Hasbro .Inc have reported their first-quarter sales with revenue rising 8.2% to $672.4m, above analysts' average estimates. Their net profit nearly trebled to from $19.7 million to $58.9m when comparing Q1 2009 to Q1 2010.  Sales have risen in all major product segments and territories, according to Hasbro. International sales rose by a healthy 17%.  The Hasbro board have also authorised the repurchasing of an additional $625m worth of common stock. In the first quarter, it repurchased 2.2 million shares for $97.7m at an average price of $35.35 each.

While sales in its products for boys rose three per cent, with Nerf and Tonka performing well, it was girls and pre-school that boosted Hasbro's first-quarter sales the most, with increases of 16 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Games and puzzles were up seven per cent.

­Its that time to bring you the latest NPD toy sales charts for the UK.  This month we can also bring you the charts for the whole of 2009. Overall Hasbro can be very pleased with Transformers, though not as strong as 2007 the line features in all four charts as was also back up to number three in the monthly "toy property chart".

The top five properties within the UK for December 2009 were:

1. Ben 10
2. Star Wars
3. Transformers
4. Thomas and Friends
5. Peppa Pig

UK December 2009 (£ Sales Value)

1. KidiZoom Camara - VTech
2. Go Go Hamster Packs - Character Options
3. First Steps Babywalker - VTech
4. Transformers Movie Deluxe - Hasbro
5. Bop It - Hasbro
6. Monopoly - Hasbro
7. The Logo Game - Drumond Park
8. Monopoly City - Hasbro
9. Star Wars Clone Walker And Droid Assortment - Lego
10. Baby Annabell 2009 White - ZAPF Creation

UK December 2009 (Unit Sales - Volume)

1. Match Attax Cards - Topps
2. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
3. Transformers 2 Movie Legends Assortment - Hasbro
4. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
5. Go Go Hamster Packs Assortment - Character Options
6. Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures - Hasbro
7. Star Wars CLone Walker And Droid Assortment - Lego
8. LP Gets the pets - Hasbro
9. Bionicle 2HY Cans 20009 - Lego
10. Play Doh Single Tub Assortment - Hasbro

UK 2009 Year Sales (£­Value)

1. Kidizoom Camera - VTech
2. First Steps Baby Walker - VTech
3. Ben 10 Alien Force 10 CM Figures - Bandai
4. Star Wars Clone Walker And Droid - Lego
5. Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures - Hasbro
6. Bakugan Starter Pack - Spin Master UK
7. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
8. Smart Trike Plus Girls - Mookie Toys
9. Ben 10 Alien Force 15CM DNA Figures - Bandai
10. Ben 10 Ultimate Omnitrix - Bandai

UK 2009 Year Sales (Unit Volume)

1. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
2. Match Attax Cards - Topps
3. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
4. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
5. Transformers 2 Movie Legends Assortment - Hasbro
6. GoGos III Explorer Pack - Magic Box
7. Bakugan Booster Pack - Spin Master UK
8. LPS Get The Pets - Hasbro
9. Play Doh Single Tub - Hasbro
10. GoGos CB Evolution Booster - Martomagic

TakaraTomy have issued a PDF press release called the Guide of Takara Tomy Group's "Transformers" content business expansion which you can read here (although it is in Japanese).  The document talks about the Japanese release of Transformers Animated, how they are developing products to aim at the 3-8 year old category, the Blu-Ray release of Revenge of the Fallen in the autumn amongst other things

Credit goes to snakas for the original Japanese report.

ToyNews, the UK Toy Industry publication, has printed a story regarding a slump in US toy sales in December 2009.

Data from NPD Group shows sales were down two per cent through November 2009.

Sales in the US were $16.03 billion for the year to November, down from $16.38 billion in 2008 and $21.3 billion in sales for the preceding 12 months ended in November 2009 compared to $21.77 billion for the corresponding period of 2008.

The categories that recorded a rise in sales year-to-date (YTD) and in the 12-month year-on-year (YOY) period through November included building sets, up 22 per cent YTD to $761 million and up 25 per cent YOY to $1.02 billion.

Action figures/accessories/role-play, were up by six per cent YTD to $1.25 billion and up seven per cent YOY to $1.62 billion.

Arts & Crafts was up by four per cent YTD to $2.25 billion and up four per cent YOY to $2.7 billion and the catch-all 'all other toys' category, up four per cent for both measurements.

Games and puzzles sales were flat YTD through November but declined by one per cent for the 12-month period; minus puzzles, game sales rose one per cent for both time periods.

Commenting on the possible causes of the gains, NPD toy analyst Anita Frazier said: "Building Sets and Arts & Crafts are two supercategories that have benefited from consumer value.

"Both super categories include toys that provide hours of entertainment for kids, and in the case of arts and crafts, with many products at lower than average price points."

