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Barbie Gets Inked


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Barbie Gets Inked - Strollerderby

Barbie Gets Inked

Posted by Madeline Holler

The West Virginia state lawmaker who wants to outlaw Barbie is going to lose his mind when he finds out about this: Barbie's got a tattoo!

In fact, she has many -- and plenty of extra for the girls who play with her.

Mattel will introduce "Totally Stylin' Tattoos" Barbie in its spring line. She comes with gobs of tattoos for herself, tattoos for the kids and also an accessory that seams to put many parents over the edge:

A tattoo gun for ease of fake tattoo application.

It's too much too soon, outraged parents are arguing. Barbie tats will no doubt be the gateway to out-of-control body alterations.

Tattoo Barbie is selling pretty well, which must be a relief to Mattel, makers of the 50-year-old icon whose diminishing relevance is no small source of pain for the toy company.

I don't think I'll be getting one of these for my daughters, but I'm not frothing at the mouth over the latest offering. First, tattoos are so commonplace -- even the frumpiest moms where I live sport some kind of ink on a visible patch of skin. And also: "Totally Stylin'"? Cringe! Even my 8-year-old daughter would totally scratch out air quotes when referencing that particular doll.

Still, we like the idea of Mattel flailing its corporate arms just looking for some kind of edge -- any edge -- to ratchet up sales. We think Marty, commenting on a news site had a few good ideas:

What's next? "Totally Pierced Barbie Girl" with piercing gun and simulated diamond studs for ears, nose, eyebrows, lips or belly button! She can even have her tongue pierced. Be sure to look for "Totally Huge Earlobes Ken", with stretchable earlobes to insert large rings and other jewelry!

A gauging Ken doll!

Oh, and that tattoo gun? Totally beats having to get out a wet washcloth every time the kid wants to pound skin.

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  • 3 months later...

Saw this doll while wandering the aisles at Toys R Us yesterday. Strangely enough, this was the only doll my two year old daughter tried to kiss. She also brought other dolls over to "meet" her, not sure exactly what the dolls were saying to eachother.

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Y'know, I'm sure Mattel keep putting these Totally Stylin' dolls up, then taking them down for a while, because I saw these about two years ago but I still keep seeing articles about the "new" doll. I wrote about this a while ago, and ended up with about 50 emails and comments on the site from horrified mothers who thought I was going to hell and was a bad influence. I didn't make the dolls! I think they're kind of cool, they'd be a cool toy for a kid whose parents are tattooers!

That Tattoodles doll looks kind of weird though, can't put my finger on why I don't like it.

There's actually a really cool website called Doll Tattoos that sells Barbies with tattoos. The whole business is the brainchild of two little kids, and their dad, which I think is class. Here's the site: DOLL tattoos - Home of Tramp Stamp Barbie AND KEN!!!

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