Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel

Now, in this intriguing and entertaining exposé, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer places the world's largest toy company under a journalistic microscope, uncovering the dark side of toy land, and exploring Mattel's oddball corporate culture and eccentric, often bizarre, cast of characters.

Based on exclusive interviews and an exhaustive review of public and private records, Toy Monster exposes Mattel's take-no-prisoners, shark-infested corporate style. Throughout this scrupulously reported, unauthorized portrait, you'll discover how dangerous toys are actually nothing new to Mattel, and why its fearsomely litigious approach within the brutal toy business has helped their products dominate over potential rivals such as Bratz.

But this is only part of the story. Along the way, you'll also become familiar with the larger-than-life personalities who have shaped Mattel's eccentric world. There's cofounder Ruth Handler, a "one-woman sales-merchandising-promotion-administrative force, a sort of industrial Orson Welles," who becomes a white-collar criminal. There's Jack Ryan, the "Father of Barbie," whose second of five wives calls him "a full-blown seventies-style swinger into wife-swapping and sundry sexual pursuits as a way of life." And don't forget CEO Robert Eckert, who came from the worlds of processed cheese and hot dogs to lead Mattel—only to get grilled by the U.S. Congress, and the world press, in the lead-paint-and-dangerous-magnets cause célèbre.

The phenomenal Barbie brand's 50th anniversary arrives in 2009, hot on the heels of the China Toy Terror recall scandal that has tarnished Mattel's image in the hearts and minds of millions of people worldwide. Toy Monster takes you inside the many scandals that have been a part of this company, and shows you why today's toy business isn't always fun and games.

"Jerry Oppenheimer, one of America's great biographers, has expanded his vision in this book by probing and exposing the dark side of the multibillion-dollar, international toy industry. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, Oppenheimer's opus contains all the intrigue and drama of an epic novel. Barbie will never be the same! I can hardly wait for the film version."

—C. David Heymann, author of A Woman Named Jackie

"'Behind every great fortune is a great crime.' So wrote Balzac, which gave The Godfather its opening epigram. But a great crime behind the sweet House of Barbie? Yikes! Terrors in toy land! The scandal. The skullduggery! This book is enough to scare Santa Claus."

—Kitty Kelley, author of The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty

"Mattel was a place you had to watch your back. It has always been a place where people are pitted against each other. . . a shark pond. As one former top executive declares, 'You throw people in and see if they can swim fast enough to stay alive.' Another says, 'There was a tremendous amount of self-merchandising. People were constantly making it known how great they were in order to get noticed.'"

—From Toy Monster

From Boise to Beijing, Mattel's toys dominate the universe. Its no-fun-and-games marketing muscle reaches some 140 countries, and its iconic products have been a part of our culture for generations. Now, in this intriguing and entertaining expos?, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer places the world's largest toy company under a journalistic microscope, uncovering the dark side of toy land, and exploring Mattel's oddball corporate culture and eccentric, often bizarre, cast of characters.

Based on exclusive interviews and an exhaustive review of public and private records, Toy Monster exposes Mattel's take-no-prisoners, shark-infested corporate style. Throughout this scrupulously reported, unauthorized portrait, you'll discover how dangerous toys are actually nothing new to Mattel, and why its fearsomely litigious approach within the brutal toy business has helped their products dominate potential rivals such as Bratz.

• Introduces you to the larger-than-life personalities that have shaped Mattel's eccentric world
• Offers an inside look- from an experienced author-at the scandals that have been a part of this iconic company
• Jerry Oppenheimer is also the author of Madoff with the Money, an in-depth look at Bernie Madoff the man and his billion dollar scam

Engaging and accessible, Toy Monster shows you why today's toy business isn't always fun and games.

Chapter 1: Barbie's Untold Heritage.

Chapter 2: A Shocking Cover-up.

Chapter 3: From Weapons of Mass Destruction to Barbie, and the Knocking Off of a German Doll.

Chapter 4: Putting the “Matt” in Mattel, and How the Toymaker Became a Hotbed of Aggressive Hotheads.

Chapter 5: Real-Life Barbie Dolls.

Chapter 6: Horrific Scandal, Controversy and Indictments.

Chapter 7: A Civil War and a Hollywood Romance.

Chapter 8: A Bloody Tragic Ending.

Part Two: A Drama Princess and the Barad Era.

Chapter 9: “Miss Italian America”.

Chapter 10: From “He-Man” to Home Depot.

Chapter 11: A Fearsome and Firing Diva and the Great Whistleblower Debacle.

Chapter 12: The Princess Diana Fiasco, Praying for Success, and Demi Plays Barad.

Chapter 13: Another Whistleblower in the Ranks, Toyland’s Worst Acquisition and the End of a Reign.

Part Three: Toy Terror, the Bratz Attack, and the Eckert Era.

Chapter 14: The Processed Cheese Savior.

Chapter 15: Barbie's Aging, Eckert's Making Excuses, and the Bratz Pack Is Booming.

Chapter 16: Toy Terror 2007.

Chapter 17: An Outrageous Apology.

Chapter 18: “Like Something Out of The Exorcist”.

Chapter 19: Keep It Out of the News!

Chapter 20: Don't Diss Barbie, and the Toy Trial of the Century - Bratz vs. Barbie.

Author's Notes on Sources.

Selected Bibliography.

Acknowledgments.

Index.