Bisybee Collectibles ~ Barbie Dolls & Fashions

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler (1916-2002) is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.

Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for fifty years, and has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle. In recent years, Barbie has faced increasing competition from the Bratz range of dolls.

Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors.

During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across German toy doll called Bild Lilli. The adult-figured doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she purchased three of them. She gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular character appearing in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. Lilli was a working girl who knew what she wanted and was not above using men to get it. The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955, and although it was initially sold to babies, it became popular with adults who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were available separately.

Upon her return to the United States, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after Handler's daughter Barbara. The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie's official birthday.

Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," with her clothes created by Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production.

Ruth Handler believed that it was important for Barbie to have an adult appearance, and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll's chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie's appearance has been changed many times, most notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted to look forwards rather than having the demure sideways glance of the original model.

Barbie was one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television and advertising, which has been copied widely by other toys. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that two Barbie dolls are sold every second.

The standard range of Barbie dolls and related accessories are manufactured to approximately 1/6th scale, which is also known as playscale. Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge range of Barbie branded goods such as books, fashion items and video games. Barbie has appeared in a series of animated films and made a brief guest appearance in the 1999 film Toy Story 2.

Almost uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week, while in 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents' names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin.

Barbie attended Willows High School and fictional Manhattan International High School in New York City. She has an on-off romantic relationship with her boyfriend Ken (Ken Carson), who first appeared in 1961. Like Barbie, Ken shares his name with one of Ruth Handler's children. A news release from Mattel in February 2004 announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006 they were back together again.

Barbie has had over forty pets including cats and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink Corvette convertibles, trailers and jeeps. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant. Barbie's careers are designed to show that women can take on a variety of roles in life, and the doll has been sold with a wide range of titles including Miss Astronaut Barbie (1965), Doctor Barbie (1988) and Nascar Barbie (1998).

Mattel has created a range of companions for Barbie, including Hispanic Teresa, Midge, African American Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend). Barbie's siblings and cousins were also created including Skipper, Tutti (Todd's twin sister), Todd (Tutti's and Stacie's twin brother), Stacie (Todd's twin sister), Kelly, Krissy, Francie, and Jazzie. Many believe Barbie was based upon Laura Bristow.

Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety percent are women, at an average age of 40, purchasing more than twenty Barbie dolls each year. Forty-five percent of them spend upwards of $1000 a year.

Vintage Barbie dolls from the early years are the most valuable at auction, and while the original Barbie was sold for $3.00 in 1959, a mint boxed Barbie from 1959 sold for $3552.50 on eBay in October 2004. On September 26, 2006, a Barbie doll set a world record at auction of £9,000 sterling (US $17,000) at Christie's in London. The doll was a Barbie in Midnight Red from 1965 and was part of a private collection of 4,000 Barbie dolls being sold by two Dutch women, Ietje Raebel and her daughter Marina.

In recent years Mattel has sold a wide range of Barbie dolls aimed specifically at collectors, including porcelain versions, vintage reproductions, and depictions of Barbie as a range of characters from television series such as The Munsters and Star Trek. There are also collector's edition dolls depicting Barbie dolls with a range of different ethnic identities. In 2004 Mattel introduced the Color Tier system for its collector's edition Barbie dolls, ranging through pink, silver, gold and platinum depending on how many of the dolls are produced.

Barbie celebrates her 50th anniversary in 2009, and Mattel released a new reproduction of the original 1959 Barbie doll to mark the occasion.

This section is a categoric listing of the names of the extended friends and family characters that have been merchandised for the iconic Barbie doll during her long career as the world's most famous fashion doll (source: wikipedia). This is a chronological listing, featuring issue dates for the first year of release for a given character doll, and an end date where applicable. Names can be and often are re-used by Mattel, sometimes with spelling differences, which has lead to two or more different characters having the same name, often at or around the same timeframe.

