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| Sunday, 12 March 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Best-selling doll is 47 years old! Most of you girls must be having at least one Barbie doll in your toy collection. Did you know that the world's most famous and best-selling doll, has been around for 47 years? Yes, the doll was born on March 9, 1959. The idea for the first Barbie took root in the mind of Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel Toys, in 1958, when she saw her daughter, Barbara playing with paper dolls. She developed the idea along with her husband, Elliot Handler, who was the other co-founder of the company, and the doll debuted at the American International Toy Fair on March 9, 1959. It has grown in popularity since then, and is a favourite among children all over the world. The doll produced by Mattel inc. has come in many different designs and titles, along with a wide variety of clothing and accessories, as well as many other dolls designed as her companions. Barbies of different nationalities were also launched with the introduction in 1980, of the international collection, the Dolls Of The World. This includes African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American Barbies. The dolls are dressed in traditional clothes, each representing a nation. Some of the different occupations Barbie has taken up over the years include Olympic athlete (gymnast and figure skater), doctor, dentist, nurse, veterinarian, astronaut (an astronaut suit was sold for Barbie around the same time the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, entered space), fashion designer, politician (Barbie ran for President of the USA in 1992, 2000 and 2004), rock star, firefighter, McDonald's employee and tourist at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Related merchandise books about Barbie first emerged in the 1960s. In the mid-1990s, a new line of novels about Barbie's adventures appeared. In the late 1980s, Barbie had two videos, Barbie and the Rockers and Barbie and the Sensations. By the late-1990s, Mattel had started featuring her in interactive 3D video games. She also made a guest appearance in Toy Story 2, and later had her own video movies. All these were accompanied by small product lines. One of the best-selling Barbies ever was Totally Hair Barbie (Ultra Hair Barbie), which was released in 1992. It had extra-long hair, which reached from the doll's head, down to her toes. Despite its popularity, Barbie has been criticized by some people as a negative influence on young girls. Sales of the doll fell in the USA by 30 per cent last year, while world sales declined by 18 per cent. Barbie facts * The first talking version of the doll, Teen Talk Barbie, was launched in 1992. Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases. * Mattel celebrated Barbie's 50th anniversary with the release of a Limited Edition doll. * Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety per cent are women, at an average age of 40, purchasing more than 20 Barbie dolls each year. Forty five per cent of them spend over $1000 a year on dolls. * While the original Barbie sold for three dollars in 1959, a Barbie of 1959 sold for $3552.50 on the internet auction site in October 2004. * Several years ago, it was estimated that if every Barbie ever sold were laid end to end, the dolls would circle the world seven times.
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