Week 23: Toy Monster

Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel
Jerry Oppenheimer, 2009, 264 pp.

From Barbie to Hot Wheels, Mattel’s impact on Western culture was gargantuan. Yet, beneath its appeal to childhood dreams, the American toy company had a dark side, most of which Jerry Oppenheimer chronicles in his breezy reportage, Toy Monster. Though it skimps on some details that should’ve received more attention, Toy Monster is an eye-opening and informative read for anyone interested in a good story of American business.

Much of the book explores the world of Jack Ryan, who helped create the Barbie doll. With a penchant for buxom, svelte women, Ryan saw Barbie as a realization of his fantasies. Her measurements reflected his standards for the ideal woman, all of which have been rightly criticized for being unrealistic and damaging towards young women’s self-esteem. These standards also reflected Ryan’s personal life, which was nothing like Mattel’s family-friendly image: swingers’ parties, drug abuse, and plenty of philandering. Yet, Ryan wasn’t the only one at Mattel who was morally and ethically suspect. The book reveals the company had a reputation for misstating and/or inflating financial records to appeal to shareholders. This ballyhooing landed Ruth Handler, Barbie’s main creator, into hot water, as the Securities and Exchange Commission charged her with fraud.

After chronicling the lives of Barbie, Ryan, and Handler, the book details Jill Barad’s domination of the company from the mid 1990s to early 2000s. Flashy and energetic, Barad quickly climbed the corporate ladder and turned Mattel into a billion-dollar behemoth in the 90s. The bubble soon burst, however, and Mattel’s board of directors fired Barad after too many quarters of disappointing earnings. Her departure, however, came with controversy, as she took home a $50 million severance package. As well, there’s the tale of Roger Sweet, who created the Masters of the Universe toy line that caught fire in the 80s, but quickly fizzled.

The last section covers the many PR blunders Mattel faced in the 2000s: lead paint in toys, and children being poisoned by tiny magnets packaged with Polly Pocket dolls. Amidst all this, the Barbie brand faced stiff competition from the infamous Bratz dolls, which resulted in Mattel’s famous lawsuit that ended Barbie’s rival.

Toy Monster is stuffed with details, but Oppenheimer’s reportage and behind-the-scenes interviews make the history accessible and convincing. It’s not a mere re-hashing of the facts, but an example of journalism in action. Yet, there’s an elephant in the room Oppenheimer barely covers, and it’s Mattel’s overseas operations. As he notes, Mattel closed most of its factories in the US, and many of its toys are made in China, where workers receive low pay, receive almost next to no benefits, and toil in hazardous conditions. When one considers Mattel’s many blunders, this omission is even more glaring, a missed opportunity. But Toy Monster is anything but a puff piece, and it underscores the darkness underlying American ideals.