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smuppetshowmovie · 6 months ago

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date: June 22, 2022 caption: new lights! project: The Smuppet Show

I got new lights for this project ($250 for a pair of LED light panels! so fancy! they have adjustable color and adjustable intensity! they come with adjustable stands!) and it took a while for me to adapt. I am so glad I upgraded, though; it was well worth it in the end.

A bit of unpaid promotion: I recommend B&H Photo if you are looking to buy any sort of camera-related equipment online. They have been a good place to shop over the years and I generally find the comments and reviews on items really educational. I'm not much of a gearhead when it comes to camera stuff, so I don't continuously follow the latest and greatest tech developments. But I do occasionally want to upgrade and poking around the reviews for a couple hours usually helps me narrow down my options. I want to end up somewhere in the serious amateur tier, somewhere comfortably in between the "I do this for a living" or "I'm a bleeding edge collector of gadgets" tiers and the "absolute entry level fully automatic no learning curve" tier. It can take a while to figure out where that line is - it's constantly shifting!

For Theatre of Coolty I shot only at night and used gigantic fluorescent lights. My setup was two 6 foot wide kitchen light fixtures strapped to 6 foot high step ladders and wired up to long extension cords. They served me well over the years for doing portrait photos but weren't easy to move around and had no ability to be anything but intensely bright; they were also optimized for people-sized photos, not barbie-sized video. Mr Bee built them for me (2002? 2003? ... sometime around then ... thanks, Mr Bee!!). I'd been wistfully looking at "real" video lighting rigs but back then everything I could find was a couple thousand dollars minimum and I was not willing to spend that kind of money for a hobby project. We already had the step ladders; the light fixtures and wires and other hardware added up to not much more than $100. It was a good setup!

For Detective Pony I started out with the big lights and used those for all the "original" Jeanne Betancourt filming in 2017. But the lights had seen a lot of hard use at that point and were starting to fall apart. By the end there I think I was down to one light propped up on a couch - when I wanted to re-direct the light I had to move the whole couch!

When I started filming the edited-in Dirk Strider scenes, I used a lot of natural light (the room I was working in had a big sliding glass door that let in lots of light) supplemented by some random floor lamps with random light bulbs. I struggled a lot with keeping color consistent from shot to shot because although the scene looked fine to my eye, the camera revealed that every angle was a different combination of random color temperature light. I could tell I was having problems, but at the time I just thought I was bad at white balancing. Live and learn!

In 2022 I bought new LED lights, using The Smuppet Show as my excuse to finally upgrade. I was so excited - the lights immediately fixed my color temperature issues and I stopped needing to fiddle with white balance for 5 minutes before every new shot. However, I got a little bit too complacent about lighting and got out of the habit of really paying attention to the lighting setup much at all. As a result a lot of the early scenes were either too dark or too grainy (a result of the camera trying to compensate for the lack of light). I eventually got better at catching that and adjusting, but it was rough for a while. Always an adventure!

#smuppet bts

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drccollections · 2 years ago

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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NIB Princess of the Portuguese Empires - Dolls of the World - Barbie Collection.

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lookingattoys-blog · 2 years ago

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2002 Collector Edition Barbie

2002 Collector Edition Barbie Shop now for Authentic Supreme Clothing and Accessories. Brand- mattel barbie dolls Item – 2002 Collector Edition Barbie Collaboration- Category – collectible toys for sale on looking at toys Condition – new with shelf wear Colour – one Season – vintage barbie dolls for sale Size – one Additional notes- brand new 2002 Collector Edition Barbie. Additional…

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faroutgardengirl · 3 years ago

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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NIB Barbie Princess of the Danish Court.

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samanthamichellel211111111111111 · 4 years ago

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I just added this listing on Poshmark: 2002 Collectors Edition Barbie.

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brendadafabulous · 5 years ago

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I just added this listing on Poshmark: Celebration BARBIE Ornament Special 2002 Edition.

