Available now for pre-order, the Hunger Games Katniss Doll by Mattel will be available later this summer. The doll is designed by Bill Greening and rather than give her a brunette Barbie face, Greening has given Katniss a look of her own.

Whether you are a fan of the books and the movie or not (Megan loved the books, I don’t care for the story line), you can certainly appreciate the fascination and popularity of this character. The Hunger Games has overshadowed the Twilight Series in the blink of an eye.

Mattel’s version of The Hunger Games Katniss will be a black label doll, affordably priced at $29.99. Due to the limited run and popularity of the movie, I fully expect to see her going for much higher on the secondary market. If you are interested in adding Mattel’s Katniss Barbie to your collection, your best bet is to pre-order her from Barbiecollector.com or EntertainmentEarth.com and get her at her original price.

What do you think of the Mattel take on Katniss? It will be interesting to see which other doll manufacturers (like Tonner) get licensing permission and what spin they put on the characters.

This is a guest post by Elizabeth.

When I was little girl one of my favorite dolls was Barbie. I had lots of Barbies and I loved playing with them. I still collect a few of them when the urge hits. I love dolls that pose so recently I was looking at the Barbie Fashionista dolls. I was interested in them, but I really did not care for their clothes. I like longer skirts and sleeves   Preferably gorgeous ballgowns or princess dresses or historical looking outfits. So to solve the, “what shall Barbie wear if I buy her?” question I ended up on Ebay. I searched, “Barbie Dress” and checked “Buy it Now” and organized the search by low to high price. Here is what I found.

The price on these dresses? $2.50 each, buy it now with free shipping all the way from China! It took about twenty days for them to get to me, but for the price, I’m not complaining about that! Also, the dresses have a lovely overlay on the front, but it doesn’t go all the way around to the back. Again though, for the price I’m definitely not complaining! They look dazzling from the front!

The Barbie Fashionista dolls can be fun -  I do like their posing abilities and she is a good starter for some one who might be interested in an Ellowyne Wilde doll but wants to see how the posable joints work first. These barbies have the exact same number of movable places as Ellowyne does, though Ellowyne poses better.  Also, Ellowyne dolls are much higher quality, detailed, and larger (and more expensive).

Here are my “Stardoll by Barbie” dolls. I love the faces on these dolls! Each one is highly detailed and unique in look. They are however quite stiff as only their arms and heads move, their legs do not bend. However, they all come with a display stand and look very nice just standing. Their feet are larger than Barbie’s so they can’t share shoes but they can share clothes. The dress all the way on the left cost me $3. The skirt is three layers of ruffles.

Here is a shot of the “expensive” dresses I bought. Much more ruffly and detailed than the $2.50 dresses these cost me $3.50 each, head wear included. Again, with free shipping all the way from China… I was pretty blown away by the prices to say the least!

Here is a detail shot of the ruffles on this $3.50 dress. They are really detailed, well made, and go all around the back of the dress!

So, I’m quite pleased with my shopping experience! My dolls are quite pleased with their new clothes. There are tons of outfits on ebay. Some looked a lot less nice in quality than the ones I got. The $2 dresses especially just didn’t look interesting so you might, if your Barbies or similar sized dolls, want some new clothes, start looking in the $2.50 range and if you want to get blown away with gorgeousness, go up to $3.50. However, I noticed that multiple sellers had the same outfits listed but at different prices so definitely look around. However, at these prices, a $0.50 difference in price isn’t exactly huge. There were also sellers who sell random outfit sets of 10 or 15 dresses for an even lower cost per dress, but I wanted to know exactly what I was getting so I bought individual. The seller I bought these dresses from was All Goodluck for You just in case anybody would like any of these dresses as I think they still have some of them in stock.

Today is Barbie’s birthday and whether you are a Barbie fan or not, Barbie is still a major inspiration for many fashion doll designers today. After 53 years she continues to re-invent herself and capture the hearts of collectors and children over and over.

Now this looks like a birthday party dress for Barbie! This is the 2000 In the Pink Silkstone Barbie that is from Kay’s Collection.

Madelon’s older daughter collects Barbies, like my older daughter Megan does. This is her Jonathan Adler Barbie set. I bet Megan would love this one, too. It matches her room.

In honor of Barbie’s Birthday, Madelon sent these in too. These dolls represent three visits to FAO Schwartz in New York. Her daughter picked the outfits and accessories. Each trip, the saleswoman at FAO Schwartz dressed the doll and placed her on the Barbie runway. Then she had a fashion show, taking a spin on the runway. How cool is that?

