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Comment by Mo3 | Hacker News Reader

Because honestly it just appears like trying to grab off a handful new customers by dumping countless iterations of the same sucked-dry product into a rapidly declining market. Similar to putting dozens of these crappy websites up that all sell the same crappy product no one wants.

Children don’t care about a skinnier Ken and a disabled Barbie. Not because of the special attributes of these iterations, mind you, they don’t really see these differences yet anyway. Maybe a few parents will appreciate those but that should be about it.

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I don't see what's wrong about trying to grab new customers. Mattel is a business, after all.

Countless iterations of the same thing is what Barbie was already doing. There's a parody of that in The Simpsons' Stacy Malibu ("it has a new hat!"). This seems a bit riskier and slightly more profound than giving Barbie a new dress. I looked at the photo of the new dolls and they don't look like iterations of the same thing: each looks strikingly different to the rest.

Then again, do people look at Playmobil or Legos and complain that they are "countless iterations of the same thing"? Because they certainly are!

As for the differences: my 2 year old sees them already. And even if not, aren't toys also about teaching something?

> Maybe a few parents will appreciate those but that should be about it

How can you speak for parents and know how many will or will not appreciate this?

> Because honestly it just appears like trying to grab off a handful new customers by dumping countless iterations of the same sucked-dry product into a rapidly declining market.

The way you phrased this, it sounds like you’re implying that expanding your product line to new customers when your sales are declining is a bad idea. But… I can’t imagine how you think businesses work, then. Like, what’s Plan B? Ride the ship into the ground?

Do you have a sense of how many people in the world live with a disability and/or have a close family member who does?

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