Barbie Goes Ethnic…Mattel Introduces New Line Of Black Dolls

Posted on September 29th, 2009 - By Bossip Staff

Categories: Hip Hop Wired, News, Random Ridiculousness

BlackDoll

Mattel announced today their introduction of new Black Barbie dolls. The new dolls have fuller lips, a wider nose, more distinct cheekbones and curlier hair. Continue…

  • http://www.SoldieressChronicles.com Soldieress Chronicles

    Well, it’s about time…love the doll.

  • http://www.yahoo.com Re

    Cute! I don’t like those MS-13 brows…but cute…

  • MzPeaches

    I bet they have a fat azz too!!! LOL

  • CaptainRoastAHoe

    WELL THATS BECAUSE THE BRATZ DOLLS WAS TAKIN ALL OF BARBIES FANBASE THE BRATZ DOLLS WAS THE FIRST DOLL TO HAVE THE FULL LIPS AND LONG EYELASHES ASK EVERY LITTLE GIRL WITH DOLL THEY LIKE MORE THEY’LL MORE THEN LIKELY SAY THE BRATZ DOLLS ARE BETTER

  • tania

    @ RE:Cute! I don’t like those MS-13 brows…but cute

    LOL LOL LOL i fell out!

    i like the dolls but too late. looks just like a bratz doll

  • CaptainRoastAHoe

    BRATZ DOLLS CAME OUT WITH THE FULLER LIPS AND EYELASHES AND MORE STYLISH CLOTHES AND ENDED UP GIVIN BARBIE SOME MAJOR COMPETITION…SO BARBIE HAD TO STEP THEIR GAME UP

  • Oh Well…

    much pettier than the white Barbie, lol. heck I identify more with this barbie than the blond one…and I’m not black, or Latin. Way to go Mattel.

  • Aunt Viv

    RE YOU SAID “MS-13 EYEBROWS”

    **DEAD**

  • http://www.k.com noelle

    O enneh. Rocawear has Barbie’s

  • I’m Just Me: KEEPING IT REAL SINCE 1983

    Good, it is about daxn time.

    Mattel is trying to stay recession-free as well.

  • CaptainRoastAHoe

    DID YALL NOTICE THEY GAVE THE BARBIES BLACK NAMES AS WELL TRICHELLE,JANESSA AND KIANNA

  • Darkesthourglass

    The first Black Barbie came out in 1980 but she basically looked like a White one dipped in chocolate. I guess they’re going into detail by make some of them light-skinned, giving her fuller lips and a broader nose. It’d be funny if they really did give her a bigger ass. But I’m just glad they’re making Barbies that our girls can identify with more.

  • http://www.k.com noelle

    #
    Sep 29, 2009 – 3:10 pm
    CaptainRoastAHoe

    DID YALL NOTICE THEY GAVE THE BARBIES BLACK NAMES AS WELL TRICHELLE,JANESSA AND KIANNA

    That’s better than Keisha

  • Darkesthourglass

    Wow, I forgot about those Bratz dolls. They had much larger heads though.

  • Divine

    I collect the Byron Lars Designer Barbie Dolls. They are very beautiful! He’s a designer that made the clothes and styles for these REALLY UNIQUE Black Barbies Dolls. The used to sell thems on Barbie . com but they are hard to get now. Google them!

  • Its6amHoGetOut Resident Genius, 91 more days before perfection abandons ship!

    Damn they perfected that doll, they even got the synthetic weave right!

  • Sepia830

    All 3 could use a fashion tip.

    @6am

    lol. What up?

  • drenk

    great mattel only how many decades later…?

  • CaptainRoastAHoe

    BARBIE STRUGGLED FOR A LONG TIME TO PRODUCE A LIGHT SKIN BLACK BARBIE I REMEMBER THEY MADE DESTINY’S CHILD BARBIE DOLLS BUT BEYONCE LOOKED LIKE A STRAIGHT UP WHITE BARBIE DOLL WITH NO BLACK FEATURES

  • lovely one

    I like it :-)

  • Miss_NC

    I bet the little ones are suppose to be their kids instead of little sisters! LMAO!

