What famous celebrities got their starts thanks to Barbie?
What would Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse be worth if it was a real house?
Find out in 11 Amazing Facts About The Barbie Doll!
#11.“Backstory”- You might know that Barbie is short for Barbara but did you know that
Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts?
You might also not know that she gets her name from the daughter of Elliot and Ruth
Handler, co-founders of Mattel.
Ruth Handler first got the idea when she noticed her daughter preferred playing with dolls
that had adult personalities over baby dolls.
She got further inspiration from a German toy doll named Bild Lilli which originated
as a gag-gift for adults with a much more provocative nature than the wholesome kid-friendly
Barbie would.
Released in 1959, the original Barbie was said to hail from the fictional town of Willows,
Wisconsin and wore a black and white swimsuit costing $3 which would be the equivalent of
just over $25 today.
The first Barbie dolls also had the distinction of eye’s that looked to the side as opposed
to forward-facing like they are today.
The forward looking Barbie was released in 1971 and hasn’t looked back.
#10.
“Collect ‘Em All”- If you are wondering who the biggest Barbie fan in the world is
look no further than Bettina Dorfmann.
Bettina lives in Dusseldorf, Germany and though there are hundreds of thousands of Barbie
collectors all over the world her collection blows them all away.
She owns the World Record for the largest collection of Barbies with over 15,000 individual
dolls.
Not only does she collect and take care of her own dolls she helps others maintain theirs,
operating a Barbie repair business fixing everything from tangled hair to broken limbs.
#9.
“Everlasting Love?”-- One of the most famous and celebrated fictional couples in
the world are Barbie and Ken.
The Ken doll was first released in 1961, two years after Barbie and was named after Ruth
Handler’s son.
Despite being named after real-life brother and sister, Barbie and Ken have been an all-but
inseparable couple for almost 60 years.
Though they were considered an item since inception and Barbie has sported many wedding
gowns over the years they have never officially been married in any of Mattel’s backstories.
After dating for 43 years Barbie and Ken hit the first major speed-bump in their relationship
and broke-up in 2004.
Barbie actually moved on quite quickly dating the much younger, in toy years, australian
surfer named Blaine.
But luckily for life-long Barbie and Ken enthusiasts the break-up was only temporary as 7 years
later they were back together.
In a move remarkably hip for two 50 year-olds they announced their rekindled love on Facebook.
Their break-up and eventual make-up both occurred on Valentine’s Day of their respective years.
#8.
“Woman of Many Hats”-Barbie is known for being a Jill of all trades, mastering everything
from yoga to surgery.
In fact, over the years Barbie has had over 150 different careers.
Her career has ranged from being a clerk at McDonald’s to the President of the United
States and been an astronaut on three different occasions.
Some of the most unique careers she has had include: a canadian mountie, a major league
baseball player, a video-game developer and even the chancellor of Germany.
She has held several different positions in the military as a fighter pilot, medic, marine
corps sergeants and paratrooper amongst others.
Interestingly enough Mattel values accuracy so much on these Barbies that they consult
the Pentagon in order to make sure the outfits are true to life.
Several of her careers have met with controversy most famously that of her job as a SeaWorld
trainer.
After several allegations of animal abuse created public backlash against SeaWorld Mattel
decided to drop SeaWorld Barbie from their production line.
#7.
“Barbie Boomers”--Barbie is one of the best-selling toy product lines of all time
rivaled only by Hot Wheels and the Rubik’s Cube.
This trend continues today and Barbie’s popularity has only grown over the years.
Amazingly, a Barbie is sold somewhere in the world every 3 seconds.
There are also more Barbies sold a year than there are babies born in the United States.
To clothe all these stylish dolls it takes over 100 million yards of fabric.
In order to supply the dolls with the latest fashions, Mattel has become one of the biggest
clothing manufacturers on Earth.
They can also boast that since the birth of Barbie they have designed over one-billion
different pairs of shoes.
#6.
“Fashion Icon”- Not only does Mattel make thousands of different styles of clothing
themselves, famous fashion designers have jumped at the chance to create outfits for
the mini-model.
Designers such as Vera Wang, Dolce and Gabbana and Versace have all outfitted Barbie with
their signature styles.
Probably the most famous of these designer Barbies was the one created by jewelry maker
Stefano Canturi in order to raise money for breast cancer research.
This Barbie, which took 6 months to make, has the distinction of being the most expensive
Barbie ever sold, auctioned off with the final price tag of $302,500.
Most of the price can be attributed to the diamond necklace that she wears, valued at
$300,000 alone.
In comparison a mint-condition 1959 original Barbie today is worth $27,450.
Two other ridiculously expensive Barbies that have been created are: the promotional doll
for the Barbie cartoon movie ‘Barbie and the Diamond Castle’, which has Barbie adorned
in a dress that features 318 diamonds worth a whopping $94,800 and that of the 40th anniversary
Barbie designed by the jewelers DeBeers, which is worth $85,000 and features a belt made
up of 160 diamonds.
#5.
“No Doll’s Allowed”--Though you can find Barbies of all varieties in most of the
countries on Earth there is one country you will never see them sold: Saudi Arabia.
In 2003, Saudi Arabia’s religious police that go by the official moniker of The Committee
for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice banned any sale or purchase of the
doll.
