Barbie Doll

A San Diego man's collection of Barbie dolls, which he values at $1 million, turned up Monday in a rental storage locker, all 5,000 of them jammed into 37 boxes and crammed into a tiny room from floor to ceiling, San Diego police said. Detectives turned up the dolls two weeks after they disappeared in what was perhaps the largest Barbie doll heist in the nation's history. The dolls were stolen from a Normal Heights home that was then torched twice in attempts to cover up the theft.

The ceremony bestowing the Grammys of Britain, the Brit awards, is still a month off, but artist Damien Hirst has revealed his design for the statuettes that will be handed out: same shape, but it will have spots. Are we surprised? In early 2012, Hirst and Gagosian put on exhibitions at all 11 of its galleries around the world, including the one in Beverly Hills,  of his "Spot" paintings, in which grids of dots are painted in various colors and sizes. For five weeks, 300 of the more than 1,500 existing spot paintings were shown.

So Barbie is--gasp!--turning 40. But doing so, of course, with nary a crow's foot, nary a gray hair, neither squiggle of cellulite nor hint of a double chin. And to think that the quintessential material girl even may be lying about her age! After all, she was a teenage model when she entered our lives, back in March 1959--a babe, not a baby doll, an 11 1/2-inch-tall sex symbol with big hair and big breasts (though neither navel nor nipples).

With her steely gaze, razor-sharp cheekbones and preternatural vaulting abilities, 16-year-old American gymnast McKayla Maroney is an early contender for breakout star of the 2012 London Olympics.  On Wednesday, Stephen Colbert joined President Obama and Lady Gaga in praising the tiny powerhouse and her "Fierce Five" teammates. Like millions of viewers, Colbert was blown away by Maroney's near-perfect execution of the Amanar vault, one of the most difficult feats in gymnastics.

A Clampett may have struck it rich yet again. Or at least the actress who played the beautiful tomboy Elly May on the television show "The Beverly Hillbillies," who settled a lawsuit with toy giant Mattel Inc. and CBS Consumer Products over a Barbie doll modeled after her character. Actress Donna Douglas, who held the role of buxom Elly May, claimed that she never gave permission for the El Segundo toy maker to use her photo or name in promoting the doll, according to court filings.

Kitty Black Perkins has her own ideas about dress-for-success: Make it pink and bouffant, and the more glitter the better. For 14 years, she has been fashion designer to the ultimate material girl, Barbie. And one thing she's learned about the little girls who own all those little dolls is that they think Barbie is pretty in pink. Black Perkins, who is principal designer for Mattel Toys' fashion dolls, works out of a studio in a top-secret design center in El Segundo.

Barbie, the ageless doll, again is sitting high atop wish lists during the Christmas season. But the popular doll isn't just for kids anymore, and two department store chains are offering upscale Barbie dolls for the woman who has everything. Macy's checks in with City Shopper Barbie. According to Macy's advertisements, "you can tell from her Macy's bag and stylish Nicole Miller outfit, this Barbie knows where to shop."

Reacting to protests over its new "Teen Talk" Barbie, Mattel on Thursday said that anyone offended by what the doll says can exchange it. The talking doll, which quips "Math class is tough" among other things, has angered educators who believe that it could discourage young girls from doing well in math. The American Assn. of University Women has asked for a recall.

Ruth Handler, the entrepreneur and marketing genius who co-founded Mattel and created the Barbie doll, one of the world's most enduring and popular toys, died Saturday. Handler, 85, died at Century City Hospital in Los Angeles of complications following colon surgery about three months ago, said her husband, Elliot.

An artist's skewering of Barbie, the classic American princess doll, is protected free speech, a federal judge ruled Monday as he dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by toy maker Mattel. U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew said artist Tom Forsythe was entitled to use the ubiquitous feminine icon in a photo display assailing American attitudes toward women.

