Mattel memories

Mattel was a toy company that made a variety of toys from Intellivision to Hot Wheels and Barbie.
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With all the talk of the “Barbie” movie and the products launched to celebrate its release, for me Mattel is still synonymous with one toy – Intelligent Telivision or Intellivision.

I was thinking about that video game system of the 1980s, and the other toys they created that crossed my path growing up, when I heard about the recent launch.

The company
When I was growing up, toys were such a big part of my life. Every time we went to town to go shopping, I made a beeline for the toy department of Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, Eaton’s, Sears or whatever other store we went. I would patiently wait for the Sears Christmas catalogue to arrive and scour the section for all the new releases. In fact, toy commercials were a big part of regular viewing

It seemed no matter what the toy was, it was associated with the company who brought it to you – Fisher Price; Irwin Toys; Hasbro; Parker Brothers; and Mattel.

Mattel was easy to remember because its logo was red, round, with many small tips around the edge and looked like the edge of a bottle cap.

The toys
Mattel had a lot of different products such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Masters of the Universe.

I never really had much to do with Barbie and Ken and never really played with dolls at all.

Hot Wheels were a name brand out of my family’s price range. Most of the dinky toys I played with were inherited from my older brother and sister. I do recall reading a Hot Wheels catalogue, and maybe getting one later on in my childhood, but nothing really stands out.

Masters of the Universe was introduced to me by my neighbour and old, dear friend Mat. He loved Master of the Universe. I recall one summer day we were sitting in my living room on the farm and he told me the whole plot of the toy series from He-Man to Skeletor. He was really into it, so it got me excited.

However, there was one Mattel toy that had the most profound influence on my youth.

It was called Intellivision.

Intelligent television
Video game systems had become all the rage at the dawn of the 1980s, with two dominating the landscape – Atari and Intellivision.

My first exposure to Intellivision was at my cousin Ursula’s place in Brooks where her husband Richard played. The house was packed, with everyone wanting to play, so I only had a couple turns. The game we played was called “Space Armada” and it was a cheap knock off of “Space Invaders”.

Yet, I was hooked.

Eventually, I used some of the money I had been putting in the bank since I was in Grade 2 to buy an Intellivision console and "Space Armada". I had opened a Scotiabank account with the gift money I received for my First Holy Communion.

Soon, I began to assemble a bigger and bigger collection, using my saved-up allowance money to buy new cartridges.

There were a lot by the time I stopped playing a lot, when I went off to university. Initially, I bought games made by Mattel’s Intellivision brand – “Astrosmash”: “Space Battle”; “NHL hockey” and “Triple Action” which were both Christmas presents; “NFL Football” which I borrowed from my friend Kimbo; “Tron: Deadly Discs”, “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons”, and “Downhill Skiing” which I borrowed from my friend Kevin K; and others.

Soon, other software companies, other than Mattel, began making games, and I bought a lot of those. From Coleco, there was “Donkey Kong”; “Carnival”; and “Lady Bug”. From Imagic came the best looking games such as “Demon Attack”; “Atlantis”; “Swords and Serpents”; “Dragonfire”; and “Microsurgeon”.

Intellivision was a big part of my youth. I bought magazines with tips and tricks for various games. My friend Mat and cousin Doris came over regularly to play. When my family hosted Christmas, all my cousins converged on Intellivision to play.

Then, like anything, I got interested in something else.

Parting thoughts
Today, video games are associated with video game companies, or so I gather because I don’t play them anymore.

But back in the 1980s, they were just another toy, made by a toy company. So Intellivision, which was a very popular video game system, was made by the same people that brought us Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels. It was a time before specialization, when companies tried to appeal to mass markets.

Mattel was a company that had a lot of different toys appealing to different parts of that market.

For me, they will always be the maker of Intellivision, something I spent countless hours playing to get my mind off my troubles of the day, procrastinate, try and get a high score, and simply to have fun.
For that, I will always be grateful to Mattel