THE NEWS IS OUT!!!!!!!
01:24 AM ET 02/03/99
Mattel's Barbie Nears 40
Mattel's Barbie Nears 40
By RACHEL BECK=
AP Business Writer=
NEW YORK (AP) _ Can it be that Barbie _ with her perfect figure,
big smile and long list of careers _ is having a mid-life crisis?
The world's most famous blonde is turning 40 in March, and like
many of her middle-aged peers, she's trying to reinvent herself.
Yes, Barbie in 1999 will have a tattoo and hang out with friends
who have nose rings.
''Barbie just isn't as cool as she used to be,'' said Marianne
Szymanski, editor of Toy Tips magazine in Milwaukee. ''But she's
working hard to get back in with the cool crowd.''
Few thought that Barbie would ever reach 40. She's been ageless
since she hit store shelves in 1959, always fit and trim with the
ideal body, hair and of course, bust line.
In fact, Mattel Inc. isn't even calling this a birthday, but
rather an anniversary of the world's best-known and best-selling
doll. About $2 billion of Barbie dolls and accessories are sold
each year.
But big sales in the past aren't guarantees for the future.
''Kids are changing their tastes. They just don't play with
dolls as much anymore or they stop playing with dolls at a much
earlier age,'' said Eric Johnson, a professor at Vanderbilt
University's Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville, Tenn.
''Of course, this is making Barbie nervous.''
Look at Missy Schmidt of New York. At age 8, playtime consists
mostly of computer games and dressing up with makeup and hair
accessories. Barbie only comes out when she's with a younger friend
or cousin.
''Barbie is fun sometimes, but I have a lot of other things I
like to play with more,'' said Schmidt, during a recent trip to
Toys R Us in New York.
But Barbie isn't retreating to her Dream House to soothe her
woes. A veteran of more than 75 careers in the past 40 years,
Barbie is once again recreating herself.
Just last year, a few dolls in the Barbie line were transformed
with bodies that better resembled the average woman, with smaller
breasts and a more realistic shape.
Now, as Barbie turns 40, her look turns decidedly younger. Among
the dolls Mattel is showcasing at next week's American
International Toy Fair is a line of hip Generation Girls, which
includes a doll with a nose ring, and Butterfly Art Barbie, with a
butterfly tattoo on her stomach.
She's also plunging even deeper into the high-tech world. There
won't be a pink Barbie computer on the market anytime soon, but
Barbie is expanding her interactive offerings with seven new titles
this year.
For the first time, Barbie dolls will be paired with CD-ROMs.
New for 1999 is Working Woman Barbie, who comes with a play laptop
and cell phone, as well as a real CD-ROM that allows a child to
create her own business cards and stationary.
''We want Barbie to represent a lifestyle brand for girls, not
just a brand of toys,'' said Anne Parducci, senior vice president
of Barbie marketing for El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel. ''We want
to make sure we capture girls in the many ways they are spending
their time now and in the future.''
Already, these techno toys have wooed some girls back to Barbie.
Nine-year-old Michelle Gonzales stopped playing with Barbie dolls,
but loves the Barbie digital camera CD-ROM package she got for
Christmas.
''I was kind of done with Barbie, but this was really cool,''
she said. ''I like playing with it a lot.''
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