History Creator / Mattel

Mattel once had a subsidary website, [[https://www.mattycollector.com/store/matty/DisplayHomeOffersPage#.UnLn1yfqiSo MattyCollector.com]], which sold to adult collectors. The site offered new versions of ''Masters of the Universe'' characters, as well as DC heroes not available at retail. They also had the ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' license for a while, and added ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' to the roster in 2015. It closed in December 2016 with a clearance sale, and Mattel ended all of their specialty collector lines. Remaining stock has been shifted to their own online shop, their Website/EBay store and their UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} online store, with the ''Masters of the Universe Classics'' line passed onto boutique toy company [=Super7=] until Mattel reclaimed the rights.

** ''WesternAnimation/LittlePeople''

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Elemental}}''

*** ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed''

* ''Franchise/DisneyLiveActionRemakes''

* ''Toys/AngelBunny'' (short-lived toy range that ran from 1984-1985, has nothing to do with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Fluttershy's pet rabbit]]).

* ''Franchise/TeenTrends''

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''

** ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/ComputerWarriors''

Mattel was also one of the first toy makers to get involved in other parts of the entertainment industry. As far back as 1959, it was the sole sponsor of ''Matty's Funday Funnies'', which brought the shorts featuring Creator/HarveyComics characters to television.[[note]]A later version of the show introduced ''WesternAnimation/BeanyAndCecil''.[[/note]] It then pioneered the concept of MerchandiseDriven AnimatedShows with a 1969 SaturdayMorningCartoon based on the pre-existing ''WesternAnimation/HotWheels'' line. The show got in trouble when Mattel's corporate rivals complained to the FCC, proving that the world wasn't quite ready for half-hour toy commercials--yet. However, by TheEighties, times had changed. Mattel spun off a successful action figure line into ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''; the result was a smash hit that not only retains a loyal fandom decades later, but spawned a whole genre of toy-based cartoons that continues today. The company also had a profitable licensing deal with Creator/DCComics, and was Creator/{{Disney}}'s preferred toy partner for many years.

* ''WesternAnimation/KarmasWorld''

* ''Pictionary'' (board game; acquired from Hasbro)

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}''

Of note is that Mattel also had a chance to produce ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' action figures and even created prototypes, only to lose the license when Creator/ToddMcFarlane wasn't satisfied with them decided to start his own toy company. Similarly, in the early 1980s Mattel was contacted to create toys for ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', only to pass when they saw how violent the film was. They were also working on ''MOTU'' at the time, which led to a lawsuit claiming that ''MOTU'' was a direct ripoff of ''Conan''--a case that Mattel eventually won when the judge ruled the properties were only similar in BroadStrokes. (Remco eventually made figures for the ''Conan'' movie.)

Mattel once had a subsidary website, [[https://www.mattycollector.com/store/matty/DisplayHomeOffersPage#.UnLn1yfqiSo MattyCollector.com]], which sold to adult collectors. The site offered new versions of ''Masters of the Universe'' characters, as well as DC heroes not available at retail. They also had the ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' license for a while, and added ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' to the roster in 2015. It closed in December 2016 with a clearance sale, and Mattel ended all of their specialty collector lines. Remaining stock has been shifted to their own online shop, their Website/EBay store and their UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} online store, with the ''Masters of the Universe Classics'' line passed onto boutique toy company [=Super7=].

Creator/GeorgeLucas approached Mattel to produce ''Franchise/StarWars'' toys when [[Film/ANewHope the first film]] was in production. They turned it down, as like many in the industry, expressed little faith in the film being a success. Ahem... Creator/{{Kenner}} obtained that license instead and Mattel ultimately regretted the decision. They attempted to cash in on the success with their own ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' toys but they did not prove to be anywhere near as popular. One reason behind the creation of ''Masters of the Universe'' was due to Mattel's experiences with licensed toy properties, feeling they could ultimately invest less money and avoid licensing fees with their own brand. This proved successful as the ''Masters'' brand lasted for several years, and Mattel would later achieve similar success with the original ''Monster High'' brand.

* ''Toys/AngelBunny'' (short-lived toy range that ran from 1984-1985, [[NamesTheSame has nothing to do]] with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Fluttershy's pet rabbit]]).

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/logo-mattel_5403.jpg]]

* ''Fuhu inc.'' (maker of the Nabi line of childrens and family-oriented tablets).

* ''Toys/HotWheels''

** ''WetsernAnimation/{{Soul}}''

Formed in 1945, [[http://mattel.com Mattel]] is the world's largest toy company. It owns some of the most popular and [[LongRunners longest-running]] franchises in the industry, most notably ''Literature/AmericanGirl'', ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'', ''Creator/FisherPrice'', ''Toys/HotWheels'', ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'', ''Toys/MonsterHigh'', and ''Franchise/SeeNSay''.

Mattel once had a subsidary website, [[http://www.mattycollector.com/store/matty/DisplayHomeOffersPage#.UnLn1yfqiSo MattyCollector.com]], which sold to adult collectors. The site offered new versions of ''Masters of the Universe'' characters, as well as DC heroes not available at retail. They also had the ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' license for a while, and added ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' to the roster in 2015. It closed in December 2016 with a clearance sale, and Mattel ended all of their specialty collector lines. Remaining stock has been shifted to their own online shop, their Website/EBay store and their UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} online store, with the ''Masters of the Universe Classics'' line passed onto boutique toy company [=Super7=].

In 2006, Mattel attempted to re-enter the console market with the UsefulNotes/{{Hyperscan}}. However, it had a questionable CPU and GPU (an off-brand [=SoC=] from Sunplus, a notoriously shady semiconductor company, with an equally obscure architecture called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%2Bcore S+Core]][[note]]Sunplus is notorious for not disclosing details about their architectures, besides violating the GPL when they made a jerry-rigged fork of GCC with support for their [=CPUs=].[[/note]]). The RAM- 16MB of it- was in line with other sixth generation consoles like the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast and UsefulNotes/PlayStation2. But by then the industry had shifted to the ''seventh generation''. This left it severely underpowered and at a disadvantage- which, ironically, was the very same problem that plagued the Intellivision. Also, the selection of games was small, and they tended to be poorly programmed and have LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading (not helped by the fact that they sourced a really slow CD drive), which did not sit well with both the target and periphery demographic. All these problems led Mattel to call the Hyperscan a flop and leave the market again the next year.

For a period between 1998 and 2001, Mattel actually owned the Creator/TheLearningCompany (and by extension, Creator/BroderbundSoftware), which they rebranded into Mattel Interactive. The division ran at a loss and was quickly resold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. To date, this acquisition is often quoted as Mattel's worst move.

Formed in 1945, Mattel is the world's largest toy company. It owns some of the most popular and [[LongRunners longest-running]] franchises in the industry, most notably ''Literature/AmericanGirl'', ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'', ''Creator/FisherPrice'', ''Toys/HotWheels'', ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse'', ''Toys/MonsterHigh'', and ''Franchise/SeeNSay''.