There reasoning, which was full of anti-semitic rhetoric was that if girls play with Barbies
they will eschew laws of Islam regarding how women should dress and act.
The Committee also prints posters required to be put up in classrooms that reinforce
the evil that Barbie represents.
In addition to it being illegal to buy it is also illegal to bring a Barbie into the
country if you are visiting.
Despite these laws some citizens still love Barbies and purchase them on the black market,
though at an incredibly inflated price.
Saudi Arabia has tried to curb this by creating several barbie knockoffs that are consistent
with Sharia Law.
#4.
“Cover Girl”--Barbie made headlines in 2014 when she was featured on the cover of
Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, becoming the first non-human to do so.
Barbie is also featured in an article and photo spread inside the magazine in her iconic
black and white striped swimsuit.
Her appearance on the cover re-ignited longstanding debates on whether or not Barbie is a fun
toy for children or a bad influence on young women.
Barbies critics have long bandied about their point that Barbie promotes unrealistic and
unattainable beauty standards for girls.
The theme of this particular Swimsuit Edition was ‘unapologetic’, which is basically
a shot at the critics.
Mattel partnered with Sports Illustrated in this promotion as a way to modernize Barbie’s
image and stated that the ‘unapologetic’ theme was an effort to show Barbie as a confident
modern woman who is comfortable with herself.
#3.
“Famous Firsts”--Barbie commercial have been a feature of children’s television
shows since she first hit the scene in the 50s so it’s not surprising that many of
these commercials gave some aspiring actresses their starts.
Barbie commercials have helped to launch the careers of such high-profile female thespians
as: Mila Kunis from That 70s Show and Family Guy who appeared in an ad for Glitter-hair
Barbie in the early 90s, a Barbie that comes with glitter that can be used to streak her
hairs or yours.
Tiffani Amber-Thiessen from Saved By the Bell appeared in a commercial for Peaches N’
Cream Barbie in 1984, which features Barbie wearing an orange dress that wraps around
her like an octopus tentacle.
Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas appeared in a 1985 ad for Barbie’s Glamour Bath and
Shower which sported a working shower and bath.
Christina Applegate from Anchorman and Married With Children added Barbie to her resume in
1983 when she helped sell the Pose Me Pretty Barbie, which is the almost life-size head
and shoulders of Barbie whose hair girls can style anyway their heart desires.
Before starring in Nickelodeon’s All-That, Amanda Bynes appeared in the 1994 commercial
for Cut N’ Style Barbie which as you may have guess has hair you can cut and style.
Lastly one of the first celebrities to breakout in a Barbie commercial was none other than
Marcia Brady herself, Maureen McCormick, who acted in several Barbie commercial in the
late 1960s through the early 1970s.
#2.
“She Speaks!”- One might think that the talking Barbie doll is a fairly new toy technology
but the fact is the first talking barbie was released over 50 years ago in 1968.
The doll was able to talk using a voice box in her chest and the most futuristic pull-string
technology of the time.
She said things like “Let’s Go Shopping” or “I love being a fashion model” in stereotypical
Barbie fashion or the bubbly “I have a date tonight” but also featured the awkwardly
phrased “what’s playing at the cinema?” and “stacey and I are having a tea”.
Flash forward to the present and you will find Mattel’s newest talking Barbie called
Hello Barbie.
Hello Barbie uses speech recognition in order to have a unique and adaptable conversation
with children.
It does this using a web-based program called ToyTalk that is constantly updating its database
in order to give realistic responses to voice commands.
Because wi-fi is needed in order to use Hello Barbie, many people are worried that hackers
can access the dolls and spy on their children.
A more realistic fear that cybersecurity experts worry about is the fact that the doll records
children’s voices and these recording are stored in ToyTalk’s database.
ToyTalk could potentially turn around and use these recording for malevolent reasons
than just providing a life-like toy.
Cybersecurity experts warn that ToyTalk can sell the information they have collected to
other companies or use them to gain an edge in future toy innovations.
#1.
“Moving Up”--You might best know Barbie for having luxurious multi-storied dollhouses
that feature some of the latest advancements in toy technology but she actually had modest
beginnings when it comes to dwellings.
The first Barbie dreamhouse that came out in 1962 was a studio apartment that was made
entirely out of cardboard.
This model was replaced by a townhouse and subsequent houses started to bare more elaborate
features.
By the mid-70s Barbies many careers must have finally started to pay off as the dreamhouse
as we know it started to appear in the form of multi-storied houses equipped with elevators.
As of today the dreamhouses have only become more and more complex and Mattel comes out
with several different models every year.
In an attempt to promote Barbie sales Mattel created a marketing campaign that involved
the fictional sale of Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse, pretending it was a real house.
Mattel teamed up with the television show Million Dollar Listing to add credentials
to the marketing ploy and listed the house’s worth at $25 million dollars.
They then segued into their sales pitch stating that though it’s worth 8 figures your kids
can own their own toy version of the beachfront mansion for the comparatively low price of
$170.
If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to shrink down and go inside of Barbie’s
dreamhouse you will be excited to learn that a lifesize version of the house opened in
2013 in Sunrise, Florida.
Barbie The Dreamhouse Experience covers over 10,000 square feet and was built using over
100 gallons of pink paint and 20 pounds of glitter.
What was your favorite toy as a child and why?