'Normal' Barbie Will Have Acne, Cellulite, and Stretch Marks
Nikolay Lamm’s long-awaited “Normal Barbies” are finally available for pre-order. The artist and researcher, who designed the “Lammily,” a doll that has the body of an average American woman, received enough crowdfunding to actually bring his realistic doll to the market. But while the toy was originally designed to just give girls a scaled model of the average 19-year-old woman, the dolls will also come with acne, cellulite, stretch marks, and more.
Buyers can pre-order a sticker package that will allow owners to add and remove “marks”that include freckles, glasses, blushing, adhesive bandages, moles, temporary tattoo, stitches, scrapes and scratches, bruises, casts, scars, mosquito bites, grass, and dirt stains.
"When Lammily was initially launched through crowdfunding I read a lot of comments which suggested that nobody wants toys that are based on reality, that kids want fantasy," Lammily tells Yahoo Style. "With these stickers I’m trying my best to show that in the toy world, real life is cool. Yes, it has its ups and downs, it’s not perfect, but it’s all we have, and it’s awesome!
Lamm put out the prototype for his accurate Barbie in June 2013. Using CDC information, he created a 3-D model, which he photographed next to a standard Barbie doll. Lamm then photoshopped the 3-D model to make it look like the iconic doll. He later received enough funding from supporters to turn the sample into a mass-produced item.
Lammily has already been tested on the target market. In a video Lamm made, many kids had similar reactions to his creation. “She’s so pretty,” “I like her,” “she looks like my sister,” “she’s like a real person,” and “I think she’s really pretty,” are a few of the responses that were echoed by multiple children.
The doll can be purchased at lammily.com for $25 and the stickers for $6.