Barbie & Ken In The 21St Century

[FatticusInch]

Not knocking Mattel for making these as I’m sure they’ll have some relevance to the children that grew up with no sense of relating to the ordinary dolls that were about.

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-62577192

Is it a PR exercise? I’m only speculating because I’m wondering what the R and D costs would have been to make these and will sales recoup what they’ve spent?

[barry1010]

I thought mattell had done this years ago, I must have been dreaming.
Barbie is still very popular with lots of diehard fans who must buy every version they make, I'm sure Mattell won't be losing money

[Redhelen72]

Barbie could never relate to any young lady - if you put her measurements onto a real lady its only achievable if you have plastic surgery!
I think dolls should be more like the people who play with them, be it colour, figure or missing limbs.

[barry1010]

This is from 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahkim/2019/02/19/barbie-dolls-with-disabiilities/

Must be profitable if they are extending the range

[vulcan42]

I'm not sure why toys have to reflect reality. I thought they were to stimulate a child's imagination, one of my sons constant companion in his early years was a purple rabbit, it made no difference to him that it didn't look like a real rabbit.

[barry1010]

Surely toys can do both. Stimulate the imagination and lead a child in to wonderful flights of fancy and be a reflection of self that can be identified with, something a child can love that looks like him or her.
Barbie in a wheelchair can still have wonderful adventures and wear fabulous clothes.

[pastafreak]

Toys have often mimicked real life...baby dolls, dolls that "wee", child sized kitchens, tool sets...so why shouldn't they also reflect the variety found in our fellow humans?

[Zacs-Master]

I see no downside to this. I'm sure Mattel's bean counters have done their sums.

I personally had a rubber 'blackababy' (as I called it) growing up. Only for a short time my mother tells me. Could be the reason I don't half fancy Denise Lewis, tho?

[Ken4155]

^
Nothing to do with the six-pack, then? :-J

[Zacs-Master]

Nope.

[jno]

kids can have Barbies and purple rabbits, vulcan, and machine guns and Scrabble boards too; except among the most indigent it isn't an either/or thing.