Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast which bought Dungeons & Dragons decades ago. The D&D brand has moved from an unreported category within Hasbro’s massive portfolio to one of the corporation’s iconic brands. It’s proven its economic benefit and value as a brand enhancer and continues to pay dividends to Hasbro’s shareholders. This is to say, one of the largest toy companies in the world finds value in a tabletop roleplaying game. By contrast, Hasbro is the only major toy company that identified value in any RPG. Why is that? Why hasn’t their chief rival, Mattel, gone down the same path? Why doesn’t Mattel own a roleplaying game? And if they did, what game would it be?
As a gamer and market follower, seeing Hasbro’s margins tells a story and that story is: tabletop games have dedicated fans that spend money on what they love. While Bank of America is calling Hasbro to the carpet for their exploitation of their market, there’s no denying that Hasbro sees Dungeons & Dragons as a competitive advantage.
With Hasbro’s market position and news cycle dominance, I’m floored that other major American toy companies such as Hasbro’s chief rival, Mattel, haven’t attempted to replicate some of Hasbro’s steps to success. Why hasn’t Mattel added a beloved RPG to their portfolio?
MATTEL
“Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest catalogs of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. We engage consumers through our portfolio of iconic brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Monster High and MEGA, as well as other popular intellectual properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include film and television content, gaming and digital experiences, music, and live events. We operate in more than 35 locations and our products are sold in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies.”
For a corporation the size of Mattel, it would make sense to purchase their own tabletop roleplaying game to capitalize on its existing name recognization to elevate into a notable brand. The acquisition would give them an additional intellectual property (IP) to cycle through for both toy and non-toy ventures. As a company known for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and more, their internal brands of action figures are limited. Without a strong IP to set them apart in the action figure market, they tend to license other company’s brands to make toys for, DC Comics action figures being one of their best known examples, despite the fact that they lost the license in 2020. Without an internal option, they’re currently mining He-Man and the Masters of the Universe for figures and licensing the WWE and Jurassic Park franchises.
WHAT TO BUY?
With the financial resources of a corporation like Mattel, there’s no limit on what RPG, or RPGs, they could purchase. Short of Dungeons & Dragons, which is owned by a rival, all other RPGs are fair game. That said, some would be easier to purchase than others. Also, some are a better fit for Mattel’s image than others. A few popular RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu or the World of Darkness are well-known, but aren’t likely to align with Mattel’s family brands. You could easily see the owners of Monster High purchasing the World of Darkness and reinventing WoD to be more Monster High centric, literally defanging the property. While it is possible for Mattel to buy any property, I’m going to focus on a few examples that are closer to Mattel’s strengths.
PATHFINDER
The most likely candidates for this move are purchasing Paizo and their flagship titles, Pathfinder and Starfinder. Let’s talk about Pathfinder first.
As a property born from Dungeons & Dragons and, at one point in time, the market dominator, Pathfinder is waiting to be made into toys. While Diamond Select made some Pathfinder Minimates years ago, the property with its mythic creatures, Iconics, and Wayne Reynolds’ artwork is ripe for action figures. In a prior article, I mentioned Lone Coconut’s Plunderlings as a great example of what Pathfinder’s signature goblins could look like if you gave them a family friendly, cartoony makeover. Using that line as a template, it’d be possible to create cartoony Pathfinder figures. Another line could exemplify Wayne Reynolds’ art and look dynamically different, allowing for Mattel to reach different audience segments using the same IP.
STARFINDER
Just as Pathfinder would be a prize for Mattel, I do not want to understate the potential of the Starfinder brand. As a sci-fi RPG and brand, it could outshine NECA’s ALIEN license or even the various Star Trek toylines given enough time and plastic resources. As stated in the same prior article, Four Horsemen, a company of toymakers and sculptors that have worked for Mattel, have their own sci-fi action figure line, Cosmic Legions. These figures give an idea of some of the great possibilities that might come from a Mattel Starfinder line.
SHADOWRUN
Paizo isn’t the only game in town. Mattel could purchase Shadowrun from Topps. This long-running RPG (1989) has a dedicated fanbase and a universe that makes cyberpunk toy-tastic by adding fantasy creatures. This combination is a win-win. Topps license the RPG to Catalyst Game Labs, so Mattel would take over the IP ownership but could leave the game in CGL’s hands. Mattel could make toys, CGL could make games, which lets each company excel at their strengths. Alternately, Mattel could offer up the funds to develop a cohesive new edition, and augment it with a massive line of action figures.
IN CONCLUSION
Just touching on three examples showed the smallest glimpse of what Mattel might gain by buying an RPG and replicating Hasbro’s success. Any RPG would give Mattel a ready made brand to exploit. With Mattel’s reach, they could develop their new RPG line into an important component of their portfolio.
Now, this isn’t all upside. Mattel like any major corporation would need to see value in the line from jump, and that may be hard for any RPG as they tend to be so much smaller than D&D. However, if the line succeeds, it’d expand Mattel’s market share and, for the RPG, might see it improve gaming in the same way that Hasbro’s Fifth Edition improved tabletop.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, and Amazon.
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