Hasbro missed expectations for both sales and earnings for Q1, but Magic: The Gathering grew rapidly, according to the company's earnings release and conference call on Monday.  The company lost $2.6 million for the quarter, versus a $17.2 million profit in Q1 2011. 

Q1 sales were down 3%, but U.S. and Canada was worse than over-all, with a 16% decline.  Games were down 9%.  But there were some bright spots in games, particularly Battleship (in the run-up to the movie) and Magic.  International sales and Entertainment and Licensing were both up by double digits.

"Magic: The Gathering is performing exceedingly well, up probably nearly 40% in the quarter," Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said in the conference call.  Goldner said in February that Magic is the largest game brand in the U.S., and that sales had doubled in recent years (see "'Magic': The Largest Game Brand in U.S.").