Jackson Wolf
Mr. Reuter
Economics
2/14/16
The Force is Strong with these collectibles...
It’s February 2016, several months after the big hit of Star Wars The Force Awakens, it’s still climbing, being the third highest grossing movie of all time, and with it comes the income of toys, collectibles and other merchandising.
Who doesn’t want a lightsaber? One of the coolest known weapons from the Star Wars universe have been re released to the public for some insane collectibles. Some are released to the kids for around 30 dollars and man do they buy it. From sales alone, Hasbro has brought in over 500 million dollars relating to the movie, setting a new high record since 2005’s Star Wars Revenge of the Sith, which I find pretty ironic. “Hasbro has made it fun for investors over the last year. The maker of board games such as Monopoly and 'Star Wars' light sabers has seen its stock rise 11% in the past year, outperforming the S&P 500's 13% plunge.”
Now you have to think about the opportunity cost as well with this merchandise. The only bad aspect would be not making this merchandise. From all of the income Hasbro has not only obtained but assisting Disney with Star Wars must be an income beyond imagining. They’ve already brought in over 500 million!
With a popular icon coming out and many toys, there are always spinoffs. People trying to make something from Star Wars and make it their own. For example, there is a business that makes off brand Lightsabers known as “Ultrasabers” which has their own website and many other “Ultrasabers” for purchasing. “"Star Wars" alone generated $700 million in consumer spending last year, according to NPD Group. And the latest movie didn't hit theaters until Dec. 17” (Faughnder 4) Who knows how much money Hasbro will generate this December with the new Star Wars movie Rogue One.
Works Cited:
I think the most interesting statistic in your article is the fact that the movie made that much money last year and came out in December… so that’s only one month! I’d be really interested to see the numbers for the companies producing knock off products as well. I’m just sort of confused as to what this “13% plunge” is referring to.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really big opportunity for Hasbro and everyone associated with the Star Wars company as a whole. I personally wouldn't buy one because I feel like they are extremely over-priced. But, buying one at $30 now may be worth a lot more in the future. I understand how the pricing for them is pretty high now because of the big comeback that was made. In the end, it's good for Hasbro and Star Wars but I personally am not invested enough to purchase a toy for $30.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post. It’s interesting to know that there are other brands of lightsabers stealing the thunder. There are also other opportunity costs such as the amount of materials and the money spent on the materials that could have a huge impact on their profits. Demand is high and, therefore, materials must be readily available in abundant amounts.
ReplyDeleteIt's no secret that the Star Wars brand is contributing to the economy. You see Star Wars everything when you walk into a store like Walmart or Target. You definitely focused on how much money Star Wars is bringing in, specifically the toys, but I think you could have linked this idea to economics even further. When you discussed opportunity cost you stated that the only bad aspect would be "not making this merchandise" which I don't necessarily agree with. A basic supply and demand analysis tells us that an increase in supply drives the price down. In other words, with more of these products in circulation they are not worth as much to collectors and consumers alike. While this seems irrelevant now, I'm willing to bet that in the future collectors who hoped to make a fortune off of their Star Wars merchandise won't be able to get as much for it as they'd hoped.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it surprised anyone that Star Wars The Force Awakens was a big hit. Many people were predicting that the movie was going to make a TON of money, even before it was released. As far as Star Wars collectibles go, I wonder how much the newest Star Wars toys will be worth in the future? Though it's likely that the original toys will continue to stay as the most valuable (selling for thousands on average). All of revenue from the movie is great for the economy, to help push it in a positive direction. Overall good blog post.
ReplyDeleteBeing the first star wars movie in 10 years should have this great of hype. Though, with the statistics mostly being from 2015 it is unbelievable how much money it has brought in. The movie released in the middle of December so that is just a couple of weeks. For a movie to bring in that much money from toys and trinkets is hard to imagine but not impossible because Star Wars is so great and has such a large following. I think Rogue One will be a different story due to the fact that not many know it's coming out. Put together all that people know is it's the plan to steal the Death Star plans it's highly questionable. Also, it's not the main story line so some may dislike it or find it hard to follow.
ReplyDeleteI never really got into stars. But I know a lot of people did and were looking forward to the new movie to come out. I didn't make much of how much money they mad but rather how fast they made it from just toys alone. It will be cool to look at when the next movie comes out if they will have as big as a toy profit. Overall very good blog post.
ReplyDeleteIt is honestly amazing how a single movie has made such a difference around the world. Just from a single toy they have brought in over 500 million! I personal think these types of movies are great for the economy because they get money rolling again.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Star wars is as popular as it always was, it's just come back to the forefront of the market. Star Wars never really died down, there was always something to keep consumers interested, though I understand that the majority of people only follow the movies and not the extended universe. I don't doubt that the sales have been bolstered because of the new release. 500 Million is a lot of money, and there's no shortage of new merchandise that can come out of the new movie.
