Mattel Licks Chinese A**

[mwfanelli2]

Mattel, in a well-covered press conference, APOLOGIZED to China for recalling China's dangerous and defective products. Why? Mattel is so dependent on China now that they can't take the chance of offending them! No wonder the dollar is plummeting (now 1-to-1 with the Canadian dollar and still falling), the US is becoming more and more incapable of running the increasing weak US economy. Pathetic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20903731/

[mn shutterbug]

Definitely pathetic. It looks like the chinese has Mattel by the gonads. I'm afraid that China has too many U.S. companies in their back pocket. Try and buy any toy or tool or appliance that isn't made in China. First they try and kill our dogs and cats with their wheat gluten used in many of our pet food, then dog jerky, lead based paint on our toys distributed by Mattel and Fisher Price, and the last thing was a million cribs recalled due to a couple deaths because of their poor design. Blame big box stores like Walmart for this inferior crap. If it wasn't for these stores trying to sell everything so cheap, we would still have good quality goods available. I read in a Fortune magazine a couple months ago that the Japanese are smart enough to not want Walmarts in their country. They claim that they prefer and can afford to buy, better quality merchandise. Why are Americans so foolish. I, for one, always check where something was made, before purchasing. If if says "made in China", I put it back. I'm not wealthy, but I'll gladly pay quite a bit more for a quality made product from a reputable company. I also heard that some toothpastes imported from China actually had ingredients in it that is used in the making of anti freeze. What next? Americans, wake up!

[Loupey]

Tainted merchandise was able to get through even in a highly scrutinized (child related) industry. Just think of all the products one is surrounded by in a day-to-day basis and imagine if those items just might be tainted as well.

While I can certainly understand that pricing plays a key role in purchasing for many people, it comes with a huge price tag so to speak. Remember that manufacturing plant in southern Ohio that had to close because of outsourcing by Walmart. Then, Walmart put up one their mega stores in that very town. Insult to injury to the unemployed people there.

Sore topic for me as my industry is manufacturing related and we've been seeing work leave North America at ever increasing rates. It has been said (but obviously not proven) that the profits from doing so are so large that it overshadows the costs of defending liabilty cases expected to come from sub-par quality components. Nice feeling to know that big corporations are looking out for your well being, huh?

One cannot even compare the differences between the wages/benefits. China's standard of living can only go up. As for the US, European, and other industrialized nations, the standard of living can only go down. It is ironic that it is the very consumption by these industrialized nations that is driving China's growth. The jeanie has left the bottle. Lots of problems, no easy solutions.

Like health care.

[another view]

Not long ago there was a recall for Chinese made tires too - yet another potential safety problem. As far as I understand it, most of what happens in China is contract manufacturing meaning that they don't design it or test it, they just make it and send it here. If this was the case and the crib was an unsafe design, then it wouldn't be their fault. If they didn't manufacture it according to design then it's a quality control issue. Pointing fingers doesn't solve problems, but it is important to know who is at fault.

I had to buy a bow saw over the weekend for a big tree branch that came down in a storm. I didn't feel like shopping around and the first place I went to only had Chinese made saws for $7. It's really cheap but it did get the job done. However I would have gladly paid $20 for a US made one if it was even slightly better. Not sure that the majority thinks that way (or puts their money where their mouth is) but I was disappointed to have only one choice. Just one of many examples...

I have nothing against the Chinese people trying to make better lives for themselves. It's a complex economic, social and environmental issue. There is no OSHA or EPA over there - and if there is it's certainly nowhere near the level of protection we have here. We're not perfect either, but I think we're doing quite a bit more with those points and it simply costs more to be regulated.

