Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll which Handler had purchased while in Europe. The figurehead of an eponymous brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories, Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over six decades. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company's largest and most profitable line. The brand has expanded into a multimedia franchise since 1984, including video games, animated films, television/web series, and a live-action film.
Margaret "Midge" Hadley Sherwood is a doll character in the Barbie line of toys by Mattel that was first released in 1963. She was marketed as Barbie's best friend.
Skipper Roberts is a doll created by Mattel in 1964 to be Barbie's young sister. Since 2009, she has a purple streak in her hair and is shown to have a tech-savvy personality. According to her fictional biography, Skipper calls herself a gadget girl who likes computers and trying out the latest technology. In the Barbie films, she likes to work on her photo blog. She had a starring role in the 2023 television film, Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure.
Since Barbie's introduction as a teenage fashion model in 1959, the doll has been portrayed with many careers. Dolls are sold with sets of clothes and accessories that fit the career being portrayed. For example, the Lifeguard Barbie playset includes a Barbie, an outfit with shoes, a lifeguard chair, a dolphin, and a life preserver, while the Spanish Teacher Barbie includes a Barbie, an outfit with shoes, flashcards, a Spanish quiz, an easel, a notebook, a key chain, and a hairbrush.
Polly Pocket is a toy line of dolls and accessories first founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 and licensed by Bluebird Toys from 1989 until both entities/properties were acquired by Mattel in 1998.
Chatty Cathy was a pull-string "talking" doll originally created by Ruth and Elliot Handler and manufactured by the Mattel toy company from 1959 to 1965. The doll was first released in stores and appeared in television commercials beginning in 1960, with a suggested retail price of $18.00, though usually priced under $10.00 in catalog advertisements. Chatty Cathy was on the market for six years and was the second most popular doll of the 1960s after Barbie.
Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, though child, male, and even some non-human variants exist. Contemporary fashion dolls are typically made of vinyl or another plastic.
What's Her Face! was a line of customizable dolls that straddled the line between traditional fashion dolls and creative activity toys. Made by Mattel, the line ran from 2001–2003, and enjoyed only a modest success in a market dominated by Mattel's iconic Barbie and MGA Entertainment's Bratz dolls. Following the discontinuation of the What's Her Face! line, their body molds were used for the Wee 3 Friends line of Barbie-related dolls. Several fashion, wig, and activity packs were also released for the What's Her Face line.
Licca-chan is a Japanese fashion doll launched on July 4, 1967 by Takara, enjoying the same kind of popularity in Japan as the Barbie series does in the United States. Takara had sold over 48 million Licca-chan dolls as of 2002, and over 53 million as of 2007. Licca-chan was created by former shōjo manga artist, Miyako Maki.
My Scene was an American series of fashion dolls that Mattel released in 2002. They were discontinued in the US in 2008, and worldwide in 2011. Mattel's Barbie character was one of the dolls in the toy line. The My Scene dolls' bodies were slim, similar to earlier Barbie dolls, but their heads were larger. The New York Times described their features as "exaggerated lips and bulging, makeup-caked eyes." My Scene were designed to appeal to the tween market and compete with the Bratz dolls from MGA Entertainment.
The Bild Lilli doll was a West German line of fashion doll launched by Greiner & Hausser GmbH on August 12, 1955 and produced until 1964. Its design was based on the comic-strip character Lilli, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid newspaper Bild. The doll was made of polystyrene, came in two sizes, and had an available wardrobe of 1950s fashion. The Lilli doll was copied, and altered to some degree, for Mattel upon the direction of that company's co-founder, Ruth Handler. Mattel acquired the rights to Bild Lilli in 1964, and production of the German doll ceased in favor of Mattel's new vinyl doll, which they called Barbie.
Fulla is the name of an 11.5 in (290 mm) Barbie-like fashion doll marketed to children of Islamic and Middle-Eastern countries as an alternative to Barbie. The product's concept evolved around 1999, and it became available for sale in late 2003. Fulla was created by a Syrian manufacturer called NewBoy FZCO. In 2015 the company moved to the United Arab Emirates and is now located in Dubai. Fulla is also sold in China, in Brazil, North Africa, Egypt, and Indonesia, while a few are sold in the United States. Although there had been many other dolls in the past that were created with a hijab, such as Razanne and Moroccan Barbie, Fulla surpassed them in popularity due to launching alongside a marketing campaign aired on the popular Arabic television channel Spacetoon. Fulla is a role-model to some Muslim people, displaying how many Muslim parents would prefer their daughters to dress and behave.
Sindy is a British fashion doll created by Pedigree Dolls & Toys in 1963. A rival to Barbie, Sindy's look and range of fashions and accessories made her the best-selling toy in the United Kingdom in 1968 and 1970. After Marx Toys' unsuccessful attempt to introduce Sindy in the United States in the late 1970s, Hasbro bought the rights to Sindy and remodelled the doll to look more American. As a result, the doll's popularity declined; in addition, Barbie manufacturer Mattel filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which was settled when Hasbro agreed to remodel Sindy's face. During the 1990s, Barbie's share of the doll market continued to grow while Sindy's diminished, which led to Sindy being delisted from major retailers in 1997. Hasbro returned the doll's licence to Pedigree, and the doll was relaunched in 1999, manufactured by Vivid Imaginations. Sindy's 40th anniversary in 2003 saw a new manufacturer, New Moons, and another relaunch and redesign. There were further relaunches in 2016 by Tesco and in 2021 by Kid Kreations.
Maxie's World is an American animated children's television program produced by DIC Animation City. Distributed by Claster Television and Saban International and originally aired in first-run syndication in the United States from September 18, 1989 through October 30, 1989. It consists of one season, comprising a total of 32 episodes, each 15 minutes long. In the series' original run, Maxie's World alternated on weekdays with Beverly Hills Teens and It's Punky Brewster. The series was briefly rerun on USA Network in 1994.
Francie Fairchild is a fashion doll issued by Mattel from 1966 to 1976 and re-introduced in 2011. Marketed as "Barbie's MODern cousin" from England, the doll had an extensive line of "mod"-style clothing, often employing bright colors and geometric patterns similar to fashions associated with Carnaby Street in the late 1960s to early 1970s. At 11¼ inches tall, the Francie doll was shorter than Barbie, but taller than Skipper, making the character presumably between the two in age.
My Child dolls are a toy made by Mattel from 1985-1988. Most had felt "skin" on their heads although some had vinyl skin.
Tressy was an American fashion doll with a feature to adjust the length of its hair. Tressy was first produced by American Character Doll Company in the 1960s and later by Ideal Toy Company in the 1970s. The doll was invented and patented by modern furniture designer Jesse Dean and his wife, Diana.
The Barbie Basics is a line of collector's edition Barbie dolls. They were created by Mattel designer Bill Greening and were introduced in late 2009 to be officially released in the spring of 2010.
The Marvelous World of Shani, also known as Shani & Friends or simply Shani, was a fashion doll line manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in 1991. The principal designer of the dolls was longtime Mattel toy designer Kitty Black Perkins, also responsible for designing 1980's First Black Barbie doll, and many other African American dolls in the Barbie line.
