The New York Timesreports that Mattel and Barbie have joined forces for a limited line of Mad Men Barbie dolls. Pictured above are Barbie and Ken versions of Mad Men characters Joan Holloway, Roger Sterling, Don Draper and Betty Draper. The dolls are part of the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. They will be sold at specialty stores and online at amctv.com and barbiecollector.com for $74.95 each. The Times says 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each doll will be made.
Vamplets are a collection of plush baby vampire dolls. The names of the first six dolls to launch are Cadaverson Nightshade, Lilyrose Shadowlyn, Count Vlad Von Gloom, Evilyn Nocturna, Burton Creepson, Jr., and Midnight Mori. The dolls retail for $15.95 each. The first shipment of Vamplets will arrive on March 24th. There are also little bottles of blood you can buy for the creepy, hungry vampire babies.
Mattel and the the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) are auctioning off Barbie dolls wearing little black dresses that have been designed by top fashion designers. The designers include Issac Mizrahi, Betsey Johnson, Rachel Roy, Justin Giunta, Lorraine Schwartz, Alex Bittar, Monica Botkier, Deborah Lloyd of Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Albertus Swanepoei, Philip Crangi and Devi Kroell. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the CFDA Foundation, Inc., a separate, not-for-profit company which was organized to raise funds for charitable initiatives and campaigns on behalf of the American fashion industry's designers.
The doll with the highest bid so far is the Lorraine Schwartz Barbie (pictured below), which has a high bid of $4,100. The Lorraine Schwartz Barbie contains real diamonds valued at $25,000. You can find all the designer Barbies here. The auction runs until February 7th.
Playmates Toys to Create Michael Jackson Figures and Dolls
Playmates Toys and Bravado are hoping Michael Jackson products will stay hot in 2010. They should with the recent release on Michael Jackson's This is It film on DVD and blu-ray. Playmates Toys has signed an agreement with Bravado to create a signature line of Michael Jackson figures and dolls. Playmates collection will replicate iconic images of star with Michael Jackson dance poses, music and embellished fashions. The toys will be released this year.
"Michael Jackson as a global icon leaves a legacy in music, dance and fashion that remain unrivaled," said Lou Novak, President of Playmates Toys. "We will honor his talent and his art expression by delivering a spectacular, highly detailed product line to inspire fans, collectors and new found enthusiasts."
Liv Dolls are one of the hot toys of the 2009 holiday season. There are couple good sales going on for the dolls that end today. Toysrus.com is offering savings of up to 25% off on LIV Dolls and the LIV Salon Set. Amazon.com is running a sale on the Liv doll named Sophie. She's currently 35% off. This sale also ends today.
Jakks Expands Taylor Swift Doll and Toy Collection
We mentioned several of the Taylor Swift dolls by Jakks currently available in an earlier post. The line is working well for Jakks so they are expanding it. New Taylor Swift dolls, fashions and playsets will be at retailers nationwide in Spring 2010. Here is a complete list of the Taylor Swift toys that will be available from Jakks next spring. Some of these items are already in stores.
