No Bratz For Mattel

The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a December 2008 order that gave Mattel the rights to most of the Bratz products. A jury previously had found the Bratz designer was working at Mattel when he came up with the idea for the skanky -- er, sassy -- dolls.

The appeals court says the case likely needs to be retried.
According to a recent article, "In particular, a jury would have to decide whether Mattel, under the employment agreement with its former employee, is entitled to his ideas and to his drawings if they weren’t part of his work for the toymaker, the three-member panel said."

Mattel in a statement said the company is looking forward to a full trial against the maker of Bratz dolls, MGA Entertainment Inc., according to the article.

Western Stampin' Collection

Would kids today be excited about "spurs" that double as stamps?  Probably not, what with their need to have a camera rammed in Barbie's chest, but I certainly was. I had Western Stampin' Barbie as well as Tara Lynn, but I opened Barbie and played with her. Those stupid stamps never did work that well, and the hat never stayed on Barbie's head. I don't think I used the glitter. Barbie's jacket did have some kick-ass fringe, though.

The Western Stampin' collection is from 1993.

I'm a little sad that I did not pick up the Ken from the collection.

As you can see from the back of the box, he is wearing jeans and black "leather" chaps. He is worthy of my collection of hilarious Ken dolls, which only consists of two right now: Rappin' Rockin' Ken and Earring Magic Ken. A Ken in chaps would fit right in.

Barbie Checks In

Want to get your hands on a free Barbie Video Girl doll? Get ready to check in via Foursquare and follow "Barbie" on a nationwide, multistop scavenger hunt. Mattel is launching the promotion July 20, with stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, according to this article.

In case you don't recall, Barbie Video Girl is the slightly creepy doll with a camera rammed in her chest. (Creepy, right?)

Mattel is using Foursquare and Twitter to post clues about Barbie's whereabouts and participants will have to complete on-location tasks. There's only going to be one winner per city, so it sounds like potentially a lot of effort for a slim chance at a free doll.

Radiant in Red

This is one of my favorite Barbies. I love her face and hair. She has the Superstar face mold, naturally. (All of my favorite dolls do.) Mattel released Radiant in Red in 1992, when I was 11 years old.

I remember shopping at Toys R Us, likely in the Minneapolis area. She was among the earlier dolls I added to my boxed collection, as it always was a tough decision on whether to open and play with a new doll or put her on the shelf to keep.

I remember thinking how glamorous she looked in her gown. Plastic perfection wrapped in sparkly red fabric. Even today, when many dolls and dresses from that era look more silly than sophisticated, I still think she looks lovely. (So what if the dress has a bow bigger than her head? She makes it work.)