What has happened to Barbie Dolls today?

[DodgerGirl]

When I was three I was into Barbie and had a lot of Barbie accessories playsets and dolls and when you look at it back from the 50's to the 90's Barbie dolls used to have a good image and were selling good at toy stores. But if you look at Barbie dolls today you'll notice that they have changed Barbie's image and I can't figure it out and I think it's a way for Mattel to keep the Barbie line alive. Take for example in 1985 when the "We Girls Can Do Anything Right Barbie?" slogan debuted Barbie was all about careers and showing girls how to chase their dreams and it was a great slogan. And when the Barbie And The Rockers line debuted in 1986 being a rock star or a famous singer was Barbie's obsession and through the 90's Barbie was a singer and had many doll lines based on a fictional band that Barbie was the lead singer of. But if you see Barbie dolls today they are very much career based because they have Barbie dolls with slogans such as "Be a chef like Barbie" or "Be a doctor like Barbie" and just about any career you name has a Barbie doll in the line. Another thing that I think is causing Barbie dolls to go downhill is that Mattel is focusing on celebrity Barbie dolls and they have released dolls such as Tina Turner Barbie and Queen Elizabeth II Barbie and Gloria Estefan Barbie and also released Barbie dolls based on TV shows like Ted Lasso and Doctor Who and these Barbie dolls seem to sell big. Also what has made Barbie dolls not sell well anymore is that you don't see Barbie herself do store appearances to promote the new Barbie dolls in stores anymore and when Barbie herself would appear in stores like Kmart Walmart and Target and some toy stores the appearances of Barbie herself really helped Mattel sell Barbie dolls greatly. But in general I think the success of doll lines such as Monster High and DC Superhero Girls and other doll series really has hurt Barbie terribly and that's why I think Barbie dolls are not being bought as much as they used to

 

[FreeTime]

Barbie had a body revamp quite a few years ago. The career focused ones have been around for sometime also. Mattel had a slight bump in sales of Barbie with the movie last year but net sales were down 1%. Monster High and Disney Branded Barbies, according to news reports, are more sought after than the standard Barbie.

Like other toys of our youth and our parents youth, they have tried to keep up with the times. eToys are popular.

 

[Beezle2]

I raised 4 girls starting in 81. We have spent a lot of money on dolls. Barbie was icon for my first 2 born 81 and 83. They had a lot of them. When #3 was born in 93 she had some growing up but I remember when Bratz dolls hit the market. We loved them, I'm not sure we ever bought another Barbie after. And we were huge Monster High fans also.

 

[tony67]

Those specialty dolls are probably keeping the whole thing going as collectors still buy them.

Beyond that there probably is too much choice.
I know they have done studies and if you go to a shop and they have 100 choices for an item people don't buy anything.
If there are 5 they are much more likely to buy something.

On top of that you have all the other distractions like social media so young kids are more interested in getting a Stanley Cup than a Barbie. There are many other examples - but the Stanley Cup seems to be the most recent and most bizarre IMO.

EDIT: Removed Hasbro talk as Barbie is Mattel as @Diznygrl pointed out.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

I don't like how they build then these days I miss the soft plastic legs. The material now feels so cheap

 

[Diznygrl]

Those specialty dolls are probably keeping the whole thing going as collectors still buy them.

Beyond that there probably is too much choice.
I know they have done studies and if you go to a shop and they have 100 choices for an item people don't buy anything.
If there are 5 they are much more likely to buy something.

On top of that you have all the other distractions like social media so young kids are more interested in getting a Stanley Cup than a Barbie. There are many other examples - but the Stanley Cup seems to be the most recent and most bizarre IMO.

In general its seems like Hasbro is in a lot of trouble, even hardcore collectors don't want the star wars toys and they are ending up in the discount bin.

Hasbro stock has been as high as 72 and as low as 43 in the last year...its actually not too bad today at 56 - but that is where it was a year ago and much lower than its 5 year high of 121.

In the end if they couldn't really capitalize on the Barbie movie then they are in trouble.

View attachment 845900

Barbie is Mattel, not Hasbro?

 

[tony67]

Barbie is Mattel, not Hasbro?

Yeah you are correct - always thinking from this Disney angle on this site I guess and Hasbro comes up a lot.

