The share price of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) recovered some ground yesterday, rising 3.2% to $21.53 on the final day of the first half of 2017. Since closing at a 20-month low at $19.99 after hitting an intra-day low of $19.41 on June 21, 2017, the price has rebounded almost 11% from the intra-day low. Nevertheless, the year-to-date losses stood at -21.9%. If it's any comfort to Mattel shareholders, they are not alone as the shareholders of another toy company, JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ:JAKK), are sitting on heavier, albeit just slightly, losses on a year-to-date basis at -22.3%. On the other hand, the difference between the share price performance of the two toy companies mentioned and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) cannot be any more stark. The share price of Hasbro, which Reuters described as a "play and entertainment company", has risen 43% in the same period. Interestingly, while Reuters listed Hasbro and JAKKS Pacific as competitors of Mattel in Mattel's company description, there was no mention of the two toy companies in the full company description at Hasbro. Instead, Reuters listed Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel as its competitors. It appeared to me that Hasbro has left its two former "toy competitors" in the dust, as it has already moved on to capture the broader entertainment revenue pie including content development and digital gaming. Together with recent contrasting developments at Mattel and Hasbro, it seemed to me that an oft-touted merger between the two names has become unlikely. I elaborate why in this article.

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