Barbie's family:

Siblings . . .
Skipper (1964-2003)
Tutti (1966-71)
Todd (1966-68, 1991-94, 2007)
Stacie (1992-)
Kelly (1995-)
Krissy (1999-2001)

Cousins . . .
Francie (1966-1976)
Jazzie (1989-1996)

Friends . . .
Ken Carson (boyfriend, 1961-1967, 1969-2004, 2006-)
Midge Hadley (1963-65, 1989-)
Christie (1968-)
Stacey (1968-70)
P.J. (1969-85)
Jamie (1970-72)
Steffie (1972-73)
Kelley (1973-76)
Cara (1975-78)
Tracy (1983)
Dana (bandmate, Barbie and the Rockers, 1986-87)
Dee Dee (bandmate, Barbie and the Rockers, 1986-87)
Diva (bandmate, Barbie and the Rockers, 1986-87)
Derek (bandmate, Barbie and the Rockers, 1986-87)
Miko (1986-88)
Whitney (1987-89)
Bopsy (bandmate, Barbie and the Sensations, 1988)
Belinda (bandmate, Barbie and the Sensations, 1988)
Becky (bandmate, Barbie and the Sensations, 1988)
Teresa (1988-)
Nikki (1989)
Kayla (1989)
Devon (1989)
Kira (1990-2000)
Nia (1990)
Tara Lynn (1993)
Shani (1993, 1996)
Kayla (1994)
Marina (1996)
Becky (1997)
Lea (1999-2003)
Ana Suarez (Generation Girl, 1999)
Chelsie Peterson (Generation Girl, 1999)
Lara Morelli-Strauss (Generation Girl, 1999)
Nichelle Williams (Generation Girl, 1999)
Tori Burns (Generation Girl, 1999)
Mari Nakano (Generation Girl, 2000)
Blaine Gordon (Generation Girl, 2000)
Drew (Mystery Squad, 2001)
Kenzie (Mystery Squad, 2001)
Shawnee (Mystery Squad, 2001)
Kayla (2002)
Madison (My Scene, 2002)
Chelsea (My Scene, 2002)
Nolee (My Scene, 2003)
Bryant (My Scene, 2003)
Hudson (My Scene, 2003)
Ellis (My Scene, 2003)
River (My Scene, 2003)
Sutton (My Scene, 2003)
Delancey (Chelsea's cousin, My Scene, 2003)
Jai (My Scene, 2003)
Tyson (My Scene, 2003)
Kenzie (My Scene, 2004)
Ryan (My Scene, 2005)
Simone (1 Modern Circle, 2003)
Blaine (2004-06)
Summer (Blaine's sister, 2004)
Tori (American Idol, 2005)
Simone (American Idol, 2005)
Drew (Fashion Fever, 2004)
Courtney (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Gillian (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Kurt (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Desiree (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Shannen (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Tia (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Kira (Fashion Fever, 2005)
Kennedy (My Scene, 2006)
Tia (Barbie Diaries, 2006)
Courtney (Barbie Diaries, 2006)
Raquelle (Barbie Diaries, 2006)
Nikki (2006)

Other family members' friends

Skipper's friends . . .
Ricky (1963-67)
Skooter (1965-67)
Fluff (1971-72)
Tiff (1972-73)
Ginger (1976)
Scott (boyfriend, 1979)
Courtney (1989-2005)
Kevin (boyfriend, 1990)
Nikki (1997)

Tutti's friends . . .
Chris (1967-68, 1976-77)
Carla (European release only, 1976)

Stacie's friends . . .
Kelly (1991)
Janet (1994)
Whitney (1994)
Lila (2004-05)

Kelly's friends . . .
Becky (1996)
Chelsie (1996)
Melody (1996)
Jenny (1997)
Deidre (1997)
Marisa (1997)
Keeya (1998)
Maria (1999)
Tamika (1999)
Nia (1999)
Kayla (1999)
Lorena (2000)
Liana (2000)
Desiree (2000)
Belinda (2000)
Nikki (2001)
Kerstie (2003)
Gia (2006)
Tori (2007)
Kenzie (2007)
Miranda (2007)

Francie's friends . . .
Casey (1967-70)
Becky (2009)

Jazzie's friends . . .Dude (1989)
Chelsie (1989)
Stacie (1989)

Ken's family and friends:

Ken's Family . . .
Tommy (brother, 1997)

