Thread regarding Mattel Inc. layoffs

The ToyBox TV Show? Really?!

For those of you who watched this insufferable, piece of contrived crap, we'd love to hear your take on it. It seems it's just a reflection of the soul of Mattel - empty, useless and contrived. I'm simply at a loss as to how these warmed-over inventor concepts (Aiyla - after 33 years who HASN'T seen this unoriginal, non-mass market doll, or Sports Ball concept that won, which has been peddled around the industry for 6 years) need a full hour to decide whether they're good or crap.

And the kids!! OMG -at least they're more qualified to be involved in a show than CS and RD as executive producers. This is a show that needs to abort itself before the second episode - HURRY!

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| 3611 views | | 27 replies (last May 18, 2017) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+MHO4dWR

27 replies (most recent on top)

OK, so all of these haters' mockery, vitreol, rants, dissin', and predictions here that the show would fail and be cancelled amounted to... (let me be sure I word this correctly)... nothing? Zip, zilch, nada, niente, bupkis? How is that even possible? It's almost like they have no power, as if their words have no meaning.

Haters: Grab a SUPER Big Gulp next week when you tune in for that two hour finale. Noah loves you!!

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Post ID: @Ervi+MHO4dWR

To be fair, it's not like they're cutting the season short, just pushing up the last episode to make a two hour Toy Box finale spectacular.

Someone reading this must know which toy is the winner, care to leak it here?

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Post ID: @Ebyy+MHO4dWR

LOL! ABC announced that the finale of The Toy Box is THIS Friday - a week earlier than originally planned. Even THEY can't wait until it's "GAME OVER"! Better all scramble to pre-order the winning toy from the other loser company, TRU. What a colossal embarrassment! This winning toys and so-called inventor are going to see it on the shelves of Mattel's Toy Store in ES marked down before it even gets to TRU!

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Post ID: @Egqy+MHO4dWR

Well, it's just a matter of an announcement now. The last 2 weeks of ratings have produced a .5 rating and now the show has lost nearly half of it's audience since the beginning. Only 2 weeks left til it's over and cancelled.

Not only doesn't the leadership know anything about toys (how they are made, haw they are selected) but they've proven they know nothing about entertainment or brands, either. How ANY of the management team can walk around with their heads up being part of a company that produced this PUBLIC EMBARASSMENT is amazing.

Mattel Cremations, we knew you oh so briefly, but now you're over.

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Post ID: @Afjr+MHO4dWR

We should've hired Captain Kangaroo instead, Oh wait. He's dead. Hmmmm.....he still would've been a better hire. :)

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Post ID: @vwra+MHO4dWR

Just the icing on the cake. Time to end the CBS experiment. It was a questionable hire at the start and it proved itself out. There is zero revenue or benefit to the brands from this group. Need a master of the kids creative and distribution...or else cut a deal to have someone take it over turnkey.

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Post ID: @uvle+MHO4dWR

Well, the 5/5 episode did not disappoint - it was the worst so far and SOOOOO BOOOORRRRRIIIIINNNNGGGG. It makes watching Golf seem like an Action Movie!!! Bet is only does a .5 in the ratings. Can't wait to see the idiots who win the trip to visit LA and all the disgruntled millennials on parade.

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Post ID: @sgvf+MHO4dWR

To Jim SIlver: I thought you were a lot smarter than this. Who talked you into being the Simon Cowell/Donald Trump of this pathetic reality show? C'mon......you don't have enough pride to turn down having to utter "Game Over" when a contestant is turned down?! Who even WROTE that stupid line and though it was good?!

Good thing Toyfair is over already - you wouldn't be able to show your face without the whole industry chucking behind your back (or in front of your face).

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Post ID: @erzh+MHO4dWR

Well, last night did not disappoint! It was another cringe-worthy episode of this horrendous waste of time. The ratings dropped again to .60 - that's 3 weeks in a row of "immediate cancellable" results. Both Mattel and TRU have to be just cringing watching this abomination play out on national TV. It's like being forced to watch your drunken behavior at your bachelor party in front of your whole family on a jumbo-tron! You can't deny you were part of it, and you know you can't control the broadcast! Betch M-Go would love to just pull the plug (literally) on this show.

Mattel and TRU working together - they sure can waste their time on this dreck yet together they can't figure out how to ANY substantial business in e-commerce. It's incredible how two multi-billion dollar companies can't seem to come together and do ANYTHING right. It's like watching 2 drunks holding each other up as they walk across the railroad tracks when the signals are flashing.

In the words of the ridiculously untalented and over-indulged "mentor", Jim Silver, I think it's "Game Over".

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Post ID: @ezsc+MHO4dWR

I can hardly wait for Episode 3 tonight! Ratings at a .60 or do we even hope for a .50?! Watching this piece of crap sink is almost as fun as watching the stock sink and knowing all the Management Team and Board of DIrectors are getting ready cry!

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Post ID: @dfsu+MHO4dWR

Designers don't even take this @$$ fu€#ery of a show any way seriously. Call it for what it is : misdirection for the lack of a true plan on content. This ain't foolin no one. Well it gives lame carlson something to do.

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Post ID: @cmdp+MHO4dWR

So who came up with this crap-log of a show? Oh yeah, MATTEL CREATIONS. More like MATTEL CREMATIONS, because this stuff is already dead on arrival. Good luck - can't wait for the Barbie Bra-Fitting Reality Show or the See'n Say Immigration Test Show. This show makes Maxx Steel look like Lord of The Rings.

