Mattel

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Designers Behind Barbie, Madonna Dolls Die in Car Crash

Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi of Magia2000 are honored for their artistry, charity work

(Newser) - Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, the creative force behind the Magia2000 designer doll brand—and well known for their custom Barbie and Madonna tribute dolls—were killed in a wrong-way car crash in northern Italy over the weekend. Local reports say a driver entered a road going the wrong...

Behold, Barbie With Type 1 Diabetes
Newest Barbie
Has Type 1
Diabetes
Jul 9, 2025 9:05 AM CDT

Newest Barbie Has Type 1 Diabetes

She comes with her own glucose monitor and insulin pump

(Newser) - Rather than the impossibly perfect Barbie of yore, Mattel's latest iteration of the doll comes with an outwardly visible disease that reflects the reality of hundreds of thousands of kids: type 1 diabetes. As People reports, the toymaker collaborated with Breakthrough T1D, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research...

Struggling With Tariffs, Mattel Agrees Prices Are Going Up

Trump has made dolls the face of Americans' trade war sacrifice

(Newser) - Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars, and other iconic toys, said Monday that it will raise prices for some products sold in the US—one of the steps it's taking to deal with President Trump's tariffs. The California company said the price increases are...

LeBron James Breaks Ground for Mattel
LeBron James
Becomes a Ken
Apr 9, 2025 6:10 PM CDT

LeBron James Becomes a Ken

Basketball star is Mattel's first Kenbassador

(Newser) - LeBron James is being honored with a series of firsts off the court that include a new title. Mattel has made the basketball star its first Kenbassador, a position that comes with his own doll. James is the first professional male athlete to be so honored. Mattel released a...

Mattel Sued Over X-Rated Misprint on Doll Packaging

URL on Wicked dolls just said 'wicked,' not 'wickedmovie,' which was a big problem

(Newser) - A South Carolina mom is suing Mattel over its very, very adult misprint on packaging for Wicked toys. Holly Ricketson says she purchased one of the dolls for her daughter, who visited the adult entertainment website that was accidentally printed on the box, Variety reports. She says her daughter immediately...

'Doomed to Fail': CPSC Not Happy With Fisher-Price Swing Recall

2M+ 'Snuga Swings' linked to death of 5 infants

(Newser) - Fisher-Price is recalling parts of over 2 million infant swings across the US, Canada, and Mexico due to a serious suffocation risk, following reports of five infant deaths. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that all models of Fisher-Price's Snuga Swings should never be used for sleep or...

Suit: Barbie Maker Reneged on Promise of Big Donation

UCLA Foundation says Mattel should pay the full $49M that was pledged

(Newser) - The UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital bears the name of the company that donated $25 million to support the hospital's construction in 1998. But Mattel and the UCLA Foundation are now at odds over what the latter claims is the toymaker's decision to renege on a much larger...

Kate McKinnon's 'Weird Barbie' Now a Real Barbie

Mattel releases doll based on comedian's movie character

(Newser) - In the wildly popular Barbie movie , Kate McKinnon plays "Weird Barbie," a version of the doll that has been played with, as Mattel puts it , "just a liiiiittle too much." With her crooked hacked-off haircut, marker doodles on her face, and paint on her dress, McKinnon'...

Want $278 an Hour to Play Games? Mattel Has an Offer

Mattel is hiring a Chief UNO Player to hawk latest iteration of the game

(Newser) - Mattel seems to be having a bit of a moment , so why not extend it? As CNBC reports, the maker of all things games, toys, and you know, Barbie, is offering up a pretty cush job to plug its latest iteration of the card game UNO. The game is UNO...

Greta Gerwig's '113-Minute Love Letter to Barbie'


Greta Gerwig's
'113-Minute
Love Letter
to Barbie'
LONGFORM
Jul 16, 2023 8:55 AM CDT

Greta Gerwig's '113-Minute Love Letter to Barbie'

Willa Paskin takes a deep dive into the director's complicated tribute to the iconic Mattel doll

(Newser) - Greta Gerwig has wondered more than once why Mattel, Warner Bros., and the producers of her upcoming Barbie movie gave her free rein to put her unusual live-action spin on the iconic doll. In her piece on the 39-year-old director for the New York Times , Willa Paskin notes that "...

