The Future of Mattel

By now, I am sure many of you have heard about the million of toys that Mattel has had to recall. The first recall was due to lead paint. The second recall was due to the magnets that were in the toys, together with more lead paint recalls. All of these toys were produced in China.

Let us look into this:
1) China: Is there a law stating that all toys have to be made in China? No, people get goods made in China because its cheaper, and then the company sells the toys for 4X the price and makes a significant profit. All companies do this. Is it smart? Only, if you have Quality control and you are truly testing the batches to test for safety and quality.

2) Lead Paint: Ok, so the toys had lead paint. Has anyone asked China where the lead paint came from? Is it a paint that Mattel gave to their manufacturers? Everyone is talking about how the toys are bad because they had lead paint. BUt doesnt anyone want to know where that lead paint came from, and what other items it is being used on? I know I want to know.

3) How many other toy companies around the world do you think have used the same Chinese company? I bet you there are a bunch. Mattel and HAsbro are the biggest toy companies, but you have other companies like MGA Entertainment and other brands, like the people who make the Wal-Mart toys, KIds something, I cant recall the name. HAs anyone checked to see if those toys were made in China too? They probably were. Who was the Chinese manufacturer? You dont know ? I dont know either, but dont you think that is something that we should know?? Lead paint can be found on jewerly as well: Claires hada recall a year ago due to lead paint. No one walks around with a lead paint detector, so its hard for us to know whats contaminated and whats not.

4) WIll this recall hurt Mattel? ABSOLUTELY!! I went to the store the other day to buy a toy. And then I put it back on the shelf because I saw that it was made by Mattel and it had a surface that was painted. Yes , toy stores are supposed to take all of the contaminated toys off of the shelves, but who is really checking to make sure that the toys get removed? Its probably the law to remove recalled items, but who is checking to ensure that the law is followed?

5) Mattel and their behavior: Speaking from personal experience, the people at Mattel can be mean. Whenever I send letters to them, they always send the letters back to me unread and in the original envelope. I guess Mattel thinks they are too good to read outside letters. Thats a shame because I have seen the toys with the magnets and I knew they could be dangerous but I didnt bother to write to Mattel because I knew that they would send the letter back to me unread. You be the judge and tell me whats easier: reading a letter from a toy lover about a potentially dangerous toy ORRRRR refusing to read letters and having to deal with a world wide recall????? Maybe Mattel needs to start reading their letters.

I think Mattel is in for a shaky ride. I wont be surprised if Mr. Eckert resigns.
Should he resign? No. But will he be forced to resign? Probably.