Some reproduction vintage Barbies from a doll show. I posted this because of the Happy Birthday Barbie banner in the background.

If you have any photos of your Barbie collection or favorite Barbie, feel free to post them along with your Happy Birthday wishes for Barbie on the Doll Diaries Facebook page today!

March 9th is considered to be the official birthday of Barbie as she made her first appearance on March 9, 1959 at The International Toy Fair (yes, the same Toy Fair that I attended last month and have been sharing reports on) on that day! In celebration of her birthday, BarbieCollector.com is having a 25% off sale – just in case you had a special Barbie on your wish list right now – and I made a collage of Barbie Birthday Inspiration from everyone’s favorite inspiration spot these days, Pinterest (follow the DollDiaries board).

Our Barbie inspiration comes from: (click on links to see the original “pin”)

1. Beautiful Barbie Cake

2. Barbie Party Cookies

3. Barbie Lunchbox

4. Barbie Party Ideas

5. Barbie Favor Cake

6. Another Barbie Cake

7. Free Barbie Party Invitation

8. Barbie Cakepops

Do you remember your very first Barbie? I don’t but I do remember spending hours and hours playing with Barbie and her friends in my room, making furniture for them out of plastic cups, aluminum foil, cardboard and other things I could find. I really wish I still had all my old Barbies, but something tells me they got lost in one of our many moves or sold in a yard sale (better guess).

Happy Birthday Barbie!!

I love surprises, don’t you?

Yesterday when the mail came there was box…

I was not expecting any packages, so when I read the return label I started doing the happy dance. Remember my visit with Natalie to Aunt Kay’s – the one with the huge Barbie collection? Well out of the blue, Kay had sent us a box!

Kay is a grandmother and her husband passed away a few years ago. Kay was so touched by our visit and seeing the joy that Natalie found in the dolls that she spent the next 10 days rearranging her doll cabinets and displays – 24 of the 28 displays to be exact!! Every doll was removed, looked at and some new ones came out and others found new groupings to be with. She had been re-energized.

In the midst of her rearranging, Kay found some duplicates of her Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Happy Meal dolls. She knew that Natalie loved the little Kelly size Barbies and thought these little gems would go well with the nine Kelly dolls she gave Natalie when we visited last month. There was a 2007 set and a 2008 set – the one’s Natalie got are from both sets.

Here’s the whole group of the Madame Alexander Oz minis.

The Wicked Witch of the West, the Wicked Witch of the East, Glinda the Good Witch and the Winged Monkey.

The Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy (and Toto in the basket), and the Tin Man.

Cowardly Lion, Dorothy (and Toto in the basket), Tin Man, Lullaby Munchkin and Lollipop Munchkin

Also in the box were some full size Barbies and two MyScene dolls.

In the box were five more dolls. From left to right – Corduroy Cool Teresa from 1999, an unknown Barbie with Polly-Pocket like rubber clothes, MyScene Barbie and her boyfriend River, and the Spot Scene Barbie from 2001.

I am not a fan of the My Scene Barbie line at all, but the other dolls are neat. I especially like Teresa and Kay remembered that when we were there last month I just kept coming back to this Teresa doll – we were trying to figure out which one she was and when we left, I still didn’t know. Teresa was packed in the box with her stand and I happened to notice writing on the bottom of the stand. Smart Kay! She had written the name of the doll and the year on the bottom of the stand! So she is from the Corduroy Cool Barbie set from 1999. She’s not a high-end Barbie, by any means, but I go back to what Kay and Sandi Holder from the Doll Attic have said more than once – “collect the dolls YOU like and the ones that make YOU happy.” This Teresa does just that!

Kay says Teresa reminds her of me. Teresa is going to be a cherished part of my collection for years to come!!

Thank you so much Kay and I can not wait to visit you again!

Let me start off by saying that I am NOT a fan of the whole Twilight series of books and movies – but that is just me – my daughter Megan likes them and so do so many of my friends. However, we were at Target today and had to make the compulsory trip down the doll aisles (because that’s what we do) and I saw The Twilight Saga Eclipse Jane Barbie. She caught my eye and I had to give her a closer look.

Jane’s character is part of the Volturi clan. She is dressed in a very classic black cloak with hood and looks quite a bit like actress Dakota Fanning. Unlike the Bella Swan Barbies – who just look like Barbies to me – Jane is different. She has a very pretty face and there is something very sophisticated about her too. Plus, you just aren’t sure – is she a “good guy” or a “bad guy?”

Normally I would think the red irises were pretty creepy, but Jane wears them well. Her necklace is very interesting, too.

What do you think?