Ken's Friends . . .
Alan Sherwood (boyfriend/husband of Midge, 1964 and 1991, 2002-present)
Brad (boyfriend of Christie, 1970)
Curtis (boyfriend of Cara, 1975)
Todd (fiancé of Tracy, 1983)
Derek (Barbie and the Rockers, 1986)
Steven (boyfriend of Christie, 1988-. Linked with Barbie's friend Nikki since 2007)
Melody (1 Modern Circle, 2003)

Midge's family . . .
Ryan Sherwood (Midge and Alan's son, 2002)
Nikki Sherwood (Midge and Alan's daughter, 2003)
Newborn Baby Sherwood (Midge and Alan's daughter, 2004)
Grandma Hadley (Midge's mother, 2003)
Grandpa Hadley (Midge's father, 2003)

The Heart family . . .
Dad Heart (1985)
Mom Heart (1985)
Megan Heart (baby daughter, 1985)
Baby Boy Heart (Megan's twin brother, 1985)
New Arrival Heart (1986)
Grandma Heart (1987)
Grandpa Heart (1987)

Cousins . . .
Kenny (1988)
Kevin (1988)
Honey (1988)
Janet (1988)
Melody (1988)
Nellie (1988)

Friends . . .
Daria (1989)
Pleasance (1989)
Gillian (1989)
Darrin (1989)
Windy (1989)
Tawny (1989)

In June 2001, MGA Entertainment launched the Bratz range of dolls, a move that would give Barbie her first serious competition in the fashion doll market. In 2004 sales figures showed that Bratz dolls were outselling Barbie dolls in the United Kingdom, although Mattel maintained that in terms of the number of dolls, clothes and accessories sold, Barbie remained the leading brand. In 2005 figures showed that sales of Barbie dolls had fallen by 30% in the United States, and by 18% worldwide, with much of the drop being attributed to the popularity of Bratz dolls.

Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz.. On July 17, 2008, a federal jury ruled that the Bratz line was created by Carter Bryant while he was working for Mattel. The jury also ruled that MGA and its Chief Executive Officer Isaac Larian were liable for converting Mattel property for their own use and intentionally interfering with the contractual duties owed by Bryant to Mattel. On August 26, the jury found that Mattel would have to be paid US $100 million in damages.

On December 3, 2008, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson banned MGA from selling Bratz. He allowed the company to continue selling the dolls until the winter holiday season ended. The ruling will be in effect on February 11, 2009 at the earliest, and Mattel and MGA will meet in court on that date. According to the terms of the court order, after the end of the holiday season, MGA must remove, at its own cost, all the Bratz dolls from store shelves, including the reimbursement of the cost of the dolls and all shipping costs to its vendors and distributors. The court gave exceptions for some toys if they are packaged separately from infringing toys. MGA announced that it would be appealing against the court's ruling.

Fulla is marketed as an alternative to Barbie in Middle Eastern countriesBarbie's popularity ensures that her effect on the play of children attracts a high degree of scrutiny. The criticisms leveled at her are often based on the assumption that children consider Barbie a role model and will attempt to emulate her.

One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1965 Slumber Party Barbie came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat." The doll also came with pink bathroom scales reading 110 lbs., which would be around 35 lbs. underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall. In 1997 Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to contemporary fashion designs.

During Barbie's 50th anniversary, BBC did a follow-up article on what a real woman would look like with Barbie's proportions, and discovered that real-life model Libby would have a 20 in. waist and 29 in. hips with her 5'6" height, and a 28 in. waist and 40 in. hips if she was 7'6" tall.

In July 1992 Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", and "Wanna have a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so that no two dolls were likely to be the same. One of these 270 phrases was "Math class is tough!" (often misquoted as "Math is hard"). Although only about 1.5% of all the dolls sold said the phrase, it led to criticism from the American Association of University Women. In October 1992 Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would no longer say the phrase, and offered a swap to anyone who owned a doll that did.

"Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie and Hispanic Barbie were launched in 1980.

In 1997 Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion of Barbie with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone with whom little girls could play after class and share "America's favorite cookie." As had become the custom, Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American community Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person is "black on the outside and white on the inside," like the chocolate sandwich cookie itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it sought after by collectors.

