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."