The Brawl in the Dollhouse Heats Up in Court

Aug. 8, 2008 — -- In the age of fierce rivalries -- Hillary and Barack, Nicole and Paris -- few disputes have captured the spotlight like the epic battle being waged in the world of dolls -- Bratz vs. Barbie.

In one corner, measuring 9 inches tall with big eyes and even bigger bling, the challenger: Bratz. In another corner, with flowing blond hair and an impossibly disproportionate bust, the 47-year undisputed, undefeated champion from Mattel: Barbie.

Most people might think the world of dolls isn't the kind of place for a knockdown, drag-out brawl, but they would be wrong.

"Ken is not gonna save Barbie," said Isaac Larian, the CEO of Micro Games of America, which makes the Bratz dolls. "Barbie is not gonna save Barbie. And the leadership that they have at Mattel right now, it's not gonna save Barbie. I'm not trash talking&30133; I'm talking about the facts."

Larian might not strike you as the "doll" kind of guy. He came to America from Iran with nothing.

"I came here in 1971 with a one-way ticket and $750 in my pocket and a big American dream," he said. "And I have lived the American dream."

Larian went from washing dishes to creating a toy company. And in large part due to a big-eyed, big-headed doll idea, his company became the American dream on steroids.

On Barbie: 'It's Time for Her to Retire'

When Larian first saw the Bratz design in 2001, he thought they looked like aliens.

"I think now they look beautiful," he said. "I've grown to like them."

Last year's $2.3 billion in sales can make many things beautiful.

Mattel, a public company, was unable to provide exact market numbers. But Larian, whose company is private, said Bratz has a 40 percent market share and is the No. 2 doll in the U.S. market -- No. 2 for now. Larian claims his Bratz girls are breathing down the lanky plastic neck of No. 1. That would be Barbie.

"It's time for her to retire. She's been around for too long," he said.

Some disagree.

"He's welcome to throw a party for Barbie any time he wants, but it won't be a retirement party. She has been and will remain the No. 1 fashion doll in the industry," said Chuck Scothon of Mattel.

Scothon is a senior Mattel executive and former high school offensive lineman. His product is the long-legged Goliath of the toy business.

Since she was first created in 1959, Barbie has been an icon among icons with almost absurd success. One study found that 90 percent of American girls between 3 and 10 years old owns a Barbie doll.

Scothon doesn't like to talk about Bratz, let alone the fact that they might pose a challenge.

"I think a lot of people like to talk about the underdog and the leadership positions," said Scothon. "I think at the end of the day it's really about making more out of something than there really is."

Is Bratz the Key to Cool?

The last few years Barbie sales started to sag, just as Bratz sales got white hot. Despite the looming threat, Scothon insists Barbie is in no danger.

"Not in the least. Barbie has been and will continue to be the No. 1 fashion doll."

Barbie has rebounded a bit this year, but Isaac Larian is not impressed. He says he has the key to cool -- a multicultural doll with the edgy, sassy attitude girls want these days.

"The kids look at Bratz dolls and they think they are teenagers," said Larian. "And we ask them how old do you think Bratz dolls are? They say they are teenagers. And when they look at Barbie doll they think it's old mom."

Scothon admits this might be true, but spins it to his advantage. "What I would suggest and say to that is, first of all if Barbie, for some girls, reminds them of their mothers, I would think of nothing better. The most important job a woman can have in many ways is being a mom."

Workaholic Barbie vs. Shopaholic Bratz

There is no mistaking a Bratz doll, clad in leopard skin tops and sequins, for a mom. Some have even gone so far as to compare them to street walkers.

"They don't look trashy to me," said Larian. "And this is, I think, trashy is in the eye of the adults. When we show these to the little girls, and we have done that over and over, everybody said they're beautiful. They never say they look like a streetwalker."

Barbie is clearly going for a different image.

"First and foremost, I would say the Barbie doll is truly based on some great values for little girls," said Scothon. "The courage, inspiration, imaginative play."

Whatever values she holds dear, Barbie is famous for having a career -- like Doctor Barbie and Astronaut Barbie. The Bratz dolls? Well, they are known for having one occupation -- shopping.

"The girls with the passion for fashion." That's their motto, said Larian. "They have good fashion. It's OK to look good. It's OK. Who said that you have to… who said that girls don't have to look good?"

The Big Screen and the Courthouse

And now Larian is taking his girls to the big screen, with "Bratz: The Movie!"

Some of the entertainment blogs have been brutal. One expressed dismay that they are "making an actual movie out of those… horrible little Bratz characters."

But Larian and his co-producers are sure of success. They say it will be like "X-Men for girls" and that they are already working in a script for a sequel.

If all this is true, why hasn't Bratz yet overtaken Barbie as No. 1?

"We would have beaten them up this year, and year before if they had not engaged in, what I call, really unfair competition," Larian said.

The Barbie-Bratz battle has moved beyond the Barbie dream house to the courthouse. Round one: Mattel filed a lawsuit alleging that the designer of the Bratz concept came up with the idea when he was working at Mattel.

Round two: Larian sued back saying that Mattel tried to corner the market on doll hair, and, more seriously, that Mattel ripped off the Bratz concept for a new line of Barbie doll -- the MyScene dolls, which Bratz said look just like their dolls.

Scothon believes this is untrue.

"What we see is an evolution to the Barbie brand. And again, the Barbie brand is made up of dolls that target girls of every age because it's really an evolution of where the Barbie doll has been with a little bit more animated look, but not necessarily something that's been inspired by the competition at all."

The cases are still pending, but both companies say they are confident they will win the legal battle.

"I'm not really gonna talk about the legal piece of this," said Scothon. "I have all the confidence in the world that the justice system and that, that our attorneys can work through those issues."

Larian speaks differently of the legal case. "When we're done with Mattel, we will get them for billions of dollars," he said, "not only for this, but for defamation."

Who will prevail in this doll brawl? It's one thing to be hot, like Bratz, but another to be iconic.

"We're gonna become No. 1," said Larian. "I promise you that."

"I can't speak to his guarantee," Scothon said. "What I can speak to is I believe that Barbie will continue to be the No. 1 fashion doll around the globe."