Hasbro Answers How Transformers: The Last Knight Affected Sales and Revenue
Monday, July 24th, 2017 4:05PM CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Toy News, Company NewsPosted by: Va'al Views: 35,909
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But first, along with the slides that were used during the call, we've also listened to the call again to make sure we noted down a number of questions related to Transformers: The Last Knight and the brand in general, toys in particular, affected the way that the company will be directing its efforts in the coming quarter and future development of the 'brand blueprint', courtesy of Debbie Hancock and Brian Goldner (who calls the Generations line Universe, but hey). The UK and Brazil have not ideally impacted the company either, but the overall Latin American and European markets have remained positive, and most noteworthy of all: despite the not ideal performance of the movie in general, everything seems to be much better in toy and merchandise perspectives compared to 2014 with Age of Extinction.
Read more below, and note that actual revenue from licensed material for The Last Knight will only appear in the fourth quarter!
Question 1: There seems to be a narrative that movie properties did not perform to expectations during this quarter, which seems to be at odds with your commentary on the Transformers franchise. Could you address how you see the company position for the second half in terms of inventory level, shelf space and retailers dedicate to your brand?
Brian Goldner: Of course, Drew. Entertainment continues to drive our business through and if you look at Transformers, we now have entertainment across multiple screens and in fact we are targeting and presenting stories to an infinite number of demographics around the brand. Certainly Transformers: The Last Knight products sold very well and point of sales was very strong. The brand is up considerably. And then of course we also have Robots In Disguise products that’s around the television. We also have Universe product that’s focused on our fans.
That is also selling incredibly well and then there is of course preschool product Rescue Bots which is also selling quite well. So we are seeing a great sell-through around the brand, recognize that this is a brand that’s becoming Increasingly Global, Increasingly International. We’re seeing great growth in places like China around the brand and around our international market.
Question 2: Can we go back to Transformers for a moment Brian because you mentioned the strength of Global POS and that is up significantly and against the last movie (2014). Would it be fair to assume that The Last Knight could generate revenue higher than the 2014 movie, which you said at the time was kind of in-line with the 2011 movie?
Brian Goldner: Yeah, I think Transformers is in fact emblematic of what we’re doing across the company over the last three years; we have developed digital capabilities for stream content and putting content on a multitude of screens. That capability is really being born out in the Transformers business. So the overall brand is performing at a much higher level than it was in 2014, and in part that’s because the movie product is performing at a higher level than the prior year but also because we are seeing great growth in the Transformers: Generations products for the fan-economy. The Robots In Disguise product that’s been around the television. Television viewership is strong, our streaming on Netflix is very strong, and then of course the fan-oriented stream product that goes, our on content that streams with Machinima and MCM. That’s how I look at it as an expansion of storytelling. The brand did perform quite strongly in ’14 but also performed strongly in ’15 and ’16. This is clearly more in line with the movie year performance being up for the brand.
So to understand: movie-to-movie it seems like this movie is better and then you layer on kind of everything you do with your brand blueprint and how you kind of expand brands and then kind of putting it all together. The franchise in general has grown but the movie also seems better?
Brian Goldner: Yeah, it is. The performance is good. Remember that that movie has continued to perform incredibly well globally outside the US. We just surpassed 225 million dollars in China, the movie’s done more than 550 million dollars so far. And also with all of our entertainment globally, yes we are over POS compared to the last movie year. It’s coming from a number of new areas of our capabilities that we’ve developed over the last three years.
Brian Goldner: Royalty expense increased 14% to 8.1% of revenue. Higher royalty expense was the result of higher Partner Brand revenues, but also a strong contribution from Transformers: The Last Knight movie product which carries some external royalties. Our investment in product development remained flat year-over-year but declined as a percentage of revenues. We continue to invest in innovation at an industry-leading level.
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Posted by Bronzewolf on July 24th, 2017 @ 4:46pm CDT
Posted by Qwan on July 24th, 2017 @ 5:29pm CDT
I don't know why exactly, but the capitalization here just really gets me.Brian Goldner wrote:this is a brand that’s becoming Increasingly Global, Increasingly International.

Posted by Bronzewolf on July 24th, 2017 @ 5:33pm CDT
Qwan wrote:I don't know why exactly, but the capitalization here just really gets me.Brian Goldner wrote:this is a brand that’s becoming Increasingly Global, Increasingly International.It'd make a great tagline, or a position title for someone important. "Seibertron: Increasingly Global, Increasingly International".
Increasingly Redundant, apparently, as well.


