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August 21, 2008 10:40:57 PM CDT

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Stories related to: Mattel

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19 Stories

  • August 2008

    • Elvis, Priscilla Barbies Wed

      Associated Press  |  Aug 13, 08 12:17 PM CDT

      Elvis, Priscilla Barbies Wed

      (Newser) - Elvis and Priscilla Presley wedding day Barbies are the latest in King kitsch, the AP reports. The $65 boxed set, released yesterday, draws on the couple’s 1967 wedding photo—groom in paisley, bride in tiara. One fan paid $6,800 for a pair of dolls signed by Priscilla, while others waited at Graceland overnight to fete the mannequins with wedding cake. More »

      Tags

      Mattel  • Elvis Presley  • Memphis  • Barbie  • Graceland  • fashion dolls

  • July 2008

    • Facebook Y-A-N-K-S Scrabulous

      PC Magazine  |  Jul 29, 08 10:52 AM CDT

      Facebook Y-A-N-K-S Scrabulous

      (Newser) - Facebook took down the wildly popular ‘Scrabulous’ this morning, PC Magazine reports, following a legal attack against the game's creators by the rights holders of Scrabble. The site finally folded to pressure after receiving a takedown notice from Hasbro, as well as Mattel, which owns international rights to the original Scrabble. More »

      Tags

      Facebook  • Mattel  • Hasbro  • Scrabble  • Scrabulous

    • Barbie Beats Bratz in Court Battle

      Wall Street Journal  |  Jul 18, 08 2:43 AM CDT

      Barbie Beats Bratz in Court Battle

      (Newser) - Barbie doll creator Mattel has won a bitter courtroom battle against rival MGA Entertainment, which sells the edgier Bratz dolls. A jury found that Bratz designer Carter Byant conceived the pouty-lipped dolls while on Mattel's payroll, and that MGA secretly plotted with him to steal the billion-dollar idea, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

      Tags

      Mattel  • Barbie  • Robert Eckert  • fashion dolls

  • March 2008

    • Sellers, Fans at Odds Over Scrabulous

      New York Times  |  Mar 2, 08 4:10 PM CST

      Sellers, Fans at Odds Over Scrabulous

      (Newser) - Scrabble knock-off Scrabulous is a hit online, but sellers of the original board game have cried piracy and may take their claim to court, the New York Times reports. Tens of thousands of Scrabulous players have threatened to boycott Hasbro and Mattel if they shut down the Facebook-friendly game, which was invented by two brothers in Calcutta—and has given Scrabble an unexpected popularity surge. More »

      Tags

      Facebook  • social networking  • boycott  • Mattel  • Hasbro  • Scrabble  • Scrabulous  • board games

  • November 2007

    • Hasbro Talks Tough on Safety

      Associated Press  |  Nov 30, 07 7:00 PM CST

      Hasbro Talks Tough on Safety

      (Newser) - Hasbro is talking up its safety record by reminding parents it had nothing to do with recent safety recalls: A newspaper ad set to run next week will say consumers should feel good about buying Hasbro products, the AP reports. Experts say it could help the entire industry but warn it probably won’t affect Christmas gift choices and could even be tempting fate. More »

      Tags

      Mattel  • lead tainted toys  • Hasbro  • date rape drugs

    • Calif. Sues Toy Firms Over Lead

      Los Angeles Times  |  Nov 20, 07 3:09 PM CST

      Calif. Sues Toy Firms Over Lead

      (Newser) - California filed suit yesterday against Mattel, Toys R Us, and 18 other companies, accusing them of making or selling products that contain "unlawful quantities of lead," reports the LA Times. The suit, which follows major recalls of toys during the last year, aims to force manufacturers and retailers to inspect products and ensure they're lead-free, or warn consumers. More »

      Tags

      California  • Mattel  • lead tainted toys  • lead poisoning  • Chinese toys  • Toys 'R' Us  • Made in China  • Jerry Brown

    • Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

      Globe and Mail  |  Nov 13, 07 6:13 PM CST

      Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

      (Newser) - Don't blame China for soaring toy recalls, a new Canuck study says; the problem is design. "If you are going to get into a finger-pointing game, you should point it mostly on the design side," said a Canadian prof. "It has got nothing to do with China." Recalls of toys made elsewhere actually spiked higher than Chinese-made products, the Globe & Mail reports. More »

      Tags

      China  • business  • manufacturing  • Mattel  • toy recalls

  • October 2007

    • Buyer, Beware of Recalled Goods on EBay

      Associated Press  |  Oct 3, 07 12:03 PM CDT

      Buyer, Beware of Recalled Goods on EBay

      (Newser) - After the recent recall of 21 million toys, eBay has cautioned its shoppers about buying tainted goods—and warned sellers of them they may be kicked off the site. The internet phenom says it’s unable to police all items in its marketplace, but will be providing tip sheets and links to a recall database. Indeed, eBay has little legal liability, AP reports. More »

      Tags

      eBay  • online auction  • Mattel  • toy recalls  • watchdog  • Thomas and Friends

  • September 2007

    • Recalls Our Fault, Mattel Tells China

      Associated Press  |  Sep 21, 07 7:30 AM CDT

      Recalls Our Fault, Mattel Tells China

      (Newser) - The fallout from Mattel's recall of Chinese-made products took a bizarre turn today as the toy company apologized to Beijing and took the blame for design flaws in lead-tainted toys, AP reports. In a meeting with China's top product safety chief, a Mattel VP called the recalls "overly inclusive" and apologized for hurting "the reputation of Chinese manufacturers." More »

      Tags

      China  • Mattel  • toy recalls  • lead tainted toys

    • Prices in Toyland Are Going Up

      Associated Press  |  Sep 14, 07 7:04 AM CDT

      Prices in Toyland Are Going Up

      (Newser) - Toyland is about to become a more expensive place, as price hikes of 10% or more kick in to pay for heightened vigilance by toy makers following the recall of millions of lead-tainted and otherwise unsafe playthings imported from China. The added costs, which  won't kick in until after Christmas, will pay for independent lab testing which American manufacturers and retailers are scrambling to put in place. More »

      Tags

      China  • Wal-Mart  • Disney  • recall  • toys  • Mattel  • lead  • price  • Barbie  • Toys 'R' Us

    • Toymakers Play Games With Regulations

      Slate  |  Sep 12, 07 12:01 PM CDT

      Toymakers Play Games With Regulations

      (Newser) - The toy industry’s new safety-testing push may succeed in rebuilding trust, but it’s likely to leave dangerous ways unchecked—and the big guys know it, argues Slate’s E. Marla Felcher. The current scandals are matters of enforcement, not of the regulations themselves, but the new call for third-party testing looks, superficially, like a step forward. More »

      Tags

      Christmas  • toys  • recall  • Mattel  • toy recalls  • product safety  • lead

    • China Agrees to End Lead Toy Imports

      CNN  |  Sep 11, 07 2:10 PM CDT

      China Agrees to End Lead Toy Imports

      (Newser) - After three recalls by Mattel and growing nail-biting among parents, Chinese officials have signed an agreement with Washington to stop using lead paint in imported toys, CNNMoney reports. Although the US outlawed sales of lead-painted toys in 1978, Chinese-made products containing the hazardous metal continue to seep into the market. Today's announcement signaled China's desire to preserve its market presence in America. More »

      Tags

      China  • toys  • recall  • Mattel  • toy recalls  • lead

    • Mattel Plans 3rd Recall of Toys Made in China

      Wall Street Journal  |  Sep 4, 07 7:58 PM CDT

      Mattel Plans 3rd Recall of Toys Made in China

      (Newser) - Barbie accessories will be reined in by the hundreds of thousands by Mattel, which plans to recall another three quarters of a million Chinese-made toys due to dangerously high lead paint levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company's third recall this summer will also affect about 100,000 “GeoTrax” train toys and musical instruments for preschool children. More »