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lovemymaltese · 5 years ago

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I just added this listing on Poshmark: I Love Lucy L.A. At Last Doll. #poshmark #fashion #shopping #shopmycloset

#poshmark #fashion #shopping #shopmycloset

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alwaysmarilynmonroe · 8 years ago

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Marilyn Barbie In How To Marry A Millionaire Collectors Edition released in 2002. 💋 Won this beauty on eBay for just £29.99! 🙏🏻

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lesliewofford83-blog · 8 years ago

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BOF NEVER GABRIEL AND NEVER WAS MADE A BIRD A NEWBEC OR ANYTHING SHORTER THAN LESLIE AT 5′5 AND 3 QUARTERS INCHES TALL! AND FOR PEOPLE TRYIN TO BE ME AND INVADE ME THESE PEOPLE DIED, EVERY YEAR MORE AND MORE WILL DIE FOR TRYING TO STEAL MY STUFF OR HURT MY FAMILY OR KIDNAP MY KID(S) EVER OR HAVE ME LIVING MORE THAN ONE LIFE.

March 2002[edit source]

1 – David Mann, 85, American songwriter.

1 – Roger Plumpton Wilson, 96, British Anglican prelate.

3 – G. M. C. Balayogi, 61, Indian lawyer and politician.

3 – Calvin Carrière, 80, American fiddler.

3 – Harlan Howard, 74, American country music songwriter.

3 – Al Pollard, 73, NFL player and broadcaster, lymphoma. [1]

3 – Roy Porter, 55, British historian.

6 – Bryan Fogarty, 32, Canadian ice hockey player.

6 – David Jenkins, 89, Welsh librarian.

6 – Donald Wilson, 91, British television writer and producer.

7 – Franziska Rochat-Moser, 35, Swiss marathon runner.

8 – Bill Johnson, 85, American football player.

8 – Ellert Sölvason, 84, Icelandic football player.

9 – Jack Baer, 87, American baseball coach.

9 – Irene Worth, 85, American actress.

11 – Al Cowens, 50, American baseball player.

11 – Rudolf Hell, 100, German inventor and manufacturer.

12 – Steve Gromek, 82, American baseball player.

13 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, 102, German philosopher.

14 – Cherry Wilder, 71, New Zealand writer.

14 – Tan Yu, 75, Filipino entrepreneur.

15 – Sylvester Weaver, 93, American advertising executive, father of Sigourney Weaver.

16 – Sir Marcus Fox, 74, British politician.

17 – Rosetta LeNoire, 90, African-American stage and television actress.

17 – Bill Davis, 60, American football coach.

18 – Reginald Covill, 96, British cricketer.

18 – Maude Farris-Luse, 115, supercentenarian and one-time "Oldest Recognized Person in the World".

18 – Gösta Winbergh, 58, Swedish operatic tenor.

20 – John E. Gray, 95, American educational administrator, President of Lamar University.

20 – Ivan Novikoff, 102, Russian premier ballet master.

20 – Richard Robinson, 51, English cricketer.

21 – James F. Blake, 89, American bus driver, antagonist for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

21 – Thomas Flanagan, 78, American novelist and academic.

22 – Sir Kingsford Dibela, 70, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea.

22 – Hugh R. Stephen, 88, Canadian politician.

23 – Ben Hollioake, 24, English cricketer.

24 – Dorothy DeLay, 84, American violin instructor.

24 – César Milstein, 74, Argentinian biochemist.

24 – Frank G. White, 92, American army general.

25 – Ken Traill, 75, British rugby league player.

25 – Kenneth Wolstenholme, 81, British football commentator.

26 – Roy Calvert, 88, New Zealand World War II air force officer.

27 – Milton Berle, 93, American comedian dubbed "Mr. Television".

27 – Sir Louis Matheson, 90, British university administrator, Vice Chancellor of Monash University.

27 – Dudley Moore, 66, British actor and writer.

27 – Billy Wilder, 95, Austrian-born American film director (Double Indemnity).

28 – Tikka Khan, 86, Pakistani army general.

29 – Rico Yan, 27, Filipino movie & TV actor.

30 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, 101, British consort of King George VI.

31 – Lady Anne Brewis, 91, English botanist.

31 – Barry Took, 73, British comedian and writer.

April 2002[edit source]

1 – Umer Rashid, 26, English cricketer, drowning.

1 – John S. Samuel, 88, American Air Force general.

2 – John R. Pierce, 92, American engineer and author.

2 – Robert Lawson Vaught, 75, American mathematician.

3 – Frank Tovey, aka Fad Gadget, 45, English singer-songwriter.

4 – Don Allard, 66, American football player (New York Titans, New England Patriots) and coach.

5 – Arthur Ponsonby, 11th Earl of Bessborough, 89, British aristocrat.

5 – Layne Staley, 34, former Alice in Chains lead singer.

6 – Nobu McCarthy, 67, Canadian actress.

6 – William Patterson, 71, British Anglican priest, Dean of Ely.

