Decline in 2014: -36%
• See all 12 of 2014’s worst investments here
What happened?
Sales of Mattel’s Barbie and Fisher-Price brands plunged in 2014, and the company saw a 20 year partnership with Disney bite the dust, just as Disney’s film Frozen became the must-see movie for under-eights everywhere, says CNN Money.
Who are the losers?
Barbie sales plunged 21% in a year and sales of American Girl dropped 4%, but sales have been in decline for at least three years, said CNN Money.
Who are the winners?
Hasbro, makers of My Little Pony, picked up the Disney Princess contract instead of Mattel (which will take effect in 2016). In September, Lego’s sales eclipsed Mattel’s for the first half of the year, said The Wall Street Journal. The “Danish manufacturer has come down on its rival like a ton of bricks”, reported The Daily Telegraph.
What have we learned?
Once the most famous toy in the world, there is no way Mattel is going to let sales continue to slide. “Barbie’s going to continue to be a brand that we spend a lot of time and attention on,” chief executive Bryan Stockton told analysts in October.
