Barbie and Ken, Together Again

[Musson]

It was the breakup that shocked legions of fans. She was the image of perfection dressed in Pepto-Bismol pink, with a dozen movie credits under her Size 2 belt, several best-selling advice books and a line of accessories that bore her name?

He was her dashing playmate in short shorts, with a washboard stomach, a killer smile and a pampered life of tennis, surfing and roller skating?

Now, after a heart-wrenching, two-year separation - for the record, it was her idea - Ken and Barbie are headed for a romantic reunion, according to their handlers. Ken?s new attraction? A makeover, set to be unveiled today at a news conference in Manhattan, that finds him sporting a more rugged jaw line, wearing cargo pants and listening to Norah Jones?

Like a desperate publicist trying to revive the moribund career of a Hollywood star, Barbie?s manufacturer, Mattel, is pulling out all the stops to put her back on her feet. For nearly 50 years, Barbie has been at the heart of Mattel?s success, but now the very qualities that long drew girls to her - a squeaky-clean image and virtually no electronic bells and whistles - are turning them off?

Barbie?s dream house is in disarray. Sales have plunged, retailers are cutting back on shelf space for her and, for the first time, a competitor has edged her out as the No. 1 fashion doll in the United States?

Bratz, a line of dolls with pouty lips and big heads, manufactured by MGA Entertainment, a privately held company in Van Nuys, Calif., said yesterday that it overtook Barbie in the fashion doll business in the 2005 holiday season - a remarkable coup for a brand introduced just five years ago. MGA cited data from the NPD Group, a market research firm?

Barbie?s midlife crisis holds wide-ranging implications, not just for Mattel, where the buxom doll accounts for 20 percent of sales, but for the entire toy industry. Barbie has long been the best-selling toy brand in the world and retailers ranging from Wal-Mart Stores to CVS devote millions of square feet of space to her wedding dresses, lunch boxes and convertibles?