[mn shutterbug]

Yes, it costs more to be regulated, but it's well worth the price. I'll admit, when I go in a retail store, not Walmart because I know where 95% of their junk comes from already, I do check to see where the product was made. If it says China or Taiwan, I'll keep looking. Here is another case in point. When I was into scroll sawing, everyone on the scrollsaw forum bragged about what a great saw the Dewalt was. Then, a few more members started buying them and most of them were having problems with them such as the table not being square and the blade holders too far apart. Some were unusable out of the box and had to be shipped to Dewalt and then the poor buyer had to wait a couple months for one that worked properly. This was the same model as the ones that others were bragging about. It was soon discovered that the older ones were made in Canada and the newer ones were being made in China. I checked Ebay and found a used one that was made in Canada. I bought it for half the price of a new one and it worked great. Isn't it amazing how a reputable company like Dewalt can start outsourcing to China and their prices keep going up? I do know, when I need new power tools, I'll go to a pawn shop and buy used Dewalt tools. They can be well used and still outlast the new ones that are available now.

[JSPhoto]

Mattel got what they paid for, and I for one will not buy anything with Mattel on it, or with China on it. Even the Chinese people are starting to complain about lead based paints being used on stuff, as well as cheaply made JUNK.

And by the way, if you boycott buying at WalMart and boycott buying anything from China and Tiwan it will strengthen the dollar.

JS

[Sushigaijin]

When bush herpetological went out of business about five years ago, I considered buying the molds for their neodesha snake cages (being one of many investors, actually). Before we lept, we priced out the manufacture of the cages where they were sourced - an american plant that charged roughly $12 for the molding, and a few more dollars for packing and shipping. Manufacture in China, including shipping, would have run eighty cents. Unfortunately we could not have been competitive while making them in the states, so I opted out. It's a shame, no one can beat the china price though. I was floored at the difference.

[another view]

You would think it would be expensive to ship something literally half way around the world, but it really isn't if you're sending a lot of stuff and have time to wait for it. Shipping containers can fit a lot of snake cages, bow saws and toys, and if you divide that cost by the number of products it doesn't work out to a lot of money.

A few years ago, the person sitting next to me on a plane was very familiar with global shipping. Can't remember that conversation started, but I had been in NYC recently and noticed that almost all of the manhole covers and storm sewer grates were made in India. Here in the northern midwest, almost every one you see has been made by Neenah Foundary in Wisconsin. Of course Wisconsin is a lot closer to NYC than India so I was curious how it would make sense to send a heavy piece of cast iron from so much farther away. It's not like there is a lot of machining to something like this, so the time factor per piece probably isn't that great (less potential for savings there). But India doesn't have OSHA, EPA, etc and a container full of this stuff isn't that expensive to ship. The freight costs might be very close to the cost of trucking it from WI, but the price of the item is so much lower that a moderately higher freight charge still works out to a savings. So, it is what it is...

[Franglais]

As far as I can make out from French press, the Mattel specification was defective and the Chinese suppliers just made what they were told. Mattel got caught. They tried to lie their way out of it by saying it was the suppliers fault. And they got caught a second time. This is just mediocre management.

As for why the dollar is going down - America has a massive balance of payments deficit (imports exceed exports) since Ronald Reagan was president. Normally the Dollar should depreciate but as America is the most dynamic economy with the highest return on investment, the money that has been flowing out to places like China has been flowing back as investments. This means that the American companies are increasingly controlled by foreign investors. The dollar stays stable - until investors start to lose confidence, which is what has happened recently.

[Loupey]

It seems particularly odd that any nation (not just China) that has a history of human rights violations, poor/unsafe working conditions, and disregard for ecological damage can be granted Most-Favored-Nation status.

Last example from me: 7 years ago I bought a Sony laptop. 2 years ago I bought a Compaq laptop to run the newer software. The Compaq literally fell apart. But the old Sony is still working. Having had to buy a new laptop to replace the Compaq to run the new programs, I checked the back of every candidate and every single one was made in China. The old Sony was made in Japan - probably one of the last as the new Sony's are made in China too.

My family boycotts Walmart too. We drive three GM vehicles (not that "imports" aren't American made), I fish with Penn reels and St. Croix rods, and I've declined an offer to start a manufacturing site in China.

One of the reasons why my family moved to America was because it was a land of opportunity. We can all do our part to keep that opportunity available for our children.

[another view]

I fish with Penn reels and St. Croix rods

St. Croix? I was just at their store a couple months ago. I'm not a fisherman (the guy I was riding with is) but their gear is beautifully made. It really seems like the gear that you'll only have to buy once.

