited in their conversational abilities that it appeared they knew nothing else but toys. I’m more than happy to NOT socialise with people like them.
The *toy company* firing a thousand employees 2 weeks before Xmas is some Dickens-level villainy.
Thank you for keeping the focus on the employees who lost their job because of this. I’ve seen so much either false positivity about it or people hoping and seemingly happy this is a step toward Hasbro’s downfall.
Love your perspective, Michael. You sure know how to put yourself in others shoes. That is an ability that has been lost and only few people care to develop it. Wish we could do something about the fired people...
Well Said, My Friend! Nice does not require ignoring reality! Nor is reality always nice!
Thank You for this video Michael.. there is no good time to be laid off or let go.. but especially right around the holidays. I mean so many people live paycheck to paycheck.. mortages, rent, bills.. maybe christmas gifts they had yet to get for loved ones.. losing medical .... It's a terrible situation... and people making there cheap shots.... its all fun and games until it happens to them. And then I assure you they will have a different take.
CEOs in the overall entertainment biz/industry (Movies, TV, gaming, toys, etc.), especially nowadays, are problematic to say the least for the companies they're CEO of. They're a dissease. I've made a vid on my channel wherein I go into this in more detail cause it furiates me. Their incompetence and the damage they do (far more than they're doing good), it seems to know no bounds.
Thanks for the video. I live in Japan. Out here and in many other countries you can't just layoff or fire people. By law, termination can only be done as a last resort, for example if your employer is bleeding money. I think Americans deserve to know that and there needs to be an end to "at will employment".
didn't hasbro say they were wanting to focus more on IP licensing or transition in to more game stuff anyways?
I was laid off. I thought I would never have a job that was as good. But then I got a better job. Life goes on. You don't leave wounds open, you don't shive your finger in an open wound. You heal the wound and move on.
Thanks for making this statement Michael. Unconditional positivity can leave a very bad taste in the mouth. Your comprehensive or adult approach as you will, is a more intellectual way to enjoy the hobby. I suspect the ‘positivity harness’ around the toys either has a psychological root cause connected to protect nostalgic feelings (with the best intentions), or diplomatic behavior to secure interests when it comes to access to official licensing or product. Objectivity is lost out of sight this way, perhaps unintentionally. As for Hasbro, if the company would switch to a Rhineland Business Model, it would focus on long term sustainability, which would be better for everyone.
So much for "Blueprint 2.0". Congratulations Cocks!
The problem is the cultural elites. Manhood (to which boys aspire in their play) is out of favor right now. Toys that celebrate boyhood and boyish understandings of manhood make people uncomfortable. I was watching GIJoe-ARAH the other day on Tubi, and I'd forgotten how basically good some of those regular-series stories were. They weren't Shakespeare or anything, but they were good adventure stories with heart. They could be occasionally silly and off-beat, but the "Battle for the Train of Gold" combined a lot of thematic elements in a 20 minute production that are difficult to believe today.
We took them for granted at the time, but you won't see anything like it again.
I bought my young nephews a "Spirit Iron Knife" Classified figure for the heck of it, just because I thought someone should put a toy gun in a boy's hand and say "Go stop the bad guys! Go save the world!"
Toy companies who fed that need are ashamed to do so now. Their executives are all more worried about their ESG scores rather than building up their brands.
It reminds me of something Ross Perot used to say about the auto companies back in the 80s - they were being run by numbers-men, not by men who loved cars.
The issue is: Our culture rewards failure over success. Why fire the person who fucked up, when we can fire a bunch of low level workers.
Bravo Michael, I was unsure what to say in light of the comments you highlighted, Tone Deaf is an apt description, arrogantly self absorbed is a good one too. The positive police drove me out of the toy community when you started your channel 12 years ago and I stayed absent for nearly 9 years, I am glad to have found a group of more mature and thoughtful collectors. As I said to one of our mutual friends "I love my dollies, but Hasbro is making it easy to not want more of them." What really gets me is Cocks implemented all the problems creating the lack of sales, I am sure he doesn't care how it effected others, so maybe that's it, Cocks and these "pillars of the community" share the same brain. Just wonder what happens when it is inevitably their turn to be pushed "off the train." And I agree, I can't see Hasbro's future either.
Great take! These positive people need to ask themselves, seriously, "what would happen if something negative happened to me?" We all need people in hard times to help us rally, and if they surround themselves with only blindly positive people, they'll find themselves getting a hard dose of reality.
