Barbie

HEy

2006-03-13T18:14:00.000+11:00

Where are the Barbies gone??

Asian Barbie

2005-06-14T11:13:00.000+10:00

Barbie in KEBAYA.. cantik yaa..

Thailand Barbie

JoKes

2005-06-14T11:03:00.000+10:00

Divorced Barbie

"A man was driving home one evening and
realized that it was his
daughter's birthday and he hadn't bought her a
present.
He drove to the mall and ran to the toy store and
he asked the store
manager,
"How much is that new Barbie in the window?"

The Manager replied, "Which one? We
have 'Barbie goes to the gym' for
$19.95, 'Barbie goes to the Ball' for
$19.95, 'Barbie goes shopping' for
$19.95, 'Barbie goes to the beach' for
$19.95, 'Barbie goes to the
Nightclub' for $19.95 and 'Divorced Barbie' for
$375.00"

"Why is the Divorced Barbie $375.00 when all the
others are $19.95?, the
father asked.

The store manager replied: "Divorced Barbie
comes with Ken's car , Ken's
house, Ken's boat, Ken's dog, Ken's cat, Ken's
furniture and all of
Ken's savings."

Mmm...Barbie Isn't That Stupid After All....

Source: http://www.kamus.web.id/

Barbie Map

2005-06-04T15:56:00.000+10:00

Andy Warhol's painting

2005-06-03T12:12:00.000+10:00

POETRY

2005-06-02T18:37:00.000+10:00

Barbie Doll
by Marge Piercy

This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE ovens and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said
You have a great big nose and fat legs.

She was healthy, tested intellegent,
posessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose and thick legs.

She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exersize, diet , smile, and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and legs
and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said.
Consumation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.

source: http://pages.prodigy.net/beccawilliamson/barbie.htm

A real "Barbie" woman

2005-06-02T18:05:00.000+10:00

"I wanna be Barbie - that bitch has everything..."

If you want to know how Barbie can affect someone's lifetstyle, just check this websites below. Cindy Jackson, a woman from Ohio did so many plastic surgeries to become a "barbie" woman.

Before

After

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/OddPics/Barbie.html

This website shows the surgery details:
http://www.cindyjackson.com/my_cosmetic_surgery.php

BarBie

2005-05-18T15:04:00.000+10:00

She is pretty
She is glamour
She has long hair (most types)
She has an incredible proportion
She is a figure that girls dreaming about.

WHY?

Princess Pink

2005-05-10T22:03:00.000+10:00

What do you first think when you hear the word "PINK"?

Pink has become the symbol of Barbie. When I went to MYER, the Barbie kids fashion, almost all of the stuffs are pink. Clothes, accesories, shoes and even the wall paint are in pink. I saw a little girl and her mom were choosing dress around that barbie area. Everytime she picked a dress to tried it to her daughter, it was always in pink. And the little girl seems really like it, even sometimes she pointed on another pink dress.

The question is why pink is considered as a girl colour rather than a boy? Back in my country -Indo- many male wouldn't wear pink clothes or any pink accecories, they are ashamed because pink is such a very girlie colour. Is this interpretation caused by the case that Barbie as a female icon use pink as their colour?

Which one come first: pink as Barbie's colour or
pink as girl's colour??

Link: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/05/1062549013683.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true

History of Mattel Company

2005-05-04T18:51:00.000+10:00

MATTEL TOYS

Mattel, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of family products. With headquarters in El Segundo, a city adjacent to Los Angeles, California, Mattel has offices and facilities in 36 countries and markets its products in more than 150 nations throughout the world. The company employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues of $5.5 billion.

The company traces its beginnings to 1945, when a fledgling Mattel began operating out of a garage workshop. The original founders were Harold Matson and Elliot Handler, who coined "Mattel" by combining letters of their last and first names, respectively. The first Mattel product was picture frames, but Elliot soon developed a side business in doll house furniture made from picture frame scraps -- which led to an emphasis on toys.

Matson soon sold out to his partner, and Elliot and his wife, Ruth, steadily expanded Mattel’s product line. Encouraged by the success of the doll furniture, they turned the company’s emphasis to toys. The Uke-A-Doodle, a child-size ukulele, was the first in a line of musical toys.

A hand-crank, patented music box gave Mattel its first "staple" business, and versions of this product helped generate much of the company’s revenue in the ’50s and ’60s. In 1955, Mattel also introduced another highly successful product, the Burp Gun, an automatic cap gun based on a patented mechanism.

Also in 1955 came another, even more important turning point for Mattel. In a move that would eventually revolutionize the way toys were marketed, the Handlers bought 52 weeks of advertising on the new "Mickey Mouse Club" television show, marking the first time toys had been advertised on a year-round basis. In conjunction with the company’s sponsorship of the show, Mattel introduced a child-size "Mouseguitar," which became an instant sensation in the industry.