The Taylor Swift Performance Collection Doll Assortment includes dolls based on Taylor Swift's performances and music videos. Each of the dolls in the assortment sings a 30 second highlight of one of Swift's hit songs, "Our Song," "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Picture to Burn," "Love Story" and her recent chart-topper "You Belong With Me." The dolls are dressed in an outfit replicating what Swift wears in the music video. Each doll also comes with accessories, including a guitar and hair brush. Ages 6+ SRP $19.99
The Taylor Swift Fashion Collection Doll Assortment features some of Taylor's most recognizable outfits from award shows, TV appearances and concerts. The assortment includes the "Sundress Medley Doll," "Red Carpet Ready Doll," "Pretty in Pink Doll" and the new "Camera Ready Doll." Ages 6+ SRP $14.99
The Taylor Swift Fashion Packs are outfits based on real looks worn by Taylor Swift, including shoes and accessories. The outfits include the "Blender Magazine Fashion," "Dance in the Rain Fashion," "Pink Sundress Fashion," and "Yellow Sundress Fashion." Dolls sold separately. Ages 6+ SRP $9.99
The portable Taylor Swift Fashion Wardrobe Set stores all of the Taylor Swift doll fashions and even comes with one complete outfit including boots, shoes, handbag and hangers. Ages 6+ SRP $19.99
The Song Recording Studio comes with a recording chair, microphone, head set, laptop, picture frame and rug for your Taylor Swift doll. SRP $4.99
Taylor Lautner's Jacob Black doll can now have a friend. Jakks has created two different lines of Taylor Swift dolls. The Taylor Swift performance collection of dolls (MSRP $19.99 each) is designed around Taylor Swift's looks from her different music videos. The three doll each features one of Taylor’s biggest hits: "Our Song", "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Picture to Burn." The Taylor Swift fashion collection includes dolls (MSRP $14.99 each) wearing some of Taylor's most recognizable outfits from award shows, TV appearances and concert performances. Amazon.com is carrying some of the dolls here but some of them are being sold by third-party sellers for double the MSRP price. Toysrus.com and Walmart.com are not currently carrying the dolls.
The New York Times examines
the latest battles in the doll wars. Now that the Bratz dolls are off shelves, due to Mattel's legal victory, there are new dolls rising up to try to knock Barbie off her perch. The Liv dolls and the Moxie Girlz are the two contenders who are best poised to give Barbie -- and Mattel -- a run for their money. So what makes Liv dolls and Moxie Girlz popular with pre-teens? Their look is different from Barbie's, for one thing. And they're not glamorous. The ride scooters and dress in the type of clothes you might find at T.J. Maax or Forever 21. There are no Bob Mackie designs for the Moxie Girlz.
Liv, is perhaps the most lavishly detailed of the new dolls.
"We wanted to create a collector-doll feel," said Mr. Varadi, who gave the Liv dolls glasslike eyes, glossy hair, interchangeable wigs and 14 points of articulation that make them easy to dress. He aimed to make Liv pretty but approachable by giving her slightly plump facial features and contours softer than Barbie's. "We went through five different sculptors" to create an alternative to Barbie's chiseled cheeks and pneumatic curves, he said, adding, "We didn't want Liv to look like she just came back from a plastic surgeon."
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Moxie is giving Liv a run for the money in part by appealing to girls' creative sides: Some of the Moxies come with clothes that can be hand-colored and sheared. "In some respects, these girls are designing the clothes themselves," Mr. Johnson, the analyst, said, "and that's a strong part of the dolls' appeal."
Bratz dolls were sometimes criticized for being heavily made up and suggestively dressed. Some child psychologists worry that the new dolls, which come with "necessities" from hair driers to handbags, pose another problem. "You are robbing them of the opportunity to use their imaginations," said Claudia Paradise, a New York psychoanalyst who works with children. "But that's big business," she added resignedly.
Both Spin Master and MGA say they are fostering self-expression by offering girls the chance to mix and match doll wardrobes as their whim dictates. To entice them, however, "you have to have the right types of clothes -- the distressed jeans, the lip gloss and the shoes -- those are crucial," said Mr. Silver, the Timetoplaymag editor. "Little girls pay special attention to details like that."
Barbie generates $3 billion a year, whereas the Liv and Moxie lines are each expected to generate $30 to $40 million this year. Will they challenge Barbie? Perhaps. But Mattel is hardly sitting around waiting to be destroyed by the Moxie Girlz. Virtual worlds, Christian Louboutin shoes, tie-ins with Mac Cosmetics...Barbie still has a few tricks up her perfectly tailored sleeves.
Russia's Matryoshka dolls are facing extinction due to a decline in production. We hope the Russian art form will continue. The design concept also lives on in less artistic endeavors such as these clever M-Cups, a set of dry-measure cups shaped like matryoshkas or Russian nesting dolls. An M-Cups set include six measuring cups including sizes: 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 full cup. They can be purchased here on Neatorama for $11.95 a set.
