Mattel Buys Mega Brands
 

I will say this, the potential for MOTU themed Mega Bloks has me super excited.

Agreed, especially since MegaBloks added the COD articulation to their Halo figures and showed us it's not just for the COD sets.

My other hope is that Mattel treats Mega Brands the same way that Disney treats Marvel, at least from a management/ownership perspective. MegaBloks is doing very well on its own and with Mattel's financial backing they may become a far more serious threat to the Lego dynasty.

And who knows? Along with MOTU minifigs, we may see cheaper Lego sets in an effort to compete at retail!

...or not.

Smart move on their part.

I would hope this is something that is good for Mettel and not bad for Megablocks.

I could totally see Mettel cutting back on MB's whole idea to bring the COD jointing system to the other sets.

Yeah I don't think MOTU is really that popular of a thing anymore these days, outside of the ironic nostalgia old geeks have for it.

Unless they do a major reboot of the franchise with a lot of the...Alternative lifestyle undertones taken out. But then the old fans would probably rage, cause without that stuff what would MOTU look like?

Meh, given Mattel's inferior products to date, other than expanding their portfolio I don;t see them being able to do anything fancy with this acquisition.

Sounds promising initially. He-Man megablocks and a few other Mattel properties could be interesting. With much of the product slate well underway for 2014 and maybe the first part of 2015, no worries there either.

I am worried about what changes may happen on the back half of 2015 though and then into 2016. If Mattel keeps with their track record of corner cutting, this may be the end of the amazing Mega Block lines we have now alongside how much they've improved. I hope not, and if anything leads to a better brand integration. (Along with using the new highly poseable Halo MB spartans and Marvel minifigs as mini figure bases!)

But Mattel's track record doesn't suggest this. I hope I'm wrong, but I expect by 2016 or 2017 they'll downsize Megabrands, changeover the manufacturing, let QC slip into the crapper, and overall give Mega Brands the reputation that Mattel has been building over the past decade.

Seems like now is the time to start buying Mega Brands products you want that you may have missed out on. They may be skyrocketing in value over the coming years. Plus if you want the big blocks without lead paint in them, might want to buy within the next 2+ years too.

Right when the Halo sets were getting badass too. T_T
If Mattel manages to let them run autonomously though with better financial backing, this could be fantastic! Sadly, Mattel isn't known for that. T_T

You had a good run, Halo.

Clone this man and freeze the clones cryogenically, the future will need dreamers with good ideas.

I winced a little when I read the headline, if I'm being honest. BUT, holy crap, MOTU Mega Bloks could potentially be just about one of my favorite things ever. Genius.

Caught the news and I thought it was interesting since you have the old king of the mountain with Lego that has some of the biggest franchises already under it's belt. You have Hasbro as the new kid on the block with their Kreo lines. Now Mattel wants to be a force in the block market as well.

But the news stories were also kind of depressing because they were more about how the action figure market continues to be a dieing breed.

Looking at Hasbro 4" action figures vs the Mattel 4" action figures I must admit that I'm a little worried where Mega Blocks quality might go being a part of Mattel. Quality could end up being Lego, Kreo, Mega Block, knock off brands.

Honestly my first thought about this news was "Those bastards!", but then again He-Man MB sets. Just hoping Mattel won't mess with the awesomeness Mega has been and will be churning out.

Imma freak out on someone bad though, if in the future they turn a most wanted MB set into a cruddy subscription deal.

My first thought is "shit". Somebody ease my mind here. This probably means that they'll own it but keep their same teams, right?

As some have seen, I'm ecstatic about the CoD line, and this acquisition makes me afraid that it and the Halo line may get totally effed in the process of Mattyboy getting its grubby paws on Mega.

Nope, probably will put nightlick in control and he will run it into the ground with logistics and quotas.

And now the Megabloks line goes into shit.

Oh, no, I'm not suggesting that MOTU alone could make Lego lower their prices. I'm talking about several of Mattel's IPs, combined with MB's existing deals, making enough of a dent in Lego's market share to force the building block behemoth to lower its prices. Even then, it could be a pipe dream but it's nice to have some hope.

As far as the status of the MOTU brand itself is concerned, I think it's a lot more popular than you think it is - especially when you consider how successful the MOTUC line has been over the years.

Put me right next to Bob Hope and Walt Disney. ;)

I wasn't really commenting on that, but yeah I don't see that happening either. As far as I've seen, Mattel already had Barbie and Hotwheels in MegaBlocks, which maybe was why they decided to buy them.

It isn't. Outside of fans, most people only remember it as that homoerotic cartoon from the 80s.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree, then. I also think calling it homoerotic is a trendy meme, like making fun of Nickelback or Justin Bieber. I never read anything into it as a kid watching MOTU and I only see it that way now as part of subversive humor (like a forced double entendre).

Nope, it's pretty homoerotic. That's just a part of it's pop culture now.

And Nickelback or Justin Bieber may not be the best examples, given those are two things/people that get trashed on because they're legitimately awful.

Being legitimately awful or not, a lot of the criticisms I see for them remind me of the witch-burning scene from Holy Grail. Mob mentality, as it were.

Getting back on topic, this move would explain why Mattel chose to give Mega Blocks their Barbie license, rather than give it to Lego (who now has its own "girl" series).

as long as a certain brand manager is kept from touching it no issues.

But anyway your 100% right Trebshot, You will see a Mega Block "girl" line either Monster/ Ever After High or Barbie Line or both. The boys lines will remain what they have except any future Battleship is done after this year simply because Hasbro owns Battleship. Other wise Lego will keep all rights they have that Mattel has (namely DC and Cars/Planes).

Got a feeling this could spell bye bye for the Halo line, not that I want it to be however. Will see what happens, I'm kinda meh on this announcement.

There already is a Megablocks Barbie that existed prire to this.

Also, there were no Battleship Megablocks. That was Hasbro's own Kre-O line of building block toys.

To add to what Paxtin already said, Lego's DC Super Heroes license is directly with DC Comics; Mattel has nothing to do with it. Of course, DC might someday decide to award that building block license to Mattel/Mega Blocks, but at this point I just don't see any reason to do that any time soon.

It's a shame though. I'd love some Batman MB.

Especially with the newer minifig designs. Blind bags would be great, too.

as with any line if something catches my eye i'll buy.