[Joe Moore]

Playmates Toys May Be Losing TMNT

[snake5289]

Huh. I'd imagine all the crap from that lame animated movie didn't help things.

[Joe Moore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snake5289

Huh. I'd imagine all the crap from that lame animated movie didn't help things.

Probably has very little bearing on it. The most likely issue is Viacom raising licensing fees, wanting higher minimum sales guarantees, and asking for much higher royalty rates. Paramount has apparently been raising fees and royalties on Star Trek, with licensees seeing massive increases. I suspect the same is happening with their other properties.

[snake5289]

Just noticed that like half my post was deleted somehow before submitting it. It was supposed to say that the animated crap clogging up shelves and not moving wasn't helping things. But yeah Paramount seems to be scumming it up all over the place lately.

[webz]

Kinda sad. Playmates got the brand up and going, investing heavily in the 80’s cartoon and other franchise building. If it weren’t for them, tmnt would just be another niche indie book with a minuscule following.

[EvilMonkeyPope]

If even the master licensee can't afford the TMNT license anymore, will others be able to?

[themadbubbler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snake5289

Huh. I'd imagine all the crap from that lame animated movie didn't help things.

I'm a TMNT fan since 1988, and I thought "Mutant Mayhem" was great. -Shrug-
The figures seem to sell decently, but they overproduce the various versions of the turtles themselves.

[webz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilMonkeyPope

If even the master licensee can't afford the TMNT license anymore, will others be able to?

Could be. The TMNT brand is worth a lot more today than it was when Playmates negotiated the original master license deal. That original deal included financing the 1980's cartoon and a bunch of other sweetheart deals that made Playmates millions during the 1980's and 90's. However, in 2025, the Playmates brand is almost extinct on toy shelves in the USA at least. They lost Star Trek. Power rangers went to Hasbro. Monsterverse went clearance almost immediately. I don't know about Winx coz that's not my thing, but I've never seen it on an endcap nor kids walking around with fairy dolls.

Might not be a case of can't afford. Playmates might not have been given an option. Viacom might have told Playmates "your sweetheart deal is over. Period. Better make what you can via the existing deal coz you are out." I think Viacom put a tremendous amount of pressure on Playmates to allow Neca to make their figures which opened the floodgate to all the other TMNT merch now flooding the collectibles market.

[Hifipinkie48]

Could it be Viacom has taken a look at how well these other companies have done with their property and decided Playmates is trailing far behind the rest? I just don’t know. When it comes to making affordable toys for kids they have always seemed to have done a pretty good job. Now, as for the adult collectors’ market…not so much, but you would think the other licensees have pretty much filled that slot. As saddened by this news as I am, I will be interested to see where our beloved Turtles find their new home. I tell you, the world just keeps changing and getting weirder and weirder.

[Steevy Maximus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by themadbubbler

I'm a TMNT fan since 1988, and I thought "Mutant Mayhem" was great. -Shrug-
The figures seem to sell decently, but they overproduce the various versions of the turtles themselves.

In truth, though? That’s been the brand’s MO since the start. Every time the brand has peaked, Playmates shifted to straight Turtle cases with the other characters relegated to a separate assortment.

I really don’t put much stock into what collectors “perceive” sales to be, ESPECIALLY for kids product. The nature of kids lines are fewer items available over a longer period of time, so a well selling product line with ready availability would put forth the appearance of “clogging shelves”. From the indications I’ve seen, Mutant Mayhem seems to be doing “fine”. The only recent TMNT initiative that I could point to as being a full blown “bomb” is probably Rise of the TMNT. Coming off the successful 2012 refresh, it was an abject failure the kind of which I don’t think the brand had seen since Next Mutation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by webz

Could be. The TMNT brand is worth a lot more today than it was when Playmates negotiated the original master license deal. That original deal included financing the 1980's cartoon and a bunch of other sweetheart deals that made Playmates millions during the 1980's and 90's. However, in 2025, the Playmates brand is almost extinct on toy shelves in the USA at least. They lost Star Trek. Power rangers went to Hasbro. Monsterverse went clearance almost immediately. I don't know about Winx coz that's not my thing, but I've never seen it on an endcap nor kids walking around with fairy dolls.

Monsterverse still lingers, depending on where you’re at. Playmates just got a license for Power Rangers from Hasbro to what seem to middling results (we’ll see what Toy Fair and the spring clear outs reveal). They got Miraculous Lady Bug, which seems to be a solid hit, but that and Winx are out my wheelhouse.

Regardless what Playmates still might have…the lose of TMNT is a company shattering level of of a hit. On a given year, TMNT seems to be anywhere from 1/3 to nearly 1/2 of the company’s revenue. They have NOTHING (that we know of) to fill that void in the near term. Barring a huge license grab announced in the next few months.

Quote:

Might not be a case of can't afford. Playmates might not have been given an option. Viacom might have told Playmates "your sweetheart deal is over. Period. Better make what you can via the existing deal coz you are out." I think Viacom put a tremendous amount of pressure on Playmates to allow Neca to make their figures which opened the floodgate to all the other TMNT merch now flooding the collectibles market.

Something I’ve learned since news broke about TMNT is that…apparently Playmates DID have a full Master License. That meant that all those other lines from other companies? Those deals went through PLAYMATES, NOT Paramount!

It would not surprise me one bit if part of this move is to maximize license revenue for Paramount. By cutting out Playmates, presumably this includes any “sweetheart” license costs and input on the property itself (which was apparently something included with the original license contract for the brand).

I don’t think this precludes Playmates from MAYBE making a play for the mass market kids brand (think the market split we saw with DC, where McFarlane got the collector segment and Spinmaster got the “kids stuff”), but it would probably be at a FAR higher premium than what they were paying. Outside the “big 2”, I’ve seen speculation/rumor of Jakks and Lanard being front runners. I think Lanard is a long shot (they’re not even in Playmates league of a toy company), but Jakks seems a solid bet. I wouldn’t rule out Spinmaster either, given the close relationship they have with Paramount with Paw Patrol.