One of our favorite Mavens, toy industry expert Lutz Muller from Klosters Trading Company, recently published an article in Toy Directory Monthly with his views on the future of Hasbro and the toy industry. Below is an excerpt; click here to read the full article TDMonthly.com.

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QUO VADIS HASBRO?

‘Battleship’ Sank, ‘G I Joe’ went AWOL – Is Hasbro on the road to defeat?

By Lutz Muller
June 2012

When talking to my Hedge Fund clients a few years ago, I predicted that Hasbro could challenge Mattel for supremacy in the toy world if they followed a few simple precepts.

One of them was that they should not rely on movies except as a small part of their product strategy because mothers do not consider the cinematic message as the non-plus ultra for their children’s upbringing. The second was that they should not think that TV or other licenses replaced creativity and innovation in the development of toys. The third was that they should sharply reduce their focus on video games given that this form of entertainment would eventually leave the brick-and-mortar universe Hasbro is so at home with. And fourth, finally, that starving cash cows in order to feed sexy new ventures would eventually lead to failure.

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