Rumours confirmed: Stevie Nicks’ Barbie doll has been re-released
Stevie Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac member and prominent solo artist, surprised attendees at one of her tour dates last year by revealing that she had been collaborating with Mattel for a year to mould a Barbie doll in her likeness.
The finished article, which retailed at $55 (€50.80), sold out rapidly from Mattel’s website, with anyone else looking for the limited release doll having to go their own way on the second hand collectibles market.
But this week, those hoping for a second chance to buy this Gold Dust Woman were suddenly in luck. Mattel announced that the figurine was being given a limited re-stock.
According to Mattel’s online shop, the unfortunately now sold-out Stevie Nicks Barbie “wears a beguiling black dress inspired by the legendary Rumours album cover and holds her iconic tambourine.”
It also specifies that a stand is included, because just like the rest of her anatomically compromised sisters, but very unlike Nicks herself – who has enjoyed an immeasurably successful solo career post-Fleetwood Mac – this “Queen of Rock and Roll” Barbie avatar “cannot stand alone”.
Like many other prominent toy manufacturers, Mattel is increasingly conscious of the market’s appetite for celebrity collaborations. The company recently released a line of Barbies inspired by real-world female athletes, headlined by superstar tennis player Venus Williams.
Alongside Williams, the collection touts prominent gymnasts Rebeca Andrade and Alexa Moreno, football players Mary Fowler and Christine Sinclair, boxer Estelle Mossely, swimmer Federica Pellegrini, paratriathlete Susana Rodriguez and track and field sprinter Ewa Swoboda.
Once a flashpoint for critiques about how society (under)depicts and (under)values women, the Barbie brand has worked hard to reinvent itself for modern consumers who might otherwise have considered the doll démodé.
One of the most notable examples of the Barbie re-brand is of course Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film, starring Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as the eponymous Barbie. The live action blockbuster grossed $1.45 billion (€1.34bn) worldwide, making Barbie the largest ever film directed by a woman — but to fans’ dismay it was snubbed at last year’s Oscars in favour of Oppenheimer.
In fact, the two most anticipated films of last summer were bound to a strange shared destiny by the affectionate fan-coined portmanteau “Barbenheimer”, with Barbie ’s bubblegum pink aesthetic and saccharine pop soundtrack playfully juxtaposed by fans with Oppenheimer ’s epic, half-grayscale biopic on the father of the atomic bomb.
Many cinemagoers made a point of watching the two films back-to-back, simply because the visual and thematic void between them was so jarring. This bizarre sense of occasion no doubt boosted the takings for both films and, perhaps even more importantly for Mattel, catalysed the Barbie doll’s renewed status as cultural icon like nothing a marketing department could have foreseen.
Mattel will be hoping to replicate its ‘Barbie’ success with some of its other brand assets, including an ‘American Girl’ movie already in the works and a J. J. Abrams-directed live action ‘Hot Wheels’ adaptation.
Indeed, the company reportedly has plans to release enough toy-based films over the next few years to comfortably clear double figures, leading Euronews Culture’s film critic David Mouriquand to presage the dawn of a new MCU, not a Marvel Cinematic Universe this time but Mattel's.
As well as making profitable inroads with Hollywood, the Barbie brand has also worked hard to establish a trend of honouring trailblazing women across the board, not just those like Nicks who already enjoy significant cultural visibility on account of the public-facing nature of their careers.
This was seen last year on International Women’s Day, when the company paid tribute to several notable leaders in the STEM field by creating dolls in their likeness. Among those celebrated were Susan Wojcicki, the longtime CEO of YouTube, and British scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock.
