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Do you want acne with that?: The doll to end Barbie

Stretchmarks, acne and cellulite are all selling points of the new children’s doll on the market, sent to replace Barbie.

Not only are they selling points, the acne will cost you more on the Lammily doll, which went on sale this week.

The Lammily doll retails for $25, outfits start at $17 and the Lammilly ‘marks’ (acne, band-aids, scars and cellulite) are an additional $5.

The Lammily doll was designed by Nickolay Lamm after a crowdfunding campaign titled ‘Average is beautiful’ allowed him to produce 5000 dolls.

 Obviously the doll is up against the matriarch of the doll-world: Miss Barbie herself.

But Lamm is unashamedly pitching the new doll against the old guard.

He’s produced a video directly contrasting Lammily to Barbie, showing his doll, which aims to replicate the body of an average 19-year-old girl, being photoshopped beyond recognition to look like Barbie.

Another video on Lammily is shot at a primary school, giving the kids both Barbie and Lammily to play with and asking them to compare and review the dolls. It’s clear which one they prefer, with one kid even saying she couldn’t imagine Barbie doing anything for a job.

Indeed, Mattel, Barbie’s maker, reported a 21.5 percent fall in quarterly profit in October as demand for both both Barbie and Fisher-Price brands slumped.

At the time, CNBC reported that worldwide sales of Barbie dropped 21 percent, while those of Fisher-Price preschool toys fell 16 percent in the third quarter ending 30 September.

However Barbie made it clear she wasn’t going to change this year when she ‘posed’ for Sport Illustrated magazine in her swimsuit, and even ‘wrote’ an editorial on the topic.

 “So the Swimsuit issue is out, and there’s bound to be a conversation or two about the women in it. Ask yourself, isn’t it time we teach girls to celebrate who they are? Isn’t there room for capable and captivating? It’s time to stop boxing in potential. Be free to launch a career in a swimsuit, lead a company while gorgeous, or wear pink to an interview at MIT. The reality of today is that girls can go anywhere and be anything. They should celebrate who they are and never have to apologize for it.”

So will there be warfare on the toy shop shelves? We’ll have to wait and see.

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