Does Mattel hope fashionista barbie facelift will show up younger rivals?”
This was supposed to be the year that Barbie finally regained her tiara as the queen of the toy aisles. After many false starts, Mattel Inc. thought it had found a way to make the iconic fashion doll once more a must-have for girls of all ages — and to boost the company’s flagging revenues as well. It is spending millions of dollars to promote its new “Fashionista” Barbies, even hiring a choreographer-to-the-stars to create a dance called “The Barbie” for a video that had its premiere on the “Today Show” and was posted on YouTube. But the latest Barbie was beaten to the stores by two new dolls that could threaten her resurgence, industry insiders say. One comes from perhaps the hottest toy makers in North America, Spin Master Ltd. The other was created by designers with a grudge against Mattel, which wrested away their company’s rights to the hit Bratz dolls. And so a firefight is breaking out in the doll business that would put G.I. Joe to shame. Inside the high-security Mattel desig
This was supposed to be the year that Barbie finally regained her tiara as the queen of the toy aisles. After many false starts, Mattel Inc. thought it had found a way to make the iconic fashion doll once more a must-have for girls of all ages — and to boost the company’s flagging revenues as well. It is spending millions of dollars to promote its new “Fashionista” Barbies, even hiring a choreographer-to-the-stars to create a dance called “The Barbie” for a video that had its premiere on the “Today Show” and was posted on YouTube. But the latest Barbie was beaten to the stores by two new dolls that could threaten her resurgence, industry insiders say. One comes from perhaps the hottest toy makers in North America, Spin Master Ltd. The other was created by designers with a grudge against Mattel, which wrested away their company’s rights to the hit Bratz dolls. And so a firefight is breaking out in the doll business that would put G.I. Joe to shame… … Since her debut in 1959, Barbie