Holiday grabs

This segment of our Toys R Us hot holiday toy list looks at toys for kids aged 2-4 years.

They are filled with classics, go hitech, and look to give kids a lot of fun on Christmas morning.

It wouldn’t be a holiday season without girls getting Barbies from Jolly Ole St. Nick. And Toys R Us is betting that the “Barbie & The Diamond Castle Princess Liana and Princess Alexa Dolls” from Mattel will be the hot ticket.

Barbie becomes Princess Liana (sold separately) and with her best friend Princess Alexa, go on a journey to discover music, magic and the power of friendship. The Princess Alexa Doll sings two songs from the Barbie & The Diamond Castle movie and wears a glittery gown which magically transforms with the pull of her pretty purple ribbon.

Cost is about $25. (free shipping on orders of $50 or more)

Barbie - The old gray hair is still a buxom blonde at 50

She’s the object of every girl’s dreams, the obsession of many collectors’ desire, and the bane of some activist’s existence.

But as Barbie approaches her 50th birthday on March 9th, there’s no denying that this iconic toy has changed the way little girls play and how a toy company markets her.


Somewhere in the world, a Barbie doll is sold every three seconds somewhere in the world. Mostly for little girls, but Mattel has noticed over the years a growing demographic of adult collectors who are buying her up from the toys stores as well.

This growing market place has caused Mattel to begin to market Barbie to a whole new demographic – adults who not only grew up with the iconic toy, but who are obsessed by her as well.

Mattel is marketing special Star Trek themed Barbie’s, life-sized Barbie fashions and a line of Barbie clothing, cosmetics, and even a printer which prints custom nail designs onto girls fingernails.

So, at 50, Barbie has never been bigger.

And even though it may be that the economic downturn may damper earnings figures, to survive nearly a half century of pop culture proves only that the future has never looked brighter for Barbie.