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Mattel, Inc., is a toy company that produces many things, including Barbie dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. It was started in 1945 by founders Elliot Handler and Harold "Matt" Matson (hence the name 'matt-el'). Elliott Handler's wife Ruth Handler would later become president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959.The company originally produced picture frames and dollhouse accessories from picture frame scraps. With the success of their dollhouse accessories, the company turned its attention to toys. The company became publicly owned in 1960.
Both the Barbie and Ken dolls are named after the Handler children.
An independent audit of Mattel, released on November 3, 1975, revealed that company officials had fabricated press releases and financial information to "maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth." In 1999, the ill-advised purchase of a major software publisher for billions of dollars led to the CEO being ousted, see Brøderbund.
Mattel serves as the parent company for American Girl (formerly Pleasant Company ) and Fisher-Price.
Consoles:
Toys:
- Barbie and Ken dollA doll is a model of a human (often a baby), a humanoid (like Bert and Ernie), an animal or a fictional character (like a Troll or a Smurf), usually made of cloth or plastic. Sometimes, intended as keepsakes or collections for older children and adults, is
- Hot WheelsHot Wheels is a popular brand of toy automobile, introduced by U. toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to that brand as well. Most Hot Wheels cars measure about 2 1/2 inches in length,
- See 'n Say
- Masters of the Universe action figureAn action figure is a posable plastic figurine of an action hero, superhero or a character from a movie or television program. These dolls usually are marketed as merchandise intended for boys. Action figures are useful in making stop motion movies whichs
- MatchboxMatchbox is a die cast cars and airplanes trademark started in 1952 by the British Lesney Toys company. The name was once widely used by the public as a generic name for all die cast toy cars measuring approximately 2. 5 inches (6. 5 cm) in length, regard
- PopplesPopples were characters in a Saturday morning cartoon by the same name that aired in the United States from 1985 to 1987. The 30-minute show was based on a series of toys created by American Greeting Cards and Mattel. Popples resemble brightly colored ted plush toysA stuffed animal describes a toy animal stuffed with straw, beans, cotton, and other similar materials. Some stuffed animals are very old home made cloth dolls stuffed with straw go back to at least the 1830s, perhaps much older. Stuffed animals in the pa
External links
Toy companies of the United States
