Wal-Mart tells Hasbro what they'll pay, not the other way around. My wife's father knows this for fact.
Sure, a retailer has to agree to a price - that's the way a vendor relationship works. What I am saying, is I doubt that Hasbro is passing these off to Wal-Mart at basically the same price as last year. I think you're saying the same thing though.
So, let's look at last year as an example. Let's assume that the sets Wal-Mart sold for $9.96 were being purchased from Hasbro for $6.00 each, roughly a markup of 66%, which gives them a decent GP of 39.76%.
Now, let's assume that Wal-Mart needs to make that SAME GP (or better) this year. Let's assume they want it to be a flat 40% GP. If they are selling the sets for $17.00 each, then they are paying $10.20 for each one they order.
That comes to a MARKUP from Hasbro of 66.67% they are passing to Wal-Mart. Does Hasbro really need to raise the price up that much? I think that's insane.
Granted, these numbers are based on assumptions, but if the price increases to the retailer, they have to pass it along to the consumer. Wal-Mart had to agree to the price of course, but I don't blame the retailer for marking something up to keep up with what the supplier is doing.
*DISCLAIMER - My math is correct, I think. But I could be making a mistake... multi-tasking while at work.