Mattel followed its musical toy success with a line of replica rifles and guns that reflected the 1950s popularity of Western-themed television shows like "Bonanza" and "Gunsmoke."

In 1959, Mattel introduced the product that would lead it into the forefront of the toy industry and fascinate generations of young girls. Inspired by her daughter’s fascination with cutout adult paper dolls, Ruth Handler suggested making a three-dimensional doll through which little girls could act out their dreams. She named the doll "Barbie," which was the nickname of her real-life daughter.

to be continued...

to : http://www.toydirectory.com/MattelToys/

Barbie and Mickey are good friends

2005-05-04T18:31:00.000+10:00

"Barbie and Mickey are good friends."

Disney Consumer Products has entered into a worldwide, multi-year agreement with Mattel Inc. to produce preschool and plush toys, dolls, games and puzzles based on classic Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and the Disney Princesses, under a new agreement announced today by Andy Mooney, president of Disney Consumer Products Worldwide. The multi-year agreement with Mattel covers all global territories except Japan.
Under terms of the agreement, Mattel's Fisher-Price subsidiary, the leading brand of infant and preschool toys in the world, will produce toys based on Mickey Mouse and the other Disney standard characters (including Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto), Winnie the Pooh, and any new infant and preschool film and television properties created by Disney.

``Fisher-Price is the foremost toy brand for preschool children, and has had remarkable success at creating imaginative, fun toys based on Disney characters,'' Mooney said. ``Mattel has great strength in creating and building world-class brands, such as Barbie and Hot Wheels, and we are very happy that we will be continuing our long-standing relationship with the company.``

Neil Friedman, president of Fisher-Price Brands, said: ``Mattel is thrilled to be able to continue our licensing relationship with Disney, as Disney has been one of the cornerstones of the preschool line. The imagination and fun that Disney brings to children's entertainment is easily translated into engaging toys for children.''

Mattel's Girls division will develop lines of fashion and collector dolls featuring the Disney Princesses (including Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) across North and South America.

Mattel's Games and Puzzles group will continue to build upon such recent successes as ``The Wonderful World of Disney Trivia Game'' and ``Disney Charades,'' as well as developing children's games worldwide, and puzzles in North America.

The licensing agreement continues a relationship between Disney and Mattel that started in the 1950s with the ``Mickey Mouse Club'' television show and continues today with such popular products as ``Walk `n' Wag Pluto'' and ``Bounce Around Tigger.'' Both were among the best-selling toys of the late 1990s.

Mattel Inc. is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture And marketing of family products. The company's best-selling brands include the Barbie® doll, Hot Wheels® and Fisher-Price®. With headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel has offices and facilities in 36 countries and sells its products in more than 150 nations throughout the world.

Disney Consumer Products is the unit of The Walt Disney Co. that reaches consumers directly through licensed merchandise, retail stores, interactive games, and books and magazines.

Source:http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/873.shtml

In 1988, Mattel added another core brand by reviving its previous association with The Walt Disney Company. The new alliance began with the introduction of a line of infant and preschool toys based on such world-famous characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Later, Disney expanded the agreement with Mattel to include the manufacturing and marketing of toys based on popular contemporary Disney movies – including "Toy Story 2" (Disney/Pixar), "Tarzan," "A Bug’s Life," "Mulan," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and "Aladdin" as well as such classics as "Snow White" and "Pinocchio."

Currently, Mattel has a multi-year agreement that guarantees worldwide toy rights for all Disney television and film properties, in addition to the ongoing infant and preschool line, which also includes "Winnie the Pooh" characters.

Source:http://www.toydirectory.com/MattelToys/

Disney-Mattel relationship

2005-05-04T17:08:00.000+10:00

This special edition set obviously shown the good relationship between Barbie and Disney. This set includes 4 dolls: Barbie, Tommy, Kelly and Ken are on vacation at Disneyland. Both company own the copyright.

Another Fight from Barbie

2005-05-04T16:14:00.000+10:00

An American artist, Tom Forsythe had a fight with Mattel in 2001. Mattel claimed that his photographs show the Barbie in a series of silly situations, including sexually suggestive poses. But a US judge ruled that because the images were planned as parody they did not break the copyright of the doll.

The images were used in a series of photographs titled Food Chain Barbie. Forsythe said they criticised "Barbie's embodiment of America's culture of consumption and conformism". The Barbie dolls are shown doing household stuff, sitting in a food mixer and even wrapped in tortillas in a series of more than 40 images.

"Mattel is very disappointed that Judge Lew failed to take into consideration that consumers do not view Mr Forsythe's photographs as art or as parody and that a substantial number are confused into thinking that Mattel sponsors his goods," the company said in a statement.

