Barbie Doll

“B who U want to B” – the Barbie doll slogan.

Barbie dolls are male and female dolls of all ages, that are popularly fashioned with clothing and accessories, targeted at girls, and are produced by Mattel, Inc., a toy company.
Barbie dolls were invented by Ruth Handler, a business woman from America and the wife of Mattel’s founder, due to the lack of dolls for children, that resembled adults, and they were based on the German Bild Lilli doll, a character from a German cartoon, and the rights for the doll were acquired by Mattel in 1964.
The Barbie doll was first launched in the United State’s New York, at the American International Toy Fair on 9 March, 1959, which is known as Barbie’s birthday, and the doll’s 50th anniversary celebrations were held in 2009.
Barbie dolls were named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara, who enjoyed playing with dolls, and while there are various named dolls in the Barbie brand, Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Barbie dolls were among the earliest toys to use television advertisements as their main advertising medium, and the first Barbie modelled a black and white striped swimsuit, and had brown or blonde hair.

Barbie dolls are sold across 150 countries, with more than a billion having been produced and sold, and they have also been popularly featured in animated films, most notably Toy Story, as well as books, fashion and video games.
Barbie dolls are scaled at approximately one sixth the height of an adult, roughly 29.2 centimetres (11.5 inches) in height, although the dolls’ body proportions are not able to be imitated in real life, which has lead to much criticism.
Barbie dolls have seen a number of changes since their first production, most notably waist and eye changes, and the dolls are believed to be seriously collected by over 100,000 people around the world, with approximately nine out of ten collectors being female.
Barbie dolls have had their greatest competition from dolls produced by MCA Entertainment, in particular, the Bratz and Moxie Girlz lines, and the Mattel and MCA companies have been in and out of court for years regarding the Bratz branded dolls, which has resulted in the companies suing each other.
The most expensive Barbie doll ever sold, up until the end of 2013, was the Barbie styled by Stefano Canturi, an Australian jeweller, which was valued at more than AU $600,000, due to the rare pink diamond and other jewels found in Barbie’s jewellery, which sold for US $302,500 in October 2010, in New York, in the United States.

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