 | |
| Type | Construction set |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Richard Manville |
| Company | Mattel, Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 2002–2004 |
| Slogan | How do you Ello? |
Ello Creation System ("Ello") was a construction toy manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. between the years 2002-2004. The toy set was created by the American designer Richard Manville. The Ello Creation System was a breakthrough toy created to engage girls in construction play.
Mattel Girls-Division President, Adrienne Fontanella, and Senior VP of Worldwide Girls Design, Ivy Ross, were looking for and exploring new opportunities for girls outside of dolls and traditional doll play-patterns.[ citation needed ]
In 2001, with the intent to find an opportunity in non-traditional play patterns for girls, Ivy Ross created an in-house think tank (later named Project Platypus).[ citation needed ] The think tank consisted of a variety of volunteer Mattel employees from inside and outside of the product development department. The think tank's goal was to create a toy that would successfully engage girls in construction play.[ citation needed ]
Over a series of weeks the think tank divided into a collection of teams and individuals who developed competing concepts for a series of focus group testing and selection by girls and their parents. A concept named Ello created by former Barbie Packaging Creative Director Richard Manville received enthusiastic praise from both girls and parents alike.[ citation needed ]
Described as a "creation system", the Ello concept (targeted primarily to girls ages 5 to 14) incorporated some traditional elements of craft (including beading and graphic customization), shapes and panels in unique color palettes, a variety of themes, and a flexible intuitive building process. The toys variety and potential combination of parts gave children an opportunity to create characters, jewelry, building structures, decorative accessories, or whatever they could imagine.[ citation needed ]
Manville began the development of the toy in 2001, working with engineers Jim Mills-Winkler and Armen Danielian to perfect the core construction elements. Designer Stella Jung, inventor/engineer James Molina joined the team in 2002 to develop and expand the line.[ citation needed ]
The Ello product line won several Oppenheim platinum best toy awards for educational toy excellence in its short three-season life span. However, development of the toy ceased in 2004.[ citation needed ]
No official explanation exists for the demise of the line.[ citation needed ]
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The products and brands it currently produces include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, UNO, Mega, Thomas & Friends, Polly Pocket, Masters of the Universe, Monster High and Enchantimals, with Ever After High and My Scene also having been previously produced. In the early 1980s, Mattel produced video game systems, under its own brands and under license from Nintendo. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 countries. The company operates through three business segments: North America, international, and American Girl. It is the world's second largest toy maker in terms of revenue, after The Lego Group. Barbie was named the top global toy property for 2020 and 2021 per The NPD Group, a global information research company. Hot Wheels was named the top-selling global toy of the year, also for 2020 and 2021, also per NPD's judgment. Richard L. Dickson has been the company's president since 2010, having previously held executive positions at the company in the decade since he came aboard. Ynon Kreiz has been the company's chairman and CEO since April 26, 2018, replacing former Google executive Margo Georgiadis, who was previously announced as CEO on January 17, 2017. She stepped down a year later on April 19 to take charge of Ancestry.com.
Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of one-of-a-kind cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles and registered in the United States copyright office in 1978 as 'The Little People'. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage Patch Kids' by Roger L. Schlaifer when he acquired the exclusive worldwide licensing rights in 1982.
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