Live data from Hacker News

Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

polygon.com

161–164 of 164 posts

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, competition then.

"Competition" assumes that the market is the same. It is not. A good example would be cable TV, and the introduction of videogames and streaming services. While the latter both are technically competing with cable TV, prices didn't change for the better.

It is the same market. The entertainment market. People don't buy toys, games, cable, streaming, or movies. They buy something fun to do with their time. All these things are competing in the same market.

Cable TV didn't come down in price or go up in quality, and so it is losing subscribers in droves.

Supply and demand at work.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eons ago, when I was in TV/movies business, I spoke with a prominent Forgotten Realms book author (if not _the_ author) about a certain book series he wrote that I thought it would make a fantastic TV series (in a world before netflix had their own production) and he nodded in agreement. I said let's make it it happen, let's warm up parties on both ends (I'm on production side, he would be on property side).. basical…

There's valid reasoning why a company wouldn't let another company make a movie or TV series. It cheapens the IP if the movie/series goes bad. It's hard to describe the effect. Essentially this is what happened with LOTR. Also take for instance the recent D&D movie which was just ok/slightly good. The movie cheapens the D&D IP, while something like Baldurs Gate builds on it. Maybe from a business perspective it's the…

> There's valid reasoning why a company wouldn't let another company make a movie or TV series. It cheapens the IP if the movie/series goes bad.

Season 8 of Game of Thrones.

The spin off was alright but I didn't really care enough to keep it up, and I get a lot of people didn't. LOTR comes to mind too, ditto for a lot of the "slop" that Disney has been pushing for Star Wars.

There is a lot more stuff out there, and most of it isn't great, so Ima tune it out until the test of time determines if it's worth it.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Competition" assumes that the market is the same. It is not. A good example would be cable TV, and the introduction of videogames and streaming services. While the latter both are technically competing with cable TV, prices didn't change for the better.

It is the same market. The entertainment market. People don't buy toys, games, cable, streaming, or movies. They buy something fun to do with their time. All these things are competing in the same market. Cable TV didn't come down in price or go up in quality, and so it is losing subscribers in droves. Supply and demand at work.

> It is the same market. The entertainment market.

That's a bit like saying that dildos aren't so popular because people chose to watch porn online.

The "entertainment market", expressed as "anything to do in your free time", is unquantifiable, because it would include anything, from drinking alcohol to traveling to the Philippines, to driving around in circles. And if you cannot define its boundaries, the movement of goods and services cannot be calculated either.

In this case, physical toys aren't that popular anymore, because a change in societal preferences in a certain age range. People "in the market" for physical toys are "less". Hasbro wouldn't be competing with videogames, because people buying videogames would have no interest at all in physical toys.

Competition to Hasbro toy products is coming mostly from generic manufacturers. Go to a Target store, and take a look at how many parents choose random crap, instead of branded toys.

Post reply on HN