Barbie Toys

Barbie is the name of an adult-like fashion doll which was launched by the American toy company Mattel Inc in 1959. Barbie Toys have provided a steady stream of revenue for the company ever since. An American business woman called Ruth Handler is responsible for the development of this doll which now enjoys cult status.

Vintage versions of the Barbie doll are today sought after collectibles which have been auctioned by eminent auction houses like Christies. Christies actually sold a Barbie doll dated 1965 at one of its auctions which was held in London in 2006 for a world record price of £9,000. Mattel believes that the Barbie doll continues to appeal until today to both young girls and adult women many of whom are over the age of 40, as they continue to buy Barbie dolls and associated Barbie toys and games.

The inspiration for the creation of the Barbie doll was a German adult-like doll called Bild Lilli. Ruth had observed her daughter Barbara, playing with her dolls and had noticed that Barbara liked her dolls to have adult roles as she play acted with them. Until then most dolls available on the market were representations of children and Ruth realized that there was a gap in the market for an adult-like doll. However, when she suggested this to her husband who was the co-founder of Mattel he wasn't terribly impressed with her idea. On a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Ruth couldn’t help but notice the popularity of the Bild Lilli Doll. This German doll was a representation of an adult working girl and was exactly she had in mind for the American market.

When Ruth returned home, she worked on a prototype of her doll along with an engineer called Jack Ryan. She named her doll 'Barbie' after her daughter and then unveiled 'Barbie' to the world at the American International Toy Fair in 1959. Mattel then acquired the rights to this 'Barbie' doll and subsequently also acquired the rights to the 'Bild Lilli' whose production was stopped as it went on to aggressively market the 'Teen-age fashion model doll'- 'Barbie' which was available in those days in a blonde or a brunette version. The initial Barbie toys that were available on the market consisted of clothes for 'Barbie' which had been designed by the then in-house fashion designer at Mattel called Charlotte Johnson. In its first year of production Mattel sold 350,000 Barbie toys.

Since then the 'Barbie' doll has come a long way, though the doll with her perfect hour glass figure has often been criticized for being an unrealistic representation of an adult woman. Mattel however estimates that over one billion Barbie dolls have been sold in over 150 countries since the doll was launched. In many countries the doll has been customized keeping in mind cultural sensibilities.

Apart from the main 'Barbie' doll and its many avatars, the company has produced many varieties of allied 'Barbie' toys such as Barbie's family and friends and her companion, the Ken doll. Mattel also sells a large variety of Barbie toys apart from clothes and fashion accessories for 'Barbie' and her friends. These 'Barbie toys' consist of doll houses, vehicles, fashion accessories, vehicles and toy animals.

The Barbie doll is meant to represent a strong woman who can choose to have any career that she wants and it is for this reason the company has introduced and aggressively marketed various 'Barbie' dolls over the years like the 'Doctor Barbie', the 'Princess Barbie' and the 'Nascar driver' Barbie. Keeping in tune with fast changing and ever evolving market for toys, Mattel also now sells Barbie themed MP3 players and Barbie B- Bright learning Laptops as well.