  • Simone

    @Infinit45 (Kanye was out of pocket)

    Calm down… if you click on the link you’ll read the child is introduced as their “KID SISTERS” not daughters. LMAO.

    I LOVE THE NEW DOLLS!!!! YOU KNOW THEY’LL BE EXPENSIVE.

  • Darkesthourglass

    They have kid sisters (just like the white ones) but you know that’s not what a lot of people’ll be thinking when you see them on the shelves. They’ll have to write it in BIG letters.

  • ms truth

    highly adorable. I would buy for any girl.

  • Infinit45 (Kanye was out of pocket)

    @Simone
    If you say so! I read it but just wait, parent will be complaining that they have kids.

  • LaLa

    They look like they have attitudes. Why couldn’t the doll eyes look directly ahead oppose to looking to the side?

  • Sexy&Smart

    about damn time!

  • Sexy&Smart

    funny, they do look like they have attitudes! what’s that all about?!

  • dats right

    WHAT A UGLY DOLL
    IT LOOK MORE WHITE THANK BLACK
    MAYBE SPANISH , BUT FAR FROM BLACK

  • Dvinemrsshay

    Finally…Great!…even better if they had brown colored eyes, like most black females…I’ll even settle for light brown, or hazel…LMAO, at being able to “juice” up the hair…

  • NewOrleansBaby

    I think Im gonna name mine “She’Nikwah” yea thats cute!

  • Endya

    It kinda looks like Tyra

  • NewOrleansBaby

    haha..it sure do, those lips OMG, they went there.

  • http://bossip Xtra Special

    WOW! It so easy for the white amn to collect the black man’s money.

    I just have a question. DID BLACK PEOPLE JUST GET HERE OR SOMETHING?

    How many years did we not have a black barbie and nobody cared……….I’m waiting…..

    Did Mattel care to elaborate on what took them so long, is is that topic not up for discussion?

    Oh! O.K Now that we have a Black President, now they can see us and feel the need to cater to our market. As far as I’m concerned they are a few decades to late. They can keep doing what they been doing. (Pretending we doen’t exist)

    I’ll keep supporting the Black Owned doll makers that thought I was revelant well before 2009.

    They wonder why we don’t have money in our communities. It’s because we are too busy giving it away everytime we become the target market for their latest so called bright idea.

    NO THANKS!

  • Darkesthourglass

    So when does the Maxwell-looking Ken come out?

  • Darkesthourglass

    I remember when the first Black Barbie came out and her name was Christie. She didn’t look like these dolls and was basically Barbie’s sidekick.

  • as seen on t.v.

    Mattel and Disney finally realize that black people spend just as much (if not more) on their kids as other races….Now they want to see us as viable consumers and come out with these dolls…Im not impressed and Mattel will not be getting my hard earned duckets this Christmas…

  • Meee

    ..thats not black sorry.

  • UHHHH

    ^^^^A lot.

  • veve

    im not impressed with thesedolls at least christie and theresa were beautiful reps for the blacks slash/ latinas and whatever the chichks names in between were that were on the shevles when i was younger. these girls just look stank. no real women looks like that with those collegen looking lips blue eyes is a rare trait in blacks and the hair is a mess

  • No u can’t be boyfriend #2!

    FAIL…they could have come out with something better than this!

  • I’m A Light Skinned Black Woman And That Doll Looks Like Me And My Daughter

    Black Women come in every Exotic skin tone there is we are the only women in the world with the Dominant Gene we can create every skin tone in the world.

    That’s why other women envy and hates us at the same time not only that were blessed with the best body parts.

    You see white women use black men to have kids with skin color.

    I’m so happy we now have black dolls woth skin tones to choose frome I have light skin full lips and curly long hair I can’t wait to get my daughter this doll.

  • Wow!