Latest Barbie Doll Has Down Syndrome
New Barbie Doll Is a 'Huge
Step Forward for Inclusion'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 29, 2023 4:05 PM CDT

New Barbie Doll Is a 'Huge Step Forward for Inclusion'

'Fashionistas' addition has Down syndrome

(Newser) - Mattel has unveiled the latest addition to its Fashionista line of diverse Barbie dolls—a Barbie with Down Syndrome. The company says it worked closely with the National Down Syndrome Society to create an accurate depiction of a person with the genetic condition, CNN reports. The doll has a body...

Barney (Yes, the Giant Purple Dinosaur) Is Back

But he'll be animated this time

(Newser) - Barney, the giant purple dinosaur whose iconic show launched the careers of Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and others , is getting the comeback you likely figured was inevitable. Mattel, the toy company behind Barney, is relaunching the franchise that started with Barney & Friends, a live-action kids' show that had a...

Mattel Isn't Happy With 'Barbie-Que' Chips

Toy maker sues Rap Snacks and alleges trademark infringement

(Newser) - Nicki Minaj has long described herself as "Barbie." The rapper has released songs including "Barbie Dreams" and "Barbie Tingz," and her fans are known as the "Barbz." But the rapper's association with the iconic doll has finally ruffled the feathers of Barbie...

Laverne Cox Now Has Her Own Barbie
Laverne Cox Now
Has Her Own Barbie
May 27, 2022 4:14 AM CDT

Laverne Cox Now Has Her Own Barbie

She hopes 'kids of all gender identities can look at this Barbie and dream'

(Newser) - Laverne Cox says that as a child, she was shamed for wanting a Barbie. Now, just ahead of her 50th birthday, one has been made in her likeness—a first for a transgender woman. Mattel worked closely with the trans activist and Orange Is the New Black star on the...

Grown-Ups Can Now Use This Fisher-Price Classic

Company's working adult version of toddler toy uses Bluetooth to connect to your own smartphone

(Newser) - Bridget Carey says she's "broken inside from working at home way too long" (we hear that), but a recent addition to her home office has her newly perked up: an adult version of Fisher-Price's Chatter Telephone , the pull toy for toddlers you may remember from your childhood...

Mattel's Naomi Osaka Barbie Sells Out in Hours

Tennis star has a doll in her likeness

(Newser) - Tennis star Naomi Osaka was one of 20 or so "Sheros"—read: female heroes—gifted a Barbie doll in their own likeness in 2019 . The public was apparently eager for a Barbie of the world's highest-paid female athlete, too, as a new doll of Osaka sold out...

Fisher-Price Didn't Heed Rock 'n Play Warnings. 50 Babies Died

New report comes to damning conclusion on inclined sleeper

(Newser) - On the heels of the latest Fisher-Price recall comes a damning report from a congressional oversight committee about the company's 2019 recall of the Rock 'n Play Sleeper . Fisher-Price and parent company Mattel ignored multiple warnings that the product was dangerous, the Committee on Oversight and Reform found...

Barbie Sales Are Way Up Thanks to Pandemic
One Pandemic Winner: Barbies
Oct 23, 2020 1:45 AM CDT

One Pandemic Winner: Barbies

Parents are looking for ways to keep their kids off screens

(Newser) - "Screen time 24/7" might have been the rallying cry back when parents thought they'd be locked down for two weeks or so , but seven-plus months in to the coronavirus pandemic, they're apparently looking for somewhat more old-fashioned ways to entertain their kids. Enter: Barbies. Mattel announced a...

She Made Her Own Scientist Barbies. Now It's Official

Mattel teams with forest ecologist, honors her with doll that looks like her

(Newser) - When Nalini Nadkarni was a kid, she'd run home from school, climb into one of the eight maple trees in her parents' backyard, and spend an afternoon there with an apple and a book, per the AP . That time in the treetops set the tone for the rest of...

A 'Child' Is Born, and Immediately Ascends Amazon

Baby Yoda from 'The Mandalorian' tops plush toy list, but it won't be available for a few more months

(Newser) - The hot item of the holiday season is none other Baby Yoda , the character also known as "The Child" in Disney Plus' The Mandalorian—but no one's going to be unwrapping him (and it is a him ) for several more months. Variety reports an 11-inch Mattel "...

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