For Mattel, the acquisition of Mega Bloks brings nothing good. You ask 100 people what LEGO is and 100 people what Mega Bloks is? Yes, exactly, Mega Bloks what??? If Mattel had bought mega 5 years ago, that might have meant a bit but now with 8 other competitors as the LEGO wanna be? Hasbro launched their construction bloks biz with transformers and still has not gained reasonable traction. That's not to say eventually Mega Bloks will be modest competition but it's BILLIONS of dollars investment away. It's one thing to buy Thomas - at least you're buying the #1 Brand in a specific category. Buying a dismal and lagging 3rd class brand in a category where the leader has over 80% market share, what does do that for you? Being #1 means very little if you stand around and watch the world pass you by? Remember Kodak? Radio Shack or Microsoft. The end comes slowly but it comes like a slow motion train-wreck.
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Megablocks= lame lego knockoff
Boomco= lame Nerf knockoff
NeverAfter High: lame Monster High/Disney princess knockoff
Viewmaster=lame Google cardboard knockoff
Barbie & Hot Wheels: more of the same crap
Once-great and innovative Mattel is reduced to a lame copycat company always desperately playing catch up. WTF happened?
What radio station?
I had a good laugh on the way home from work when a guy on the radio said Mega Blocks are like some cheap Lego knockoff
I disagree I think the creative toy is the future and the Mega purchase wasn't just blocks. Besides at least they tried something different for once. It was actually making an effort to venture into a new category. Most of the backward thinking processes that has lead to the coming 4 horsemen (declining revenue, backward thinking, tightening spending, declining R&D) is the reason that this purchase has shown some glimmer of hope in the future of Mattel. Just because the Mega brand was 3rd in the US doesn't mean it can't be the one major bright spot at Mattel in the coming years. The creative toys are the future as the entertainment toys will eventually go fully digital, and the Mega brand has a lot to offer in the creative area.
The question is will Mattel have the patience and the vision to embrace the creative toy and expand on it. I mean take hot wheels, why hasn't anyone at Mattel thought about allowing kids to somehow customize their cars, this is what kids want. Kids are no longer about being the same they want to show their uniqueness and creativity.
This is why Barbie (a static figure for far too long) is being outsold by the latest craze (e.g. Elsa/Frozen) and eventually the next Disney or Pixar princess.
Barbie needs to change dramatically and it needs to be customizable in more than just the clothing.