Looking at Mattel they seem to be doing OK compared to Hasbro - not as high as during the Barbie craze - but better over the 5 years anyway

 

[RangerPooh]

I had lots of Barbie's and their clothes/accessories back in the 80s/90s. My daughters Barbie's of the late 00s/10s were not of the same quality. My Barbie's often came with a beach/Hawaiian theme, glamourous dress, or Rocker. My daughters usually had career themes. Not saying the career themes are bad, but I do think it changed some of the play. I also noticed that accessories/clothing that you could purchase was very limited. Which in itself limited creative play. Like a previous poster, my girls enjoyed their Monster High and Ever After High dolls more. Although they did watch a lot of Barbie movies.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I think you are right, it was nice when Barbie used to show up at stores to promote new dolls.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think Mattel wants to focus on other doll lines not just Barbie dolls but some of their other doll lines were gonna be a success but they failed and didn't have the popularity or audience that Barbie dolls have. Take for example Mattel had launched the WWE Superstars doll line in 2018 and I LOVED them the minute I saw them and went to Kmart to collect every single doll in the WWE Superstars doll line and why I think these dolls failed was because Mattel wanted to cash in on the WWE line and you see these dolls you can see they use the new Barbie bodies and the quality was excellent. Another line that failed for Mattel and Barbie was a line called SIS "So In Style" and they were cool dolls but teaming up with fashion lines such as Rocawear and Baby Phat couldn't keep this line alive and the SIS "So In Style" line failed. But when Mattel stopped having Barbie herself doing meet and greets at stores to promote new dolls it really hurt Mattel and the Barbie line and now that Mattel has a software company the only thing that they promote Barbie dolls with is video games and computer games

 

[PollyannaMom]

Sadly, I think a lot of the decline is creative play being replaced by screens.

 

[lanejudy]

I have never ever seen "Barbie" at a store to promote the doll line, not even back to the 70s. Maybe it was earlier than that? Or maybe only in major metropolitan areas?

Barbies were popular when I was a kid. There weren't as many options of other-branded dolls back then as there are now. Like any toy product that has managed to last through generations, popularity has ebbed and flowed. The manufacturer has made adjustments to fit the times. The doll of the 1960s -- while iconic -- doesn't necessarily fit the "message" of a toy for a child in the 2020s.

 

[KPeterso]

I have never ever seen "Barbie" at a store to promote the doll line, not even back to the 70s. Maybe it was earlier than that? Or maybe only in major metropolitan areas?

Barbies were popular when I was a kid. There weren't as many options of other-branded dolls back then as there are now. Like any toy product that has managed to last through generations, popularity has ebbed and flowed. The manufacturer has made adjustments to fit the times. The doll of the 1960s -- while iconic -- doesn't necessarily fit the "message" of a toy for a child in the 2020s.

I have also never seen any "Barbie" character at stores for meet and greets. I would have been an 80s Barbie kid. I lived near Chicago so if that was a thing, i am sure Chicago area stores would have been a target type location. My friends and I all had Barbies as kids and we all traded clothing. I just think kids today do not have as much imaginary play now and mostly use screens.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I’ll admit Barbie meant zilch in my life but one of my younger sisters began collecting Barbie dolls in the late ‘80s. She was completely rabid about them and we had many conversations attempting to express our interest and disinterest.
She recently died leaving a storage room filled with Barbie and Marvel figures in their boxes. They are still being inventoried and will be auctioned off eventually. I’m keeping one Marvel figurine in remembrance.

 

[lynxstch]

I'll ask my son, he works for Mattel,lol

 

[BlueStarryHat]

My sister and I were *obsessed* with Barbie when were kids in the 70s. We played with them all the time, loved them. When my sister's daughters were kids in the mid-90s we tried with the Barbies but they were just not interested. I'm not sure why, but the joy of playing Barbies seems to have gone. I think too many kids have their noses in phones and tablets today. Everything is technology.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I have never ever seen "Barbie" at a store to promote the doll line, not even back to the 70s. Maybe it was earlier than that? Or maybe only in major metropolitan areas?

Barbies were popular when I was a kid. There weren't as many options of other-branded dolls back then as there are now. Like any toy product that has managed to last through generations, popularity has ebbed and flowed. The manufacturer has made adjustments to fit the times. The doll of the 1960s -- while iconic -- doesn't necessarily fit the "message" of a toy for a child in the 2020s.

Barbie herself was used mainly at stores like Target and Kmart to meet and greet with fans during special events featuring Barbie and I got the chance to meet Barbie three times and got her autographs and my mom also got a Barbie doll coupon autographed by Barbie as well and this was in the 90's when stores started doing Barbie meet and greets. But in my eyes I think Mattel is focusing on the adult collectors of Barbie and not so often on the children's line Barbie dolls. But you have to admit some of the Barbie dolls were great ideas but they weren't the success they were. Like do you remember Talk To Me Barbie? She came out in the 90's and was the first Barbie doll that could say your name and she was destined to be a hit but failed. But I think the only thing that's keeping Barbie alive is the countless Barbie movies that Mattel uses to sell the movie dolls