EAST AURORA, N.Y. -- July 6, 2004 -- This year, Fisher-Price, Inc., the number one infant and preschool toy company in the world and a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., is celebrating the 65th anniversary of the View-Master(R) brand. With just a glimpse through a View-Master viewer, people have been able to see 3-D images of some of the world's most popular people, places and events, both real and imaginary, past and present. Today, with more than one billion sold, View-Master can be found everywhere from music videos and television shows to commercials, restaurant menus and celebrity party invitations.

"View-Master has secured itself as a classic toy that continues to fuel the imaginations of children around the world," says Chuck Scothon, senior vice president of marketing, Fisher-Price. "It is truly a phenomenon that has transcended the toy box to achieve pop culture status."

"I've been an avid View-Master collector since the age of five," says Mary Ann Sell, president of the National Stereoscopic Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to stereoscopic photography, which is a method used to create 3-D images. "Ever since I was a child, View-Master has provided a magical window in time, allowing me to explore past events and letting me travel the world. As an adult, I continue to be fascinated by all of the wonderful 3-D images I see through my View-Master viewer and this milestone anniversary will be acknowledged at the annual National Stereoscopic Association (NSA) Convention this month."

From Pope John Paul II to Popeye, celebrities real and fictional have been known to play with View-Master viewers. It has appeared in various music videos for artists including REM, the Black Crowes and Mary J. Blige, and hip-hop star Jay-Z even went as far as using it as a celebrity party invitation. View-Master has also starred on television including an appearance on "That '70s Show" and in General Motors' 2002 ad campaign.

It all began in 1938 when William Gruber, a piano tuner by trade and a stereo photographer by hobby, invented the View-Master. Soon after the idea took shape, Gruber created the first View-Master viewer and introduced it in Portland, Oregon in 1939. However, it wasn't until the following year at the 1940 New York World's Fair that many Americans had their first View-Master viewing experience. No one could have predicted the tremendous public response. Just one year following its debut, View-Master was being sold to more than one thousand stores across the country.

Throughout its history, View-Master viewers have played a variety of roles. From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, viewers were used in training for the U.S. military. After the war, public demand for View-Master viewers and reels skyrocketed. During the 1950s, the company mainly produced reels of various national parks and scenic attractions across the country, intended as souvenirs for adults. In 1951, due to the acquisition of its competitor, the Tru-Vue Company of Rock Island, Illinois, View-Master obtained the license to use Disney characters and quickly gained momentum in the children's market. Ever since, View-Master reels have featured some of the most popular cartoons, superheroes and fairytales that have become the mainstays of any View-Master reel collection.

The design and development of View-Master products was handled by several different corporations during the 1970s and 1980s. In April 1997, Tyco Toys, Inc., which had purchased View-Master brand in 1989, merged with Mattel, Inc. of El Segundo, California. As a result of the merger, the View-Master line was assigned to Fisher-Price, Inc. of East Aurora, New York, where this American classic continues to thrive.

To celebrate View-Master's 65th anniversary in 2004, Fisher-Price is releasing a limited edition View-Master(R) Boxed Set that includes a specially-decorated classic viewer and eight reels, one for each decade of the View-Master's existence, featuring scenes from the Apollo Moon Landing and the first American full-length animated movie, Snow White, to Indiana Jones and SpongeBob(TM). Additionally, Fisher-Price will release the View-Master(R) Time Capsule Assortment, which allows parents to take their kids back in time with nostalgic View-Master viewers and reels featuring favorite cartoon characters of the past.

Fisher-Price, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT) and located in East Aurora, New York, is the leading brand of infant and preschool toys in the world. Its often-emulated Play Laboratory was the first child research center of its kind in the toy industry, allowing researchers to observe the way children play and how play benefits their development. For nearly 75 years, experts in education and child development have been helping Fisher-Price build a reputation of excellence in children's products. Some of the Company's best known "classic" brands include Little People(R), Power Wheels(R) and View-Master(R). The Fisher-Price brand includes some of the most popular and widely recognized character brands - from Barney(TM) and Blue's Clues(TM) to Disney, Dora the Explorer(TM), Sesame Street(R) and Winnie the Pooh. The Company also develops and markets juvenile products called babygear (nursery monitors, infant swings, high chairs and more) that are designed to help families get the best possible start in life. The Company's web site can be found at http://www.fisher-price.com, providing valuable articles and resources to new and expectant parents.

The National Stereoscopic Association (NSA) is an incorporated, non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1974. The goals of the association are to promote the study, collection and use of stereographs, stereo cameras and related materials; to provide a forum for collectors and students of stereoscopic history; to promote the practice of stereo photography; to encourage the use of stereoscopy in the fields of visual arts and technology; to foster the appreciation of the stereograph as a visual historical record and to provide for the O.W. Holmes Stereoscopic Research Library. The annual NSA Convention/Trade Fair will be held in Portland, Oregon on July 7th - July 12th at the Doubletree Jantzen Beach, and attracts members from all over the world, as well as many photographica dealers, photo historians and experts in various state-of-the-art applications of stereo imaging. The website is http://www.stereoview.org.