Your commentary is on point. The toxic positivity you speak of is not only tone death, it also lacks empathy and reflects a sick sense of entitlement at the expense of the suffering of others.
You need only go to any Ollie's Outlet to see how poorly managed Hasbro has been. There are mountains of over produced products for Marvel, Star Wars, GI Joe, etc. Star Wars is probably the most egregious. I was in an Ollies a couple of years ago to look for Christmas decorations and there was a section of the store with hundreds of Rey Vintage figures from Last Jedi. I picked one up for shits and giggles since I do like the character and it's not a bad figure for $4. I went to the same store a few months ago and they still have a few hundred of this figure along with hundreds of Mandalorian, Obi Wan Kenobi and other characters. It was the same when I went to another Ollie's near my brother's house a few weeks ago. Poor management through and through.
For me, I can relate to being laid off during the holidays. When the housing market crashed in 2007, me and 50 employees where taken into the break room and told we where being let go. This was the day before Thanksgiving. So my heart goes out to these people
As for Michael's observation about Hasbro's bad decisions, I am not surprised. I have watched countless videos on TH-cam with discount stores stuffed with crap that doesn't sell
It is not just HASBRO, or the Toy Industry in general or even the North American market. It is everywhere. I know one cant switch to local producers if it comes down to global collectibles but it is the only chance to breack the corporate stronghold on our lives.
I see alot of people say kids dont want toys anymore, no its that the kids dont want rebranded crap they come out with. Example furby. Great product back in the 80s but when you bring back an iconic product but with less features than in the 90s, then yeah i can see why kids are like "eh"
yep, been through many layoffs on both sides. had to fight and claw my way back to be rehired with old companies as well. i hate to be the one to say it.. but the companies that changed the game like amazon and walmart are the only ones thriving. they killed the marketplace for others as a result. everyone else who had a small piece of the marketplace are dying off. that is why toy stores are either niche with retro shops or your alternative is buying via the resale marketplace (for items sold way above retail) because the toy aisles for new stock are limited at target, walmart, etc. the days of brick and mortar are limited. we now live in a world where for a few more dollars, you can have it at your doorstep same day or close to it.
Another thing going on with this bad situation is all the outrage channels saying Go Woke Go Broke about this or blaming Kathleen Kennedy. People are losing their jobs! Time and place.
You can be empathetic while looking for an explanation for what is happening. If the main boys brands have been destroyed and aren’t appealing to their target demographic anymore, then the company producing the product will have to deal with the repercussions. Same with bad management from Hasbro’s CEO and a hunt for a better ESG score.
Obviously it sucks when people lose their jobs and their families are hurt. It’s important to recognize that. But we also need to recognize why this is happening.
@@APremiumDegenerate I'm only saying that these are bad reactions to what is happening. I'm very upset that many talented people and loyal workers will lose their jobs while Chris Cocks gets to please the shareholders.
Though far from alone, Hasbro in particular really does seem to be in the vanguard of American corporations that have embraced the disturbing mantra of charging consumers the very most for the very least.
A fitting example of this attitude can be found in their recent Indiana Jones Kenner-style line: quality control issues abounded, the original rrp was insulting and even the bloody card stock used (at least in the initial wave) was ludicrously thin - no doubt because it was cheaper, for Hasbro.
Obviously Hasbro is a business and not a charity (though it might soon become a charity _case_ the way things are going) but a fair few of the more obvious improvements they could make to their products would only have a _negligible_ impact on their precious profit margin one suspects.
Still, I guess shareholders count for more than customers. Thus was it ever so. 😔
I’m trying to re-word the scene where Luke and Obi-Wan find the destroyed sand crawler to apply to this situation. But that would be tasteless and I can’t get it to work. companies would walk over your dead body for $5.
You hit the nail on the head with Hasbro overleveraging IPs they have to license. An argument can be made for Marvel and Star Wars as enduring brands that have ups and downs in widespread popularity, but Indiana Jones? I have no idea why Hasbro thought that would be a huge seller. It has historically done badly with toys, and is a brand that most people under 30 do not care about. Meanwhile, they bought the Power Rangers IP and capped off the TV shows and... done nothing else, really. The sheer mismanagement at Hasbro is kind of staggering. Remember when Satoru Iwata and other senior executives at Nintendo took pay cuts to account for the losses at the company under their leadership? That becomes more and more noble by the day.
