Written by Mattel, one of the biggest toy companies in the world (second only to Hasbro) has a clear path forward to dealing with tumultuous times: Make less, license more.
Laid out by Mattel’s CEO, Ynon Kreiz last month at the UBS Global consumer and Retail Conference in New York City, the man in charge said “We used to be called a toy manufacturer.” Now “We have become an IP company.” And he means it.
The New York Post reported that Mattel has closed or consolidated a total of five factories, including a sixth one happening this year.
At the same time, Mattel has been leaning into licensing its properties like Barbie, Hot Wheels and Uno and collecting royalties on them.
The success of 2023’s Barbie movie alone had Mattel cashing in on everything from Barbie clothing, jewelry to toothbrushes, all manufactured by other companies.
And even though the craze of the “Barbie” movie has calmed down, Mattel has 14 other movies and television shows in development, including “Masters of the Universe” currently filming in London…
…and “Matchbox” currently filming in Morocco.
Could there be a day when Mattel stops making “Masters of the Universe” action figures entirely and only licenses them out to other companies like Mondo to manufacture?
Back to now, while the current tariffs are a thorn in Mattel’s side like most toy companies, according to Market Watch, Mattel has been diversifying manufacturing away from China.
China, the hardest hit by U.S. tariffs, currently represents about 40% of Mattel’s sourcing (down from 50%), and Mattel promises no country will account for more than 25% of their production by 2027.
The future is looking bright for Mattel. For the consumer, we will have to wait and see.
We’ll see you next time.
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The cost will go up for collectors if other companies make the action figures. If Mattel make a MotU figure you pay manufacturing and distribution costs. If another company makes a MotU figure you pay licensing, manufacturing, and distribution costs. Simple arithmetic.
I couldn’t be happier if it had to end this way. I mean, while I love what they are doing with the Masterverse as a whole, the screaming lack of daring characters wise is getting a little tiresome over time.
Hang onto your Origins, Masterverse and New Eternia lines they’ll be worth a pretty penny one day!
I’d guess (this is random-ass Mattel after all) they’ll hold on to their own production for major lines like ours truly, WWE, Barbie, Hot Wheels etc, but side merch for those lines will be licenced out. Like Hasbro has done. They could also farm out something like Jurassic Park if the master licence allows for it.
So will they put their money where their mouths are and finally let Super7 resume making MOTU Classics figures again, like they’ve been wanting to for the last 5 years???
The CEO’s phrasing of “We have become an IP company" gives me the feeling that they want to be akin to a company like Disney or Nintendo on a way smaller scale if that makes any sense.
That being said I wanna hold onto MOTU Origins until the end.