Barbie is about to take a back seat if Mattel’s plans for its new doll line of DC Super Hero Girls lives up to the huge expectation the company has set. Mattel tells ToyNews that it wants to shake up the doll market with its new line.
It may sound strange – the creator of Barbie to be going after it’s own popular brand. Well, Barbie will still have a big part in the new DC Super Hero Girls brand, so she will be headlining the group, drawing attention to it. Plus, the original Barbie line will live on.
Mattel says Barbie actually had a very strong 2015 and the company also has seen strong demand for DC Super Hero Girls. In the US alone, Barbie has had a “double digit” growth for last year. All of this gives the company confidence that it is time for a bigger push for the DC Super Hero Girls line.
“For Mattel, we have had a very strong finish to 2015 and we are particularly pleased with Barbie, especially in the last eight weeks of last year. I wish the UK was able to replicate the growth of Barbie in the US, but in overall terms we are positive about the year ahead. Our brand performance and category line-up is very strong”, Mattel’s VP and country manager for UK, Ireland and Nordics, Dominic Geddes says.
Mattel has big plans for the doll line. It will be featuring lots and lots of accessories, characters and much more. “DC Super Heroes Girls is a really exciting initiative for us. We know that nine out of 10 girls wish there were more superheroes for them – so this product is the result of extensive research to ensure we are delivering what they have been asking for. Like when we launched Barbie in 1959 and with Monster High – we continue to disrupt play patterns”, Geddes says.
