Biz ordered to stop selling Bratz

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Boston Herald

Rebecca Spitz was roaming the toy section at the mall yesterday when she was horrified to hear the news: In the battle of the dolls, Barbie had beaten the Bratz.

“No more Bratz dolls? This is going to be tragic in the life of a 10-year-old,” said the Marshfield mom, who was specifically looking to buy her daughter one of the flashy, hugely popular dolls for Christmas. “My daughter has so many of these, we call our cellar Bratz Central.”

So when she heard the dolls are slated to be pulled from shelves after the holidays, Spitz scooped up three Bratz instead of one.

After a four-year legal dispute between the dolls’ manufacturer, MGA Entertainment, and rival Mattel, the maker of Barbie, a federal judge rocked the toy industry Wednesday by ordering MGA to stop manufacturing Bratz.

Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?artic...

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More from article:

"Jury’s finding that Bratz designer Carter Bryant developed the concept for the dolls while working for Mattel."

[Skink]

1. Barbie plays hardball.

[JeffR]

2. Spitz? Bratz?

Odz Bodkinz...

[LeftyMom]

3. That's good news. Kids don't need dolls that look like hookers.

[BlooInBloo]

4. They do if they're the little sister in Mean Girls...

[uppityperson]

16. We call them Skank Dolls.

[PatrynXX]

28. what one should be concerned about is that Matell didn't do this because they were worried

about kidz. They wanted a piece of the pie. Disappointed in Matell maybe. But oh well, if we need porn dolls. Just find the balloon. Like the one Mary and Pip used in the RV in Lord of the rings (it's on one of the behind the scenes disks third version) Can't believe they let that on a dvd that kids might see but hey I was a bit surprised LOTR came away with a PG-13 and not an R.

[Maestro]

31. Agreed

My daughter knows she can not have any thing Bratz. I hate those things. They are extremely poor images for girls.

[KitchenWitch]

44. Hear hear

I hate those trampy looking things.

[Sequoia]

49. No, instead we have dolls that protray weak women who

only live to shop and hope to marry a man who will support them while they continue to shop and take prescription drugs. Empty headed bimbos.

[redqueen]

56. You were saying?

http://tace.com/f/28298.html

http://www.collectibles-store.com/product/GF-034

http://tace.com/f/28298.html

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/beautifuldollsforsale/ite...

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/vintagepretties/item/T-12...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Barbie-Kelly-Doll-Karate-Kayla-New-...

http://www.read-a-book.com/si/t1934.html

[merh]

5. Mattel just made all those Bratz out there into collector's items

which will one day be worth more than the Barbies.

I think the dolls are awful looking, and who in their right mind wants their daughter to grow up to be a brat?

[LisaL]

55. MGA can't produce them. Which doesn't mean Mattel can't.

[originalpckelly]

6. The line will be replaced with a series of dolls called Snotz...

to feature Paris Hilton and all her various snotty rich friends.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. hahahahahahaha

[Truth2Tell]

8. They should just call them Slutz.

Why anyone would buy one of those disgusting things for a child is beyond me.

Role model for a six year old girl?

[LeftyMom]

10. Around here we call them Stockton Blvd. Barbies, after the local stroll.

They do look like street whores. I can't imagine why anybody'd buy them for their daughters, but most toys and clothes marketed to little girls make me very glad I have a boy.

[Ecumenist]

14. Do you live in Sacramento? Stockton Blvd is getting better

but it still retains the reputation of being the "track" for the working girls.

[LeftyMom]

17. I grew up near Florin and Stockton.

My family still lives over there. I live in Sacramento, but a different neighborhood.

I sometimes drive over there to deal with family business early in the morning, and it amazes me the number of hookers who'll be out on the street at 7 am in the dead of winter. I can't imagine there's enough business to be worth freezing their asses off, but I guess there must be or they'd be inside.

[David__77]

21. As a Sacramento lifetime resident, that's funny.

Though Auburn Boulevard Barbie might work too, though it's a little more old school...

[LeftyMom]

27. Yeah, they cleaned up Auburn Blvd and flattened half the no-tell motels back when I was a kid.

Plus there's a cop shop right by there on Marconi. Can't really think of the last time I saw a hooker over there, though it wouldn't surprise me if there's a few working those sketchy apartments over on Edison.

[juno jones]

34. Bet they're still up on Del Paso.

I used to bake up there and my boss and I would take note of the girls in pink spandex and the guys (sometimes even in state vehicles and company vehicles!!!) picking them up. At 6 in the morning.

My husband once started wiping fog off his passenger window and had a girl just hop into the car, seems she thought he was waving to her...

[Ecumenist]

42. LOL!! I'll bet that scared the bejesus out of him.

I live in North Natomas and that's not too far from me. I'm not surprised at all to hear this. It's a very interesting place to watch during breakfast at Lil' Joe's.

[Orrex]

9. Silly me.

I thought we were talking about bratwurst.

[Wapsie B]

11. Lawsuits between corporations? Say it ain't so!

And here I thought lawsuits against corporations were brought about by little old ladies spilling coffee on themselves. Who knew?

[Systematic Chaos]

12. It's a sad day in Amurika when Spitz can't buy a Bratz at Biz.

I'm so verklempt I could plotz!

[Dogmudgeon]

13. Bratz look like alienz

You never know when one of thoze dollz iz gonna whip out an anal probe.



--p!

[Lorien]

15. Well, fuck. There goes another client

I'm no fan of the dolls, but I'm a freelance designer who has worked on MGA Entertainment's Fairy Tale Bratz lines for years now. I haven't had work from them in months and it's made life a lot harder. They're an excellent company to freelance for; courteous, professional, respectful of the artists they employ, plus they pay well and on time. I love the art directors I've worked for there, even if the work itself is less than inspiring. MGAE is full of great people. I'm sure this thread will fill up with snide comments, but this is going to put a lot of hardworking Democrats on unemployment.