6 – Margaret Wingfield, 90, British political activist.

7 – John Agar, 82, American actor.

8 – Sir Nigel Bagnell, 75, British field marshal.

8 – María Félix, 88, Mexican film star.

8 – Helen Gilbert, 80 American artist.

8 – Giacomo Mancini, 85, Italian politician.

9 – Leopold Vietoris, 110, Austrian mathematician.

10 – Géza Hofi, 75 Hungarian humorist.

11 – J. William Stanton, 78, American politician.

14 – Buck Baker, 83, American member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame

14 – John Boda, 79, American composer and music professor.

14 – Sir Michael Kerr, 81, British jurist.

15 – Will Reed, 91, British composer.

15 – Byron White, 84, United States Supreme Court justice.

16 – Billy Ayre, 49, English footballer.

16 – Franz Krienbühl, 73, Swiss speed skater.

16 – Robert Urich, 55, American TV actor.

18 – Thor Heyerdahl, 87, Norwegian anthropologist.

18 – Cy Laurie, 75, British musician.

18 – Sir Peter Proby, 90, British landowner, Lord-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

20 – Vlastimil Brodský, 81, Czech actor.

21 – Sebastian Menke, 91, American Roman Catholic priest.

21 – Red O'Quinn, 76, American football player.

21 – Terry Walsh, 62, British stuntman.

22 – Albrecht Becker, 95, German production designer and actor.

22 – Allen Morris, 92, American historian.

23 – Linda Lovelace, 53, former porn star turned political activist, car crash.

23 – Ted Kroll, 82, American golfer.

25 – Michael Bryant, 74, British actor.

25 – Indra Devi, 102, Russian "yoga teacher to the stars".

25 – Lisa Lopes, 30, American singer, car crash.

26 – Alton Coleman, 46, convicted spree killer, execution by lethal injection.

27 – Ruth Handler, 85, inventor of the Barbie doll.

27 – Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, 81, German Industrialist and art collector.

28 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician.

28 – Sir Peter Parker, 77, British businessman.

28 – Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler.

28 – John Wilkinson, 82, American sound engineer.

29 – Liam O'Sullivan, Scottish footballer, drugs overdose. [2]

29 – Lor Tok, 88, Thai, comedian and actor Thailand National Artist.

May 2002[edit source]

1 – John Nathan-Turner, 54, British television producer.

2 – William Thomas Tutte, 84, Bletchley Park cryptographer and British, later Canadian, mathematician.

3 – Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, 91, British Labour politician and female life peer.

3 – Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, 73, president of Somaliland and formerly prime minister of Somalia and British Somaliland.

3 – Mohan Singh Oberoi, 103, Indian hotelier and retailer.

4 – Abu Turab al-Zahiri, 79, Saudi Arabian writer of Arab Indian descent

5 – Sir Clarence Seignoret 83, president of Dominica (1983–1993).

5 – Hugo Banzer Suárez, 75, president of Bolivia, as dictator 1971–1978 and democratic president 1997–2001.

5 – Mike Todd, Jr., 72, American film producer.

6 – Otis Blackwell, 71, American singer-songwriter and pianist.

6 – Harry George Drickamer, 83, American chemical engineer.

6 – Pim Fortuyn, 54, assassinated Dutch politician.

7 – Sir Bernard Burrows, 91, British diplomat.

7 – Sir Ewart Jones, 91, Welsh chemist.

7 – Seattle Slew, 28, last living triple crown winner on 25th anniversary of winning Kentucky Derby.

8 – Sir Edward Jackson, 76, English diplomat.

9 – Robert Layton, 76, Canadian politician.

9 – James Simpson, 90, British explorer.

10 – Lynda Lyon Block, 54, convicted murderer, executed by electric chair in Alabama.

10 – John Cunniff, 57, American hockey player and coach.

10 – Henry W. Hofstetter, 87, American optometrist.

10 – Leslie Dale Martin, 35, convicted murderer, executed by lethal injection in Louisiana.

10 – Tom Moore, 88, American athletics promoter.

11 – Joseph Bonanno, 97, Sicilian former Mafia boss.

12 – Richard Chorley, 74, English geographer.

13 – Morihiro Saito, 74, a teacher of the Japanese martial art of aikido.

13 – Ruth Cracknell, 76, redoubtable Australian actress most famous for the long-running role of Maggie Beare in the series "Mother and Son".

13 – Valery Lobanovsky, 63, former Ukrainian coach.

