dolled up, thanks to this pretty, plastic plaything. Black Barbie stormed onto the toy scene as the “dynamite” antithesis to her Malibu sun-kissed, pink-obsessed predecessor, Barbie, in 1980. With richly brown skin and a cutely curly coif, the African-American doll not only became the first figurine of color to bear the blond’s buzzy name, but the unsung heroine also kicked open the door for black powerhouses to be forever immortalized in her haute image.