[BeliQueen]

18. Sorry to hear that you'll lose a revenue stream

I find it disheartening that a corporation can claim the rights to your mind, ideas, and dreams--even in your off hours--if you work for them.

Good luck.

[moggie]

20. Look on the bright side

They may fill the Bratz hole with a new line: you could be getting a lot of new work out of this.

[TommyO]

41. You're just collateral damage for some of the idiots here

Just like the employees at the auto companies and AT&T who may be innocent but are working for the wrong company.

[Sequoia]

50. I don't think they're bad dolls, dolls with sprit and gumption if you ask me.

Sorry you lost your client.

[ima_sinnic]

19. Americans shallow? Who would guess? Maybe the spoiled little brat & her vacuous mother

would like to see what kind of dolls the children in Iraq have, or those in Ethiopia or Haiti.

I am embarrassed at the vapidity and soulless, self-centered greed of American consumers.

[onager]

22. Muslim girls have Fulla...

A/k/a "Muslim Barbie," though the manufacturers understandably hate that name. Oddly enough, Fulla got her start because Barbie is Jewish:

In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful..."

The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is more popularly known as the Religious Police, or matowa. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 2 years, and have lived in Egypt for more than 3 years now.

Fulla's commercials often promote modest outfits, as one of Fulla's commercials had warned, "When you take Fulla out of the house, don't forget her new spring abaya!"

In Egypt, the Fulla doll tanked at first. The original doll came dressed in a Saudi-style black abaya, complete with prayer rug.

Young Egyptian women don't dress like that. Many wear tight jeans and the same "brand name" tops you see in Malltown USA, topped with a very colorful hijab (headscarf). Yesterday I saw a girl wearing a bright Flaming-Red top and matching hijab with jeans. Very fetching.

Fulla will not have a boyfriend, because Muslims believe that it is not an Islamic value.

Egyptians joke that while Fulla does not have a Ken equivalent, she can be accessorized with "several angry brothers."




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulla_ (doll)

[BlueMTexpat]

24. Fulla now has a rival too ...

"Jamila" came out in 2006. At launch, she had two female friends and a fiance, Jamil. She has since married Jamil and and they now have two little children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_ (doll)

Quick work!

Wonder whether there is another lawsuit in the offing here.

[BlueMTexpat]

25. Just to note that for both the Fulla and the Jamila posts here

you have to go to the Wiki "disambiguation" parts to get the information, including pix, about the dolls.

You probably already knew that.

[rebel with a cause]

30. I'll make it easier for everyone.

I goggled them and here are the links to the wiki on the dolls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulla_ (doll)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamila_ (doll)

I find the Jamila doll the most attractive of the two. Looks less cheaply made.

[Berry Cool]

33. Yeah, because we know there's nothing girls everywhere want more

than a doll that will provide them with a role model for modesty, virtue and religiosity.

I wonder, if the Fulla doll were ever to be raped, would her brother dolls be allowed to have her whipped, imprisoned or even executed for ruining their family honor?

[onager]

37. OTOH...

Ken might turn into a Fundamentalist Xian and start blowing up Planned Parenthoods.

[Marrah_G]

40. He could borrow some weapons from GI Joe. n/t

[KamaAina]

45. That would be the "Ted Haggard Action Figure"

[Dulcinea]

23. I hate Bratz.

They look like space aliens with their giant heads, no noses & scrawny bodies. My daughter got one for her birthday (not from me, mind you.) I call it "Area 51." She calls it "Area" for short.

I can't wait till she gets tired of the ugly thing & I can sell it on eBay!

[truthisfreedom]

26. Slutz.

I'm just sayin'.

[jmowreader]

29. I find the legal justification a little strange

The article says the reason Mattel prevailed was the man who invented Bratz came up with the idea while he was working at Mattel. What could that reason have possibly been? "What if Barbie and her friends were prostitutes?"

Because that's what Bratz looks like to me: Barbie as a twenty-dollar whore.

[robcon]

35. Since Mattel was paying the guy who invented Bratz, the trademark is invalid.

Seems kind of straightforward, as long as they proved that the guy invented a competitor while on the payroll of Mattel.

[Taverner]

39. Intellectual Property Issue

When the ex employee was working for Matttel, they signed a Intellectual Property and Inventions contract.

Apple almost started as a division of HP because Steve Wozniak signed one

[Maine-ah]

32. yay!

fugly little things they are.

[DemoTex]

36. Mattel's little-known royal warrant: Appointment to his majesty The King.

[Taverner]

38. Wow - Bratz didn't settle????

They should have thrown cash at Mattel - they're bad in that one

As far as Bratz go - there wouldn't be a market for them if no one bought them

[Shakespeare]

52. Don't assume that they didn't try.

I have some knowledge of the case; can't say more than that.

[Taverner]

53. Wow - fuck that would have been a bad decision on Barbie's part

They could have asked for a slice, and gotten HALF

[LisaL]

54. Hah? Why go for a half when you can get it all?

Hello?
Bad decision? I believe Mattel now can produce these dolls if it so desires.

[XemaSab]

43. Tell your daughter they were picked up for soliciting, woman

[lightningandsnow]

46. The comments on this thread are worse than the dolls themselves.

"Slutz"? "20-dollar hookers"?

Sexist much?

(And yes, not a fan of the dolls.)

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Danger Mouse]

47. I hate those things.

[supernova]

48. Thank goodness my niece prefers Polly Pocket stuff

and the itty bitty miniscule little stuff that goes with those dolls.