A legal cat fight followed, with Mattel (nyse: MAT - news - people ) seeking a piece of Yasmin, Jade and friends in a lawsuit against rival MGA Entertainment Inc. Mattel has alleged that it's entitled to some of the profits from the Bratz dolls because MGA stole the concept and other trade secrets by luring away a Mattel employee.
If jurors find that Mattel's rights were infringed, the world's biggest toy maker could collect hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing fees from MGA. "The stakes really couldn't be higher for this kind of case," said Jack Lerner, a law professor at the University of Southern California. "The future of this brand is in the balance."

El Segundo-based Mattel filed the original lawsuit in 2004 against Carter Bryant, one of its former doll designers, accusing him of wrongfully selling his Bratz ideas to privately held MGA while he was under contract to Mattel. In a ruling last month, U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson said Mattel could claim rights to work done by Bryant. "It comes down to what Bryant did in the time he was with Mattel," Lerner said.

The lawsuit is going to trial during a difficult time for both companies. Mattel recalled millions of Chinese-made toys last year that were found to be tainted with lead. Last month, the company reported a $46.6 million loss in the first quarter with Barbie sales flat and a 13 percent drop in worldwide sales for its Fisher-Price brand.

Isaac Larian, MGA's chief executive officer, has pegged the value of the Bratz franchise at $2 billion, but industry analysts believe its market share has slipped in the past few years because new products such as Webkinz and the Hanna Montana craze have captured kids' attention.

"Unfortunately for Mattel and MGA, fashion dolls have fallen out of favor," said Gerrick Johnson, a toy industry analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York. "The trend has been toward mini-dolls or animals. Bratz is actually struggling more than Barbie right now."

Bisque dolls were a European design of the second half of the 19th century. They first appeared in France, then the Germans entered the market, as did the Japanese, the Americans and finally, today the Chinese dominate production. The most coveted of these antique dolls were made from about 1860 until World War I in France and Germany.

Two of the more popular French and German dolls produced in that era include the fashion doll and the French Bebe with all of their accessories. Both were made for well-to-do little girls whose families could afford them. The fashion doll was made to reflect the clothing styles of women of the day. The French Bebe was extravagantly dressed to reflect the period's youthful fashions. An entire industry grew around these dolls in that special shoes, accessories and clothing were created to dress them.

These beautiful dolls captured the imagination of 19th century little girls and continue to fascinate today's collectors. Their realistic skin color that comes from their unique preparation is part of the attraction. Other ingredients collectors use to judge a bisque doll include the quality of the bisque, the detailed facial expressions, the body style, makers markings, original clothing, condition and size. Replacement parts on a doll will affect its value, as will cracks, nicks and tears.

Prices for bisque dolls are all over the place. One source quoted a sale of $200,000 yet some of the dolls can be purchased for less than $100. Most dolls tend to sell in the $200 to $600 range with extremes on either end.

Several sources recommended a serious new collector checking out the Armand Marseille dolls, particularly one called Polly #390. It was considered a very nice doll. However, because there were so many of them produced, the price hits a reasonable range for most people.

There are numerous chat rooms, Web sites and books to help the budding collector learn more about this topic. Questions about whether to buy just the bisque head, how can one recognize a reproduction and more should be answered by an expert. Wise collectors should learn all they can about the dolls they love from sources such as these.

Jean McClelland writes about antiques for The Herald-Dispatch.

Stardoll

This is a game that girls have played for centuries: it’s about standing in front of the mirror and dreaming about being a princess, a rock star or the cool girl next door.” Mattias Miksche is on the phone from Sweden, making a fair point. But like a lot of things that have been done for centuries, identity play is a little different now, and Miksche’s company, Stardoll, is a good example of a 21st-century version.

The Stockholm company’s product is, for instance, digital and transnational. Its variations on paper dolls and dress-up games help attract 7.8 million unique visitors a month to a Web site that is published in 15 languages and combines elements of a social network and a virtual world.
The majority of visitors are girls — average age 13.8 — who spend between two and two and a half hours a month there. Another contemporary difference is that Stardoll is backed by venture capital and is battling a range of competitors all seeking to capture, and monetize, the attention of young fans. These range from Cartoon Doll Emporium to Club Penguin, Webkinz to Habbo.

At Stardoll.com, you will find a long list of celebrity names: Brad Pitt, Heidi Klum, Amy Winehouse, Paris Hilton’s dog. Click on a name to get a digital paper-doll version; nearby is a rack of outfits you can click and drag to dress the celebrity as you please. Younger users (up to age 12 or so) generally stick to this solitary pastime, possibly showing off their dress-up results to a sibling, or to Mom. But you also find many appeals to get more involved: join the millions who have registered and signed up for a free account, and you can create a MeDoll — a digital paper doll rendering of yourself, or of whatever self you’re interested in expressing. Chat with new online friends, join or form a club (there are more than 360,000) and expand your audience from Mom to users in Tennessee, Britain and Israel. It’s the 13-and-over part of the audience that generally takes the plunge.

