Fuming parents say Mommy doll utters 'Islam is the light'
Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 25, 08 4:31 PM CDT
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Mattel’s Little Mommy Cuddle ‘n Coo doll comes complete with a rattle, pacifier, bottle, and Islamic propaganda—or so say some angry parents. Customers are barraging the toymaker with complaints that the doll says “Islam is the light," the Daily Telegraph reports. Noting “the power of suggestion,” Mattel denies the claims, insisting Little Mommy is only programmed to say “mama.”
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Associated Press Aug 26, 08 6:39 PM CDT
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Barbie will get $100 million from her saucier cousins, the Bratz dolls, for copyright infringement, the AP reports. A federal jury ordered Bratz maker MGA to pay Mattel the sum, but it did not award punitive damages and gave Mattel only a fraction of what it sought. Last month, the jury sided with Mattel in deciding that the Bratz designer concocted the idea while working at the larger company.
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Graceland signs off on Mattel collectibles
Associated Press Aug 13, 08 12:17 PM CDT
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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.
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Popular Scrabble clone unable to withstand legal pressure
PC Magazine Jul 29, 08 10:52 AM CDT
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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.
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Jury finds designer invented Bratz dolls on Mattel payroll
Wall Street Journal Jul 18, 08 2:43 AM CDT
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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.
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Companies debate legal action as 700K play online knock-off daily
New York Times Mar 2, 08 4:10 PM CST
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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.
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Public letter will distance company from lead scandals
Associated Press Nov 30, 07 7:00 PM CST
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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.
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State attorney general's action targets Mattel, other toy companies
Los Angeles Times Nov 20, 07 3:09 PM CST
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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.
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75% stem from
design flaws, not manufacturing
Globe and Mail Nov 13, 07 6:13 PM CST
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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.
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Online auction
stalwart warns users
to screen carefully
Associated Press Oct 3, 07 12:03 PM CDT
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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.
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Toy company admits
it bungled designs, recalled too many toys
Associated Press Sep 21, 07 7:30 AM CDT
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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."
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Consumers will pay for testing toys
Associated Press Sep 14, 07 7:04 AM CDT
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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.
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Call for more safety testing a cynical move, Slate critic contends
Slate Sep 12, 07 12:01 PM CDT
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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.
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After third Mattel recall, Beijing seeks to end fallout
CNN Sep 11, 07 2:10 PM CDT
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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.
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Will affect about 675,000 Barbie accessories
Wall Street Journal Sep 4, 07 7:58 PM CDT
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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 dangerou