      Tags

      China  • recall  • Mattel  • product safety  • Barbie  • Walt Disney

    • Mattel Battles US Over Recalls

      Wall Street Journal  |  Sep 4, 07 4:07 AM CDT

      Mattel Battles US Over Recalls

      (Newser) - Toymaker Mattel has clashed with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission over the timely reporting of the defects that led to massive toy recalls last month. Mattel spent months conducting its own investigation of defects in a number of products, including 18 million playsets which contained dangerous magnets, before informing the commission, reports the Wall Street Journal . More »

      Tags

      recall  • Mattel  • Hasbro  • Robert Eckert

  • August 2007

    • China Finds Worms, Low Standards in US Goods

      Reuters  |  Aug 31, 07 5:35 PM CDT

      China Finds Worms, Low Standards in US Goods

      (Newser) - China got off the latest shot in the war over substandard imports, reporting today it had found tiny worms in wooden packaging and substandard vitamins and children’s fish oil imported from the US. Simultaneously, China unveiled a wide-ranging recall system for its own exports that requires manufacturers to stop production and sales when defects are discovered, Reuters reports. More »

      Tags

      China  • exports  • recall  • Mattel  • imports  • international trade  • quality control

    • Mattel Gets Tough on Chinese Suppliers

      New York Times  |  Aug 29, 07 11:57 AM CDT

      Mattel Gets Tough on Chinese Suppliers

      (Newser) - The first batch of lead-tainted toys it had to recall, Mattel wrote off as an isolated incident—"a single vendor who made a big mistake.” But when it came to recalling 1.5 million unsafe Barbie dolls, Sarge jeeps and other toys made in China, the company knew its relationships with Chinese contractors would have to be overhauled, the New York Times reports.  More »

      Tags

      China  • recall  • Mattel  • consumer safety  • product recall  • manufacturer

    • Mattel Recalls 18M More Toys Made in China

      Wall Street Journal  |  Aug 14, 07 10:45 AM CDT

      Mattel Recalls 18M More Toys Made in China

      (Newser) - Mattel today announced a second, much bigger recall of Chinese-made toys that may be hazardous: 18 million of them worldwide, and 9 million in the US. The recalled items  include play sets containing magnets that can be dangerous when swallowed and die-cast cars that contain lead paint. The play sets include Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cars include Sarge military jeeps. More »

      Tags

      China  • safety  • recall  • toys  • Mattel  • tainted  • toxic

    • Chinese Toy Exec Commits Suicide After Recall

      Washington Post  |  Aug 13, 07 7:59 AM CDT

      Chinese Toy Exec Commits Suicide After Recall

      (Newser) - The head of a Chinese company that made a million of the lead-tainted toys recalled by Mattel last month hanged himself in his warehouse this weekend. Zhang Shuhong's  suicide followed the announcement Thursday that China banned exports from his company because of the defects. Colleagues reported that Zhang had been sold the tainted paint by his best friend. More »

      Tags

      China  • suicide  • exports  • recall  • toys  • Mattel  • Chinese toys  • tainted  • Fisher Price

    • Mattel Recalls 1.5M Toys Made in China

      Bloomberg  |  Aug 2, 07 5:47 AM CDT

      Mattel Recalls 1.5M Toys Made in China

      (Newser) - Mattel is recalling some 1.5 million Chinese-made toys found to have "excessive levels" of lead in their paint. The Elmo's Guitar, Ernie Splashin' Fun Trike and 81 other  types of toys, mostly Nickelodean and Sesame Street products, were marketed under Mattel's Fisher-Price brand and cost between $5 and $40, Bloomberg reports. More »

      Tags

      China  • consumer  • toys  • recall  • Mattel  • product safety  • Fisher Price

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