"The judge's decision is a powerful victory for all feminists who criticize Barbie's stereotype of women and the unquestioning acceptance that allows Mattel to sell these hyper sexualized hunks of plastic into millions of American homes."

Barbie VS Bratz

2005-05-02T22:44:00.000+10:00

MGA Entertainment, the maker of fast-rising doll line Bratz has slapped Barbie manufacturer Mattel with a lawsuit. MGA claims Mattel is engaging in unfair competition while copycatting the Bratz dolls' unique design - down to their almond-shaped eyes, over-sized heads, and puffy lips.

The lawsuit comes as Barbie's looking weaker than ever. Yesterday, Mattel reported a 28% drop in profits as Barbie's sales had their biggest decline in a year and a half.
Investors are dumping Mattel like a broken toy. Shares lost $1.56 Friday, dropping to $18.67.

Bratz-maker MGA claims Mattel is running scared as young girls are increasingly passing over Barbie in favor of the cooler Bratz line. As a result, "Mattel has tried to muscle MGA out of the business ," the suit claims.

Launched just four years ago, the Bratz dolls were targeted at hip, MTV-influenced girls who were tired of a four-decade-old Barbie.With names like Jade and Jasmine, the edgier Bratz dolls were ethnically diverse and fashion-forward.

The line took off. U.S. sales of Bratz dolls reached $600 million last year, compared with Barbie's $800 million in sales, according to Sean McGowan, an analyst at Harris Nesbitt Gerard.

"Bratz has had an unprecedented rise, while Barbie has had quarter after quarter of 15% to 25% declines," McGowan said. "When you go to Target, Bratz has the same amount of shelf space as Barbie and they are right across the aisle from each other."

The Bratz lawsuit is the latest legal spat between the dueling dollmakers. Mattel has sued a former Barbie doll developer, claiming he created the Bratz line while he was still working for Mattel. The toy developer denies those claims and has counter-sued.

After the Bratz line was launched, Mattel created a new version of Barbie called "My Scene." MGA claims that the design of "My Scene" Barbies, as well as their packaging and even their advertising have increasingly copied Bratz.

But legal experts said MGA will have to prove that the "My Scene" Barbies are creating confusion for retailers and customers.

http://nydailynews.com/business/v-echo/story/300888p-257608c.html

Looks like Barbie get so much troubles, especially in copyright case, doesn't it?

Disney Cinderella Barbie

2005-05-02T22:24:00.000+10:00

Disney and Mattel made a great collaborative work on producing a Disney Cinderella Barbie.

Barbie History

2005-05-02T22:01:00.000+10:00

Believe it or not, Barbie originally was a real person. Her name was Barbara (Barbie) Handler and her mother and father were Ruth and Elliot.

In the early 1950's, Barbie's mother watched her and her girlfriends play with adult female dolls more than they did the baby dolls. Her mother knew it was just as important for young girls to imagine what it would be like to be grown up. Since most of the adult dolls available at that time were paper or cardboard, Barbie's mother decided to make a three-dimensional female adult doll. One that was lifelike enough to serve as an inspiration for little girl's dreams of the future.

She took her ideas to the ad executives at the Mattel Corp., the company that she and Barbie's father had founded in the garage many years prior. The all male committee rejected the idea saying it would be too expensive and with little market appeal to the mass. She had gone on a trip to Europe and returned with a Lillie doll, modeled after a character in a German comic strip. She then spent lots of time designing a doll (Barbie) to resemble Lillie and even hired a clothing designer to make realistic clothes. The result was the Barbie Doll. Mattel finally agreed to back her efforts and Barbie debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. Girls went wild over her and set a new sales record for Mattel the very first year at 351,000 sold at $3.00 each.

Since then the Barbie Doll's popularity has rarely waivered and today, with over one billion of her lookalikes sold, the product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry. As you can see, Barbie was blonde with a pony tail, zebra-striped swimsuit, open toed shoes, sunglasses and earrings. Barbie had lots of accessories available. The silly buyers at the industry's annual Toy Fair in New York were not impressed but the little girls sure were! That's all it took to take the retailers by storm! Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several years for supply to catch up with demand! And now you know the rest of the Barbie History.

http://www.billbam.com/barbiehistory.html

Life size and Barbie

2005-05-02T21:28:00.000+10:00

We are wondering whether Barbie involved in the movie "Life Size". I tried to find out, but I couldn’t find anything about that issue. It seems that Disney used Barbie image in a good way that doesn’t disadvantage Mattel Company as the group singer, Aqua did. In someway Disney even unconsciously promotes Barbie to the costumers. In return, Disney uses the popular image of Barbie in the movie to catch the customers’ attention. The plot of the movie will not be that great if they use other doll rather than Barbie. Everyone knew Barbie and her perfect lifestyle and the fact that she could be anything that she wants. This makes Barbie is the right image to use to make the plot of this movie works well. In this case Disney help to benefit Mattel and Mattel is also help to benefit Disney, so this shouldn’t be problem for both sides, even though Disney seems to copy Barbie image from Mattel Company to their movie.

