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Lead, toys, and irony: Amazon.com pulls Fisher Price toy medical kit

Sarah Gilbert — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:55:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Amazon.com (AMZN), Mattel, Inc (MAT)

Is it time to start selling your Mattel, Inc., (NYSE: MAT) stock? In Yet Another incidence of Fisher Price toys being tainted (figuratively and literally) with lead, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has pulled the Fisher Price Medical Kit from its web site after a Consumer Reports article that questioned the lead content in the kit's toy blood pressure cuff. Mattel has insisted that children can play doctor safely because the toy "meets the requirements set forth in the federal regulations and international consumer product safety standards, including the existing standards for lead content." Note Mattel did not claim that the toy was free from lead.

As I've mentioned before, these toy recalls have lead (har!) me to the conclusion that it's just not worth buying plastic toys for my children any more. I've been flipping through the Nova Natural catalog to plan for holiday buying and regularly carting off boxes of my boys' plastic toys to Goodwill.

Judging by the excitement over leaked Black Friday ads, it seems as if I'm a rarity. This news does bring out a couple of questions, however:

Will we soon start seeing vigilante recalls like this one from Amazon.com as retailers work to minimize their risk in toy recalls?
Does it cost enough to effect a recall that it might make sense to anger a major supplier like Mattel?
Isn't this recall just a little bit too ironic? My blood pressure is rising, too!

Answers would be appreciated; though of course my biggest question will remain unanswered for some time, ergo, how long will consumers continue to put up with unsafe products?

Lead, toys, and irony: Amazon.com pulls Fisher Price toy medical kit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barbie takes a beating: Mattel's 1Q earnings

Victoria Erhart — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Bad News, Press Releases, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Mattel, Inc (MAT)

Toy giant Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) released better 1Q 2007 earnings, but the company is still headed in the wrong direction because Barbie is losing her luster.

The good news is that sales revenue was$940.3 million, up 19% from 1Q 2006. Operating income was actually income for the quarter, totaling $20.6 million, compared with an operating loss of $32 million in 1Q 2006. The bad news is that net profit for the quarter fell 60% to $12 million. Much of the decline is explained by a $57 million tax benefit in 1Q 2006. Mattel showed a profit of $0.03 per share for 1Q 2007, compared to $0.08 per share in 1Q 2006, a 62.5 % decrease.

U.S. total sales were up 10% for the quarter, 29% worldwide. Much of this increase was driven by toys for the pre-school market. Fisher-Price toy sales increased 27%. Sales of Hot Wheels (mainly for boys) increased 15%.

Unfortunately, Barbie sales account for 20% of total company sales, and 30% of total company profits. Barbie revenue plunged 21% in the U.S. and increased just 2% worldwide. To counteract this development, Mattel will launch BarbieGirls.com on April 26th, a worldwide social networking site for all things Barbie. Mattel is hoping to build an online community where girls (and boys) can chat and design customized Barbie adventures. Mattel will also bring out Island Princess Barbie later this year.

Prices of toys manufactured in China, 80% of the total toy manufacturing market, have increased along with the price of raw materials. Mattel is betting heavily that youth electronics will offer larger growth prospects rather than dolls, actions figures and board games.

Barbie takes a beating: Mattel's 1Q earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mattel tickled as Elmo wins Toy of the Year

Tom Barlow — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Products and Services, Mattel, Inc (MAT)

Thanks to our sister blog BloggingBaby for the heads-up on this year's Toy of the Year (TOTY) Awards. Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT), through its subsidiary Fisher-Price, once again showed the value of its toy lineup by gathering several key awards.

Top winner of the Toy Industry Association awards was, as you might guess, T.M.X. Elmo, the gotta-have-it can't-find-it hit of the past Christmas season. Elmo won the top prize as Overall Toy of the Year as well as Infant/Preschool Toy of the Year. When asked for comment, Elmo was not able to stop giggling long enough to express his delight.

The company also won the Electronic Entertainment Toy of the Year for its Kid-Tough Digital Camera.

As Beth Moon Gaston told us in an earlier blog, the continued popularity of Barbie has also contributed to an upgrade of Mattel by Lehman Brothers Holdings. Mattel hit a 52-week high today at $27.47 before closing at $26.90.

In researching this story, I ran across some interesting tidbits about Barbie you may not know. According to the official Mattel backstory, her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, daughter of George and Margaret Roberts of Willows, WI. She attended Manhattan International High School. Her long-time arm candy's full name is Ken Carson. She has had 38 pets, including a panda, lion cub and zebra. In addition to her profession of flight attendant, Barbie also holds a pilot's license and flies commercial airliners.

Perhaps we'll see her in the cockpit at JetBlue. They could use her charm.

Mattel tickled as Elmo wins Toy of the Year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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