    It’s about time black dolls with different skin tones.

  • Ms. Brilly

    Good for Mattel.

    But of course, some folks are going to say “what took them so long, yadda yadda yadda”. I applaud their effort cause they clearly didn’t have to make a black doll in the first place and they certainly didn’t have to try to make different shades. They may not be where they need to be with diversity but they’re taking steps and I can respect that.

  • Silent Swagg

    cute.
    but she’s kind of light skin have a variety of browns.lol

  • Jewel

    Cosign @Lala

    LMAO!!! I was thinking “why she look like she got an attitude” as SOON as I saw the doll. But it could just be our perception. Overall I think they did a good job on the dolls except the orange hair, but they are very pretty. Hey, u cant please everybody.

  • WESTCOASTLOVE

    THATS RIIIIGHT CAPTAIN ROAST A HOE !

  • joker

    are they gonna make a black ken? maybe change his name to curtis

  • MissChoklate

    I AM IMPRESSED. THEY DID THIS STINT BACK IN THE 90′S THEY HAD A LINE UP OF BLACK DOLLS WITH DIFFERENT SKIMN TONES AND LOOKS BUT THIS IS WONDERFUL AND IT GIVES LITTLE GIRLS DOLLS THAT LOOK LIKE THEM..KUDOS MATTELL.

  • ll

    What’s with the light hair?

  • Ara

    @ Xtra Special
    I was thinking along those same lines. They have exhausted other marketing groups or maybe it has become slow, so now is the perfect time to target a group of people that they usually don’t pay too much attention too.

  • GoodKarma4Me

    Ok ppl can we be a little realistic here? You guys talking about the dolls don’t represent true blacks. Now you all know most whites do not look like barbie…GTHFOH…lol
    Shoot the dolls look good to me…the fashion could do with a little help though.

  • lolahcakes

    Am I the only one that thinks these dolls look a little sad…im guessing black girls don’t smile based on what I’ve seen here….

  • hhahahahaha

    I guess. What’s up with the colorful eyes though? One of the “little sister” Barbies has blue eyes…what are the chances of a little Black girl having Blue eyes?

  • Gaviota

    they are cute!

  • mekamac

    better than those pasty pale white ones

  • Supreme

    she kinda looks like me. i dont like the makeup though.

  • http://www.madamethejourney.com Mme.

    Darkesthourglass

    So when does the Maxwell-looking Ken come out?
    ******
    lol, I know right?

  • Sepia830

    @Darkesthourglass

    So when does the Maxwell-looking Ken come out?
    ________________________________________________

    lol. There it goes again. What is it about Maxwell that I don’t see?

    I would rather Ken look like Morris Chestnut or some-damn-body. But Maxwell? Only if they are doing the Three Snaps edition of Ken.

  • veve

    those dolls dont look like me. i looks more liek the origanl balck barbie only with shorter hair.

  • Darkesthourglass

    lol. There it goes again. What is it about Maxwell that I don’t see?

    I would rather Ken look like Morris Chestnut or some-damn-body. But Maxwell? Only if they are doing the Three Snaps edition of Ken.
    ___________________________________________________

    Nothing wrong with Maxwell. So what he’s more of a gentleman than a thug. I like the Morris Chestnut idea as well.

  • Sepia830

    @Darkesthourglass

    Nothing wrong with Maxwell. So what he’s more of a gentleman than a thug.
    ____________________________________________

    Is that what it is, that he lacks thug appeal? He just isn’t good-looking to me at all. But oh well, to each his own…

  • Peyton

    This is not new blacks just don’t support dolls marketed toward us. In the late 80′s early 90′s Matel had the “Shani” line one light,brown and dark nobody bought it.My sister is a big collector and still has her’s.They actually looked better then the dolls here & why do the darker skin barbie littl sister have green/blue eyes.Black people buy white dolls I’m a store buyer & whites buy the black which are limited.I hope this line stays around this time.