Barbie Girl - AQUA [part 2]

2005-04-28T14:50:00.000+10:00

A Danish group band-Aqua released the “Barbie-Girl” song in 1997 as a single and included it on the album Aquarium. The song was written by Karsten Dahlgoard, Claus Noreen & Soren Rasted. The lyrics of the song are about Barbie and Ken, the dolls made by Mattel. It drew the anger of Barbie's corporate owners. Mattel sued the band, saying they turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "Blonde Bimbo." They thought the song had violated their copyrights and trademarks of Barbie and that its lyrics had marked the reputation of their trademark and interrupted on their marketing plan. The proven that Mattel claimed was the advertisement materials for the song used the same electric pink that Mattel has used to package Barbie dolls for decades. Mattel first lost in lower courts, but then they brought this case to Supreme Court, and in 2002, a judge ruled the song was protected as free speech under the first amendment. This case then closed.

Sometimes, people considered a product as a “free speech” where everybody can use it for everything they want. This could bring good or bad image and obviously, will make the consumer confused. A good image wouldn’t make a trouble, but a bad image would make a big impact.

Life Size

2005-04-21T20:57:00.001+10:00

Barbie doll could be seen in one of Disney movie ‘Life Size.’ It s about a girl, Casey cast a spell, unexpectedly turned her doll into a real human. Although they didn’t clearly mention about Barbie in this movie, we will knew it straight away after we saw the doll. Clearly the doll they use in the movie is a Barbie doll; we could see the typical glamorous lifestyle of Barbie, the fashion, hairdos, etc. Furthermore, top fashion model Tyra Banks played as the living doll in this movie. They could choose other type of doll rather than Barbie, but why did they choose Barbie doll? Is it because they want to emphasize the lifestyle of a model and Barbie is a popular doll made inspired from fashion models (Some kind of coincident)? What do you think?

Barbie Girl - AQUA

2005-04-21T17:52:00.000+10:00

Hi, Barbie! Hi, Ken! You wanna go for a ride? Sure, Ken! Jump in!

I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party!

I'm a blond bimbo girl, in the fantasy world
Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly
You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour in pink,
kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky...
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

Come on Barbie, let's go party!
Ah ah ah yeah
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
Ooh wow, ooh wow

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees
Come jump in, be my friend, let us do it again
Hit the town, fool around, let's go party

Well Barbie, we're just gettin' started Oh, I love you Ken!_____________________________________________

This is a preview of Barbie-Girl song lyric, by AQUA
To hear the preview try this link:
http://www.mp3.com/tracks/934694/dl_streams.html
and click "Play Song Clip"

Indirectly, this song is an advertisement for Barbie doll. The lyric is explaining what the Barbie-dolls can do, like you can brush their hair, dress them however you like, and you can do anything you like.

But, does Mattel (Barbie’s producer) pay AQUA for this song? Does Aqua sing this song for advertisement purpose or just for fun?

2005-04-14T18:56:00.000+10:00

Now, what would you say about this Queen Elizabeth 1 Barbie® Doll?
It cost USD$249.90

Versace barbie again..

2005-04-14T18:20:00.000+10:00

Can you tell me, was the Barbie company paying Versace to get them dressing Barbie with their dress or Versace paying the Barbie company to publish Barbie wearing their dress? Hmm....??

Crazy 'bout Barbie

2005-04-12T20:10:00.000+10:00

Nowadays, Barbie is not only about a doll. There are many kinds of product use Barbie as they symbol. Bags, shoes, clothes, accecories, and even food produced in a cute bright colour-pink as the symbol of Barbie. Kids, especially girls crazy about barbie. For example, one of my cousin has so many Barbie stuffs, from the dolls until almost all of her stuffs are Barbie. Everytime she eats, she only want to use the Barbie eating untensils. When she goes to school, she always use the Barbie bag. Even, on her birthday I don't have to be confused what sort of present i have to give. I only have to choose, which Barbie stuff she hasn't have yet. Like my cousin, there are many little girl that crazy about Barbie. Why is this happen? Is it maybe because of their imagination and expectation of what they will be when they grow up?

If you are barbie, which one will you be?

2005-04-09T16:20:00.000+10:00

Check this out!

http://quizilla.com/users/frozenebony/quizzes/If%20You%20Were%20A%20Barbie%2C%20Which%20Messed%20Up%20Version%20Would%20You%20Be%3F/

Versace Barbie

2005-04-08T16:01:00.000+10:00

Barbie in Versace Fashion Design