Comparing Barbie, Donald Trump and Richprime

"Harry Potter" author, J.K. Rowling, recently compared Donald Trump to her fictional villain, the Dark Lord Voldemort, saying the presidential wannabe is worse. This was in response to Trump's statement on banning Muslims from entering his country.

This got me thinking, did Barbie ever had a Muslim friend? There are the Arabian Nights dolls but they are not really in Barbie's circle of friends. Marvel comics is at least trying. They have included a young Muslim superhero, Kamala Khan in a title role. With the lack of Muslim friends, Barbie may not be saying it out loudly but she may be siding with Donald Trump.

Of course, it's not really as simple as that. Mattel sells dolls and they don't want to sell what people won't buy. It's the same for the sole licensed local Barbie distributor, Richprime. They haven't sold any playline African-American dolls since the Barbie Style Resort Grace. Black dolls don't sell well in a country with a lot of people pre-occupied in skin whitening. 

Forget about introducing a different view of beauty transcending skin color or race or religion. Forget about humanity and the spirit of of inclusion, as long as profits are being made. It's all about the money and property--making more and protecting it.

2015 Tokidoki Barbie factory offcut

A photo of what seems to be the head (with the hair chopped off) of 2015 Tokidoki Barbie was posted on FB.



Like most offcuts, if there's one, there's probably more.

Black Widow

"The result is an overdue character exploration for Black Widow that still manages to reduce the baddest bitch in the MCU to a shell of a superheroine who’s sad she can never be a complete woman."
- Jen Yamato

Having taken a few courses from the Natasha Romanoff Academy, I have learned (though I still need years of practice) to use my emotions to my advantage. Tears can be used to manipulate people, to make them do your bidding, or at least catch them off guard by creating an illusion that you are vulnerable. Sensuality, too. To do that, one must not be controlled by the notions of sex that the society/religion has propagated. It's taking control and following your own notions of your sensuality. Nick Fury thought that she'll do a good job in assembling the Avengers.

In one scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Bruce Banner was in drama queen mode about his inability to have a normal family life. Everybody knows what happens when Bruce cannot control his emotions, right? It's a good thing that Natasha was there to provide emotional support for the most emotional Avenger.

She painted a picture of herself as a vulnerable person having no ability to bear children. And it's okay for her and that she can still have a relationship despite that. The sadness was used to get the message across that she can relate to Bruce, that he can trust her because she has made herself relatable to him. If you ask me if who I'll choose between Black Widow and Hulk, I'll go with the Widow. She's in control. That is why she's in charge of the big guy and his lullaby. Yes, Iron Man can make the Hulk sleep with Veronica but Natasha does it with so much less destruction.

I don't agree that the Black Widow character was reduced, but I do agree about what Jen Yamato said about the lack of female superheroes and the lack of female action dolls. Marvel and the toy companies like Hasbro is the villain in that story.

I still like the movie but Hawkeye should have died. That will be more dramatic. Plus, Jeremy Renner called Natasha a slut. I'm not hating or anything. Hawkeye did die a number of times in the comics. As for Chris Evans, I expect Captain America be killed in his 3rd solo movie or at least turn over his shield to someone else. That happened in the comics, too.

Hero Business

Disney is popular for creating female hero characters unwitting people look up to. Whether or not that company is in the business of empowering women is being questioned with the lack of female characters in their Avengers merchandise. (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/disney/11552960/Are-Disney-ignoring-Marvels-female-fans.html)




Barbie has also entered the hero business with mask, cape and all. This time Mattel honored real life people who some of us can consider as a hero or shero, as they call it. I was just pleased that, at least, there was an Asian looking doll in the mix.

Mattel goes Quirky

...I mean goes to Quirky for help. They probably are looking for the next big thing in toys and I guess it can have nothing to do with the Barbie toy line.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/smallbusiness/mattel-toy-inventions/

As for me, I'll pass.

Going Through Something

For three straight years, Barbie is still on a losing streak. On the 1st quarter of 2015, sales were up in the US but international sales pulled it down.

I wish they don't have a sole distributor locally. Richwell, the local sole distributor marks up the Barbie dolls way too high. If they only had a competition, the prices will be more reasonable and maybe, the dolls will sell more (unless the new distributor agrees with Richwell's price scheme, then let them suffer the same fate).

I wonder how it is in other international market.

Ken doll shoes?

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the photo above are Ken doll shoes. They are Superstar shoes by Adidas. I wonder if Mattel will follow suit.

Notes

1. For 3 consecutive years, sales of Barbie dolls have declined. It is down by 16% last year, 3% in 2012 and 6% in 2013. (source1)
2. Sales of toys in the US grew by 4%. (source2)
3. Barbie's core demographic narrowed down to kids 3 to 6 years old (from 3 to 9 years old). (source1)
4. Young girls have been favoring electronic toys and toys based on movies. (source2)
5. Habro's revenue increased by 5% last year. (source3)
6. Overseas sales is about half of Hasbro's revenue last year. (source3)
7. Hasbro's overseas sales increased by 8% last year, while only 1% rise in US and Canada. (source3)

How telling is that?

Mattel: A Slow Learner

Once again, Mattel sales fall by 9% for the second quarter of 2014. One would think that they have learned enough from the last quarter. The decrease is partly due to the sales performance of Barbie products which is down by 15% compared to last year. This is the biggest decline for Barbie since mid-2009 according to this article.

Even though Mattel tried to improve the sales by giving discounts every now and then, buyers were a lot more wiser! I don't know how buyers feel that the dolls were being offered a certain price and then be offered a lower price after a month or so. If I were the buyer, I would feel like a fool! Why can't they offer the dolls at the lower price right away?

Even at a lower price, the sales did not improve. It is safe to say that the increase in price alone is not the issue. Buyers want certain innovations and a level of quality before they will buy at a given price. The doll community has been filled with a lot of whining regarding the degrading quality of the newer Barbie dolls. A lot has been too tired of whining since the toy company is not really showing any sign that they are attuned to the demands of the adult consumers.

As much as I want to echo the bright ideas the whiny collectors (like me) have been voicing out, I still think it is futile. The ideas have been posted out there. It's not my job to sum it all up for Mattel. Plus, what's in it for me?

What else? A higher price tag for the dolls I want to buy.