According to report on Tuesday from Sportico, your favorite WWE action figures from Mattel will probably see price increases due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the toy maker said on Monday evening.
Mattel CEO Ynon Kriez said during a call with analysts on Monday, while it is difficult to predict consumer spending, the company is confident about mitigating actions to offset potential price hikes due to tariffs.
“Given the volatile macroeconomic environment and evolving U.S. tariff situation, it is hard to predict consumer spending in our U.S. sales in the remainder of the year and holiday season. We are confident about the mitigating actions we are taking, which are designed to fully offset the potential incremental cost impact of tariffs and future performance.”
It was also noted that part of the mitigation includes moving toy production out of China, cutting internal operations costs and raising U.S. prices on some of its toy lines.
Mattel does not publicly release revenue data from WWE products, but cited the wrestling toy line is one the leaders which spearheaded the company to first-quarter growth. Kreiz also noted to analysts that action figures have grown to “double digits, driven by Minecraft, Jurassic World and WWE.”
According to Jefferies analyst Kylie Cohu, in 2024 Mattel brought in an estimated $122 million in sales revenue from WWE toys, with its largest brand, Barbie, producing about $1.35 billion.
During presentations to investors, Mattel continues to tout WWE toys as important for future growth. Chief Financial Officer Anthony DiSilvestro stated during an investment conference this past March, the expansion of the WWE line will be a driver. it was in 2010 when Mattel first began making WWE products to fill a need for toys marketed towards boys.
During the call with analysts, Mattel did not discuss exactly which toy lines would see prices hikes, instead management focused on maintaining its mix of toys that are priced under and over $20, which suggests the more higher priced items will see a greater demand and may be more likely to go up in price. It was added based on a review of Mattel’s current product lineup based on product review, the company’s website and with major retailers, 90 percent of the toys will cost you over $20.
According to retail prices on Mattel’s website, Mattel’s WWE toys start at $7.84 for a 3.25-inch tall Rock “Knuckle Cruncher” figurine at Wal-Mart and the WWE War Games Playset with a Randy Orton action figure and accessories, sells for up to $90.99 on Amazon.
It should not be a surprise that Mattel’s WWE action figure line will see an impact as a result of President Trump’s tariffs. He did predict during a media availability Cabinet meeting last week that consumer products would see price increases. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
The impact of price hikes on WWE products is notable due to Trump’s lengthy history with the company. Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, who first served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term and is now his secretary of education, has been a long-time financial supporter of the President.
Mattel did note one strategy to avoid seeing price increases is importing less Chinese made products in the United States, by shifting them to other markets, while increasing the mix of toys made in other places subject to lower tariffs. Roughly 20 percent of Mattel’s goods that are sold in the United States are currently made in China. Per WrestlingFigs.com, which is a chat board for action figure collectors, Mattel’s looks to already be shifting away from China imports, as collectors indicated Mattel figures have been increasingly stamped as Vietnam-made.
As of Sportico’s report, Mattel is estimating the tariffs would see the company take an overall $270 million hit in annual sales before they would need to make any pricing or operational adjustments. Mattel’s shares have seen a decrease of 19% since Trump announced tariffs.
WWE’s parent company TKO, which denied to comment on Sportico’s report before the time of publication saw its shares up around six percent since tariffs were announced.