Saturday, 21 August 2010
Top 10 Barbie Dolls
it’s amazing how much controversy a little doll, less than 12 inches
in height, can generate. These days, the blonde beauty named Barbara
Millicent Roberts, aka Barbie, is in the middle of a lawsuit. The
controversy? Mattel claims Bratz, a line of dolls that has been stomping
Barbie sales, was made by an employee at Mattel who had an exclusivity
contract, and therefore, Mattel is entitled to some of the estimated
$500 million to $2 billion in sales their rival is generating annually.
Oh, well, Barbie has been to the moon, worked at McDonald’s been a
fashion model and had countless babies. Bratz may come and go, but
Barbie’s been around nearly 50 years and she can handle anything. So
here is the list of the Barbies that have been the most fun to play with
Let’s be real – you can’t even TALK about Barbie without discussing
the O.G. (original) version. Teeny-tiny waist, a great swimsuit, and
those eyes. What are those eyes telling us? Look out world, because I’m a
skinny, bad-ass model and you can’t tell me nuthin’! Why she’s fun to
play with: Quite simply, as a little girl, you can play with this doll
and imagine the day that your mom and dad won’t go bezerk at the idea of
you wearing read nail polish. Photo Credit: Flickr, Kathy DiPaolo
She can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never, ever let
Ken forget he’s a man. The cool thing about this Barbie is she showed
little girls and women that the transition from job to “partay” time is
easy. You wear the suit coat and the hair up in a bun during the day,
and for the evening, whip off that coat to reveal a sleeveless, sequined
shirt that helps you bring out your inner-sexy. And of course, the hair
comes down in the evening too. Why she’s fun to play with: This Barbie
planted a very important seed in the minds of little girls – the career
seed. This doll showed us that being a Supermodel wasn’t the only cool
job to have – working in an office could be cool too. Photo Credit: Flickr, fabiopoptrash
Personally, I was a Dolly Parton fan for years before this Barbie
came on the scene, and Dolly had introduced me to country-western
culture. So when this Barbie came on the scene, I was really into it.
Western Barbie, and her companion, Dallas, gave us a glimpse into life
on a ranch. Cowgirl boots and cowgirl hat – totally awesome. Why she’s
fun to play with: She winks! Seriously – she has a button on her back,
and when you press it, she winks. Oh, and, she had pretty big 1980’s
hair. What’s not to love? Photo Credit: Flickr, Gebrüder Grims Schlaraffenland*’s
Okay, this Barbie is a clear example of Barbie expanding her
horizons. In 1968 Mattel introduced Christie, Barbie’s black friend.
While her features are very similar (if not identical) to the white
Barbie being manufactured at the time (she’s the white Barbie with
tinted skin), this is clearly a very important step in the Barbie line.
And, this doll was an example of how little black girls could aspire to
the same dreams as their white counterparts. Why she’s fun to play with:
This doll is fun because she leveled the beauty playing field with her
white counterpart, showing the world that black is beautiful too. Photo Credit: Flickr, retrozuk (Olli)’s
Now working 9-5 is cool and all, but Superstar Barbie was the bomb
because when you played with her, you imagined you were one of the
Supremes or Christie Brinkley or Brooke Shields. She represented
glamour, glamour, glamour – and what little girl DOESN’T want to grow up
and be glamorous? She was Kimora Lee Simmons before Kimora existed, and
the boa-esque thing she wrapped around her shoulders was the icing on
the cake. Why she’s fun to play with: The pink satin dress, and the
bling on the finger, around the neck and in the ears just gave little
girls room to fantasize about the day when they’d be able to be the same
– all glam. Photo Courtesy: Flickr, superstar 77
Not to be confused with Brad, Christie’s boyfriend who debuted in
1969, this black Ken doll is awesome because between 1969 and 1981,
Christie had to just kinda chill by herself while Barbie went through a
variety of Ken companions. Because it was 1981, and fashion was in
transition from the 70’s, this Ken had a really awesome curly afro that
was impossible to comb. Of course, his only clothing was a pair of
unattractive, yellow gym shorts with a red stripe (or maybe it was
orange), he was so fly it didn’t matter. Why he’s fun to play with: You
could match this Ken with Superstar Barbie and act out several scenes
from “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” and REALLY raise some eyebrows in
BarbieLand.
Okay – this Barbie was so much fun to play with, I remember the day I
got her. Kinda similar to Superstar Barbie, this one was awesome
because everything was golden – her hair, her clothes – even her
jewelry. And as you can tell from the picture, the white doll had blue
eyes that just jumped out at you. While Superstar Barbie was of the Diva
variety, Golden Dreams was more the Barbie that you could imagine on a
motorcycle, telling Ken to hop on the back (because, of course, Barbie
would never let Ken drive Her bike!) Why she’s fun to play with:
Superstar Christie had beautiful brown hair and a copper-colored streak
in her hair just to let you know – she was pretty, and she had an
incredible smile, but if you crossed her the wrong way, it was game on –
she’d whip your butt! Photo Credit: Mauro M UK’s
Barbie the ballerina – seems to be a logical fit. Barbies and
ballerinas, that is. This Barbie was another tangent of beauty. The
ballerina is one of the strongest symbols of femininity and romance, and
before Cara, black ballerinas were just a rarity. The pink tutu with
gold accents, complemented with the pink ballerina slippers and the gold
crown symbolize near royalty. Why she’s fun to play with: This Barbie
represents the grace (and beauty) that many little girls lacked, and
never even thought about, until we started playing with, and imagining
ourselves as, Ballerina Barbie.
Introduced in 1982, India Barbie was one of the first “brown” Barbies
of the International Collection (now known as “Dolls of the World.”) In
1982, few of us knew anything about India, and Mattel “went there” with
the introduction of this collection. While Mattel definitely could have
focused only on Europe for the International series, the company grew a
pair and decided to branch out to cultures not well-known in America.
Why she’s fun to play with: You could read the box to learn about India,
then imagine what India Barbie’s life was like, and attempt to recreate
it while assimilating Barbie and her friends to Indian culture.
Midge is Barbie’s best friend. This Midge was part of “The Happy
Family,” which of course included Midge, a daddy and two kids. This
Barbie was cool because you could take off her pregnant belly, and
inside of the pregnant belly, there was a baby. However, in the
conservative town where I grew up, that didn’t go over very well with
the parents who didn’t want to discuss where babies come. : -) Why she’s
fun to play with: As a kid, you could bring Midge to slumber parties
and show off the pregnant belly and the baby inside. Then, the next
morning at breakfast, you could watch the slumber party host’s mom
squirm when that one sheltered kid in the group said, “But I thought
babies came from storks and cabbage patches
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