Almost everyone has heard of Mattel, in one way or another. Starting out in a garage workshop in 1945, they have grown to be a multi-billion dollar company and the largest toy maker in the USA, maybe even the largest in the world. They now own or are partnered with Disney, Tyco, Fisher-Price, Intel, Bandai, Nickelodeon, and dozens more. Today their toys are mostly designed with profit and stock-holders in mind (who can blame them), but there was a time when they were more creative and daring.
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In the 1960's and 70's, Mattel sold millions of Barbie dolls and Hot-Wheels cars, very original and impressive toys at the time. In the mid-70's they decided to branch out into electronics, thus Mattel Electronics was born. They started making LED handheld games in 1977 when they released Auto Race - one of the first handheld electronic games ever! In 1979 the Intellivision console hit the stores. Their video games were of great quality and sold very well, but the infamous crash of the video game market in 1984 scared them as it did many companies, and profits began to fall rapidly. So in 1984 they gave up and sold off their electronics division.
Below are some of the electronic toys they produced between 1977 and 1984. I have only recently begun buying their games so I don't have many yet, but I am always looking for more!
Here are the mattel games that I have, grouped
by display type:
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