I agree with You, Michael as a fellow human; feeling for the 1,100 families whose holidays have been ruined. Hasbro Mgmnt is heartless and as a Father of 3, this is a consideration for me as a Toy Consumer.
Right before the holidays, damn you Hasbro.
As long as you keep buying their crap, they'll keep doing shit like this.
Sobering articulation of not just the toy industry, but the entire corporate culture as a whole. The lack of corporate discernment is astonishing. This utter lack of judgement has to be deliberate, but to what ends? What phantom menace is propagating this insanity? It's like there are plans within plans within plans.
Michael, thank you for your take on this ongoing tragedy. I feel so bad for those employees. I grew up with Hasbro and Kenner, I don’t want to see them fail. I want them to go back to making money by doing things that make customers happy.
Those days are long gone and will never return.
Those employees weren’t pushed off the train, they were thrown under it.
It's the sad fact of the times we are living in. As a company you used to be about supplying a product that the customer wanted, which involved listening to your customers. Now its all about the quick buck and the shareholders. Who lets their workers go just before Xmas? It's like a real life Xmas story, who is the CEO of Hasbro? Scrooge? And as for the online social media its now just clickbate to get views and likes and it makes me sick. This is why channels like yours are so important, keeping it real and always saying it like it is.
Michael you are totally correct on this point. People have lost their compassion and empathy for others. It’s a sad state of affairs. If people don’t wake up and realize we all need each other humanity is finished
Its never the ones in charge who take a hit. Its always the employees. Failure in management led to this and instead of management getting a shake up they fire the people actually doing the job. Cutting 1,100 people might save them money now, but it will probably backfire in the future.
You're so right, but I don't see this backfiring. Did you see the 3 bonuses the CEO and the other 2 on top got. With one of those bonuses probably could pay the salaries of the 1100 people fired. It's obscene.
Transformers is a perfect example. How many times have they recycled G1? Generations, legacy, etc. How many g1 incarnations of the same characters do we need?
Bleeding into Studio series as well
Michael, once again, you hit that nail on the head. This is why I love your channel.
Michael, you're on point but not stating what is glaring about these people - we all love toys and collecting but these people use their fandom in place of something deeper and more meaningful. This is why they have no real humanity (the comments you referenced) and this undying NEED to continuously consume at all costs. There are many different types of "loves" in this world and these people put their fandom in a place set aside for more spiritual things. How utterly disconnected can one be to feel so bold and satisfied with their consuming of figures over the lives of individuals who were forced out due to poor management???...that is an utter depravity that we take far too lightly. We all love figures but we love figures the right way, not perfect but sure enough in a proper place compared to these empty souls. The want you to keep it positive to drown out their conscious.
It was an unplugged - I had no script. Did my best. Thanks for the assist.
@@retroblasting - it wasn't a critique but as stated an "assist." You did fine, my wording was off. I was just digging a different way with understanding the psychology behind these people.
It's truly amazing how lacking in empathy people can be. The ones who made these decisions, and then the ones who don't care, will suddenly rediscover their hearts when they are the ones who are hurt.
I paid the toy isle a quick visit when popping into my local grocery store earlier this evening over here in South Africa - and having scanned through the products on offer I do in many respects think there are things that Hasbro are still doing right. Items which caught my eye were (for example) the Disney Junior Channel Spidey and Friends action figures. These figures are clearly aimed at kids rather than at adults, but they are still quite well made and detailed - which is a step in the right direction. Given - they are still a tad too pricey, but if Hasbro had focused their efforts on delivering more of these types of toys aimed at kids rather than having tried to chase the adult collector market with over-priced offerings then things might have turned out better for them. Another good example I saw are the simplified 6-inch Marvel figures that are in those small plastic-free boxes. The figures are cheap - but they look quite well detailed and they are again clearly aimed at kids. Indeed, a kid who was also staring at all the toys was nagging his mother for one of these Hulk figures. The annoyed mom in question had a quick glance at the price, with the outcome being that the kid ended up being the happy owner of a new Hulk to play with at home. To me that little scene that played itself out summed it all up. Keep the focus on toys Hasbro - forget about everything else! That's my 2 cent's worth.... Greetings from SA and thanks for a great channel Michael!
Gotta make those fourth-quarter numbers look good at whatever the cost