Why does Mattel like throwing their product away?

Go look at mattels quarters over that last 2-3 years.

We need to live in the real world here.

So mattels plan is to make movies now and hopefully that will fix all there woes.

"As consumer demand slows from its pandemic highs, Mattel has been working to diversify its revenue streams, using the intellectual property of its toy brands for non-manufacturing ventures."

Haha nice one.

Yeah so let's keep some perspective.

First there is a lot of bias in news reports about mattel bankruptcy but in looking at the numbers profit has been relatively stable since 2010. What we are sure to see is profit in Q3 and the reasons behind that are that little studio movie you were talking about which managed to procure 100s of brand deals including GAP inc who will soon (tomorrow) be getting Mattel's CEO (Richard Dickson) to spearhead the company when he leaves his post tomorrow.

The actual chances of a mattel bankruptcy is just 1% right now based on a number of indicators. Mattel even beat expectations recently and had less losses than expected.

The main problem that Mattel has is no different than the problem any toymaker has in 2023 and that is simply: KIDS ARE NO LONGER BUYING ACTION FIGURES, BARBIES(despite the films financial success) AND CAR TOYS. And this is exactly why mattel is branching out to other areas (branding especially) like video games, etc.

One specific area of real concern is their hot wheel line. This I say as a long time collector (over 30 years). Why? for the same reasons that their other lines are struggling and for the reasons WWE will fizzle out at some point as gijoes are. At some point we will all have the same favorite wrestlers multiple times and we will have the best detailed and articulated action figure possible. This is why star wars toys are dead. Not because the films failed but because they have produced 100s of darths vaders and r2s, etc and collectors have had their fill. Also the nostalgia for MOTU, Gijoe and the golden era of wrestlers will dissipate sooner than later (within next 5 years) and there won't be anything to fill in that void (toy wise). So all toy companies will have to rebrand or be left behind.

But the whole reasons for mattels struggles are compound. And one major one has been addressed by Mattel themselves recently and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone in this thread or in the "walmart strikes back" thread here on this subforum.

Quote:
"inventory management impacted the first quarter's results,"

Walmart (and target) is not stocking or buying at the moment as they have a giant amount of inventory (overhead). This can be seen in target especially as they are still selling motu figures from 2021 and 2022. They are not moving even at clearance prices.

For me the reasons are simple: the supply lines are unstable (pandemic caused, seaports WERE backed up) , the price point is too high for the average consumer and lastly something all box stores are dealing with; a lack of personnel. Not sure if anyone noticed but the amount of employees at Walmart especially is a far cry from where they were pre-pandemic and this is not just a cost cutting measure but also one that is caused by the fact that nearly everything is automated now so less need for cashiers. They also don't seem to have the personnel to make changes in the toy aisles (resetting) and thus have to wait for a regional team to come to do it.

These delays however are also caused internally at walmart and this seems to be due to the fact that employees at walmart stores and warehouses are not doing their job and abusing their positions. There is no doubt that merchandise is going straight to 3rd party websites (we all know which one) instead of on the shelves. Now whether this is a net-loss safety measure(a way to ensure profit after clearance sales) or whether this is greed can be debated upon by us mere mortals typing away on our keyboards but personally (my opinion) walmart is trying to milk it for all its worth (totally understandable from a business point of view....

BUT

PURPOSELY holding back merchandise over a 10 month period of time ---((and using that excuse to try to persuade mattel(who bought it hook-line-and sinker) that it is caused by a lack of confidence in toy sales in general)) --- and using that merchandise (AS A BARGAINING CHIP) to sell at price points 1000% over retail, ( ON THEIR OWN ONLINE WEBSITE!!!) - AND on so-called-neutral websites who are clearly getting merchandise straight from walmarts own werehouses, ---- THAT, THAT IS SHADY BEYOND BELIEF (also called insider trading and illegal in other sectors...), especially considering Walmart is not a TOY store ( they sell other things there in case anyone hasn't noticed).

I never in over 30 years of collecting thought we would be where we are today. I cannot imagine the outrage 20 years ago --- ((when people still only (for the most part) bought toys in brick-and-mortar stores)) --- if Toysrus would mark a malebolgia or princess leia potf (power of the force - she was one of the first short prints, e. Star wars treasure hunt) figure up that amount (while sitting in boxes in the back).

Its important we understand this analogy because that is exactly what they are doing now ___ they are marking up series 4-7 figures on walmart com to 89.99$ (in one case) while they have 1000s of boxes in wherehouses of these same series 4-7 superstars figures. Think of a valve you turn on and off at will controlling the amount you let out. That in itself is not shady but cancelling orders for supply that was not in stock (AT SOME UNKNOWN WEREHOUSE) at the time the order was supposed-TO-BE fulfilled and delaying that figure 4 times in the span of 10 months WHILE selling FIGURES --- ((INSTOCK AT WALMART.COM - FIGURES YOU(WM) JUST CANCELLED AT 20.99)) --- FOR A HUGE MARKUP is very unprofessional and probably (my opinion) why the last motu wwe line died too ( I was not collecting those specifically to witness the markup of figures on those on their website).

In short, we are made to believe that mattel wwe superstars figures are not in stock in stores and only on walmart.com for about 60$ a figure. But they are lying. They are cancelling orders knowing full well that stores have more than the allocated amount in their backroom. One store in my area has 20 boxes of superstars. Why does 1 store have that much? Send them to collectors who had pending preorders as a gesture of good will.

Instead I get the impression that their online retail department is rudderless and lacks direction. There is no sense of routine. Nothing seems scheduled or planned. And there certainly doesn't appear to be anyone that is connecting the dots at their stores because how could you not notice that a guy named Paul and a seller from England has stock before they can even fulfill backorders. No, they know and they obviously are in on the game to make some extra money ( and take advantage-of) on some regular first -time (And impatient) collectors who dont know how the aftermarket works

So many questions and few answers but I think we will all find out soon enough. There is no way that someone at loss control isn't noticing that and the overall discrepancies of inventory in stores around the country. They know something is off...

Yeah someone pointed me out to that. Mind blown. I stopped collecting during the pandemic like most and was not aware that walmart now sells merchandise from other vendors. They will never be amazon. I would think they would not let other vendors compete against their own exclusives like the superstars but here we are. Not shocking considering up is down nowadays.