Posted by william-james88 on July 25th, 2017 @ 10:00am CDT









Posted by Cybertronius Primus on July 25th, 2017 @ 3:21pm CDT
Posted by -Kanrabat- on July 25th, 2017 @ 8:03pm CDT
The cars look like garbage, as usual.
BTW, I sighted deluxe Slog at Walmart.
Posted by william-james88 on July 25th, 2017 @ 10:29pm CDT
-Kanrabat- wrote:Turbo changer Scorn look really awesome! I'm actually impressed.
The cars look like garbage, as usual.
BTW, I sighted deluxe Slog at Walmart.
I think you mean Slug, and yeah he's been there for a good month now. Pick up his wavemate Sqweeks when you can, you wont regret it!
Posted by -Kanrabat- on July 26th, 2017 @ 12:39am CDT
william-james88 wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:Turbo changer Scorn look really awesome! I'm actually impressed.
The cars look like garbage, as usual.
BTW, I sighted deluxe Slog at Walmart.
I think you mean Slug, and yeah he's been there for a good month now. Pick up his wavemate Sqweeks when you can, you wont regret it!
I dunno. I'm on the fence on that one. I unloaded so many of that kind on purchases on my local geek store for buying vintage G1s. I then swore to myself to only buy the transformers who seriously pull at my heartstrings now. Even if the thing is on sale, if I stay stone cold toward it, it will stay on the peg/shelf.
Posted by Kotori_Sonoda on July 26th, 2017 @ 7:45am CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 26th, 2017 @ 1:46pm CDT
Posted by WreckerJack on July 26th, 2017 @ 6:12pm CDT
If you find any new figures or merchandise please let us know!

Posted by Decepticon Stryker on July 26th, 2017 @ 8:11pm CDT
Should I get TLK Deluxe Slash? Is he a good figure? Or is he just a figure like Steelbane: cool looking, but bad qc?
Posted by Autobot N on July 26th, 2017 @ 8:31pm CDT
I've got the AOE one. QC isn't bad, but the figure just kinda sucks.Decepticon Stryker wrote:So I've been going back and forth between this and I've finally decided to ask you guys:
Should I get TLK Deluxe Slash? Is he a good figure? Or is he just a figure like Steelbane: cool looking, but bad qc?
Posted by Qwan on July 26th, 2017 @ 9:23pm CDT
I haven't had any versions of that mold so I'm probably not the best person to give advice here, but the main deciding factor for me was that I don't really like the way he looks, and also the somewhat uncommon - but very frustrating - issue of mandatory sideways-elbow-action in robot mode (i.e. no forward bend at the elbows, much like CW Long Haul and quite a few of the AoE Dinobots). If you like the aesthetics of him (and admittedly, the toned-down colors on the TLK version do look objectively much better, even if they lose some of the 'bizarre' appeal the original had) and don't mind the elbows (which I certainly doDecepticon Stryker wrote:So I've been going back and forth between this and I've finally decided to ask you guys:
Should I get TLK Deluxe Slash? Is he a good figure? Or is he just a figure like Steelbane: cool looking, but bad qc?

But then I guess you have to take the "Premier markup" into account, and suddenly it's even harder to pull that trigger...
Posted by Decepticon Stryker on July 27th, 2017 @ 6:30am CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 27th, 2017 @ 2:29pm CDT
Decepticon Stryker wrote:So I've been going back and forth between this and I've finally decided to ask you guys:
Should I get TLK Deluxe Slash? Is he a good figure? Or is he just a figure like Steelbane: cool looking, but bad qc?
Basically what N said. The figure looks cool, but it is not overly functional. all the extra feathery sorts of things get in the way, so he isn't as good as he could be
Posted by King Kuuga on July 28th, 2017 @ 4:56am CDT
Va'al wrote:Not many people read through the Earnings release that Hasbro sends our way every quarter, and not everyone can attend the freely available conference calls either. To help us out this time, Hasbro has also offered a full transcript and presentation to anyone - rather than having news sites transcribe things themselves - and we've copied below the more salient and relevant parts to the Transformers brand.
But first, along with the slides that were used during the call, we've also listened to the call again to make sure we noted down a number of questions related to Transformers: The Last Knight and the brand in general, toys in particular, affected the way that the company will be directing its efforts in the coming quarter and future development of the 'brand blueprint', courtesy of Debbie Hancock and Brian Goldner (who calls the Generations line Universe, but hey). The UK and Brazil have not ideally impacted the company either, but the overall Latin American and European markets have remained positive, and most noteworthy of all: despite the not ideal performance of the movie in general, everything seems to be much better in toy and merchandise perspectives compared to 2014 with Age of Extinction.
Read more below, and note that actual revenue from licensed material for The Last Knight will only appear in the fourth quarter![lots of patting ourselves on the back]
I took a shot every time they said "brand" and now I'm sitting in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Maybe Hasbro will pay my medical bills since they're so profitable.

