Mattel hopes Barbie facelift will show up younger rivals

[chronicle]

(Wall Street Journal http://xrl.us/DollWars ) - This was supposed to
be the year that Barbie finally regained her tiara as the queen of the
toy aisles.

After many false starts, Mattel Inc. thought it had found a way to
make the iconic fashion doll once more a must-have for girls of all
ages -- and to boost the company's flagging revenues as well. It is
spending millions of dollars to promote its new "Fashionista" Barbies
(Amazon.com: http://xrl.us/Fashionista )...

But the latest Barbie was beaten to the stores by two new dolls that
could threaten her resurgence, industry insiders say. One comes from
perhaps the hottest toy makers in North America, Spin Master Ltd. The
other was created by designers with a grudge against Mattel, which
wrested away their company's rights to the hit Bratz dolls.

And so a firefight is breaking out in the doll business that would put
G.I. Joe to shame..