In May 1997 Mattel introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair. Kjersti Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with cerebral palsy, pointed out that the doll would not fit into the elevator of Barbie's $100 Dream House. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future to accommodate the doll.

In March 2000 stories appeared in the media claiming that the hard vinyl used in vintage Barbie dolls could leak toxic chemicals, causing danger to children playing with them. The claim was rejected as false by technical experts. A modern Barbie doll has a body made from ABS plastic, while the head is made from soft PVC.

In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful." In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.

In December 2005 Dr. Agnes Nairn at the University of Bath in England published research suggesting that girls often go through a stage where they hate their Barbie dolls and subject them to a range of punishments, including decapitation and placing the doll in a microwave oven. Dr. Nairn said: "It's as though disavowing Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past."

On February 12, 2009, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie won the inaugural TOADY (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children) Award for the worst toy of the year. The award was given by the campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood for its "...host of harmful expectations about what girls are supposed to be like."

In March 2009, West Virginia Delegate Jeff Eldridge introduced a bill to "ban the sale of Barbie dolls and other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful" within the state of West Virginia. The bill does not provide a punishment for violation, and Delegate Eldridge admitted that the bill "doesn't have a lot of teeth."

In April 2009, the launch of a "Totally Tattoos" Barbie with a range of tattoos that could be applied to the doll, including a tramp stamp, led to controversy. Mattel's promotional material read "Customize the fashions and apply the fun temporary tattoos on you too", but Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus, argued that children might want to get tattooed themselves.

The word Barbie has come to be used as a derogatory slang term for a girl or woman who is considered shallow, most notably in the 1997 pop song Barbie Girl.

Barbie has often been referenced in popular culture and is frequently the target of parody. Some of these occasions include:

In 1997, the Danish-Norwegian pop-dance group Aqua released a song called Barbie Girl. It contained lyrics such as "You can brush my hair / Undress me everywhere" and used graphics similar to the pink Barbie logo. Mattel argued that this constituted a trademark infringement and filed a defamation lawsuit against MCA Records on September 11, 1997. In July 2002, Judge Alex Kozinski ruled that the song was protected as a parody under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

A commercial by automobile company Nissan featuring dolls similar to Barbie and Ken was the subject of another lawsuit in 1997. In the commercial, a female doll is lured into a car by a doll resembling GI Joe to the dismay of a Ken-like doll, accompanied by Van Halen's version of You Really Got Me. According to the makers of the commercial, the dolls' names were Roxanne, Nick and Tad. Mattel claimed that the commercial had done "irreparable damage" to its products, but lost the copyright infringement lawsuit.

Saturday Night Live aired a parody of Barbie commercials featuring the fictional "Gangsta Bitch Barbie" doll and a "Tupac Ken" doll.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno displayed a fictional "Barbie Crystal Meth Lab" which mocked how Barbie usually has a career that is "in keeping with the times or in this case, in keeping with society's current problems."

Malibu Stacy is a parody of Barbie in the cartoon series The Simpsons. The 1994 episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" parodied the Teen Talk Barbie controversy, as a talking Stacy doll is introduced, speaking phrases such as "let's buy make-up so the boys will like us". Lisa is disgusted by the "sexist drivel spouted by Malibu Stacy," leading her to market an alternative "Lisa Lionheart".

In 1993 a group in the United States calling itself the "Barbie Liberation Organization" modified Barbie dolls by giving them the voice box of a talking G.I. Joe doll, and secretly returned the dolls to the shelves of toy stores. Parents and children were surprised when they purchased Barbie dolls that uttered phrases such as "Eat lead, Cobra!" and "Vengeance is mine."

In 1999 Mattel sued the Utah artist Tom Forsythe over a series of photographs called Food Chain Barbie, which included a photograph of a Barbie doll in a blender. Mattel lost the lawsuit and was ordered to pay $1.8 million in costs to Mr. Forsythe.

In November 2002 a New York judge refused an injunction against the British-based artist Susanne Pitt, who had produced a doll called Dungeon Barbie in bondage clothing. Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated: "To the court's knowledge, there is no Mattel line of S&M Barbie."

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