Can Master Chief Help Mega Beat Lego's Jedi?
Remember Magnetix, those magnetic toys that were the subject of a series of major recalls, culminating in a $1.1 million fine against manufacturer Mega Brands for not disclosing the deadly risk that those tiny magnets posed to children? The family-run Canadian company is trying to make a comeback, positioning a new series of Halo-themed toys against Lego's popular Star Wars products. At a recent toy fair, the company even brought along an actor dressed up as Halo hero Master Chief to hawk their wares (no, we didn't get to peek under his helmet).
But Mega, which was best known for its Lego-like Mega Bloks before it acquired Magnetix-maker Rose Art, faces odds of approximately 3,720 to 1 of besting its larger adversary. The once-successful company is now laboring under a debt load of almost $400 million, and has been trying to sell off the non-Magnetix remains of Rose Art for over a year. The Globe and Mail lays out the state of the epic battle with analysis from onlookers like Scotia Capital's Anthony Zicha:
"It's a really sad story," says Zicha. ... "There's always a chance it will survive, but the likelihood is not great." In the toy business, says Zicha, "you have to have consumer confidence. If you break the relationship between the consumer and the retailer, you're pretty much done." Mega broke that rule, and it may pay with its life.
As much as we'd like to think that John-117 is up to it, he may just be backing the wrong side in this battle.
The Empire Strikes Back [Globe and Mail]
(Photo: brcake)
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Comments:
They might need Star Trek, MST3K, Fire Fly and Buffy to back Halo to defeat the juggernaut that is Star Wars.
"But sir! The odds of recovering from a major product recall and outdoing Lego are approximately 3,720 to 1!"
"Never tell me the odds."
@Thanatos: Naw, they'd only get discontinued before the year was out, and some of the sets wouldn't even get released.
"no, we didn't get to peek under his helmet"
So that's what they're calling it, now?
That is sad. It was always fun to bash Mega Bloks, but I didn't realize that the company had just about fallen apart. Judging by the story, they played a bad hand about as poorly as possible. But they still got a bad hand, and that makes the whole thing bittersweet.
Personally, I was never a fan of the Mega brand building blocks (except for the ones intended for toddlers who aren't building models, they are just stacking blocks together). My son (7 year old) is a huge fan of playing Lego, and has built countless models. I would say that 6-12 year olds are the prime demographic for the Lego Star Wars series (in addition to the 30-40 somethings who are avid Star Wars Fans who also love Lego.) At 7 he can tell the difference in quality between the Lego blocks and the Mega blocks. The Mega blocks don't often fit together correctly, and often fall apart or have large gaps in them. I have seen him assemble a Mega block model, and then take the same plans and build an identical model with his Lego, and the Lego model will still be in one piece long after bits and pieces of the Mega model have fallen off.
In addition to being a huge Lego fan, he is also a huge Star Wars fan. He has no interest in Halo, which I would say is typically more attractive to teens and older who are generally not huge Lego (or Mega) block fans because video games and girls are usually more interesting than small building blocks. So Lets compare.
Lego - Supperior quality, a brand that most generations grew up with with licensing to use one of the most succesful and timeless film series of all time, and a theme that appeals to Lego's core demographic.
Mega - Inferior quality, a fairly new brand that is just a Lego knockoff, and no one has any fond memories of, and licensing to produce products that might only be attractive to people outside its core demographic.
Seems like a pretty even race to me - NOT!
Nice knowing you Mega Blocks
I thought they did an awesome job of swapping my "death magnetics" for happy lucky ones.
@Rachacha:
Step 1: Everything above.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Fail(you thought I was going to say profit didn't you)
@FoxBearDog: Because those lines are all really hot with the kids these days, huh?
Try something like Transformers. Right there you've got a winning license.
@InnerRayg: Crazy loyal fanbase = instant collectors items and fans that feel obligated to purchase a set.
Then of course, there was the actual design itself of the models, but I suppose that's subjective.i just found this amazing website, it has all kind of businesses from a cleaning companies to estate agents to banks, all I have to do is just type in the business type, and the location and it gives me all the results in that particular area, this website has a huge database of all sorts of businesses, I just joined a driving school which I found on this website. I would recommend this site to all the people out there.
Mega Brands dug their own hole. Should have focused on making their products have some form of quality-at that Halo Wars event even their display models clearly showed bricks fitting together poorly and coming apart, as well as lots of inconstancy in color. Then of course, there was the actual design itself of the models, but I suppose that's subjective.