ReplyDeleteKelin Olson
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Star Wars toys and collectibles are making a small fortune. Almost everywhere one can find ads about the toys at their local retailer. With the widespread success of the movie a whole new generation will be exposed to Star Wars and its products. For the most part the hype before the movie sold toys even before the movie came out, and even movie tickets. Most theaters had the movie sold out days, weeks, even months before it came out. So when the next one comes out it will sell even more toys in combination with the movie tickets. Furthermore the die hard Star Wars fans will buy all the collectible merchandise they can. In the end Disney, it’s Star Wars brand, and their Hasbro line of toys will be a legal way to print money in the millions for years to come.
ReplyDeleteI found this post interesting on how much Hasbro actually brings in from their collectibles for Star Wars in specific. To me it was no surprise that the new star wars was going to be a big hype. Everyone wants to see if Disney could produce a Star Wars movie like they were for so many years. I believe that there will always be those fans of the show that will go and see a Star Wars movie no matter who is producing it or what merchandise can be bought promoting the film. It's also interesting that there is competitors to the very well known weapon in Star Wars, the Light Saber. However I believe that nothing could overtake the sale of the original light saber that has been being manufactured for many years.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe the reason for it being the third highest grossing movie ever is the fact that there is a thirteen year gap between the last movie. Considering that between episode six and episode 3 there was a twenty two year gap this allowed for many people to view the series and pass on their views. Some of these people then have families of their own and pass on their views to their children. So it makes sense that there was a large amount of people that viewed the new movie but I believe that since it is going more into other side stories along with the fact that many people don't know about it their profit margin will go down along with the hype.
ReplyDeleteWorking at a movie theater and experiencing the chaos of the latest star wars movie releasing, it doesn't shock me how much money Hasbro makes from their toys and collectables. This series has definitely had an impact in our economy- not to mention the amount of jobs this series has made for people. The star wars series attracts all audiences full of different people of different ages and genders. I didn't know that there were other companies making Light Sabers and it was interesting to read about. Overall very good blog post!
ReplyDeleteIt is quite amazing that such a brand like Star Wars can generate such an exuberant amount of money. The movies itself have become such an American Icon that anyone in the country knows that trouble is afoot when they hear the Imperial March in the background of a scene. Star Wars is not only an amazing series but it is a huge marketing and selling piece for anyone that is fortunate to be able to sell any collectibles. After seeing a movie with a glowing stick of light slicing someone in half, who wouldn’t want to be able to hold that in their hands? Not, only does Star Wars manufacture the action figures they also have an extremely popular lego collection that continues to grow as the does the Lego brand itself. Coming out with 3 new movies will only be growing the Star Wars brand even more by gaining younger viewers and having a leading role played by a female means that more young women will begin to fall in love with Star Wars and continue to increase sales.
ReplyDeleteAs a Star Wars fan myself, I have to say that I have never been one for the merchandise. I remember having toy lightsabers when I was a kid, and they always ended up either broken or stuck at the bottom of my toy chest. There is still, no wonder they are still popular. The classic series has been around even before we were born--which makes the merchandise all the more valuable. I think that something that Hasbro could do is not only make developments for new toys, but also bring back the old toys for collectibles and such. There are people who would pay TONS of money to have an unopened, undisrupted, awesome-conditioned lightsaber.
ReplyDeleteI found this post interesting for how much money hasbro actually makes on the light sabers that they sell. I know personally that there are a lot of people who are interested in these light sabers and having such a large fan base makes selling these products easier for them. Even with the new movie out which created a large source of income the amount of fans has never really died down with the star wars fan base causing the income from both the toy light sabers and the collectible light sabers to come as less of a surprise.
ReplyDeleteA huge phenomenon like Star Wars would of course do well selling merchandise. You see it everywhere you look, clothes, toys, when the demand is high at a time like this, the product, of course isn't as expensive. I do agree that in the near coming future people will not have estimated the value their items would then cost as there are too many out in the world as it is. I do think you could have spent more time talking about the economic part of this subject, discussing and explaining how and why the merchandise will not be worth as much as consumers hoped for in the future based off the simple supply and demand effects currently happening.
ReplyDeleteSince Star Wars has been around since the early 80s, most parents can now enjoy their favorite childhood story with their own children. Part of the reason why Star Wars is bringing in so much money from new toys is because the consumers, parents, are able to now afford all the toys they had wanted when the series originally debuted. Their parents never bought them these toys and so the new wave of parents understand why things like lightsabers are cool and then go and spend the $30 for a real Star Wars brand lightsaber for their children. Because of the demand for these name brand products, the price is high and people will still buy the toys anyways even if they're spending a lot for some plastic that lights up.
