The queen of the toy world is the Barbie doll

Əsas Xəbərlər The queen of the toy world is the Barbie doll

31.12.2022

Barbie dolls have educated girls of more than one generation, because they have been on the market for more than 60 years (she turned 60 in 2019). These were the years of ups and downs that forever inscribed her in history. In the post-war year 1945, Ruth and Eliot Handler founded Mattel in the USA. Fourteen years later, they introduced to the world Barbie Millicent Roberts, better known today as the Barbie doll.

After watching her young child play with cardboard cutouts of grown girls, Ruth Handler realized there was an empty niche in the market. The vast majority of dolls of that time were created according to the type of baby dolls. The girls urgently needed the character of an adult woman for role-playing games. The idea of the appearance of the future brand idol was borrowed from the German souvenir doll Bild Lilly, a popular comic character for adults. Mattel acquired the rights to Fraulein Lilly, and Ruth Handler adapted the character for a children's audience and named her version after Barbara's daughter.

The first entry into the world of Barbie Mattel

Barbie's official birthday is March 9, 1959. It was then that a blonde and a brunette in striped closed swimsuits with unusually luxurious forms were seen by visitors to the New York International Toy Fair. Despite the desperate resistance from negative parents, who considered the novelty obscenely sexual, 300,000 copies of the plastic beauty were sold during the first year. The first dolls were sold for $3. Today's collectors are ready to pay $25,000 for each one.

An impressive resume

During its existence, the Barbie doll has "mastered" more than two hundred professions. She went to the moon in 1965 - four years before the flight of Neil Armstrong, who became the first person to set foot on the surface of the Earth's satellite. She was a doctor, a paleontologist, a mermaid, a rock star, and a roboticist. And in 1992, a doll was presented to the public in the guise of a presidential candidate.

For half a century, Barbie's appearance has been constantly changing. Her "height" remained unchanged - 12 inches (30.5 cm). The production uses plastic, synthetic hair, fixed by the stitching method. The child can safely wash, dry with a hairdryer, comb the braids of his princess with a comb, training motor skills and imagination.

The second half

In 1961, fans of the beauty were introduced to her boyfriend Ken Carson. And in 2004, the company announced the stunning news: Barbie and Ken decided that it was better for them to remain friends and broke up. At the same time, Ken left Barbie a dream house. After several years of separation, the toy couple reunited.

Friends and family

In 1963, Midge Hadley, Barbie's best friend, went on sale. A year later, the younger sister of the main character, Skipper Roberts, joined the company. Today, Barbie has dozens of relatives and friends.

Similar to celebrities

In 1967, a plastic copy of the Twiggy model became the first in a long line of doll celebrities from Mattel. Among them were singers Cher and Diana Ross, actress Audrey Hepburn, writer Joan Rowling.

Representatives of other nationalities

The first black figure in the Barbie line was the Christy doll, released in 1968. But 1980 is considered the official year of the introduction of an African-American character into the collection. At the same time, the team was supplemented by a representative of Latin America. Subsequently, models representing more than 40 nations and nationalities were released.

New Barbie toys

In response to criticism that the appearance of the heroines does not show the real state and variety of types of modern women, in 2016 the Barbie fashionista line of toys was released.

Features of the series:

4 body types;
7 skin tones;
22 eye color options;
24 hairstyles.

In 2018, the collection was replenished with legendary historical characters in the "Inspiring Women" mini-series. It had:

Amelia Earhart. The first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean;
Frida Kahlo. Artist and activist of the women's movement;
Kathryn Johnson. Physicist, mathematician.

In 2019, on the eve of Barbie's 60th anniversary, Mattel released another modernized doll. The body type of the new Barbie is as close as possible to a real human: now she has a less luxurious bust and a less pronounced waist.

The newest series of dolls reflect all world trends and have already become very popular in the world and delight today's girls:

Barbie Color Reveal is a surprise color-changing doll with additional surprise accessory bags.

The Barbie Fashionistas collection features models with different body types, skin types, eye colors, hair shades and possible hairstyles. Among the figurines, you can even find Barbie dolls with vitiligo on her face, in a wheelchair, with gold prosthetics, no hair on her head and Ken with long hair.

A line of gender-neutral dolls with different skin tones and all the necessary details to select the desired gender.
The series of dolls created thanks to the famous show "Mask".

The brand produces a huge number of related accessories and sets with Barbie. They create outfits, decorations, cars, boats, yachts, carriages, helicopters and other vehicles for the toy young lady. At her disposal are houses and castles, country villas and beach bungalows. She appears as a fairy and a mermaid. Barbie is the main character of cartoons and series, thanks to which children can follow the adventures of their pet. Magazines, books, computer games and mobile applications are dedicated to her.