Put the blame where it belongs. Simplified - New top level mgmt. is responsible for the running of the business. Making sure that all is in place to manufacture/source and distribute product to retailers and consumers. They are also responsible for administering the business and tracking that which impacts the performance of same business. This is where they dropped the ball in a major way. They failed miserably on two accounts: 1) In acknowledging and addressing the problem that our products (Mattel labeled) were becoming un-desireable. And....2) Allowing our overhead to strangle the value of the products that were still desirable. So.... yes, they can be blamed for not changing the guard at the marketing and design suites early enough and...over-priced, under-valued product. But they can not be blamed or held accountable for PRODUCT SELECTION, TYPE & DIRECTION. This responsibility falls solely on the shoulders of top mgmt. residing at the ES Handler Team Center. Yes, TimK and other of the same circle are now gone but strangely enough those really responsible for our current dire state still walk the hallways of the HTC. You have to ask....will there ever be a fix?
And....how bout our excessive overhead? The running joke in the toy industry. How many VP's does it take to....at Mattel, LOTS!