Mattel

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Mattel, Inc.
The Mattel logo

Type Toy manufacturer,
entertainment company
Status Active
Led by
  • Ynon Kreiz (chairman and CEO)
  • Steve Totzke (president and CCO)
Founder(s)
  • Harold Matson
  • Ruth Handler
  • Elliot Handler
Founded January 1945
Head-
quarters
333 Continental Boulevard,
El Segundo, California, USA 90245
Subsidiary companies
  • Fisher-Price
  • Mega Brands
  • American Girl
  • Mattel163 (50%)
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Mattel, Inc. is an American toy manufacturer. One of the world's biggest toy companies, Mattel is notable for its assortment of iconic toy brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Masters of the Universe.

Mattel produced multiple Godzilla-related products in the late 1970s. In 2022, the company released an assortment of Hot Wheels die-cast cars in collaboration with the Godzilla brand.

Selected products

Shogun Warriors

In 1977, Mattel imported a select assortment of Bandai subsidiary Popy's Jumbo Machinder figures, based on giant robots found in Japanese manga and anime. Retooling and renaming the line Shogun Warriors for the American market, the toys stood around 24 inches tall and featured firing weaponry and accessories.[1] In 1978, Mattel produced an original sculpt of Godzilla, slightly based on Popy's Jumbosaurus Godzilla figure. It featured a more genericized sculpt with a shorter face, lumps on its back in place of dorsal fins, and a smaller tail. The figure's fist was spring-loaded and could launch off via a button above the wrist. A large red lever sticking out of the back of the head could be pulled to simulate "flame breath" via decals on the figure's tongue.

There were multiple variations of the figure with minor differences between releases. The most notable differences rest in the color, with the older release being a brighter green; the tail sculpt also featured continuing spines on the older release, and a reinforced red lever was added to newer issues after frequent reports that the original broke too easily.[2]

World's Greatest Monsters

Released independently of the Shogun Warriors line in 1979, the World's Greatest Monsters Rodan figure scaled similarly to the Godzilla figure with a 39-inch wingspan, standing around 15 inches tall. Its action features utilized elastic bands in the feet and back to control the wings and gripping claw functions. Three holes in the back allowed one to grip the figure and flap the wings via inner mechanisms.[3]

Videos

Shogun Warriors commercial with Godzilla
Shogun Warriors Godzilla commercial

Trivia

  • Figures based on the Shogun Warriors Godzilla have been produced by two other companies: by Toynami in 2013, and by Super7 in 2021 and 2022.
    • Super7 also released a toy based on the World's Greatest Monsters Rodan, though it was placed in their line of "Shogun" figures.

References

This is a list of references for Mattel. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. "ShogunWarriors.org 'Mattel Jumbo Machinder' page".
  2. "ShogunWarriors.org 'Mattel Godzilla' page".
  3. "CollectionDX 'World's Greatest Monsters' Rodan review".

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