The Constitution still exists? I thought it was invalidated in 2008. Hmmph....

I'm just waiting for the follow-up article.

"Mother insulted by Mattel, files lawsuit for mental distress after tripping on Nitty Gritty Kitty Hotwheels car"

Mother quoted as saying "I was so mad at Mattel, I was determined to prove I understood toy cars and everything was just peachy until my son Agnew left my favorite car, the Nitty Gritty Kitty out and I slipped and fractured my pelvis. I have since retained the services of the law firm Screwem, Goode and Hart to obtain compensation for my injuries and the mental anguish I have suffered"

Mattel could not be reached for comment.

The point I'm trying to make is that I think most of us on here are not nearly as offended, or whiny, or whatever, as you generally seem to think.

If Mattel offends exactly the group they are trying to reach out to, I don't think that the problem is that the group is too easily offended. Mattel blew it on this one, plain & simple. I don't find it personally offensive. I'm not even a little bit mad about it. I think our buddy starks up there summed it up about as neatly as anyone could: a PR blunder. Just talking about that is not the same as whining, or freaking out, or whatever it is you think people are doing.

I mean, not everyone can maintain proper perspective as well as guys who go from Hot Wheels to the Constitution in a half-dozen posts.

I get that but it's hard to see that when there is rarely anything positive on this board. It's complaint after complaint. I always go to JLU as it just confounds me anyone could be in anyway mad at Mattel for this amazing line with over 200 unique characters. I don't want to open up old wounds but that is just how I see it.

It's like people are mad they didn't get figure A, or they are mad about shipping rates or that Mattel reused a part so they are going to jump at any chance they can to let Mattel have it. Hey, that is their right, if they want to go through life being pissed off cause a company did something that rubbed them the wrong way by all means, have at it. I guess I just can't get why people would spend their $$ on them when they clearly hate them. I'm not referring to you here Ed.

Case in point. I just received an email from Matty Collector and the title says "%%FIRST%%, Get Dr. Manhattan & More 3/15‏" and to be honest I'm surprised someone hasn't posted how stupid Mattel is for sending out an email like that. Is it unprofessional? Yes, but how is calling Mattel stupid any different then what this article is claiming they are doing? And trust me, I see that ALL the time here. *ahem* this thread name.

I guess I just see this as an article that the author is trying to blow out of proportion as opposed to Mattel actually trying to insult a demographic they are attempting to sell toys too. It's no wonder they work for SFGate News. They probably have a bright future ahead of them at STAR Magazine or CNN

We're not mad that we got so many characters. You're right, that would be silly. But we loved those +200 figures so much that we're mad that there are still so many show-based characters left unproduced in this amazing line and that we, the purchasers, are blamed for the bad production and distribution decisions made by Mattel and Target.

Well I guess I am more of a glass full guy but perhaps my experience was different then others regarding JLU. I did get most of the characters I wanted and Oklahoma actually was/is an easy place to get figures or if I didn't get them in the first few months of release I got them eventually. My perspective on the line or should I say toys in general is different but then again so are my expectations. When I get a toy is no big deal, now or 6 months, I don't care so distribution doesn't bother me. Even so figures weren't hard to get here so that is a plus for me. Paint apps or plastic quality doesn't really bother me either as they are just mini-statues to me but I guess if that does matter to some it could definitely make a person upset.

I would say this example sums me up. I can not STAND the Carl's Jr if it isn't all over the place it doesn't belong in your face commercials. You know what I do? I don't eat there

It also might have to do with me not really eating fast food anymore or one time years ago I was ordering a low carb burger not realizing in the picture it did not have a bun, only lettuce surrounding it (You know when the low carb stuff was in). So I take the burger back through the drive through and I'm like "See anything missing from this burger?", cashier says "nope, looks good to me." I say 'It's missing the bun." Cashier says, "Sir, it's a low carb burger, it doesn't have a bun". I drove off and enjoyed a burger w/o a bun wiser when ordering fast food

So Mattel isn't a pain in your buns because you've gone bunless?
:p

I love how I'm some sort of knee-jerk Mattel basher because I think they totally effed up this one thing. I've been defending them more than not in other threads from stupid complaints but I'm gone from an apologist to a basher in just one day. Apparently, I'm not the only person easily offended on this board.

Did anyone actually read the original article in Bloomberg Businessweek?

It's a good account of Mattel's effort to reach moms, and it's much more fair and balanced than the SFGate article.

Here's a quote from the original source:
“I’m a girly girl,” Stroud says. “So it’s kind of hard to understand how these little plastic machines can be so much fun, vs. a Barbie that you can change her clothes, cut her hair, and do whatever you want.”

And from another mom:
“If a mom understands how a toy works and what the benefits are, she’s going to go for that brand over a brand that isn’t doing that,” she says.

The article on the SFGate website was written by a mommy blogger as a response to the original article. Her blog is called The Mommy Files: A local mom's take on raising kids by the Bay.

The writer at SFGate did not bother to contact Mattel for a comment, or any mothers, for that matter. She seems to have lifted comments from an article on another website, Today Moms.

The journalists at Bloomberg Businessweek and Today Moms reached out to moms who attended the meeting with Mattel. And they interviewed someone at Mattel. The writer at SFGate did not. In fact, she did no original reporting. She lifted quotes from other sources and tossed in her opinion.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even the writer at SFGate. Here's her opinion of Mattel's approach, in case anyone missed it:

"I actually think Mattel is onto something."

Wow. Distortion on the internet?

How shocking!

I just get so amused by those that just can't wait to find some reason to bash on Mattel.

And Fone . . . ad hominum attacks? You're better than that.

It's ok Shellhead. That is what the internet is for. So people can say whatever they want without any fear of consequences from a physicality standpoint.

But, fine, I won't bring up how I hate Carls Jr ever again....geez. Fun Burglars ....

Pls! These housewives/soccer moms are the most cunning, ruthless scalpers out their. They ALWAYS get their way. I have seen so many of them sifting through 3-5 cases of hot wheels at TRU. Not only do the know about hot wheels they know which ones to scalp. They use their kids to get the store staff to give them stuff. It really is an unfair, double standard.

These toy companies are staffed by really dimwited people who practice stratagies from the dark ages. Mattel is infamous for this. Even when they have a case of 6 and 3 characters, they can't just do 2 of each in a case. They always short pack the most popular figures and over pack the least popular.