David Sillito took a look at the battle for dominance in the doll market:

• Sindy was a British rival to Barbie which, in 1985, had 80% of the fashion doll market.
• However with the arrival of TV, children’s tastes changed and they demanded more glamorous dolls like Barbie.
• The makers of Sindy remodeled her to make her thinner, her legs longer and her chest larger, but the makers of Barbie sued, and eventually won the battle for market dominance against Sindy.
• Now however, Barbie is competing with the even more sexualized miniskirt clad Bratz dolls that are popular with children.

To read more including how Sindy is celebrating her 50^th birthday, the choice that parents have to make, the role that fashion plays, the disastrous change, and those that have hope that a more vintage doll can still compete in the market, click here.

Source: BBC