‘Final Fantasy' Made Hasbro a Hell of a Lot of Gil
According to Deadline, Hasbro CEO Chris Cox touted on an earnings call today that sales of the Final Fantasy set, released just over a month ago, helped account for a 23% surge in Magic sales in the last quarter, helping the toymaker offset a $1 billion write-down to account for ongoing tariff-induced uncertainty from retailers, leading to a flat adjusted operating profit for the quarter.
'There's more people playing Magic, and there are more people who have never played Magic who are now playing Magic, than ever before,' Cox noted.
The Final Fantasy set has been a subject of controversy even with its massive success and praise for the ways Wizards of the Coast integrated references and mechanics from the legendary RPG series into the Magic format. The first of the 'Universes Beyond' crossover sets to be legal for play in Magic's standard format, before its release, Final Fantasy came to represent concerns from players that Magic was giving too much ground over to licensed crossovers instead of focusing on its original creative storytelling.
The surge of interest in the set's reveal also led to a rush on pre-orders, making trying to even get your hands on cards at their suggested retail prices a challenge—especially the set's premium collector-focused booster packs, with aftermarket prices breaking over a thousand dollars at MagicCon Las Vegas for a box of cards meant to 'only' sell for $455. Now, even as player interest switches focus to the upcoming release of Edge of Eternities on August 1st, Final Fantasy packs are still tough to come by.
All that controversy matters little to Hasbro's bottom line, so 'Universes Beyond' is going to be here to stay. After Edge of Eternities, the first entirely sci-fi/sci-fantasy-themed Magic set, this year will see the release of two more major crossover sets in the form of Marvel's Spider-Man in late September, and Avatar: The Last Airbender in November. And even though Edge returns to Magic's own storytelling, its mechanics seem ripe for being adapted for the arrival of some pretty hefty franchises among the stars—ones Hasbro at large is already well acquainted with.
'Coming up, we have Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Avengers: Doomsday,' Cox noted on the earnings call, referring more broadly to Hasbro's toy licenses rather than necessarily any specific plans for Magic (although we know there are indeed more Marvel sets on the way after Spider-Man). 'That alone is a pretty stacked lineup and pretty meaningful top-line growth across our Marvel portfolio.'
So maybe don't be too surprised if the toymaker finds a way to oust Final Fantasy from its current throne as Magic's most popular set in the not-too-distant future.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Has the world's oldest baby just been born? 'It's like something out of a sci-fi movie!'
His birth was decades in the making! Thaddeus Daniel Pierce may look like a typical infant in a lot of ways, but there's something very unique about him: He was the result of an "adopted" embryo created over thirty years ago. Linda Archerd and her then-husband were attempting IVF in the early 1990s, and produced four embryos. While one became her now-adult daughter, the rest were frozen. Then, three decades passed. 'We didn't go into it thinking we would break any records,' Lindsey Pierce, baby Thaddeus's mother, told the MIT Technology Review. 'We just wanted to have a baby.' Lindsey and Tim Pierce had been trying to get pregnant for seven years, so this was something they have been wanting for a very long time. "We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now. He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!" Pierce told MIT Technology Review.. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GMFB's Manti Te'o Breaks Down the Eagles' Super Bowl Repeat Chances
'Good Morning Football' co-host Manti Te'o joins Rich Eisen in-studio where he breaks down the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl repeat chances.
Forbes
29 minutes ago
- Forbes
Spider-Man: Brand New Day's Tom Holland Costume Reveal Is A Serious Upgrade
What Fantastic Four box office drop? We're talking about Spider-Man now! In an effort to shift the conversation to Marvel's next, must-hit film, we're now seeing reveals and rumors left and right about Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a return to huge-grossing trilogy that is shifting things in a number of ways. First and foremost, after teasing it yesterday, Marvel just had Tom Holland walk out in his full Spidey costume (minus mask) to drive the internet wild. It's a very, very sharp look, a combination of the raised webbing of the Maguire and Garfield eras, mixed with elements of his final suit from No Way Home, though with more muted reds and blues. Of course, Holland's Spider-Man has had many suits through the years, including the Iron Spider and a black stealth suit, but it's certainly a departure more generally from his 'base' suit, especially the one he had initially in Homecoming: Spider-Man has had dozens if not even hundreds of different suit variants over the years, but I find the franchise can be a little too obsessed with them at times. I'm hoping he has this new suit, it's cool (big webshooters, too, interestingly) and we move on and focus on the rest of the movie rather than some sub-storyline about how he gets a new one. If we're doing symbiotes…sure, that's different. But we're not doing that, we know that much. The other news this week is the revelation from the trades that the film may also soon be recruiting Bruce Banner/The Hulk and Scorpion to appear, the latter being played by Michael Mando in Homecoming eight years ago, and the former, 'Smart Hulk,' not being seen since the She-Hulk Disney Plus series. Before this, we already knew officially that Jon Bernthal's The Punisher was showing up in Brand New Day, and the word is there will be some sort of fight between him, Spidey and Hulk before they figure out they're not actually enemies, or something like that (hopefully, Savage Hulk, not Smart Hulk, is present). In addition to this, there is a persistent rumor that previously-announced cast member, Stranger Things' Sadie Sink, may be playing Gwen Stacy, but that as of yet remains unconfirmed. It would be the second time a famously red-haired actress played Stacy instead of Mary Jane (the first being Emma Stone, opposite Andrew Garfield's Peter). So, confirmed: This suit and Punisher. Likely happening: Hulk and Scorpion. Who knows: Who Sadie Sink is playing. But no doubt we're going to start hearing more soon. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
