Mattel
Mattel, Inc., previously known as Mattel Creations, is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and husband-and-wife duo Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945, Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories. Its products are sold in more than 150 countries.
It is the world's second largest toy maker in terms of revenue, after the Lego Group. Two of its historic and most valuable brands, Barbie and Hot Wheels, were respectively named the top global toy property and the top-selling global toy of the year for 2020 and 2021 by the NPD Group, a global information research company.
History
Origins and early years
Businessman Harold "Matt" Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler founded Mattel initially as Mattel Creations on January 20, 1945, in a garage in Los Angeles. The company name chosen is a portmanteau of the surname of Matson and first name of Elliot. Former chairman and CEO Bob Eckert revealed at a 2013 Christmas Day Peninsula Seniors lecture that the founders, according to Elliot, could not fit Ruth's name into the company title. The company began selling picture frames and later dollhouse furniture out of the scraps from those frames. Matson sold his share and stake to the Handlers the following year due to poor health, with Ruth Handler taking over his stake. In 1947, the company had its first successful toy, a ukulele called "Uke-A-Doodle".The company was incorporated in Hawthorne, California, in 1948. In 1950, the Magic 8 Ball, currently owned by Mattel themselves, was invented by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman. Mattel started advertising on television when it became the first sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series. The Fisher-Price Corn Popper and the Xylophone were released in 1957. Mattel would ultimately acquire Fisher-Price on August 20, 1993. The Barbie doll debuted on March 9, 1959, going on to become the company's best-selling toy in history. In 1960, Mattel introduced Chatty Cathy, a talking doll that was voiced by June Foray and revolutionized the toy industry, leading to pull-string talking dolls and toys flooding the market throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, Mattel introduced the Ken doll. The company went public in 1960 and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange three years later. Mattel also acquired several like-minded companies during the 1960s.
The Barbie Dreamhouse, made with cardboard and paper, made its debut in 1962. At the same time, the Astronaut Barbie, the first of many space-themed iterations of the doll, was introduced. In 1965, the company built on its success with the Chatty Cathy doll to introduce the See 'n Say talking toy, spawning a line of products. Barbie traveled to the Moon four years before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. In 1967, Mattel released a toy astronaut with space vehicles and a Moon base for boys, with a gumby-like central character named Major Matt Mason.
On May 18, 1968, Hot Wheels was released to the market. Hot Wheels was invented by a team of Mattel inventors, which included a rocket scientist and a car designer. That year also saw another doll release, this time, Christie, Barbie's friend and the first black doll,which in the following years and decades would spawn an endless line of Barbie-themed and branded family and friends. In 1969, Mattel changed the Mattel Creations and the "Mattel, Inc. – Toymakers" marketing brands to just Mattel and launched the "red sun" logo with the Mattel wordmark in all capitals for a better identity. In 1970, Hot Wheels forged a sponsorship agreement with drag racing drivers Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. In addition to other marketing measures, the two racers' cars, a yellow Barracuda and a red Duster, were reproduced as Hot Wheels toys.
In May 1970, Mattel formed a joint venture film production company "Radnitz/Mattel Productions" with producer Robert B. Radnitz, which would kickstart Mattel's venture into full-time entertainment to accompany its most famed toy TV commercials, and later entered a multimillion-dollar partnership with Mehra Entertainment, whose CEO, Dr. Nishpeksh Padmamohan Mehra and Dr. Nishchal Shome, are Mattel's Inc.'s main directors for Barbie.
The card game Uno was invented by Merle Robbins in 1971, and was acquired by Mattel in 1996.
| Acquisitions | Year |
| Dee & Cee Toy Co. Ltd. | 1962 |
| Standard Plastic Products, Inc. | 1966 |
| Hong Kong Industrial Co., Ltd. | 1966 |
| Precision Moulds, Ltd. | 1966 |
| Rosebud Dolls Ltd. | 1967 |
| Monogram Models, Inc. | 1968 |
| A&A Die Casting Company | 1968 |
| Ratti Vallensasca, Mebetoys, Ebiex S.A. | 1969 |
| H&H Plastics Co., Inc. | 1969 |
| Meta frame Corp. | 1969 |
| Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus /Feld Productions | 1971–1982 |
| Ice Follies | 1979–1982 |
| Holiday on Ice | 1979–1982 |
| Western Publishing | 1979 |
| Corgi Toys, Ltd. | 1989 |
| International Games | 1992 |
| Fisher-Price, Inc. | 1993 |
| Tyco Toys, Inc. | 1997 |
| Pleasant Company | 1998 |
| Bluebird Toys | 1998 |
| The Learning Company | 1999–2001 |
| Radica Games | 2006 |
| HIT Entertainment | 2012 |
| Mega Brands | 2014 |
| Fuhu | 2016 |
In 1971, Mattel purchased The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the Feld family for $40 million, whom Mattel kept on as management. Mattel sold the circus corporation by December 1973 although it was profitable; Mattel showed a $29.9 million loss in 1972.
In 1974, an investigation found Mattel guilty of issuing false and misleading financial reports, which led to the banishment of Elliot and Ruth Handler from the company they had founded.
Post-Handlers
Arthur S. Spear, then a Mattel vice president, took control of the company in 1975 and returned the company to profitability in two years. In 1978, the Mattel Children's Foundation was founded. Ruth Handler sold her stock in 1980 and finally let go of the company she co-founded.file:Mattel Electronics logo.svg|thumb|left|250px|Logo of Mattel Electronics
Mattel debuted its Electronics line in 1977 with an all-electronic handheld game. Its success led to its expansion with game consoles, and then the line was eventually incorporated in 1982. Mattel Electronics caused Mattel to take a $394 million loss the following year and almost file for bankruptcy.