14 – Sir Derek Birley, 75, British educationist and writer.

15 – Bernard Benjamin, 92, British statistician.

15 – Bryan Pringle, 67, British actor.

15 – Nellie Shabalala, 49, South African singer and wife of leader/founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Joseph Shabalala.

15 – Esko Tie, 73, Finnish ice hockey player.

16 – Edwin Alonzo Boyd, 88, Canadian bank-robber and prison escapee of the 1950s.

16 – Alec Campbell, 103, Australia's last surviving ANZAC died in a nursing home.

16 – Dorothy Van, 74, American actress.

17 – Peter Beck, 92, British schoolmaster.

17 – Joe Black, 78, American first Black baseball pitcher to win a World Series game.

17 – Earl Hammond, 80, American voice actor best known for voicing Mumm Ra and Jaga in the television series Thundercats.

17 – Bobby Robinson, 98, American baseball player.

17 – Little Johnny Taylor, 59, American singer.

18 – Davey Boy Smith, 39, 'British Bulldog' professional wrestler.

18 – Gordon Wharmby, 68, British actor (Last of the Summer Wine)

19 – John Gorton, 90, 19th Prime Minister of Australia.

19 – Otar Lordkipanidze, 72, Georgian archaeologist.

20 – Stephen Jay Gould, 60, paleontologist and popular science author.

21 – Niki de Saint Phalle, 71, French artist.

21 – Roy Paul, 82, Welsh footballer.

22 – Paul Giel, 69, American football player.

22 – Dick Hern, 81, British racehorse trainer.

22 – (remains discovered; actual death probably took place on or around May 1, 2001), Chandra Levy, 24, U.S. Congressional intern.

22 – Creighton Miller, 79, American football player and attorney.

23 – Sam Snead, 89, golfer.

25 – Pat Coombs, 75, English actress.

25 – Jack Pollard, 75, Australian sports journalist.

26 – John Alexander Moore, 86, American biologist.

26 – Mamo Wolde, 69, Ethiopian marathon runner.

28 – Napoleon Beazley, 25, convicted juvenile offender, executed by lethal injection in Texas.

28 – Mildred Benson, 96, American children's author.

June 2002[edit source]

1 – Hansie Cronje, 32, South African cricketer, air crash.

4 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, 89, democratic president of Peru, 1963–1968 and 1980–1985.

4 – John W. Cunningham, 86, American author.

4 – Caroline Knapp, 42, author of Drinking: A Love Story.

5 – Dee Dee Ramone, 50, founding member of The Ramones.

5 – Alex Watson, 70, Australian rugby league player.

6 – Peter Cowan, 87, Australian writer.

6 – Hans Janmaat, 67, controversial far-right politician in the Netherlands.

7 – Rodney Hilton, 85, British historian.

7 – Lilian, Princess of Réthy, 85, British-born Belgian royal.

8 – George Mudie, 86, Jamaican cricketer.

9 – Paul Chubb, 53, Australian actor.

9 – Bryan Martyn, 71, Australian rules footballer.

10 – John Gotti, 61, imprisoned mobster.

11 – Robbin Crosby, 42, American guitarist of rock band Ratt.

11 – Margaret E. Lynn, 78, American theater director.

11 – Robert Roswell Palmer, 93, American historian and writer.

11 – Peter John Stephens, 89, British children's author.

12 – Bill Blass, 79, American fashion designer.

12 – George Shevelov, 93, Ukrainian scholar.

13 – John Hope, 83, American meteorologist.

14 – Jose Bonilla, 34, boxing former world champion, of asthma.

14 – June Jordan, 65, American writer and teacher, of breast cancer.

15 – Said Belqola, 45, Moroccan referee of the 1998 FIFA World Cup final.

17 – Willie Davenport, 59, American gold medal-winning Olympic hurdler.

17 – John C. Davies II, 82, American politician.

17 – Fritz Walter, 81, German football player, captain of 1954 World Cup winners.

18 – Nancy Addison, 54, soap actress, cancer.

18 – Jack Buck, 77, Major League Baseball announcer.

18 – Michael Coulson, 74, British lawyer and politician.

19 – Count Flemming Valdemar of Rosenborg, 80, Danish prince.

20 – Enrique Regüeiferos, 53, Cuban Olympic boxer.

21 – Henry Keith, Baron Keith of Kinkel, 80, British jurist.

21 – Patrick Kelly, 73, English cricketer.