At Mattel Inc.'s headquarters in El Segundo, Bryan Stockton, the new chief executive of the toy giant, presided over the redesignation of its design center to honor company founders Ruth and Elliot Handler. The Friday fete's guest of honor was Barbie -- not the 11.5-inch plastic woman, but rather Barbara Handler Segal, who is the Handlers' daughter and the flesh-and-blood namesake and inspiration of the iconic doll. "They would be so proud. My mother would be loving this," Segal said as waiters walked through the crowd toting sliders and other hors d'oeuvres.

Danielle Pepers is such a fan of"The Hunger Games"that she had the book's unofficial mascot - a mockingjay - tattooed on her right arm this month. But her intrigue with the books and movie, which hit theaters Friday, didn't stop there. On a recent Wednesday, Pepers, 27, was shopping for T-shirts and jewelry at Hot Topic, a teen-oriented chain store at the Glendale Galleria that sells pop-culture ephemera. A mound of movie tie-in merchandise greeted her at the door. There were knee socks, pillowcases and nail polish.

A Clampett may have struck it rich yet again. Or at least the actress who played the beautiful tomboy Elly May on the television show "The Beverly Hillbillies," who settled a lawsuit with toy giant Mattel Inc. and CBS Consumer Products over a Barbie doll modeled after her character. Actress Donna Douglas, who held the role of buxom Elly May, claimed that she never gave permission for the El Segundo toy maker to use her photo or name in promoting the doll, according to court filings.

Elliot Handler, a pioneering toy maker who co-founded Mattel and invented Hot Wheels, has died. He was 95. Handler died Thursday from heart failure at his Century City home, according to his daughter, Barbara Segal, after whom the Barbie doll was named. In 1945, Handler and his wife, Ruth, founded Mattel out of a garage workshop in Los Angeles with their friend Harold "Matt" Matson. They called it Mattel, a name fashioned from Matson and Elliot. The first Mattel products were picture frames, but Handler soon developed a side business making dollhouse furniture out of picture frame scraps.

Environmentalists have launched a global campaign against Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy company, as part of a decade-long effort to force multinational corporations to purge their operations of any links to rain forest destruction. On Tuesday, Greenpeace activists in turquoise vests rappelled down the face of the company's 15-story headquarters in El Segundo and hung a giant banner depicting a frowning Ken doll with the message: "Barbie: it's over. I don't date girls that are into deforestation.

Barbie's giving up the keys to her dream shop in Shanghai. Two years after opening it to great fanfare, Mattel Inc. has closed the company's sole stand-alone store dedicated to the iconic American doll. Tucked in a downtown district filled with foreign retailers and luxury brands, the six-story, 36,000-square-foot Barbie store was drenched in pink neon light and featured a cosmetics department, a spa and a bar designed by one of Shanghai's premier restaurateurs. A $10,000 Vera Wang wedding dress was on display when the store opened.

Barbie and Ken and their doll-world friends usually are at the beach, or the prom, or a wedding--places where skies are blue, dresses are pink and fairy tales come true in the minds of their little-girl owners. On Monday, Barbie became a political pawn. Barbie was caught between Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy of San Francisco and Rep. Mel Levine of Los Angeles in their struggle for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Alan Cranston, who is retiring.

"Much ado about nothing." One Barbie Doll replaces another. THOMAS J. IRONS Los Angeles

"Nip/Tuck" Wednesday on FX Episode: "Lola Wlodkowski" The premise: Lola (Danica Sheridan), a morbidly obese woman, approaches Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) for weight-reduction surgery. Before proceeding with the planned liposuction and tummy tuck, Christian becomes sexually involved with his patient. He also discovers and biopsies a melanoma on her back, which has spread to her lymph nodes and will require chemotherapy. Meanwhile, Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh)

I couldn't decide if the opening-song choice of Courtney Love's "Doll Parts" for Saturday's Barbie fashion show was spooky or brilliant. The show, put together in honor of the plastic fashion plate's upcoming 50th birthday, was loosely organized into three sections -- retro, modern and future Barbie. The first real-life doll was an hommage to the original, which debuted at the New York Toy Fair wearing a black-and-white zigzag swimsuit, remastered here by designer Rachel Roy.