Rumors that Elon Musk has been spotted squiring a “Barbie” around Los Angeles and San Francisco sounded catty and mean until a recent bit of news made the picture clearer, like the time they had to basically put eyeglasses on a near-sighted Hubble Space Telescope.
On Wednesday (July 20) — 53 years to the day after Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon’s surface — Mattel announced it has entered an agreement with SpaceX to produce a line of space-inspired playthings, taking toys where many toys have gone before, but not quite like this.
Establishing a high orbit right from blast-off, Mattel Senior Vice President of Entertainment Partnerships Nick Karamanos said, “We take pride in our ability to create products and experiences that honor cultural moments and inspire humankind. As space exploration advances more quickly than ever before, we are thrilled to work with SpaceX and help spark limitless play patterns for the space explorer in every kid.”
No stranger to merchandising — the SpaceX Shop is loaded with backpacks, caps, Martian coffee mugs and our favorite, the Unisex Starship Pullover — SpaceX Vice President Brian Bjelde said, “At SpaceX, we believe that a future in which humanity is out among the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one in which we are not. We look forward to working with Mattel to help inspire the next generation of space explorers and enthusiasts.”
The new SpaceX toy line is being produced by Mattel’s Matchbox brand, which makes sense given its experience with toys for aspiring pilots and astronauts including the Hot Wheels® Mario Kart™ Gliders Assortment, and the Disney Pixar Lightyear Hot Wheels R/C Spaceship, which is right in the SpaceX sweet spot.
Have you seen that Hot Wheels R/C Spaceship? Makes the SpaceX Dragon look like your grandfather’s Oldsmobile. Plus, it has a Buzz Lightyear action figure. Where do we sign?
Astro-Nuts
There was, in fact, no news about Barbie in the SpaceX-Mattel announcement but she’s been to space a few times before. Actual space. The real thing. And quite recently, too.
As Mashable reported, “Two Barbies blasted off on a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spaceflight from Wallops Island, Virginia, on Feb. 19. Now they’re residents of the International Space Station, marking the first time in Barbie history that the doll has literally traveled to outer space.”
“Literally” being the operative word there. Barbie first donned a spacesuit in 1965, and there’s been a steady stream of “Astronaut Barbie” updates since. A quick web search finds everyone from Amazon to Target to Walmart having no supply chain issues with space Barbies.
Meanwhile, Mattel Creations, a direct-to-consumer “collector platform that offers a canvas for the most innovative creators of today and tomorrow,” had the good sense to make a collectible Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll last year. The real Samantha Cristoforetti is a member of the European Space Agency and has lots of actual space miles to her credit.
We do love that Mattel immortalized Samantha Cristoforetti, but for our money the real fun is the Barbie Space Discovery Space Station Playset, which comes with NASA-approved (not really) accessories including Space Explorer Barbie (obviously), a workstation with all kinds of science equipment as well as — wait for it — her puppy and a puppy bed. Because no self-respecting Barbie goes to space without her Pomeranian.
The set also contains “astronaut food” — but we’re not making any assumptions.
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