For more than 40 years, Barbie ruled as the queen of tween fashion dolls until the Bratz came along in 2001 and curb-stomped her back into the 1950s. Fans applauded the four original dolls Yasmin, Sasha, Jade and Cloe as the funky, edgy, multiracial alternative to Barbie's wholesome blandness. Parents, meanwhile, deplored them as far too adult (read: slutty) for kids, accusing the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped toys of fostering unhealthy body images among young girls. The Bratz dolls wore provocative clothing and came with fabulous accessories like hot tubs and limousines; California-based MGA Entertainment, the company behind the dolls, earned more than $1 billion from them in just a few years. In 2006 Bratz became the best-selling fashion-doll line in the U.S., displacing Barbie for the first time. The blonde may have had the last laugh, however: Mattel sued MGA Entertainment, alleging that the Bratz dolls had been designed by a Mattel engineer working on company time who then left to start his own company. In 2008 a judge agreed, awarding Barbie's manufacturers $100 million and ordering MGA Entertainment to cease all production and sale of the Bratz dolls. The judgment was suspended until the end of 2009 to allow MGA to appeal.
From Tickle Me Elmo to Squinkies: Top 10 Toy Crazes
Squinkies the tiny, squeezable rubber toys that come enclosed in plastic bubbles are just the latest fad to take over the minds of children. From Tickle Me Elmo to Tamagotchis, TIME looks back at other toy trends from years past