Tag Archives: Mattel Creations

Barbie links with Balmain for fashion collection and NFTs

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Mattel has announced a collaboration between its Barbie brand and French luxury fashion label, Balmain. Developed as a celebration of both Barbie and Balmain’s combined impact on fashion and greater culture, the two brands are launching a new global ready-to-wear fashion and accessories collection. 

The venture also marks the first time Barbie is entering the digital art world. Together, the two entities are dropping three one-of-a-kind NFTs of distinctive Barbie and Ken avatars. Styled in complete looks from Balmain’s designs, each is accompanied by a one-of-a-kind bespoke set of Barbie-sized Balmain pieces, creating a unique digital and physical art collection.

These Barbie x Balmain NFTs will be available exclusively through Mattel Creations, via an online auction hosted on mintNFT.

From a nostalgic 1990’s-era Barbie logo to a “Barbie pink” Pantone to Barbie’s iconic packaging,  the Balmain 50+ piece collection intertwines the toy’s signatures with the label’s hallmarks, like its marinière and Labyrinth patterns.

To mark the partnership, Barbie and Balmain have a launched digital campaign, which depicts the ready-to-wear and accessories collection on Barbie avatars.

For more information on the Barbie x Balmain collaboration and to join the Barbie x Balmain MintNFT fireside chat on 1/11, visit NFT.MattelCreations.com. The Barbie x Balmain ready-to-wear and accessories line will be available for purchase at Balmain stores, balmain.com, Mattel Creations and retailers worldwide beginning January 13.

Mattel Creations drops UNO deck featuring Gary Veynerchuk’s VeeFriends NFT signature characters

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Mattel has announced a collaboration for the NFT community and crypto currency holders from Mattel Creations and VeeFriends, with a reimagined UNO deck featuring Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeFriends NFT signature characters.

As one of the first physical products created from a digital NFT brand, the new deck offers UNO fans and NFT collectors the opportunity to own a VeeFriends collectible in the physical form of an UNO deck.

Each VeeFriends x UNO deck will include one special, non-playable foil card to collect – featuring one of 17 of the VeeFriends signature characters including Charming Cheetah, Sweet Swan, Gary Bee, and more.

The collaboration marks the first-ever UNO deck that includes randomly inserted foil cards that mirror VeeFriends spectacular NFT token Colours with varying levels of rarity for all 17 VeeFriends characters, with the Gary Bee card being the hardest for collectors to find.

As part of the UNO brand’s entry into the ultra-rare collectible space, the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), the largest trading card grading service, will begin grading UNO Cards starting with the VeeFriends x UNO collectible.

“As Mattel continues to pioneer bringing toy brands into the NFT space, we are thrilled to be working with Gary and his impressive VeeFriends collectibles,” says Richard Dickson, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mattel. “Gary’s leadership in this digital dialogue, coupled with our number-one card game in the world UNO, is sure to create a collectible craze as we continue to redefine the intersection between gaming, digital art and collectability.”

Each VeeFriends x UNO deck also includes a new special rule card, the Wild Sharing Squirrel card, which requires the next player to post a selfie of themselves and all the cards in their hand to social media with the hashtag #veefriendsuno.

“If you told 9-year-old Gary that he was doing a collaboration with UNO, he would jump in the swimming pool and swim laps for the rest of his life out of excitement,” says Gary Vaynerchuk. “I’m so incredibly honoured to take my VeeFriends intellectual property and team up with one of the most iconic properties in the world. Not only am I honored, and little me is excited – I’m mostly excited for all the people who are going to be able to play this game, expand the VeeFriends universe and enjoy some of the collectibility that comes along with this collaboration.”

The new collectible will be available exclusively on Mattel Creations, Mattel’s direct-to-consumer platform featuring curated items that both celebrate and expand Mattel’s intellectual property.

The VeeFriends x UNO deck is available for $25 pre-sale exclusively at MattelCreations.com.

UNO teams up with Nike and Giannis for a Wild Product Collection

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Mattel is dropping the first-ever collaboration between UNO and Nike, featuring a product line developed in coordination with the 2019-20 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player and UNO fan, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“I want every product to be genuine and authentic, and playing UNO with my brothers is a big part of our lives,” says Antetokounmpo. “The Nike team has done a great job bringing my ideas to life, and I think they’ve created something for every Nike, UNO and basketball fan in this collection.”

“Working with Nike and Giannis to design and curate this collection was truly an honour, and this collaboration shows how UNO can bring people together, including the Antetokounmpo family,” said Ray Adler, Global Head of Games, Mattel. “Partnering with this iconic brand and world-renowned athlete is the perfect celebration of UNO’s 50th anniversary.”

The collaboration features details that celebrate Giannis and his family’s love of UNO, incorporating the game’s iconic colors, design elements and a special 3-4 card design into the products, a footwear line, apparel capsule and branded UNO deck.

The footwear line features Nike’s signature Zoom Freak 3, Air Force 1 and Offline with UNO colorways and Giannis’s design. There will also be a Zoom Freak 3 Member-only black colorway with an UNO 50th anniversary logo on the tongue and wild cards across the toe, plus fun primary color hits to complete the UNO look.

The special-edition Nike apparel capsule includes a classic cotton t-shirt and hat with Giannis’s number displayed. The footwear line and apparel capsule will be sold on Nike.com in the coming months.

A Giannis-branded UNO deck will also debut, featuring a new rule where players can “force a turnover” to steal an extra discard. The deck will be sold on Mattel Creations and NTWRK starting November 11.

As a part of the collaboration, the UNO! mobile app will integrate the Giannis-branded UNO deck to use on iOS and Android devices. With the cards, players can use the “force a turnover” rule and decorate their profiles with themed rewards. The cards and other rewards will be available during the UNO x Giannis in-app event from November 1 through November 30.

Fans can visit @UNO, Nike and @MattelCreations and for more information.

Mattel partners with contemporary artist and activist Shepard Fairey to launch environmentally focused UNO

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Mattel has partnered up with the renowned contemporary artist, activist, and illustrator, Shepard Fairey for the release of a new UNO deck made with sustainable materials and themed around the artist’s environmental activism.

The new deck has been designed by both Fairey and the UNO team at the artist’s LA studio, Studio Number One and features new, original environmentally-themed art in Fairey’s iconic graphic style and design elements. These elements include a consistent illustration style and colour palette to mirror the artist’s signature style.

The latest in Mattel’s UNO Artiste Series, the new launch – housed on Mattel Creations – joins a line up of previous artists to have featured in the UNO series, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Nina Chanel Abney.

Shepard Fairey’s collaboration with Mattel sees the toymaker deliver an UNO deck made entirely with sustainable materials, including recyclable cards, a paper belly band around the cards, wood-free paper for the instruction sheet and the removal of all cellophane wrapping.

This special deck follows an earlier launch of UNO Nothin’ But Paper, recognised as the first fully recyclable UNO deck that did away with its cellophane packaging materials as part of the brand’s plan to remove the cellophane from 100 per cent of standard, paper-based decks in 2021. This is also in line with Mattel’s goal to achieve 100 per cent recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials across its products and packaging by 2030.

To take the partnership to the next level, Mattel is also making a donation on behalf of Fairey to Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the oceans through federal and state legislation, in support of his initiatives.