Declining toy supercategories included plush, down 13 per cent YTD and ten per cent YOY; Youth electronics, down 13 per cent YTD and 11 per cent YOY; Vehicles, down nine percent for both measurements.

Outdoor and sports toys, fell by eight per cent YTD and nine per cent YOY; Infant/pre-school, down five per cent for both measurements; and dolls, down two per cent YTD and one per cent YOY.

ToyNews, the UK Toy Industry publication has published an article on it's website concerning recent changes at Hasbro UK.

Hasbro has new UK senior management, after the firm reshuffled its European personnel.

Mark Hoijtink adds the UK and Nordic markets to his current responsibilities of Iberia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as General Manager, Northern Europe reporting to European President, John Harper.

Foye Pascoe (pictured on their site), currently UK Sales Director and Deputy General Manager is promoted to Country Manager, UK reporting to Hoijtink.

Jonathan Evans moves to the newly created position of General Manager, Customer Strategic Marketing Europe, also reporting to Harper. Evans will

According to an article on  Nikkei.co.jp,TakaraTomy have announced that they will be moving some of their production from China to Vietnam starting with capsule toys and tomica mini-cars.

"Due to the increase of labour expenses and CNY exchange rate, TakaraTomy will be moving their production line from commissioned plants in China to Vietnam to cut production costs.  This will include capsule toys and Tomica mini-cars. Production value in Vietnam will increase from 15 billion yen by March of 2010 to 30 billion yen in 2011.

Production of toys in Vietnam 30% of total for capsule toys and 60% of total for Tomica cars next year, 100% for both."

No doubt as soon as any contracts with Chinese factories for other lines, including Transformers, will also be shifted away to save costs.  This will have a knock on affect that the Chinese leaked toys will stop for a small period until people find Vietnamese workers willing to offer the same services.

Credit to Drillbit of TFW2005.com for the news.

RTE News reports that Hasbro Ireland are planning to cut 22 jobs from their workforce of just under 250 employees as part of a plan to improve competitiveness and reduce costs.

Pat Gilhooly, head of global manufacturing at Hasbro Ireland, said: 'We regret having to seek these job losses given the current economic climate in Ireland but it is absolutely necessary that we reduce our costs now in order to protect as many as possible of the remaining jobs at the Waterford plant.  The continued weakness of the US dollar has also had a negative impact on our competitiveness.

The redundancies we are now seeking are designed to align the core workforce with the anticipated level of market demand during the off-peak period and avoid short-time working as happened in the early part of this year.  The competitiveness measures we are seeking are necessary due to the imbalance between costs in Ireland and in the countries in which our products are sold."

The firm is hoping to implement the redundancies on a voluntary basis. A competitive redundancy package will be on offer for employees who fit the selection criteria.

The NPD Group have now released the UK toy sales charts for September 2009.

UK September 2009­ £ Sales - Value­

1. First Steps Babywalker - VTech
2. Kidizoom Camera - VTech
3. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
4. Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures - Hasbro
5. Star Wars Clone Walker - Lego
6. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
7. Smart Trike Plus Girls - Mookie Toys
8. Baby Annabell Doll - Zapf Creation
9. Bakugan Starter Pack - Spin Master UK
10. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel

UK September 2009 Unit Sales - Volume

1. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
2. Littlest Pet Shop Get The Pets - Hasbro
3. Play Doh Single Tub - Hasbro
4. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
5. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
6. Matchbox 1/75 Minatures - Mattel
7. 12 Coloured Pencils - Crayola / Vivid
8. Super Tips Bright 12 - Crayola / Vivid
9. Transformers Movie Legends Assortment - Hasbro
10. Bakugan Booster Pack - Spin Master

UK 2009 YTD £ Sales - Value­

1. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
2. Kidizoom Camera - VTech
3. First Steps Babywalker - VTech
4. Bakugan Starter Pack - Spin Master UK
5. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
6. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
7. Smart Trike Plus Girls - Mookie Toys
8. Ben 10 Ultimate Omnitrix - Bandai
9. Star Wars Clone Walker - Lego
10. Ben 10 Alien Force 15cm DNA Figures - Bandai

1. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - Mattel
2. Cars Vehicle Assortment - Mattel
3. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - Bandai
4. Gogos III Explorer Pack - Martomagic
5. PR Jungle Fury Figures - Bandai
6. Bakugan Booster Pack - Spin Master
7. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Assortment - Bandai
8. Gogos CB Evolution Booster - Martomagic
9. Littlest Pet Shop Get The Pets - Hasbro
10. Super Tips Bright 12 - Crayola / Vivid

The NPD have published their latest toy and retail sales charts for the UK.  First up is that year-on-year sales are down 10% for week 39.

The top five properties (in value) for week 39 were:

1. Ben 10
2. Star Wars
3. Transformers
4. Barbie
5. Lego City

Ben 10 also regained the top spot for the month of September with Transformers slipping back into 2nd spot.