22 – David O. Cooke, 81, American Department of Defense official.

22 – Darryl Kile, 33, Major League Baseball player.

22 – Ann Landers, 83, author & syndicated newspaper columnist.

23 – Pedro "El Rockero" Alcazar, 26, Panamanian boxer; died after losing his world Flyweight championship to Fernando Montiel in Las Vegas the night before.

23 – Arnold Weinstock, 77, British businessman.

24 – Lorna Lloyd-Green, 92, Australian gynaecologist.

24 – Miles Francis Stapleton Fitzalan-Howard, 86, 17th Duke of Norfolk.

24 – Pierre Werner, 88, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, "father of the Euro".

25 – Gordon Park Baker, 64, Anglo-American philosopher.

25 – Jean Corbeil, 68, Canadian politician.

26 – Barbara G. Adams, 57, British Egyptologist.

26 – Clarence D. Bell, 88, American politician, member of the Pennsylvania State Senate.

26 – Jay Berwanger, 88, college football player, first winner of the Heisman Trophy.

26 – Arnold Brown, 88, British General of the Salvation Army.

26 – James Morgan, 63, British journalist.

27 – Sir Charles Carter, 82, British economist and academic administrator.

27 – John Entwistle, 57, English bassist (The Who), heart attack.

27 – Russ Freeman, 76, American pianist.

27 – Robert L. J. Long, 82, American admiral.

27 – Jack Webster, 78, Canadian police officer.

28 – Arthur "Spud" Melin, responsible for marketing hula-hoop and frisbee.

29 – Rosemary Clooney, 74, singer.

29 – Jan Tomasz Zamoyski, 90, Polish politician.

30 – Pete Gray, 87, American one-armed baseball player.

30 – Dave Wilson, 70, American television director.

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chestnutpost · 6 years ago

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Barbie Is 60! Here’s A Look Back At Her Transformation.

This post was originally published on this site

There’s no denying Barbie is one of the most iconic toys in the world, and she sure has come a long way since she was first introduced to the world.

Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959 with the philosophy that little girls, through playing with the doll, could be anything they wanted to be. “Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices,” Handler once said.

Over the years, the Mattel doll has been been everything from an astronaut to a firefighter to a game developer, and even the president of the United States. She’s also faced her fair share of controversy; some people have questioned whether she perpetuates stereotypical gender roles and lacks racial representation, while others believe her slim body and unrealistic proportions promote an unhealthy beauty standard.

That’s not to say Barbie hasn’t evolved though. In 2015, the brand launched its very first “Shero” campaign. Through the initiative, Barbie has honored boundary-breaking women like Ava DuVernay, Naomi Osaka, Eva Chen and Ibtihaj Muhammad with their very own dolls. In 2016, Mattel went a step further and released a range of dolls with different body types, more hairstyles and seven skin tones, to better represent the world we live in.

She’s always been quite the fashion plate, acting as a mini-muse for designers like Bob Mackie, Karl Lagerfeld and Jeremy Scott at Moschino.

“Barbie has always been a reflection of current fashion and beauty trends ― from wearing mod dresses and ‘Twiggy looks’ in the ’60s to now rocking street style, athleisure and a half shaved hair look, there isn’t a trend she’s afraid to try,” Robert Best, senior design director at Barbie, told HuffPost via email.

In honor of Barbie’s 60th anniversary, we’re taking a look back at some of her most iconic fashion moments over the years. Check them out below:

1959

Yvonne Hemsey via Getty Images

A photo of the original Barbie, launched in March 1959 by American businesswoman Ruth Handler.

1963

Keystone-France via Getty Images

A Barbie doll from the early 1960s.

1963

Keystone-France via Getty Images

Barbie as a tennis player, 1963.

1965

Chesnot via Getty Images

Astronaut Barbie first debuted in 1965. Here, the doll is seen photographed in 2014 at an exhibit in France.

1980s

Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

Loving You Barbie, circa the 1980s.

1980s

Pierre VAUTHEY via Getty Images

A Barbie doll from the collection of Barbie aficionado Billy Boy wears an outfit designed by Christian Dior.

1980s

Pierre VAUTHEY via Getty Images

Barbie and Ken dolls from the collection of Billy Boy wear outfits designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

1980s

Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

A photo of Sport Walkman Barbie from the 1980s.

1988

Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Hot Rockin’ Fun Barbie from the late 1980s.

1989

Andrew Stawicki via Getty Images

Super Star Barbie, circa 1989.