When we visited Aunt Kay a few weeks ago, I literally took hundreds of pictures of her amazing Barbie collection. Rather than overwhelm you with them all at once, I decided to just feature a few of them at a time over the next few months. One of the “mini” collections Kay has is the Barbie’s that are inspired by fashion designers that are part of popular culture. These are the Barbie’s my daughter Megan loves and has started collecting.

This is the Gold Label Juicy Couture Beverly Hills G&P set from 2008. This set features dolls that are tiny replicas of Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the designers and co-founders of the sensational Juicy Couture fashion empire. There is also a Juicy Couture set from 2004 that is very pink and green.

Kay’s Dooney and Bourke Barbie from 2006 is no longer in her box. Kay takes lots of her dolls out of the boxes and says sometimes that’s when you find the fun little extras you didn’t know they came with. The Dooney and Bourke Barbie has her signature D&B purse, casual chic fashion and a shopping bag, too. She is a Pink Label Barbie which means she is a little less expensive than the Gold Labeled Juicy Couture set.

There is something I like about this doll’s face – which is why I go a close up on her.

Anyone who knows my daughter Megan, knows she loves her M.A.C. cosmetics! The MAC Loves Barbie Gold Label doll came out in 2007 and you could purchase it at the M.A.C. cosmetics store. I just had to take pictures of this blondie for Megan.

This is a close up of the make up case she came with and a MAC Loves Barbie lipstick they sold at the same time.

For Christmas this year Megan asked to start her own Designer Barbie collection. The first one in her collection is this Lilly Pulitzer Barbie and Stacie Gift Set from 2005 that is just too cute. Also on her list was the Kate Spade Barbie and I know she wants both of the Juicy Couture sets.

More Barbie collection photos to come soon! I hope you enjoyed these.

Each year when we go to visit my husband’s family for the holidays, the girls and I have to make a special visit to see Aunt Kay. Kay has one of the largest collections of Barbie that I have ever seen in person. She knows everything about every doll in her collection, displays them in and out of the box, and changes up her displays frequently, too. Natalie and I like to call it “Barbie Heaven.”

This year when we went, just Natalie and I went to visit Kay which meant we could take our time, ask a bazillion questions, and really enjoy the time we had with this amazing lady. Here are a few of the photos I took. I will be featuring more of the individual photos and information on some of my favorites from her collection in upcoming posts.

Welcome to Barbie Land!! The original pink Barbie Christmas tree and “life-size” Barbie stay up year round to welcome visitors.

It didn’t take Natalie long to get to work checking out her favorite Barbie accessories. This is a photo of just one corner of the room. You can see we had taken dolls out to really look at closely.

This is the case that holds the vintage Barbies. Some of these were Kay’s daughter’s Barbies from when she was a little girl in the 1970′s and others are even older. Midge – the doll on the far left is original although her dress is a reproduction.

Natalie was fascinated by the Barbie ornaments and accessories case. She spent quite a bit of time quizzing Kay on what everything was, where she got it and what was in it. Kay loved to see that Natalie was so genuinely interested and even gave her a few of her duplicates like the black Barbie lunchbox keychain that even has a Barbie thermos and banana in it.

Kay’s collection spans two whole rooms of her house with one room just dedicated to the little Kelly-size dolls. Natalie couldn’t help but to keep going back in that room to find something she hadn’t seen before. Kay decided that Natalie needed to start her own Kelly doll collection so the two of them sat on the floor going through boxes and drawers as Kay filled up a bag for Natalie with nine Kelly and friends dolls.

I am convinced there is a Barbie for every type of collector!! Megan loves the Holiday Barbies and the designer Barbies (like Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lily Pullitzer, etc). I personally love the Silkstone Barbies, and Natalie – let’s just say, she loves them all.

I took more than 100 photos on Saturday alone – needless to say… more to come!!

Personally I can’t remember the last time I ate at McDonald’s or for that matter, ordered a Happy Meal, but just in case you collect the Happy Meal size Barbies, they are the next toy in rotation. I am not sure when they are scheduled to start, but most likely in the next few weeks.

You can purchase the toys without the meal – I think it is around $1 but it may vary depending on where you live.

I just watched the new Barbie… I Can Be commercial and while it is not as good as the 2010 version, it is WAY better than the 2009 one! Here are all three most recent Barbie… I Can Be commercials – you be the judge – which one do you like best?

2011 – Barbie… I Can Be – If you can dream it, you can be it!

2010 Barbie… I Can Be Commercial

2009 Barbie… I Can Be Commercial

Which one is your favorite? Do you think these commercials send a good message to girls?