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Call it a fashion doll smackdown.
If you push a cart down the toy aisle, you might notice that manufacturers are trying to take down Barbie this season with new, more relevant dolls.
Mattel's Barbie has dominated the $3 billion-a-year doll business for 50 years. She's essentially an 11½-inch cougar cash queen.
Well, Barbie has new competition to worry about now.
New entries Moxie Girlz and Liv Fashion Dolls have arrived on shelves. They're selling relatively well, said Jonathan Samet, co-publisher of Toy Insider magazine, an annual holiday guide that picks the hottest toys. His magazine picked Moxie Girlz and Liv dolls as two of this year's 20 hottest toys. And they just may have the potential to challenge Barbie.
“For 45 years, Barbie really didn't have any competition,” Samet said. “Someone would put their toe in, but they'd go away pretty quickly.”
The last fashion doll to give her a run for her money was MGA Entertainment's saucy Bratz doll. But the pouty-lipped toy was bumped from the scene when Mattel sued MGA for copyright infringement. After years of litigation, Mattel won the rights to the Bratz doll. Mattel was supposed to acquire the line next year, but a federal appeals court last week put the takeover on hold.
MGA's CEO Issac Larian hopes his wide-eyed Moxie Girlz can do something his Bratz couldn't — bump Barbie.
“It's time for a fresh new face,” he said.
Moxie Girlz dolls are smaller, resembling a pre-adolescent girl. Each doll has an aspiring career story line and promotes the idea that “every girl has the strength to do something amazing,” as their tagline states. The dolls promote self-esteem and confidence through virtual tools. The Moxie Weather Girl application, for instance, teaches kids about meteorology. The magazine designer function shows girls the basics of layout design and magazine publishing.
The business of making nice, good-girl dolls changed when pop-tart singer Britney Spears became a teen sensation. A Britney doll was launched in 1999 — complete with a bare navel. It was followed by busty Bratz dolls, which grabbed a slightly older market of girls ages 6 to 9 and made $500 million in one year.
The ensuing doll war is still raging, Samet said.
Retailers stocked the shelves with new products in August. It's too early to know if Barbie will be kicked off her throne. But Samet thinks Moxie Girlz are doing well so far.
Also this summer, Toronto-based toy maker Spin Master released the Liv Fashion Doll.
“The fashion doll category is the hardest, scariest, riskiest category in the toy industry,” said Ben Varadi of Spin Master. “It's so controlled by one company. Whenever someone new comes into the scene, they'd be headless immediately. It's like walking into the movie theater with a giant fruit basket on your head. It's so scary.”
Spin Master's Liv dolls are four teenagers with back stories. One is a wannabe rock star cutting her teeth by playing gigs at high school dances. The stories develop online in an interactive world where the girls can shop, dress and follow their doll's online diary. It follows a mold similar to the children's WebKinz toys.
That online component makes Liv Fashion Dolls different from Moxie Girlz or Barbie, Samet said.
That didn't happen by accident. Spin Master conducted research that showed girls are interested in the background of their dolls. They want to know who she is and what makes her special — warts and all.
“We made sure every girl had a flaw so you could appreciate their struggle,” Varadi said.
So will the doll wars leave Barbie as a casualty?
Maybe, but not in Linsey Bryant's house. The Fremont, Neb., mom couldn't make the switch. She's a Barbie girl at heart.
“My daughter Macy wants a Moxie girl really bad. But they kind of creep me out, so we're sticking by our girl Barbie.”
At Macy's sixth birthday, she gabbed with friends about Moxie Girlz. In unison, they sang the doll's catchy jingle. None of them owned one, but they knew all about the product.
Bryant eventually went to a toy store to look at the dolls. They wore too much makeup and seemed too grown-up for her. She determined Moxie Girlz weren't for Macy.
“I'd rather keep her young with Barbie,” Bryant said. “She's innocent and nostalgic.”
Contact the writer:
444-1075, j.loza@owh.com
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