In terms of the sales charts, Transformers continued strong sales, though they did slow in week 39.

Top Sellers Week 38 (­£ Sales Values)

1. First Steps Baby Walker - VTECH
2. Kidizoom Camera - VTECH
3. Star Wars Clone Walker - LEGO
4. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - BANDAI
5. Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures - HASBRO
6. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
7. Bionicle 2hy cans 2009 - LEGO
8. Baby Annabell Doll - ZAPF CREATION
9. Smart Trike Plus Girls - MOOKIE TOYS
10. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin's Cruiser - BANDAI

Top Sellers Week 38 (Unit Sales - Volumes)

1. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
2. Play Doh - HASBRO
3. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - BANDAI
4. Transformers Movie 2 Legends - HASBRO
5. Littlest Pet Shop Get The Pets - HASBRO
6. Gogo CB Evolution Booster - MAGICBOX
7. Cars Vehicle - MATTEL
8. Bakugan Booster Pack - SPIN MASTER UK
9. Transformers 2 Robot Heroes - HASBRO
10. Bionicle 2hy cans 2009 - LEGO

Top Sellers Week 39 (­£ Sales Values)

1. Kidizoom Camera - VTECH
2. First Steps Baby Walker - VTECH
3. Star Wars Clone Walker - LEGO
4. My Laptop - VTECH
5. Bop It- HASBRO
6. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - BANDAI
7. Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures - HASBRO
8. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
9. Barbie Doggie Park - MATTEL
10. Bakugan Starter Pack - SPIN MASTER UK

Top Sellers Week 39 (Unit Sales - Volumes)

1. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
2. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - BANDAI
3. Littlest Pet Shop Get The Pets - HASBRO
4. Play Doh - HASBRO
5. Cars Vehicle - MATTEL
6. Bakugan Booster Pack - SPIN MASTER UK
7. Transformers Movie 2 Legends - HASBRO
8. Star Wars Clone Walker - LEGO
9. Bionicle 2hy cans 2009 - LEGO
10. Bionicle Agori - LEGO

ToyNewsMagazine are reporting that US toy sales dropped by three percent for the period August 2008 to August 2009.

The figures from NPD also show that sales were down two per cent year-to-date for the first eight months.

Some categories did see sales rises. Building Sets  were up 21 per cent, Action Figures and Accessories seven per cent and Arts and Crafts four per cent.

Its that time of the month when we are glad to report the UK retail sales charts for August 2009.

Top Properties

1. Transformers
2. Ben 10
3. Star Wars
4. Thomas and Friends
5. Peppa Pig

August 2009 - Sales (Value)

1. Transformers Movie - Deluxe - HASBRO
2. First Steps Babywalker - VTECH
3. Hot Wheels Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
4. Kidizoom Camera - VTECH
5. Cars Vehicle Assortment - MATTEL
6. Bakugan starter pack - SPIN MASTER
7. Smart Trike Plus Girls - MOOKIE
8. Ben 10 Alien Force 10cm Figures - BANDAI
9. Transformers Movie Legends Assortment - HASBRO
10. Ben 10 Alien Force 15cm DNA Figures - BANDAI
    

August 2009 - Sales (Unit)

1. Hot Wheel Basic Car Assortment - MATTEL
2. Gogo's Crazy Bones Evolution Booster - MAGIC BOX
3. Cars Vehicle Assortment - MATTEL
4. Crayola Super Tips Bright 12 - VIVID
5. Transformers Movie Legends Assortment - HASBRO
6. Play Doh Single Tub Assortment - HASBRO
7. Transformers 2 Robot Heroes - HASBRO
8. Ben 10 Alien Force 10 cm Figures - BANDAI
   
9. Gogo's Crazy Bones III Explorer Pack - MAGIC BOX
10. Bakugan Booster Pack - SPINMASTER

ToysNews, the UK toy news magazine, is reporting that Hasbro has opened an office in Russia with hopes that it will lead to a growing market for them.

Hasbro is targeting the Eastern European market with the opening of an office in Russia.

The firm has opened a Moscow office in order to improve brand awareness and distribution in its fastest-growing market in Eastern Europe.

"Russia is the most attractive market for us... definitely we are coming here to increase our market share," Tomasz Micek, Hasbro's Russian head, said.

It estimates it has a three percent share of Russia's $1.5 billion toy market where it currently sells toys via two distributors.

It has run 12 television commercials this spring in Russia and plans another 20 by the end of the year, according to Micek.

Besides television, the company also plans to push magazine and Internet promotions.

"The good thing about the toy and game business is that it does not tend to be as bumpy as the economy. It seems that parents want to continue to spend money on their children. I'd rather be in my business than in cars, or houses, and that's where the swings are very very big," said John Harper, Hasbro's general manager for Europe.