Another Barbie Brouhaha A-Brewin’
At the Italian Doll Convention in May, it was announced by Mattel that there was an Herve Leger Barbie gift set in the works. Some prototype pictures started floating around, the interest level was definitely high, and all of the sudden….Mattel sends a notice to its dealers saying “Due to a partnership update the Herve Leger Barbie Doll is no longer available for Mattel Barbie Dealers.”
Oooooookay.
Today, popping up in grand Technicolor on Spanish and UK Amazon sites, were photos of what appear to be a finished product.
Photo credit: Amazon.es
So my question is…”Is this doll legit or what?!!” It certainly appears to be and these photos look like Mattel promo photos. Yes, the photos were available on the Amazon sites but you were not actually able to order the thing so this tells me it very well may be available but is not necessarily currently available. The other questions of course is where will it be available. So far it looks like Amazon has the inside track. I have to be honest here. I have never known Mattel to be this ”lacking” about releasing data on a much anticipated doll. What gives? Is it a secret? Only those with a secret password get the information on this doll? Only people incessantly trolling the retail sites will be able to get this doll? Click your heels together three times and say “There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home” and you might be able to get this doll? What is the formula here?
If I am asking these questions, I am sure others are too. Note to Mattel: “We like the product. We want to buy the product. Why won’t you tell us how?! We want to give you money and yet you stand there silent and stoic blinking in tune with the music.”
And the answer from Mattel appears to be….
I don’t know about you guys but…this aint relaxing to me right now 
Inside the Fashion Doll Studio 
The wording kind of sounds like something went wrong between Herve Leger and Mattel in regards to the licensing partnership. Maybe one party or the other decided that they didn’t like the current distribution or financial arrangement and decided to cancel the contract.
I’m seeing notices on the site of Mattel dealers dated June of 2013 that all outstanding orders will be cancelled and deposits refunded. I can’t determine if this happened before any of the dolls were actually made and shipped out, or if a few got manufactured and out the door first. Who knows…hopefully we will find out soon. She is beautiful though.
September 9, 2013 at 6:45 pm
Exactly…we don’t really know anything and that is the crux of this issue. I can’t believe Mattel would be able to ship anything without a finalized contract. The fact that any made it out the door is troubling. In my business mind ( and I admit, my knowledge of contract law is not robust), you either ship or you don’t. The fact that some shipped says to me, this is a finalized product that will be available. But…as you say….who knows and hopefully we will have info soon. 🙂
September 9, 2013 at 6:59 pm
Did those horrible women on The View see the doll and complain about S&M vibes from the belt and shoes or something?
I don’t collect Barbie really…but those outfits and boots are AMAZING. I would be tempted to steal it for the FR girls.
September 9, 2013 at 6:53 pm
LOL! Oh….that’s it! It was The View’s fault. I am so with you on this one. These outfits are destined ( if I can ever get my greedy little hands on them) for the FR girls in my collection. Sorry Barbie.
September 9, 2013 at 7:01 pm
If she is articulated this barbie is awesome she has resemblance with FR and she also look taller! The best are outfit and accessories very nice for FR doll, sorry mattel you need to throw the boring MM body and created a new articulated Barbie!
September 9, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Oh! I certainly hope she is released and looks JUST like this gal! Totally my style… I hate being teased. 90% of MM releases need to be pivotal. Mattel hasn’t realized that mannequins are really no fun?!
September 10, 2013 at 5:14 am
How interesting. I just saw the pics of this doll yesterday and was trying to figure out how to get her. I didn’t know about all this craziness!
September 10, 2013 at 7:26 am
Just saw on the barbie collector board that it is rumored that an employee in Indonesia put it up for sale (would explain why the outfit but not the doll)… Everything is so hush-hush about it and if someone posts pics they delete them. Why the secrecy?? So what if it leaked…just tell people! We are grown ups; we can understand and wait a little longer, just say something !
September 12, 2013 at 5:19 pm