Knock on formica, but my new Apple MacBook Pro (and iPod) were made in China. It's not like they're inexpensive, either. They're well made but I'd put that on Apple's QC. They say what they want built and make sure it's done that way. I drive a Mexican made VW and it's the best car I've ever owned (looked at domestics first, nothing even close). Really, if QC is working properly (and the design is good), it shouldn't matter where a product is made.

But it does... I really don't want to economically "vote" on those products but sometimes there is little choice. Truth is that sometimes there is a choice, and I try to put my money where my mouth is. I don't know what else to do...

[Loupey]

...But it does... I really don't want to economically "vote" on those products but sometimes there is little choice. Truth is that sometimes there is a choice, and I try to put my money where my mouth is. I don't know what else to do...

What saddens me is when there is no other choice. Can't even vote on some products/industries anymore. Toys, clothes, electronics... the list grows on.

China will get their act together - there is too much at stake for them. They will be a world superpower someday (soon). And we will have been one of the major contributors in helping them get there. At least we can hope that, along the way, they will improve on their other weaknesses (human rights, working conditions, environmental responsibility).

[JSPhoto]

China will get their act together - there is too much at stake for them. They will be a world superpower someday (soon). And we will have been one of the major contributors in helping them get there. At least we can hope that, along the way, they will improve on their other weaknesses (human rights, working conditions, environmental responsibility).

Another reason to boycott Chinese products, just the thought of them being a superpower is bad enough, but added to the recent events in Russia it's even worse. The same time Russia resumes the Cold War, they allow China to join them in war games on Russian soil. Thats a first, and it shows Russia is courting China for a reason. Putin has it in his mind to make Russia the number 2 superpower behind the US within 30 years. As we support China's growth we are also supporting their military growth, and Russia's. China is buying Russian weapons with US dollars! Now if that isn't a kick in the face....
At the same time we are helping the Chinese assemble a communications network for security at the Olympics. Brilliant thinking here....

JS

[mn shutterbug]

As far as I can make out from French press, the Mattel specification was defective and the Chinese suppliers just made what they were told.

I just heard the same thing on the radio. It just doesn't make much sense to me. Did Mattel instruct them to what kind of paint to use on the toys? I still blame China for using paint that contains lead. Lead based paint has been banned in the U.S. for decades so why is China being allowed to use it on toys exported to the U.S.? Actually, they shouldn't be using it on anything, especially toys. I understand that the toys in question had 200 times the amount of lead, allowed by U.S. law. That's pretty rediculous. Don't they have any scruples?

[another view]

Lead based paint has been banned in the U.S. for decades so why is China being allowed to use it on toys exported to the U.S.?

Of course they're not allowed to use it but Mattell should have caught it. If you're contracting to have something done you can't take anything for granted or assume anything. If they just said "paint it these colors", then they didn't specifically say what kind of paint to use so that could be open to anything including stuff that's been banned here for a generation or more. Doesn't matter if a company contracts another US manufacturer to make their product, or a Chinese or European one, the contract has to be explicit. And the person hiring the work to be done need to make sure it's being done correctly. Sure, China should be protecting their own people from hazardous substances but it's not surprising that they're not, given their history.

But why didn't a "trusted" brand name ensure the safety of the products they were selling? Is it easy to test everything? Not my problem. I'll bet if you're paying pennies on the dollar to have something produced, you'll have a few bucks left over to figure out how to do it.

[masdog]

At the same time we are helping the Chinese assemble a communications network for security at the Olympics. Brilliant thinking here....

Actually, it is...have you ever wondered how many back-doors that the NSA had Cisco put into their hardware and software that would allow the US to break into their communications network?

[masdog]

But why didn't a "trusted" brand name ensure the safety of the products they were selling? Is it easy to test everything? Not my problem. I'll bet if you're paying pennies on the dollar to have something produced, you'll have a few bucks left over to figure out how to do it.

They were too caught up in the bottom line to worry about things like consumer product safety....

[transparency]

I remember how my sister act so crazy just to have those barbie dolls years back and still she's buying and collecting some stuff mostly toys from Mattel as gifts and for her children, and now she feel so sad about the controversy.