Figures.com: When did you start Tonner Doll Company?
Robert Tonner (RT): I started the company in 1991.

Figures.com: And how did you come to start Tonner Doll Company?
RT: You don’t have that much time (laughing). Here’s a really short Cliff’s Notes version – I was in the garment center in New York City for a really long time. I would sculpt as a hobby and someone saw my (sculptures) and said “You should sell your work.” I only sculpted for myself…

Figures.com: What kinds of things did you sculpt?
RT: Figures right out of my head. It was the front part of learning the process; how to translate what was in my mind (into 3-D form). Lenex China hired me and put me in their doll program. I sculpted a couple of things and they did really well and I thought “cool.”

I’d spent the last 18 years in the garment center and was ready to leave. I was burned out. So I could either start my own garment line or I could do dolls. I felt I could do (dolls) myself as I knew how to sculpt, I knew how to (create) wigs, I could create clothing samples. This was all in the late 1980s...

Figures.com: So what was the first product at Tonner Dolls?
RT: It was a sports (doll) because I could do it out of my garage. I literally did that – I could make the molds, cast the porcelain and fire them all in my garage.
The first major step for our business was when we went to Toy Fair in 1991. That was the first major step. I had 10 dolls and took about $100,000 worth of orders.

Figures.com: Fast forward a bit. When did you first get into using plastic?
RT: When orders started to take off, I couldn’t do all of the porcelain dolls myself. I had a place in Long Island that helped me out. They did a great job, but I wasn’t happy giving up control. The porcelain dolls were ranging in price from $400 – $600 each...

Figures.com: Were the dolls you were making at this time considered a part of the fashion doll industry?
RT: That name came a bit later. They were more little girl characters. They were all my own designs. And I was looking at vinyl. It seemed the best way to go as it was cheaper and I’d have fewer manufacturing issues.
There were few vinyl manufacturers in the USA at the time, but I found one and made our first vinyl dolls in 1992 or 1993.

Figures.com: Still your own characters?
RT:Yes. At that time, just about anything sold; but I always kept my eyes on licensing. I wanted to do “Alice in Wonderland” as I knew there weren’t any “Alice in Wonderland” dolls at the time. It was pubic domain and we obviously couldn’t copy Disney or any other version. If it’s recognizable, it helps it sell…

At this point I was approached by manufacturers in China. I was told by the factories I can make this doll for $12.00 and it was retailing in the US for $300.00. It would have cost us $75 to make it (ourselves in the US). This is in 1994. I tried a couple of product lines in vinyl and (they were) a huge hit. I was able to put a doll out for less than $100.

Figures.com: Fast-forward again: at what point did you decide to get into entertainment-associated licenses that are more associated with action figures than dolls?
RT: I’ve always been a super hero guy. I read comics as a kid – DC and Marvel. I love comics. I love the Star Wars movies…the typical geeky sort of thing. Anyway…
When I was still doing porcelain, I did a very expensive doll of Superman, Lois Lane and Wonder Woman. They retailed for $500 each and were all three limited to 500.
It was a very difficult process – not because of DC, but because we were still doing all of the manufacturing here (in the US). (But) we sold out of Superman and came close (to selling out of) Wonder Woman and Lois Lane…
We then became focused on the fashion doll line – Tyler Wentworth…

Figures.com: When did the “fashion doll” category emerge?
RT: Mid-1990s. There was a huge market that no one had ever entered. Whenever anyone went up against Barbie, they’d be clobbered.
In 1991, when I started, I made a 17” fashion doll that retailed for $1,200. But you can’t collect $1,200 dolls. You can buy one of them, but that’s not a collection…
There was a (market) for the dolls because there were so many people collecting Barbie; a new generation had grown up collecting these dolls. And I wanted the figures to be articulated and made of hard plastic and vinyl.

Figures.com: That’s starting to sound a little like an action figure...
RT: Yes, it is...

Figures.com: The word 'doll' is often associated with being feminine while the term action figure is used for boy’s toys. In your opinion, what’s the major difference and where do you see your figures fitting?
RT: We talk about this all the time and to me it’s fairly clear: I consider what we do a ‘character figure.’ To me, a 'character figure' has hair – rooted or a wig – and clothing. I think that’s the major difference...