  • Dajournalist

    Love it! WIsh the hair was a little more realistic but please believe, my baby will be gettin the blackest one on the shelf! LOL!

  • KeyLimePie

    ‘Bout time! But she’s only half black.

  • memchee

    I like the lips and the nose; but I’m not too sure about that hair.

  • Cola

    I think they are cute! as far as people complaining about the clothes, you CAN buy different barbie clothes!!

  • LEESA

    I also like the lips and the nose, but I see Mattel still couldn’t bring itself to portray Black women, without adding yellow/hazel, and blue eyes.
    Perhaps something is better than nothing, but they look like sistas wearing colored contact lenses! Like Pharrell said on the Blueprint 3: “Oh well”.

  • RandomBlkGirl

    Wow shm at the jackasses that think these barbies are single moms. (white) Barbie has a little sister and so does Theresa (the Hispanic/Spanish) barbie. But leave it up to ignorant the jump to conclusions w/o being bothered to read the details. FAIL! but fu*k it I’m too old for dolls and don’t have a daughter. And some ppl are lying their a$$es knowing good and well they will be getting their lil’ girls these does this holiday season. And as far as ppl getting our money. You might want to add Arabs, Jews, Indians, and Asians to that list of ppl we give our money to before each other.

  • Breeze

    Many years ago for a brief period of time, Mattel had an African American line of dolls. They weren’t called Barbie, they were called Shani. It was Shani and her friends Nichelle and Asha. They were beautiful and had 3 different complexions. I always wondered what happened to those ethnic dolls. I like these new dolls also.

  • Rawrr

    They’re adorable!
    I’d buy it lmao

  • Vonne Loca

    I don’t know about y’all but I’m not 100% satisfied. I am happy that they’ve made Barbies that look like actual black girls — my mama never let me own a white Barbie, and is raising my baby sister the same way — however, I think they missed the mark on the eye color and hair. WTF is with the “aqua curls” and blue eyes? Let’s face it most black girls have nappy hair and dark eyes. If you’re going to depict African-American girls and women do it right!

  • Vonne Loca

    Lol, omg I am so through!

    I went to the official website, and the one pictured up top is suppose to be the one with the “attitude”; that’s why her eyes are to the side. I was wondering why she was the only one who looked two seconds away from snappin’ her neck. Lord Jesus, why?

  • http://Bossip Kimberley

    Will these doll be full of lead too Mattel?

  • latrice

    This is nothing new I always had pretty black dolls.. I also had a pretty dark skinned barbie with a barbie car.. People who say this is not a Black doll need to look at all the picture their all different colors from light to dark..

  • http://bossip shelia

    BARBIE HAS ALWAYS HAD BLACK DOLLS. I COLLECT DOLLS AND I HAVE SEVERAL BLACK BARBIES AND THEY ALL LOT DIFFERENT. SOME OF THEM ARE LIGHT AND SOME OF THEM ARE DARK AND THESE ARE NOT THE FIRST DOLLS THAT BARBIE HAS MADE WITH BLACK FEATURES.

  • veve

    cosign with everyone would said this is not the first black barbie lines. i know a woman who has a balck babie collection and the dolls loook better than these even has a special african barbie addition. balcks just aint buying the black barbies is all never did. just like latians arent buyuing the latina barbies.

  • http://www.jcole-online.com J.Cole-Online

    about time

  • ISLAND_QUEEN1

    The already did this before. Does anyone remember the Shani dolls back in the day???

  • mellowmoodd7

    There has been black Barbies. I had them growing up and I’m 31. Plus my mom collects them and sometimes they don’t make the holiday barbie in black but Beyonce and Kimora have dolls as well.

  • Kiki Sumner

    She looks like “Danger” from for the Love of Ray J. LMAO

  • http://bossip AnnaJane

    ok but why does the black barbie have a baby in high school(CHEERLEEDING BARBIE)? why does the black barbie have a child anyway? SMMH…SMMH…SMMH! AT THIS CRAP THO…

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