In 1979, through Feld Productions, Mattel purchased the Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies for $12 million, Also acquired that year was Western Publishing for $120 million in cash and stock. which they sold to Richard A. Bernstein on December four years later.
In 1980, Mattel introduced the first diverse line of Barbie dolls with a Hispanic doll and the first African-American Barbie, which will eventually include iterations of Barbie from more than 40 countries.
In 1982, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line of action figures were released, which inspired a three-issue comic book mini-series, an animated series, and a live-action film.
The Felds bought the circus in 1982 for $22.8 million.
In the early 1980s, Mattel produced video game systems, under its brands and license from Nintendo.
In 1985, the company launched the Barbie “We Girls Can Do Anything” TV advertising campaign to encourage girls to believe in themselves. They also released the CEO / Day-to-Night Barbie to celebrate women becoming CEOs. In 1986, Barbie joined the list of famous individuals painted by Andy Warhol.
New York City-based venture capital firms E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co., and Drexel Burnham Lambert invested a couple of hundred million dollars in Mattel in 1984 to help the company survive. However, the Masters of the Universe action figure line sales dropped, causing a decrease in revenue in 1987.
In the late 1980s, John W. Amerman, who joined Mattel in 1980 as head of its international division, was named the company's new chairman and improved its financial performance in 1987 by focusing on core brands. It paid off as sales of Barbie dolls and accessories increased from $430 million to almost $1 billion between 1987 and 1992.
Mattel secured licensing and sponsorship rights from The Walt Disney Company for a new line of infant and preschool plush toys in 1988, to sponsor attractions and to develop and sell toys at three Disney theme parks. Mattel also negotiated the exclusive rights to sell dolls, stuffed characters and preschool toys based on Disney characters. On January 31, 1988, Mattel shut down its operations in the Philippines and shifted the distribution and sales of Mattel-branded toys and games to Richprime Global, Inc.. Mattel returned to working with Disney the following year.
In 1991, Mattel moved its headquarters from Hawthorne to its current El Segundo site, in Los Angeles County.
Uno, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Polly Pocket: 1992–2009
In 1992, Mattel created the first President Barbie, claiming that Barbie has run for president seven times since 1992 and released an all-ticket in 2016.On October 8, 1992, Mattel opened its first production factory in Indonesia at Jababeka Industrial Park, Cikarang, West Java as the west plant, and expanded by opening the new plant in 1997, as the east plant. The west plant is now the main factory of Hot Wheels 5-car pack edition, and the east plant is now the main factory of Barbie dolls.
Mattel entered the gaming business in 1992 with the purchase of International Games, creators of UNO and Skip-Bo. The company purchased Fisher-Price, Inc. on August 20, 1993, and Tyco Toys, Inc. in 1997. In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company and Swindon, England-based toymaker Bluebird Toys. In the same year, the first American Girl retail store opened for business in Chicago.
In 1997, the Fisher-Price Little People toys underwent a redesign to look more like real kids with different skin colors, added arms and hands, and greater detail on the face, hair, and clothes. Also that year, Mattel acquired View-Master, and Hot Wheels partnered with NASCAR drivers Kyle Petty and Jack Baldwin leading to the production of the first NASCAR-themed vehicles.
In 1998, Mattel donated $25 million to help rebuild UCLA's children's hospital, which was later renamed the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. Barbie was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame that year and the first Thomas & Friends theme park, Thomas Land, opened in Fujikyu Park in Japan.
Mattel purchased The Learning Company in 1999 for $3.5 billion, but sold it the following year at a loss. The company had a $430.9 million net loss that year.
Mattel earned the first grant for the Disney Princess doll license in 2000. In December 2000, Mattel sued Danish-Norwegian Europop band Aqua, claiming their song "Barbie Girl" violated the Barbie trademark and turned her into a sex object, referring to her as a "blonde bimbo". The lawsuit was rejected two years later.
In 2000, Mattel signed a deal with Warner Bros. to become the master licensee for Harry Potter branded toys. It was extended in 2002; Mattel became the master licensee for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Justice League and Looney Tunes toys for all markets except Asia.
In 2001, the first life-sized Hot Wheels car, the Twin Mill, was created. More than twenty life-sized cars were created, and all of them were inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.
American Girl launched its “Girl of the Year” campaign in 2001 to highlight dolls with contemporary stories; each doll is only available for a year.
In 2002, the company closed its last factory in the United States; the factory was originally part of Fisher-Price outsourcing production to China. The Mattel factory in China is the same as Miniso-Mattel collaborations products that are made in. A chain of events followed that led to its distribution of millions of hazardous toys, including ones contaminated with lead. On August 14, 2007, Mattel recalled over 18 million products, with Louise Story of The New York Times in close coverage. Many of the products had surface coatings that contained more than the U.S. legal limit of.06% lead by weight. Other toys were recalled because their strong, detachable magnets could endanger children. Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007. The recall included 7.1 million Polly Pocket toys produced before November 2006, 600,000 Barbie and Tanner Playsets, 1 million Doggie Daycare, Shonen Jump's One Piece and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed magnets. In 2009, Mattel paid a $2.3 million fine to the Consumer Products Safety Commission for marketing, importing, and selling non-compliant toys. Mattel was noted for its crisis response by several newspaper publications, including PRWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Fortune and Business Management.
On September 13, 2009, Mattel's ticker symbol moved from the NYSE to the NASDAQ Global Select Market.