Hasbro released its Q2 results Monday, and although sales and earnings were down, the company’s earnings were better than expected and once again Wizards of the Coast was a key factor in that performance.  WotC contributed in two ways: sales of Magic: The Gathering continued to grow (as they did in Q1, see "'Magic' Up 40% in Q1"), and its growth contributed to better margins than expected because WotC’s margins are better than the rest of the company’s.  Duel Masters (sold as Kaijudo in the U.S. and Duel Masters in Japan) sales were also mentioned as contributing to WotC’s sales performance.  WotC’s sales increases were not enough to offset declines in other Hasbro games; the category was down 8%. 

The Boys category was also down, by 16%, with Beyblades and Transformers leading the declines.  Avengers toys were described as ahead of projections, as were Marvel toys over-all.

One other tidbit from the conference call: the company said that a Lucasfilm Star Wars 3D event next year was expected to drive some sales, and that it will be announced at Star Wars Celebration in August.  Lucasfilm released Star Wars: Phantom Menace, the first of its films to be released in 3D, earlier this year (see "'Star Wars' Super Bowl Trailer").