Hulu announced it will be raising the price of its Hulu + Live TV plan this month by 18% from $54.99/month to $64.99/month. Even with this higher subscription revenue, plus its advertising revenue, it's struggling to be profitable. One can't help but to wonder how the heck can Disney make money on its $6.99/month Disney+ streaming service???
And how can the best deal in town afford to spend so much money to produce theatrical motion picture quality hit shows like The Mandalorian?
The answer is they do not have to make money on its streaming business because it can be a loss leader. Disney has long made money on its theme parks and product licensing deals based on its characters and movies.
If you've been holiday shopping, everywhere you look there are "Baby Yoda" and The Mandalorian merchandise in apparel, toys, housewares, bikes, and even Epic Games' Fortnite released an update this past week that features The Mandalorian.
To see the power of this Disney money-making juggernaut, look what just happened since yesterday with The Mandalorian.
Lego and Disney released the Razor Crest set #75292 this past summer. It's the main character's signature space ship. At $129.99 MSRP, this is not a cheap toy and has probably sold briskly.
On yesterday's episode, the Razor Crest was surprisingly destroyed into smithereens by the Empire (sadly it had just been repaired 2 episodes prior)!
By yesterday afternoon, stores sold out and prices soared on Amazon, eBay and other 3rd party sellers to over $170! If it was a stock, that's a 30%+ price jump!
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| LegoShop.com Sold Out |
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| Razor Crest Price Tracker |
Also appearing on The Mandalorian yesterday was Boba Fett, who many believed was killed 27 years ago in Return of the Jedi. Searches for "Boba Fett" immediately shot to #3 on Google Trends yesterday.
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| Google Trends: Boba Fett #3 |
And even Boba Fett's Slave I space ship (released over a year ago) experienced an overnight price spike of 33%, rising from $120 to $160.
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| Lego Slave I Price Tracker |
Not only will Disney and others prosper from the sale of the Razor Crest (and Slave I), but now there is an opportunity for Disney to sell even more Star Wars merchandise when Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni outfit The Mandalorian with a replacement ship that I'm sure is already in the works.
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