Posted by Bronzewolf on July 29th, 2017 @ 12:49pm CDT









Posted by Bronzewolf on July 29th, 2017 @ 1:01pm CDT
Posted by Va'al on July 29th, 2017 @ 3:11pm CDT
If you come across this or any other figures, make sure to let other fans know through our Sightings Sections and Database - and as always, happy hunting!
Posted by Seibertron on July 29th, 2017 @ 3:42pm CDT
As of this post, Flip and Change Bumblebee was not currently available at Walmart.com. In addition, no other Last Knight Hot Rod products were available either, all of which are exclusive to Walmart in the United States.



Posted by Quantum Surge on July 29th, 2017 @ 3:50pm CDT
Posted by King Kuuga on July 29th, 2017 @ 4:11pm CDT
Posted by -Kanrabat- on July 29th, 2017 @ 4:15pm CDT
King Kuuga wrote:Does Flip and Change Hot Rod appear to be built on the Lockdown mold like his toys in other assortments?
Yes, and Bumblebee too.
It's a nice concept and a nice gimmick. Not perfect, but fun nonetheless.
Posted by King Kuuga on July 29th, 2017 @ 4:18pm CDT
-Kanrabat- wrote:King Kuuga wrote:Does Flip and Change Hot Rod appear to be built on the Lockdown mold like his toys in other assortments?
Yes, and Bumblebee too.
It's a nice concept and a nice gimmick. Not perfect, but fun nonetheless.
Wasn't there a F&C Bee in the AOE line? I assumed this was a reuse of that.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on July 29th, 2017 @ 4:59pm CDT
King Kuuga wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:King Kuuga wrote:Does Flip and Change Hot Rod appear to be built on the Lockdown mold like his toys in other assortments?
Yes, and Bumblebee too.
It's a nice concept and a nice gimmick. Not perfect, but fun nonetheless.
Wasn't there a F&C Bee in the AOE line? I assumed this was a reuse of that.
All of Hot Rod's toys are based on Lockdown, if applicable, sharing the same basic maker (Lamborghini). F&C Bumblebee is a direct reuse of the same toy from AoE, sharing its gimmick with Lockdown.
Posted by Stuartmaximus on July 29th, 2017 @ 11:18pm CDT
Posted by Bronzewolf on July 29th, 2017 @ 11:28pm CDT
Stuartmaximus wrote:Chefatron has infernocus review up
I'll post this on the front page shortly, thanks!
Posted by Stuartmaximus on July 29th, 2017 @ 11:31pm CDT
Bronzewolf wrote:Stuartmaximus wrote:Chefatron has infernocus review up
I'll post this on the front page shortly, thanks!

Posted by Bronzewolf on July 29th, 2017 @ 11:35pm CDT
Posted by Terrsolpix on July 30th, 2017 @ 12:48am CDT
Posted by Burn on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:12am CDT
Anyhoo ... onto old mate Megatron.
When this guy was unveiled, I wanted ... wanted wanted wanted.
Now I have.
And now he has a new name.
Captain Floppy Legs.
While the flame thrower is a fantastic addition, it tends to make that side of the body heavy, combine with a weaker hip on the same side, posing him gets difficult.
Guess I'll just have to steal the GF's nail varnish ...
(No comment about the alt mode, have yet to transform him)
Posted by Terrsolpix on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:13am CDT
Burn wrote:He was at my TRU today, but I'll be damned if I'm paying TRU's price for him.
Anyhoo ... onto old mate Megatron.
When this guy was unveiled, I wanted ... wanted wanted wanted.
Now I have.
And now he has a new name.
Captain Floppy Legs.
While the flame thrower is a fantastic addition, it tends to make that side of the body heavy, combine with a weaker hip on the same side, posing him gets difficult.
Guess I'll just have to steal the GF's nail varnish ...
(No comment about the alt mode, have yet to transform him)
Make sure the shoulder ball bars are correct. My dreadwing has two right ones.
Posted by Va'al on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:53am CDT
Posted by Autobot Roadburn on July 30th, 2017 @ 4:01am CDT
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on July 30th, 2017 @ 4:06am CDT

Posted by Przemo24Pl on July 30th, 2017 @ 5:06am CDT
Posted by Rainmaker on July 30th, 2017 @ 5:09am CDT

Posted by Carnivius_Prime on July 30th, 2017 @ 5:48am CDT
Rainmaker wrote:It's amazing, but the head looks off somehow...
I think it looks fine but maybe you can swap it for one of the many, many, many other Bumblebee figure's heads?