Christian Louboutin Designed Three Collector Barbies
WWDreports that Christian Louboutin designed three new Barbie dolls. He will also be acting as a "Godfather" to Barbie for a year. The new Barbies each wear tiny versions of the special Barbie pink pumps that Louboutin designed for the Barbie Fashion Show earlier this year. The shoes were worn by each of the models that went down the runway.
A Louboutin spokesperson told WWD recently that the designer felt the need to reshape Barbie's foot to fit his pink shoes. The spokesperson said Louboutin thought Barbie's ankles were "too fat." The comments launched a wave of blog and media criticism. Louboutin clarified to WWD what he meant by his comments. He says Barbie doesn't have "fat ankles" but she "could have had thinner ankles."
"Barbie's foot has always been shaped less 'curvy' than the rest of her perfect body," he said. "I just added my little science to Barbie and I've been proud to serve her. But fat ankles she didn't have, she just could have had thinner ankles. That's all.
"My God, what a story," he said, reacting to the controversy. "I apologize to my goddaughter [Barbie]. There has been a bit of confusion there, but it's just the proof that Barbie has real serious fans."
WWD says Louboutin will unveil Louboutin's jewel thief-themed Barbie in December and his safari-themed Barbie in February. A Louboutin designed Barbie doll that goes to the Cannes Film Festival will be unveiled in May. Each of the three dolls will retail for $150 and will be sold at BarbieCollector.com and Net-a-porter.com.
Another item that will be sold is a Barbie diary called My Year in Paris With Christian Louboutin. The diary will cost $40 and go on sale in December. The photographs from the diary below show Louboutin and Barbie interacting in various scenes.
You can see more images from the diary featuring Louboutin and Barbie here.
Heidi Klum's Barbie doll is now available. It can be purchased here from BarbieCollector.com for $44.95. The Heidi Klum Barbie is part of Barbie's 50th Anniversary Blonde Ambition Collection.
Heidi Klum says she was "super excited" when she got the call about doing a Heidi Barbie doll because she grew up playing with Barbies. As you can see from the "making of" video below, Heidi gave her input on everything, including the hair color, eyelashes, shoes, jewelry and dress. She says it took about eight months to complete the Barbie doll. Take a look:
Giant wooden marionettes marched through the streets of Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the city's reunification. The two dolls are so big they had to be held up with cranes. The first doll in the video is 25 feet tall. The second marionette emerging from the harbor is 49 feet tall. Take a look:
Barbie has premiered her first music and dance video called "Do 'The Barbie'." The song debuts to celebrate the launch of the Barbie Fashionistas dolls. The dolls feature 12 points of movement. Mattel says the dolls can do more than 100 poses.
Choreographer JaQuel Knight (Single Ladies 'Put A Ring On It') helped create the new dance video featuring doll-like moves. The music video was shot in New York in July. It stars three Barbie Fashionistas dolls: Sassy, Cutie and Artsy. In the video, the dolls break out of their toy boxes to come out and dance. The dolls dance to a new re-recorded version of the 90s hit, "Barbie Girl." Take a look:
Fisher-Price is releasing its Little Mommy: Walk and Giggle Doll this week. The cute doll can pick herself up off the floor and walk across the room. Gadgetwise reports that the doll contains a processor that is as powerful as the processor that powered the Apple IIe. The doll utters many cute phrases like "I'm tired," and "look at me." The doll also cries when it falls.
This somehwat disturbing video below from testers at Children's Technology Review shows the doll can easily withstand multiple falls to the floor and keep on going.
The doll retails for $69.99 and can be found at
Amazon.com and Toysrus.com. The is also an African American version of the walking doll.
Jessica Biel made her major musical theater debut in Los Angeles this weekend in the "Guys and Dolls" premiere. Jessica Biel says she was in and out of voice lessons as a child. She says Broadway has always been a dream of hers.
You can see a clip here of her performance over the weekend.
Playmates Toys and Bravado are hoping Michael Jackson products will stay hot in 2010. They should with the 
WWD 