Figures.com: Funny you should mention that as the first action figure - Hasbro’s G.I. Joe - was exactly that - a figure with hair and clothing. It was basically a male doll with hair dressed up in army fatigues.
RT: Right. We noticed a big difference when we took the Harry Potter figures to Toy Fair. We had people coming into our booth that would never have done so before. Many didn’t even know we existed because they thought we only made ‘dolls.’ These were now people who were interested in movies and pop culture.

Figures.com: You said Harry Potter figures were a break though for your company and now you've announced your doing Pirates of the Caribbean character figures. Captain Jack Sparrow is probably the most popular on-screen character as of late...

Figures.com: Do you have a specific name for this category of hybrid between a doll and an action figure?
RT: We've trademarked the name 'character figure.' I don't see it as a traditional action figure and it's not a traditional doll. And it's working, because I'm getting crossover, it's male and female. It's not attracting the comic collectors but the Spiderman collectors, the Wonder Woman collectors... It's more specific...

Figures.com: Two of the things that distinguish your figures from others are the clothing and hair. Do you do all of the tailoring in-house?
RT: Yes, for the fashion dolls. I have an in-house designer who was in the garment center. We both have garment center backgrounds and we both really know what we're looking at. For something like Harry Potter though, it's already designed for us - the interpretation.

Figures.com: Have you seen your distribution changing?
RT: Hopefully it will change and it'll grow. Hopefully we won't loose our doll (retailers). They're very nice people and we've worked with a lot of them a long time.
The grandmotherly lady who comes into a store to buy a doll in a dress for her bedroom; I don't think that's where the action is at. I think it's more with a younger group of collectors...

The litigation began in 2004 when Mattel sued former employee Carter Bryant . . . who now works with Bratz dolls.

Then in 2005, MGA sued Mattel for copy of their products etc.

In 2006, Mattel sued again against a number of MGA employees and affiliates.

MGA has hired Thomas J. Nolan, trial lawyer who stated:
"I am honored to be selected as MGA Entertainment's lead trial counsel. I look forward to standing before a jury to explain how BRATZ took on Barbie and outsold her around the world the old-fashioned way . . . by out competing Mattel with a more popular and hip product."

The gloves are OFF!!

Have to admit I was really amazed with the list of winners for this year . . . not because who won but because who did NOT win!

PS: Remember to shop on Thursday, our Customer Appreciation Day - get an automatic 15% discount on all purchases over $15.00 . . . even Sale items!

Just added! Cissette's 50th Anniversary Doll (oh, to look that good at 50!) and Clara Bow - part of the History of Fashion Doll series. Both are new this year and both are limited.

And this Memorial Day Weekend, you can get 20% off any purchase over $20.00! If you missed it, come back on Thursday - Customer Apprecaition Sale Day at FashionDollClothes.com . . .

Yes! Two more Tonner fashions from 2003 have been added to our site . . . and Singular Sensation shown here is reduced for Spring! And if you purchase on a Thursday . . . you will get an additional 15% discount - Perfect for your dolls and your budget. . . ends April 15th

PS: Go Graphic is the other new stunning outfit:

The latest Haute Doll issue is filled with wonderful items . . . as usual! But what really caught my eye was the complimentry article on Pullip Dolls - and the offer for an exclusive Pullip doll made just for them. It looks very much like our Latte doll.

Remember you can get a 15% discount on Pullip dolls (and others) here on Thursdays, our Customer Appreciation Day!

Tonner's fabulous GREEN Fashion Doll 2006 Wicked Witch shown here is reduced for St. Patrick's Day! As you realize by now . . . if you purchase her on a Thursday - our Customer Appreciation Day - you will get an additional 15% off the sale price - how can you resist?

While you're there checking her out, also see the first two Tonner outfits we've added - the lovely Bordeaux Peignoir and the sassy Big Apple Rouge!

All of these items are on sale right now . .. plus an additional 15% off on Thursdays - our Customer Appreciation Day!

Tiny Kitty dolls are ALL on Sale (in addition to the Winter Sale 15% reduction) We have made the difficult decision to stop carrying these lovely creations . . . which will be to your benefit!

If any of you are near Orlando this month I'd highly recommend that you attend IDEX Doll and Bear Show on January 19-21, 2007. This is their 16th year! Learn more at the IDEX Website.

And they will be further reduced if you purchase during the Thanksgiving Sale . . . 15% off on all sales of everything on FashionDollClothes.com over $15.00 ALL weekend! That means Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday . . . Happy Thanksgiving from US!

The Lollipop Doll News is that we will be getting MORE Edition 1 and Edition 2 of the vinyl dolls . . . . probably by mid-December!

Just in time for fantastic gift giving - remember to save 15% on your purchases every Thursday!!