Posted by Cybertronius Primus on July 30th, 2017 @ 6:18am CDT
Posted by Burn on July 30th, 2017 @ 7:34am CDT
Started off with the instructions, decided to toss them aside because trying to read anything printed in those colours on that background is near impossible for me.
He's pretty easy to figure out though. But you have to do a lot of small/minor adjustments to make sure everything lines up perfectly to lock together.
His nose cone doesn't want to stay locked in place all the time. That takes a bit of wrangling to get things to lock in. As do the wings to the legs.
Once transformed ... he's quite possibly the largest transformer jet, not just the wingspan, but the length as well. He's a mish mash though. In some spots, lots of detail, very much a jet ... others, you can clearly see robot parts.
He's a good figure, and definitely better than his voyager version. But if they were to put Masterpiece level effort into him, he could be the greatest Megatron figure ever.
Posted by EvasionModeBumblebee on July 30th, 2017 @ 9:45am CDT
Posted by Bradimus on July 30th, 2017 @ 11:52am CDT

Also, where is his hammer?
Posted by Przemo24Pl on July 30th, 2017 @ 1:50pm CDT
Posted by EvasionModeBumblebee on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:07pm CDT
Bradimus wrote:
Also, where is his hammer?
Unfortunately he doesn't come with one. I'm sure a third party will have one soon, there's already one for the masterpiece figure.
In the meantime, here's a hastily photoshopped version of what this Bee would look like with the hammer (with an appropriately epic background, of course.)
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:10pm CDT
Posted by T_Donor66 on July 30th, 2017 @ 2:56pm CDT
Burn wrote:Transformed Megatron.
Started off with the instructions, decided to toss them aside because trying to read anything printed in those colours on that background is near impossible for me.
He's pretty easy to figure out though. But you have to do a lot of small/minor adjustments to make sure everything lines up perfectly to lock together.
His nose cone doesn't want to stay locked in place all the time. That takes a bit of wrangling to get things to lock in. As do the wings to the legs.
Once transformed ... he's quite possibly the largest transformer jet, not just the wingspan, but the length as well. He's a mish mash though. In some spots, lots of detail, very much a jet ... others, you can clearly see robot parts.
He's a good figure, and definitely better than his voyager version. But if they were to put Masterpiece level effort into him, he could be the greatest Megatron figure ever.
Gotta disagree on that one. Voyager Megatron, imo, has better proportions, less kibble, and a wayyy better fusion cannon. Just my opinion though.
Posted by Stuartmaximus on July 30th, 2017 @ 3:01pm CDT
T_Donor66 wrote:Burn wrote:Transformed Megatron.
Started off with the instructions, decided to toss them aside because trying to read anything printed in those colours on that background is near impossible for me.
He's pretty easy to figure out though. But you have to do a lot of small/minor adjustments to make sure everything lines up perfectly to lock together.
His nose cone doesn't want to stay locked in place all the time. That takes a bit of wrangling to get things to lock in. As do the wings to the legs.
Once transformed ... he's quite possibly the largest transformer jet, not just the wingspan, but the length as well. He's a mish mash though. In some spots, lots of detail, very much a jet ... others, you can clearly see robot parts.
He's a good figure, and definitely better than his voyager version. But if they were to put Masterpiece level effort into him, he could be the greatest Megatron figure ever.
Gotta disagree on that one. Voyager Megatron, imo, has better proportions, less kibble, and a wayyy better fusion cannon. Just my opinion though.
don't forget the...cough**oversized Wei Jiang Voyager**cough

Posted by Quantum Surge on July 30th, 2017 @ 3:14pm CDT
Posted by Burn on July 30th, 2017 @ 3:53pm CDT
T_Donor66 wrote:Gotta disagree on that one. Voyager Megatron, imo, has better proportions, less kibble, and a wayyy better fusion cannon. Just my opinion though.
I found the jet mode to be severely lacking in ... something. I don't know what it was exactly but once I transformed him I was left disappointed.
Both voyager and leader are still impressive figures though.
And Stewie, as I've said to others I will say to you, keep 3P discussions OUT of the official threads.