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Post ID: @btyu+MHO4dWR

BTW - Designers should know that not ALL ideas come from inside. Inventors are a vital part of the Toy eco-system and should be respected as such. But.... if you're hell-bent on being an entitled, unappreciative and naïve millennial, then just INVENT SOMETHING, and stop acting so indignant.

No one wants to hear of your complaints - they only want to see you DO SOMETHING.

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Post ID: @9sah+MHO4dWR

...and it just keeps getting better! The second episode lost over 20% of it's audience from the first week (which was dismal) and came in at a .70 vs. a .80 from the premiere. And folks, don't listen to the crap about how it was Passover and Easter week and ratings overall were down. It just ain't true. The contrived and scripted conflict with the Butterfly Book was amateurish at best and just idiotic. I don't know what was more unbelievable, the scripted scene or the stupid product they concocted. It's no wonder the ballet dolls got through - it's the only thing Mattel knows how to make - and will likely be the winner in the end (if the series even finishes out).

Why anyone associated with this pile of vomit of a show is still employed by the company is beyond comprehension. When you fail at this magnitude, getting publicly fired is the only justice. CS, RD, SL and the desperate idiots at TRU need to get dismissed in a hurry.

Who wants to guess what next week's ratings will be? I say it's a .60 :-)

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Post ID: @8rrj+MHO4dWR

Great way to make your designers feel like a million bucks Mattel! They know how to inspire creativity and boost morale!

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Post ID: @8oao+MHO4dWR

Great News! This abortion of a TV show only got a .80 rating. This is "immediate cancellation" territory. With any luck ABC will cancel the show before the 8 episodes air, thoroughly discrediting both CS and RD. An alternate LIVE episode is being planned where RD, CS and RG are dragged out of Mattel like the poor guy from United, as the hallways are lined with cheering employees!

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Post ID: @5igq+MHO4dWR

A really entertaining episode would be reality top management and the board explaining the attached to the kids and employees and getting a vote on whether or not they deserve it...

http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-mattel-says-ceos-2016-total-compen-idUSFWN1HD0MI

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Post ID: @3tus+MHO4dWR

Kids making decisions, not too far off from all the new hires VPs and so on that have never actually made or designed product, much less toys. They mostly repeat orders from mommy now.

I would rather have a kid tell me it is s---s than some overpaid noise box called a boss.

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Post ID: @3gft+MHO4dWR

Quirky was also great for the brand, right? The Sid special that pissed off every professional inventor once they found out we paid more on Quirky concepts than a typical inventor deal. Perfect example of people pissing in the wind of their own awesomeness. Embarrassing.

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Post ID: @3gji+MHO4dWR

So embarrassing. I think it sounded cute in the brainstorm room/development meeting. But those kids passing judgement on those hard working inventors made me feel uncomfortable.

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Post ID: @3ivz+MHO4dWR

I posted my great toys ideas in Quirky, oh wait... what happen to that?

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Post ID: @2red+MHO4dWR

Where was this show? What was is called? would love to see it. Another staged reality show, how innovative.

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Post ID: @2kud+MHO4dWR

It is amazing in a public company RD and his group of de-revenue generating misfits are immune to accountability. Everything they touch misfires and they keep going.

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Post ID: @1anx+MHO4dWR

The show serves it's purpose. It gets some of the brass their "Producer" credit. That is all they care about. After they get their golden parachute they can have a resume with Producer on it.

Mattel has obviously pinned the cost of producing whatever "winner" comes out of this show onto TRU. The production will be pre-ordered and shipped to TRU before the final show airs. Hopefully there is a "no returns" clause in that contract.

That irritating kid needs to be eliminated.

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Post ID: @1hgk+MHO4dWR

The problem with the inventor liaison group isn't themselves, it's the ridiculously young and inexperienced marketing people who don't have any vision or even a clue as to what a good product will be. All they can do is copy what was done before and copy it. No vision or willingness to try something new? Then no innovation.

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Post ID: @ehw+MHO4dWR

Here is the online review. Sure won't help the shares on Monday.

The idea is cute but, man, is the show equally depressing and incredibly annoying. The system of one toy per episode and only one toy the entire season is heartbreaking. In the pilot we were given to review, there is one toy inventor who isn't chosen as a finalist that made me depressed for a solid four hours after watching. The defeat is all the more painful because kids said it wasn't the best. Their key demo denies them. VICIOUS.

The annoying part comes from the kids themselves. Three of them are fine, if not a little boring and contradictory. They are clearly told to ask certain questions, even though they don't care, and their words of review for the toys sound so condescending.

One child, Noah, is insufferable. I realize that it makes me sound horrendous, I get it. I GET IT. However, I can't see myself watching another episode solely based on his presence. For those unfamiliar, he is the viral "Apparently" kid from a few years back. He talks in the middle of these investor's pitches. He says things for no reason. He speaks over others. He has no real critiques or thoughts other than "THIS IS AWESOME." Eric Stonestreet looks continually ticked off that he has to work with this kid, and I feel him. It's crazy how one person can really ruin a show.

Overall, this is a dud for the network amongst a very robust unscripted slate of programming. Go watch the Great American Baking Show on Hulu instead.

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Post ID: @hrx+MHO4dWR

You should all know who the real inventors are that support Mattel on a daily basis. They are not on that show. This is purely PR and not a real path to innovation or products that sell. The real inventors business is behind closed doors and managed by a small group of people in a chicken coop by the cafeteria that literally hate their jobs. That is the real Mattel world of invention. Dysfunctional and dispassionate like most groups. The smartest thing Mattel could do is wipe out their Inventor Relations group and hire people with passion for product, invention and inventors.

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Post ID: @ztg+MHO4dWR

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