A Bad Smell At Mattell

"He who excuses himself, accuses himself." Gabriel Meurier

Whether we have little kids or not, all of us should be mad as hell at Mattell. The latest evidence of its gross negligence and greed just plain stinks.

My own baby boy is now a grown up 23-year-old who plays with Mattell in the Stock Market, not with Fisher-Price in the toy box.

Still, when I think of all the Superheroes and Hot Wheels and even Barbies scattered innocently around our house while he was growing up, I want to kick the stuffing out of the suits over at Mattell.

How dare the world's biggest toy maker put the almighty dollar above the safety of its smallest consumers? And on the backs of overworked, underpaid Chinese laborers who slave for a few paltry dimes.

We've come to expect more from this gigantic toy-making icon. Its products have provided years of fun, fashion and fantasy to us and to our most precious products -- our children.

Yes, everybody wants to make the big bucks. But nobody wants to do the math to bring in those bucks without endangering somebody else.

Made in China used to mean schlock. Then Mattell and other major corporations took their business to China, invested in Chinese companies, seemed to be supporting it's burgeoning entrepreneurial efforts to join the 21st century.

Yeah, right. Mattell's been supporting its own bottom line to produce dangerous schlock, using methods banned in the 19th century -- slave labor, sub-standard contractors and abominably sub par quality control.

Now they're engaged in smarmy damage control.

As promised, in recent weeks, we have been busy testing and retesting toys before they leave factories. Our recent voluntary recalls are part of our ongoing promise to ensure the safety of your children. We have strengthened our testing worldwide with a mandatory 3-stage safety check of paint used on our toys.

1. All paint must be tested before it is used on our toys. No exceptions.
2. We have significantly increased testing and unannounced inspections at every stage of production.
3. We are testing every production run of finished toys to ensure compliance before they reach you.

The response to this twaddle is so obvious I'm using my Outside Voice so everyone can hear: WHY HASN'T MATTELL BEEN TESTING TOYS WITH THESE HIGH STANDARDS ALL ALONG?

Instead, Mattell has been playing games with our children's health. Shame on them. I'd like to run them over with a lead paint-filled GeoTrax truck.