1992

Yvonne Hemsey via Getty Images

A photo of Totally Hair Barbie, released in 1992.

1997

JOHN D MCHUGH via Getty Images

A 1997 Diamond Dazzle Bob Mackie collector-edition Barbie on display at Christie’s auction house in London, Sept. 25, 2006.

1997

Urbano Delvalle via Getty Images

A photo from the Barbie Flowers collection, released in the 1990s.

1997

Science & Society Picture Library via Getty Images

Talk With Me Barbie, first released in 1997.

1997

JON LEVY via Getty Images

A dentist Barbie from the late 1990s, displayed at a New York toy fair.

1997

Yvonne Hemsey via Getty Images

The Share a Smile Becky Barbie doll, released in 1997.

1997

PA Images via Getty Images

Barbie Loves Elvis dolls, circa 1997.

1990s

Andrew McCloskey via Getty Images

Portrait of Barbie dolls dressed in Auburn and Georgia Bulldogs cheerleader outfits.

1998

Ted Thai via Getty Images

Mattel’s WNBA Barbie doll outfitted for basketball.

1999

Urbano Delvalle via Getty Images

Mattel’s Working Woman Barbie doll in a business suit with a cellphone.

1999

HECTOR MATA via Getty Images

Bob Mackie’s Fantasy Goddess of Africa doll, first released in 1999.

1999

Xavier ROSSI via Getty Images

Barbie wears a dress by Nina Ricci.

1999

HECTOR MATA via Getty Images

A 1999 Bob Mackie Barbie doll photographed in 2006.

1999

David Bohrer via Getty Images

The Sign Language Barbie, which was released in 1999.

2000

Getty Images via Getty Images

Jewel Girl Barbie, with her more realistic bending and twisting waist, was released in 2000.

2000

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Barbie dolls for the Olympics are displayed by Mattel at the American International Toy Fair in New York, Feb. 14, 2000.

2000

Getty Images via Getty Images

The 2000 President Barbie, released in 2000, had a very Hillary Clinton-esque hairdo.

2000

Getty Images via Getty Images

Mattel’s 2000 Celebration Barbie, the first collectible doll of the new millennium.

2000s

Getty Images via Getty Images

Star Skater Barbie, circa 2000s.

2000s

Theo Wargo via Getty Images

Barbie Loves SpongeBob SquarePants doll, circa the 2000s.

2001

Chuck Nacke via Getty Images

A Barbie doll done as Britney Spears when she attended the MTV awards in 2001.

2002

Lawrence Lucier via Getty Images

Mattel debuted the Mystery Squad figures at the International Toy Fair in New York, Feb. 10, 2002.

2002

Lawrence Lucier via Getty Images

Mattel debuts the All That Glitters Barbie at the International Toy Fair in New York, Feb. 10, 2002.

2002

Lawrence Lucier via Getty Images

The Gone Platinum Barbie, seen at at the International Toy Fair in New York, Feb. 10, 2002.

2003

Gregg DeGuire via Getty Images

Cindy Crawford Barbie, which debuted in 2003, wears a dress by Roberto Cavalli.

2003

Gilles BASSIGNAC via Getty Images

Boucheron Barbie from the Barbie Jewelry 2003 collection.

2003

Gilles BASSIGNAC via Getty Images

Perles de Tahiti Barbie, embroidered by Lesage, circa 2003.

2004

MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE via Getty Images

A photo taken on March 10, 2016, in Paris shows the 2004 president Barbie doll holding a poster reading “Barbie for President.”

2007

YOSHIKAZU TSUNO via Getty Images

A photo of the Mattel and Sanrio Hello Kitty Barbie doll, released in 2007.

2014

MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE via Getty Images

This photo from 2016 shows the Karl Lagerfeld-edition Barbie, debuted in 2014.

2016

AFP via Getty Images

The 2016 President and Vice President Barbie dolls.

2017

Ilya S. Savenok via Getty Images

A view of the Ibtihaj Muhammad Barbie on display during Glamour Celebrates 2017 Women of the Year Live Summit at Brooklyn Museum on Nov. 13 in New York City.

2018

ALFREDO ESTRELLA via Getty Images

A Barbie doll depicting Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

2019

Chesnot via Getty Images

A Barbie doll wearing Gianni Versace clothes is displayed during an exhibition dedicated to the Barbie doll at La Nef des Jouets on March 7, in Soultz, France.

