Friday, January 23, 2009

Plastic is Fantastic!!

Born Barbara Millicent Roberts on March 9, 1959, in Willows, Wisconsin, Barbie, the 29 cm tall doll is the top-selling toy in the world and she turns 50 this year! She has travelled the world and worked more than 100 different jobs over the past half century. No middle-age spread, no wrinkles and with more than one billion fashion items created for her, being plastic is definitely fantastic - ask Pamela Anderson, the real-life Barbie doll LOL!

While she may be a girlie toy, let's show her some respect. After all, she is the MOTHER of all 12-inch figures! She was the inspiration for Don Levine to produce a "doll" for boys - a fully poseable action figure. In 1964 Hasbro launched GI Joe and the 12-inch soldiers took America by storm. The demand was so overwhelming that Palitoy released a similar figure called Action Man in the United Kingdom and many parallel figures were created and released throughout Europe. Even Japan had their own Combat Joe, released by Takara. And all other 12-inch fully poseable figures since then, be it from Hot Toys, Medicom, Sideshow or whatever, are a result of the birth of Barbie.

I also own some Barbie figures (just can't bring myself to call them dolls), just three so far. My first Barbie was Barbie as Wonder Woman 1999 Collector's Edition. How can we ever forget Lynda Carter as Diana Prince/Woman Woman from the 1970s TV series? Hubba Hubba!

Comes in a really nice box

Back of box has a write-up about Wonder Woman.

Sleekly attired in a very nice blue silk cape over a red, gold, and blue tank suit, this superhuman heroine also sports a pair of very hip knee-high red satin boots. Her luxurious black hair is held back by a shiny gold crown and wide steel armbands - useful for deflecting bullets. Created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston for All-Star Comics, Wonder Woman is an ageless symbol of feminine power. So is Barbie!

Wonder Woman's alter ego was Diana Prince and she's a former amazon princess from the island of Themyscira.

Her magic lasso or Lasso of Truth, able to force captives to tell the absolute truth.

Her nice long legs and knee-high boots

After Barrack Obama's historic inauguration as the 44th US President, anything is possible ;p

Next: Batgirl Barbie - pictures HERE and also Catwoman Barbie. Link HERE for pictures

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