Bratz Topples Barbie in Battle of the Dolls

[karyn]

i hate the idea of selling collagen implant modern-looking porn slut dolls to kids instead of the old-fashioned playboy plastic porn slut barbie dolls, but this is funny. not any improvement. what kind of parents buy these things for their kids?

from yahoo

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - At the ripe old age of 45, Barbie has been knocked off her perch in Britain by streetwise upstart Bratz in the Christmas battle of the dolls.

"It is the first time Barbie has been out of our top 10," said Ben Green, chairman of the UK Toy Retailers Association as it predicted the must-have toys for Xmas 2004.

"Bratz has such a phenomenal impetus behind her. She is very much the new kid on the block," he told Reuters.

The busty and blonde Barbie has ruled supreme ever since her launch by U.S. toymaker Mattel Inc .

She saw off Cindy but now faces her toughest competition yet from multi-ethnic Bratz, brainchild of Isaac Larian who founded U.S.-based MGA Entertainment, now billed as the world's biggest privately owned toy company.

"The toy market is very fickle and so are children. Barbie is in her 45th year, Bratz is only in her second," Green said as the 2 billion pound UK industry geared up for the crucial Christmas market that accounts for 50 percent of annual sales.

"Dolls dominate the girls' sector which is worth over 400 million pounds, so it's no wonder that the competition is hot," Green added.

Barbie, all a-glitter in her sparkling "Princess and the Pauper" carriage with interactive kitten Serafina at her side, put a brave face on the demotion.

"We are still confident we are going to have a great Christmas. Barbie will continue to evolve," said Sarah Allen, a UK spokesman for Mattel.

Just down the aisle from Barbie at the association's pre-Christmas media preview, Bratz was pouting in triumph and flicking her thigh-length hair in a Seventies disco outfit.

"I think she is responding to the post-Spice Girl generation. Kids want streetwise fashion," said Emma Sherski, marketing director of UK licensee Vivid Imaginations.

But at least Barbie is still in with a fighting chance for Christmas back home in the United States.

Tuesday in New York, she and Bratz were both picked for the "Hot Dozen" holiday list released by Toy Wishes magazine.

Parents of boys will have to dig deep into their wallets, with Robosapien, an all-dancing, karate-kicking robot already proving a popular choice at 80 pounds in Britain.

Nostalgia is also playing a big part this Christmas on both sides of the Atlantic with a revival being enjoyed by Cabbage Patch Kids, "adopted" by 65 million kids around the globe since first being launched in the Eighties.

[incog]

I think the gothic Bratz doll looks like Dana Dark from Blue Blood. I've dated Playmates too. I wouldn't buy Bratz for a kid but I would buy them for adult friends.

[MidniteCliche]

Fuck all these stupid dolls!!! I'm no feminist, but all that shit teaches little girls, is that small waist, big tits and flawless compextions (etc.) are the norm and to be expected if you want to be considered attractive in the eyes of society! And parents wonder why their daughters are anorexic and have low self-esteems. Children are programed to believe what is and is not beautiful.
How about getting a kid some books or Crayons for Christmas. Let them be creative and expressive, without forcing them to have the same standards of society.

[Nightingale]

I have never bought a child a doll of any sort in my entire life. From me they always get books.

[BrightStar]

Bah! Both Suck! Enough said.

[Nudemuse]

Bratz dolls give me the creeps. Why are their freaking heads so big? Who thought that was cute? Screw em both.

[Ouroboros]

Are the Bratz dolls the ones with interchangeable faces/eyes? That's fucking creepy!

... I guess.

[Nudemuse]

Are the Bratz dolls the ones with interchangeable faces/eyes? That's fucking creepy!

... I guess.

Goddamn that just makes it worse.

[LrdSatanas]

this reminds me of a joke. did you hear about the new barbie doll comming out for xmas? its divoriced barbie. she comes with all kens stuff.
Sex sells even to 4 yearolds. as a male i can't say that all the half naked pop bitches walking around arn;t good eye candy.

[Ouroboros]

Ah, yes. And we are so hooked on eye candy.

[Tequila Zaire]

Dear Jeebus on Cross...I hate it when adults make kids toys into political and idealogical statements. Little girls do not play wanting to BE Barbie...they want the stuff she has...as teens they learn from every chick mag, flick, and friends that they must live up to some unhealthy image that few will ever realize...let little girls BE little girls...educate the teen set and stop letting them buy YM, Teen Vogue, and Teen People...that shit does them more harm than anything (outside of being molested by an uncle.)

WTF happens to adults when they have or deal with kids? They become total pricks....remember being a lil kid and hating those adults that treated you as a lil baby? Some of these answers rank right up there....lighten up people...you're seeing these toys with the wrong eyes and to be honest the wrong age. Marketing and hype aside this stuff is aimed at a youth market that always knows what it wants more than what it is sold.

I've talked to many toy makers and you'd be shocked to see how many toys fail to get a kids attention or earn the coveted "cool" award...Kidz go after what is in tune with what they want to escape into. Can't fault them for that or deny them that...they're only kids for so long before they have to deal with epic sized BS.

To the book giver...nice sentiment and I support it...but oh how I hated adults who gave me books on major holidays. Always felt like a cop out...and I loved reading as a kid. Hated getting boks as gifts though.

[Tequila Zaire]

How about getting a kid some books or Crayons for Christmas. Let them be creative and expressive, without forcing them to have the same standards of society.

Yeah cause every kid wants to get school supplies for Christmas...lets not be cruel now.

[Nightingale]

Yeah cause every kid wants to get school supplies for Christmas...lets not be cruel now.

worked for a company many years ago who gave a gift voucher instead of Christmas money. This gift voucher could only be redeemed at a specialist shop which sold suppies for the industry. The following year, as we returned to work, I told the owner of the business that my three year old daughter was absolutely over the moon when she unpacked her industrial vacuum cleaner.

[Nightingale]

To the book giver...nice sentiment and I support it...but oh how I hated adults who gave me books on major holidays. Always felt like a cop out...and I loved reading as a kid. Hated getting boks as gifts though.

I do try and make sure the book is suitable, of course, and I give very few presents anyway. Christmas is not my thing - too bright, gay (in the old sense of the word) and commercial. Birthdays, well, I've had enough, why add to the misery.

[Tequila Zaire]

worked for a company many years ago who gave a gift voucher instead of Christmas money. This gift voucher could only be redeemed at a specialist shop which sold suppies for the industry. The following year, as we returned to work, I told the owner of the business that my three year old daughter was absolutely over the moon when she unpacked her industrial vacuum cleaner.

Their was a kid on the Tonight Show once that loved collecting vacume cleaners...truth is I wouldn't have minded having one as a kid...oh the noise I could make.

[pelelaka]

i was never into dolls and don't understand the concept of them. i agree that the bratz heads are way too big. if i had to buy one or the other for a kid i'd make it barbie. however when i'm picking out toys i pick stuff they can actually play with like those really creative art sets or skate boards or video games.