1998 Butterfly Art Barbie
Sources: Amazon, Treasure Keeper, Carousell, Ebay Listing
Product description
“Cool decorations for Barbie and you to wear! Includes 2 sheets of fun decorations!
Have fun decorating Barbie and you with cool washable decorations! Look for all the Butterfly Art Barbie dolls!”
Amazon Product Description: “Includes: Barbie Doll approx. 11.5″ tall. Doll comes with a pink & yellow knit 2 Piece Bathing Suit, a blue denim Skirt w/fringe hem, a ‘knit’ Necklace & Bracelet, a pink Hair Brush, & comes with 2 Sheets of Cool Decorations (Temporary Tattoos) for YOU & Barbie!”
This doll comes with 2 sheets of washable temporary tattoos that work on both you and the doll. This series includes Barbie, Christie, Teresa, Kira, Ken and Steven.
There is a variant for Barbie in this series, which is in a slimmer box. The doll features straight hair rather than crimped, is wearing different clothing, and does not have the butterfly tattoo on her stomach. This variant also has a different SKU number (29403). It is unclear why there is a variant for this doll, since it was released in the same year, and contains the same piece count. If you have any information on this doll- please feel free to leave a comment!
| Company | Mattel |
|---|---|
| Brand | Barbie |
| Type | Playline |
| Character | Barbie |
| Release Date | 1998 |
| Face Sculpt | 1991 Bob Mackie |
| Body Sculpt | Unknown |
| Hair Type | Unknown |
| Height | 11.5″ |
| Hair Color | Blonde |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Skin Tone | Unknown |
| UPC | 0074299203596 |
| Mattel SKU | 20359 |
| Price | $19.99 |
Notes:
This doll was involved in some minor controversy because of the “tattoos” displayed on Barbie’s skin, and encouragement of the children to get their own via the washable temporary tattoos in the box. Here is one short article from the New York Post from 1999, during the original release of the dolls, and discusses why parents were having concerns with the tattoos as it pertains to a certain immoral lifestyle.
The doll was later banned and pulled from shelves in all major retailers in the U.S..
“Barbie is hitting 40 – and she’s having an identity crisis. The doll with the bodacious bod is unable to decide if she’s a modern, cell-phone-toting, glass-ceiling-smashing corporate type or a tattooed slacker who hangs out with her poetry-writing, guitar-strumming buds. Barbie can blame the children of America for all the confusion. Toy industry experts say girls stop playing with their Barbies at a younger age nowadays, forcing Mattel to constantly reinvent the world’s most-famous doll – which earns the company $2 billion a year. The battle is being waged on three fronts: This year, girls can pick either Working Woman Barbie, complete with a business suit, a laptop and a cell phone; Generation Girl Barbie, who hangs around with her artsy, body-pierced pals, Anna, Chelsea, Nichelle, Tori and Lara; or Butterfly Art Barbie, who sports a tattooed torso. ”The Generation Girls are designed for an older girl,” said Mattel spokeswoman Sara Rosales. ”They’re more reality-based and more teen-like in their body styles and hobbies.” Yes, the famed Barbie body – which would be a hipless 32-17-28 if she were a 5-foot-4-inch woman rather than an 11-inch doll – has undergone reduction surgery, slimming her hips and flattening the immortal chest so kids can better see themselves in Generation Girl Barbie’s sensible shoes. Yeah, but tattoos? Laptop computers? ”Why not? Mattel is just trying to keep current,” said Eugene Gilligan, executive editor of Playthings magazine. ”Barbie has always been a career role model, what with Astronaut Barbie or Doctor Barbie, and they have to keep up with the times.” Marianne Szymanski, editor of Toy Tips, an industry publication, however, was underwhelmed by Butterfly Art Barbie and the pierced Generation Girls. ”Midwestern housewives are going to be calling me with complaints, I know it,” she said.”
– Gersh Kuntzman for the New York Post (Feb 4, 1999)
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