The current Mattel logo.
Mattel Inc. is a multinational toy company. Founded in 1945, it is the current owner of the BOOMco. brand of dart blasters.
History[]
Mattel Creations was founded by Harold Matson and Ruth and Elliot Handler, initially selling picture frames. The first huge hit for Mattel was the Barbie brand in 1959.
Following up with the success of Barbie, Hot Wheels was first sold in 1968. After this Mattel would expand their horizons to produce one of the first cartridge-based video game consoles, the Intellivision, in 1979. This nearly bankrupted the company following the video game market crash in 1983.
Throughout the 1990s, Mattel would make several important acquisitions including Tyco and Fisher-Price. The brand developed its first real entry into the blaster market in 2014 with the BOOMco. product line.
Blaster history[]
The earliest examples of Mattel releasing foam blasters were the American Gladiators Assault Cannon in 1991 and the 1992 Demolition Man ACMAG and Missile Shooter.
Their most notable pre-BOOMco. blasters, however, were the 1994 Aviva Sports Ultimator and 1995 Wham-O Maximizer. These blasters boasted ranges unheard of at the time, firing Ballista Missiles over one hundred feet, making them very popular within the early Nerf Internet Community (NIC).
Until 2014, the majority of blasters produced by Mattel were promotional blasters for the Spider-Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises, and Toy Story 3 films, among others. These blasters typically fired foam darts comparable to Nerf-brand darts. After the discontinuation of the BOOMco. series, some blasters released would still use Smart Stick Darts, such as the Ever After High Epic Winter Snow Shot Blaster.
External links[]
Mattel website