ReplyDeleteWhile I knew Star Wars was popular, I didn't realize it was this popular bring in as much income as Hasbro has from the latest Star Wars movie. There will always the extremists who will go above and beyond while getting stoked for upcoming shows but nothing will nearly come close to what Star Wars has brought to Hasbro. While there is some competition Disney is trying to bring to the merchandise of the light saber, no one will be able to compete with Star Wars. Consumers are all about the labels and want what everyone has. This will continue to increase the demand in stores, and well as the supply of light sabers needing to always be stocked on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very interesting by the fact that Hasbro has made a ton of money just from the Star Wars toys that they've produced. There are people in the world today that are completely obsessed with Star Wars and will buy everything that is related to it from all of the movies and all of the toys that go with it. That's good for Hasbro because of how popular Star Wars it will bring in the cash. The people at Hasbro know how to get the money from their specific market mainly due to the fact that the people either buy nothing or they buy everything they can get their hands on.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest it would be surprising if they didn't make a lot of money off this movie. This movie is something many people were excited about. After watching it pretty much everyone I asked said it was amazing. Star Wars is something many people know about, so the numbers aren’t surprising. However, I’m not so sure about Rogue One. In fact, I had never even heard about it until I read this post. We will have to wait and see. I can’t envision a world where people don’t make a lot of money from Star Wars related toys/collectibles, or Star Wars toys don’t sell a lot, it’s a popular franchise.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you added your own personality into this piece. It’s a very interesting read. However, I think that you should’ve included more on the Hasbro stock. It would’ve been interesting to know more about how much people would would've made if they invested in Hasbro. Though having an 11% jump in stock price, I can see they would’ve made a killing. I think it’s insane how Star Wars VII is the third top grossing movie of all time. That’s pretty awesome. That must’ve made Disney a lot of money. It’s interesting to think about Disney stock owners in this case as well. They could’ve made even more of a killing than Hasbro stock owners.
ReplyDelete- Martin Mueller
I remember growing up watching Star Wars almost daily and being one of the kids who bought there favorite characters light saber. My sister age 8 asked for many Star Wars toys for Christmas and that was a shock considering she used to hat those movies. Star Wars has a large fan base already and with this new age group receiving it's very own series of Star Wars films I would expect Hasbro to be racking in the money for as long as they release new Star Wars films and because Disney owns Star Wars I would expect quite a few more movies to be released.
ReplyDeleteI believe the reasoning for Star Wars making so much money is the long gap in between movies. Star Wars is like our Harry Potter for a different generation. It is pretty amazing how much money and job opportunities a movie like Star Wars has made in such a short amount of time. Overall, I believe that the new Star Wars movie had a major positive impact on our economy. I hope that the success of the new Star Wars movie encourages other really good series such as Harry Potter to make more movies.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your title very much. Although I think you could add a bit more data to this article. Some things to consider could have been prices on merchandise, both from the brand itself and off-shoots or spin-off merchandise. You could have also gone in more detail how it affected these companies and maybe a link or picture to the Ultrasabers website or their merchandise.
ReplyDeleteThe fans of Star Wars hold on to this anticipation, since the movies are so far apart, and tend to splurge on anything with the logo on it. Also, the newer movie attracted older generations that was all the other movies in the theater as well as the younger generations that are now being introduced into the exciting world. If Disney continues this movie pattern, every time a new movie comes out the merchandise will spike from the buying of multiple generations. This also has an effect on disposable income because more people will be spending money while saving less. This allows for Disney and Hasbro to gain more revenue because of the spike in demand.
ReplyDeleteI believe the new star wars was not a huge success. It did make a lot of money, but it was dwarfed by its predecessors. Plus, the new movie just makes its predecessors more valuable and decreases the revenue for the new movie. All in all, the star wars name did better itself, but the new movie was not the majority of the gains.
ReplyDeleteIt is no secret that the brand of Star Wars has positively contributed to the economy of the world. Whether it is through merchandise or the films themselves, the galaxy far, far away has made billions. It is also no doubt that the popularity of the brand/franchise has, and will continue to live long and prosper (don't worry - always a Star Wars fan) as it applies to a wide fan base. Obviously, your analysis of the popularity of Star Wars is accurate. But, I didn't quite understand the economic side of your post. You said that "now you have to think about the opportunity cost as well with this merchandise. The only bad aspect would be not making this merchandise." What you described here is not really an opportunity cost because they are not giving up anything to produce the merchandise. Who makes the merchandise then? Overall, I thought that your post was interesting. It just needed some better economic terminology to develop your argument (what was it?). Like you, I am also interested to see how the spin-off movie performs in comparison to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows the Star Wars movie brought in a great deal of money. What people don't realize is how much is being earned through the purchase of movie related goods. This effect was even seen in our school when we hosted a star wars themed day. While this could have occurred at any year, there is a good chance it was due to the new movie. This connects to your discussion on how different generations will be re-welcomed into the movie. Hopefully they don't make our generation wait as long. Overall, nice job bringing a new outlook on the business world of Star Wars.
ReplyDeleteWhat I typically lack to consider when thinking about how much money a certain film is making is the profits that they make through merchandise. Especially in this past year, I have see an abundance of Star Was t- shirts, leggings, sweatpants, ect. in stores everywhere. Even here at school when we had to dress up in Star Wars clothes for spirit week, virtually everyone in the building was wearing something Star Wars. All this business goes, not only to stores, but to Star Wars, themselves. And, because it is all the hype right now, that merchandise is in high demand. I believe that the more variety of Star Wars gear that is produced, the more profit the company will earn.
ReplyDelete