Mattel was founded in 1945 by Ruth and Elliot Handler. Until 1959, Mattel was known for the simple and conventional toys that they produced. All this changed with the success of the Barbie Doll (which Ruth designed from the Bild Lily and released in 1959...Anne Ryan, daughter of Jack Ryan recently emailed me..."I am writing to you because I am the daughter of Jack Ryan, creator of the Barbie Doll. Yes, it was he who created her and not Ruth Handler...this has only been a recent claim of hers (i.e. since my father died in 1991). Anyway, I'm just trying to set the record straight...after all, I grew up with Barbie." Her claim seems legitimate so I've included it here although I have no personal preference and believe that the resultant doll is of the upmost importance. - John). From this point on, and with the help of the enormous income from the Barbie, Mattel developed cutting-edge toys with the help of master electronic engineer Jack Ryan (who headed a large Research and Development staff). Ryan brought the pull-string, talking voice boxes for Mattel's dolls to the company. Mattel was the first toy company to take full advantage of modern technology in the Sixties. This combined with Mattel's willingness to take risks with greater technology, has kept the company in business as the only remaining survivor of the "Big Four" toy giants (Marx, Ideal, Mattel and Remco) that dominated in the 60's.

Mattel produced several toys during the 60's that Baby Boomers have fond memories of: Major Matt Mason, Hot Wheels, Hot Birds, Barbie doll, Thingmaker sets, Incredible Edibles, Liddle Kiddles, Secret Agent Zero-M guns, Switch 'N Go race sets, See 'N Say, and talking pull-string puppets and dolls. In the 70's Mattel distributed several Japanese toys as the Shogun Warriors on the US and European markets (while most other 70's toy lines lacked luster the Shogun Warriors were received with much success). Today, Mattel makes over 75% of its income from the Barbie line of dolls and accessories. Thus far Mattel has offered information only on their CD-rom & electronic products on the web under the Mattel Media heading, and separate sites for Hot Wheels and Barbie. For more information on Mattel Media, please go to their web page.

Mattel now has subsidiaries in most european countries/regions. It's entry on the european market in the mid-60's was initially through local importers (JR, Ebiex, EG) orchestrated by Mattel International SA. In quite a few cases, a local organisation would follow within one or two years, sometimes at the same address as the previous importer. For example, Mattel GmbH was established in Germany in 1967, Mattel Benelux replaced Ebiex in Belgium around 1969 and Mattel SpA took over from EG around 1968/69 in Italy. The precise relationship with the english Rosebud Mattel remains a mystery at present (Mattel UK was founded in 1976). In some cases however, Mattel reverted to using importers in the 70's, before setting up the current subsidiaries again in later years. For example, while the current Mattel GmbH has remained the same company since 1967, the current Mattel Benelux (in Holland) is apparently a new company different from the Mattel Benelux of the late 60's (in Brussels, Belgium), with a dutch importer being used in between.

I am constantly fielding requests for Mattel information. This is what I have (information accumulated by Trip Mills who had, for vintage Mattel fans, a phenominal Vertibird Page!...what happened to the page, Trip?):

Here's what I (we) have:

Mattel Inc's main presence on the internet. Deals with their current line of toys. It has links to all their current product lines

(800) 524-8697 is a toll free number for Mattel Inc. in the US
(800) 665-6288 is a toll free number for Mattel Inc. in Canada

I've recently been contacted by a representative of Mattel and was given the following Contact Page from their website. Please refer to this page for more information: Mattel Contact Page

Here are some address and Phone numbers for Mattel Inc. I've never checked any of them so your guess is as good as mine as to their validity...

Mattel Toys Inc 1333 30th St, San Diego, CA 92154 (619) 575-4470	This address is for retail all others are mfg.
Mattel Inc 333 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245 This seems to be the best #. (310) 252-2000	Mattel Inc 1584 Barclay Blvd, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 (847) 537-0600
Mattel Incorporated 333 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245 Number out of service. (310) 524-2000	Mattel Incorporated 333 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245 (213) 524-4600
Mattel Sales Corp 333 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 978-5150	Mattel Toys 333 Continental Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245 Number out of service. (310) 524-2371