2019

Barbie

The most recent class of Barbie “Sheros,” which includes (from left to right): Maya Gabeira, Naomi Osaka, Kristina Vogel, Tessa Virtue, Yara Shahidi, Adwoa Aboah, Dipa Karmakar, Chen Man and Ita Buttrose.

The post Barbie Is 60! Here’s A Look Back At Her Transformation. appeared first on The Chestnut Post.

from The Chestnut Post https://thechestnutpost.com/news/barbie-is-60-heres-a-look-back-at-her-transformation/

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poweroftheminds · 7 years ago

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Looking Back on the History of the Most Famous Toy Cars in the World » AutoGuide.com News

http://www.autositenews.com/?p=7590

Are you ready to feel old? Those diecast cars you’ve got kicking around in desk drawers, displayed in a place of honor in your garage, or that you step on after your kids left them out on the carpet are now officially middle-aged. Now that Hot Wheels are turning 50, it has proved how much staying power there is in tapping into the imaginations of children and adults alike with both realistic and rip-snorting metal-and-plastic dream vehicles whose shapes are limited only by the fevered grey matter of Mattel’s designers.

Check out these key moments from Hot Wheels’ first 50 years.

Picture Frames to Doll Houses to…World Domination?

It’s rare that a company gets to come up with an idea that revolutionizes an entire industry, but Mattel, the company behind Hot Wheels, managed to do it not once, but twice. Originally formed in 1945 by Harold Matson, Elliot Handler, and Ruth Handler (wife of Elliot), Mattel initially focused on picture frames, of all things, but quickly branched out into building doll houses with all of the spare materials they had lying around.

Finding a welcome home in the growing toy niche, Mattel trundled forward for 15 years tackling a variety of toys before Ruth hit upon the Barbie bonanza. As if launching a franchise that would sell more than a billion dolls wasn’t enough, nearly decade later Elliot would introduce 4-billion-sold Hot Wheels line of diecast cars, creating the one-two punch that would ensure essentially eternal cash flow for the once-modest company.

Different Than The Rest – By Design

Elliot Handler didn’t invent the concept of selling diecast cars to kids, as companies like Matchbox and Korgi had already had substantial success in that area. What Handler did differently was to shy away from exclusively producing realistic replicas of road-going vehicles and instead focus on exotic hot rods and interesting custom cars created by a rotating stable of designers. Elliot’s logic was that if he could tap into a child’s imagination, he could get them more interested in something that looked like a rolling shark instead of a school bus.

ALSO SEE: This is the Most Epic Hot Wheels Video You’ve Ever Seen

He was right, and it certainly didn’t hurt that he engaged some of the most creative minds in the car business – miniature or otherwise. From early designers like Larry Wood, Ira Gilford, and Harry Bentley Bradley to current team members like Bryan Benedict, a significant percentage of the Hot Wheels brain trust hailed (and continue to hail) from the full-size auto industry.

The Science Of Play

Hot Wheels had another advantage over Matchbox et al, and that was the level of attention paid to how they were engineered. Although much of today’s HW talk centers around collectors, back in the ’60s and ’70s, Handler wanted to make sure that kids actually played with the cars after their crazy cool designs had convinced them to take them home.

He knew that toys that were played with stuck better in the minds of the young than those that just sat on a shelf, and so he hired people like Jack Ryan, a former Raytheon employee, to initially come up with low-friction wheel bearings (made of a material called Delrin), thin axles, and plastic or rubber tires that would let Hot Wheels cars glide significantly farther and much, much faster than their Matchbox rivals (which used a nail axle that was too thick to spin quickly, connected to heavy metal wheels). He also made sure that his toys were a perfect fit for the tracks and playsets that Mattel sold alongside the cars.

It was an onslaught that caught Matchbox completely off-guard and forced then-parent company Lesney to come out with their own, more play-oriented models called ‘Superfast’ a few years later. Some of these early Superfast models had unusual wheel proportions as Lesney was unable to quickly change its castings. Eventually, the entire industry, including Corgi and Majorette, would make the swap to the Hot Wheels fast-axle design style.

Blistering Up

Another revolution brought on by Hot Wheels had to do with how the cars were marketed in stores. In 1968, very few diecast companies were using blister packs, preferring instead to hide their cars inside small boxes (indeed, the genesis of the entire Matchbox brand name) and rely on art to represent the vehicle. Hot Wheels went fully in the other direction, prominently displaying not just the vehicle itself encased in its plastic bubble, but going whole-hog in using the HWs logo, bright colors, bonus pieces and parts, and fantastic, exciting art on both sides of the card to highlight their models.

