Back in the 1950′s, Mattel was finally convinced that little girls in America wanted to play grow-up with their toys.  Thus, Barbie was born.

This doll with curious and odd proportions was a major hit.  Mattel has since sold over a billion Barbie dolls worldwide, educating the world’s children on the importance of materialism.   But Barbie’s image changed over the years.

There aren’t many men in Barbie’s life, and there isn’t any real competition for her.  So, she met Ken so little girls can live out their innocent yet questionable fantasies vicariously.  Kens come in different head styles but generally he’s a clean shaven pretty boy with a calm smile and bright eyes.  He is blonde with dirty blonde hair and flesh colored undies to cover his nonobtrusive naughty parts.

Then, Barbie as just “Barbie” got quite boring but was an immensely popular with entire department store aisles devoted to hot pink colored boxes filled with every Barbie imaginable.  Soon Mattel realized that there was not much money to be made in cheap Barbie clothes and accessories – however – there was a massive demand to put 10 Barbie dolls in the possession of every girl.  In fact, that was probably their business slogan, “10 dolls for every girl”.

This gave rise to the “Niche Barbies”, Barbies that were designed to appeal with a specific interest to increase exposure and distinct recognition by every little girl in the world.  Through the 1980′s and 1990′s, Barbie became a doctor, astronaut, teacher, potty trainer, motor home driver, mermaid, and a rappin’ rockin’ superstar.

Barbie, while still popular today, has faced competition from a whole new generation of little girl dolls including Bratz.  Mattel sued Bratz due to their creator having developed the idea for them while he worked for Mattel and won a healthy sum.  Since then, Bratz is now replaced by the new “Moxie Girlz” which looks curiously look Bratz.