Mattel defends toy-safety steps

NEW YORK — With its reputation bruised by the second major recall of Chinese-made toys tainted with lead paint in a matter of two weeks, Mattel Inc. on Tuesday defended the measures it has taken to ensure the safety of its toys.

“I am disappointed in what has occurred and what has transpired,” Robert Eckert, chairman and CEO of Mattel, the world’s largest toy maker, said in an conference call with the media Tuesday. “No system is perfect,” he said. “We are continuing to test thousands of toys, and we could have additional issues.”

Mattel — which had cultivated an image of tightly controlling production in China — has increased its monitoring of Chinese factories and launched an advertising campaign in newspapers such as The New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Still, with China offering the cheapest source of labor supply, Mattel, like other toy makers, continues to do business there.

Despite negative publicity, investors haven’t pummeled the stock. Shares of Mattel fell 57 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $23 Tuesday, on a day when broad market indexes fell. The stock is trading at its low end of its 52-week range of $21.52 and $29.71 per share.

Mattel’s worldwide recall involved 436,000 die-cast “Sarge” cars related to the character from the movie “Cars” because it contained lead paint. It also extended a November 2006 recall of toys that contain magnets that can be swallowed by children; they included Polley Pocket dolls and Batman action figures. That recall now encompasses 18.2 million magnetic toys worldwide.

The recalls follow the actions taken by the company two weeks ago when it recalled 1.5 million products.