The man to thank for this strategy was Otto Kuhni, a long-time Mattel hand who spent more than 30 years working in the toy business. Again, this plan of retail attack was soon copied by the competition, indicating just how groundbreaking Hot Wheels was as a market force when it first arrived on the scene.

’70s Bring Changes, ’80s Brings Stability

With the rest of the industry scrambling to catch up, Hot Wheels used the ’70s to experiment with wheel and paint options in a bid to balance costs and style. Until 1977, Mattel built ‘Redline’ wheels which had a thin red line painted around the outside edge. Highly desirable today, these models were phased out once the muscle car craze had died down. Mattel also retired its ‘Spectraflame’ paint schemes in the middle of the decade in order to embrace more affordable, and realistic paint colors. The addition of decals and prints on vehicles in 1974, however, would set the tone for the brand heading into the next decade, and for a third time causing rival toy companies to get more creative with their own diecast presentation.

ALSO SEE: Is This Guy’s $1-Million Hot Wheels Collection Crazy or Crazy Cool?

By the time the ’80s rolled around, Hot Wheels was starting to add more ‘everyday’ cars to its fleet, broadening its appeal to include buyers less interested in hot rods. Axles got even thinner, making vehicles faster, and real rubber tires on the ‘Real Riders’ line of cars additionally made their debut, a feature that would be available on and off for Mattel’s foreseeable future. Also important: the blue-backed card on the blister packs which made it onto shelves at the end of the decade, and then never left.

Corvette Chaos

Mattel has always had a close relationship with most automakers, but things got a little too intimate for Chevrolet’s comfort in 1983 when the brand released a diecast of the upcoming C4 generation Corvette before that vehicle had actually gone on sale. Production woes had delayed the C4’s on-sale date to the 1984 model year, but Hot Wheels had already seen a prototype of the vehicle in 1982 and went ahead with their 1:64 edition of the vehicle before the car had been finalized. The end result was a Hot Wheels ‘Vette that wasn’t quite true to the actual C4 spec, but still close enough to generate significant heat towards the brand at GM headquarters. Only 43 actual Corvettes were built for the non-existent 1983 model year, and only one survives to this day.

Spinning Off The Series

By the time the ’90s rolled around, Mattel saw significant value in starting to service the collectors that were driving up prices on their older castings. This is when Model Series, First Editions, Treasure Hunt limited editions, and collector numbers on blister packs started to appear. Things branched out even further in the 2000s, what with Segment Series, Formula 1, anniversary editions, and subsets like Tooned, Blings, Track Aces, Mystery Cars, and All Stars each making an appearance. Further tie-ins with movie productions, special events like SEMA, brands like Little Debbie, Major League Baseball, as many retailers as you could possibly imagine, and of course the racing world further legitimized Hot Wheels’ place as a pop culture icon.

Buying Out the Competition

Is there a sweeter sensation in the business world than purchasing the assets of your biggest rival? Mattel did exactly that when it acquired Tyco Toys Inc., in 1997, and along with it, the Matchbox brand. Sure, it only cost $700-million or so, but how can you put a price on total diecast dominance? For the most part, Mattel continued to operate Matchbox along its traditional “real world cars only” lines, but there have been a number of fantasy-type vehicles that have slipped into the mix in the decades since the purchase. Matchbox itself turned 50 all the way back in 2002, which was right around the time Mattel decided to start more aggressively expanding its offerings beyond what came in the once-yellow box.

Named After an El Camino?

Finally, you’ve probably wondered your entire life how Elliot Handler came up with the Hot Wheels name. Would it surprise you to learn that there’s no consensus of what, exactly, inspired a brand name so famous it became synonymous with 1:64 cars?

Some brand lore ties it to a casual conversation about the wheels on Harry Bradley’s Chevrolet El Camino. Apparently, Handler was walking by the car in the corporate parking lot one day and happened to tell Bradley, “Hey, those are some hot wheels.”

An alternate version of this story has Elliot talking about a prototype car being driven by vehicle designer Fred Adickes. Handler has also said that Mattel employee Alexandra Laird had suggested the term “Big Wheels,” which got him thinking down the track the led to Hot Wheels instead.

We’ll let you choose your own adventure on which story you decide to believe. And now, if you’ll please excuse us, we’ve got some tracks to build and cars to crash.

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