Artist Creates Prototype For Realistic Barbie Because “Average Is Beautiful”

In case you missed it, an artist by the name of Nickolay Lamm received a lot of media attention early in 2013 for his scientific illustrations of a Barbie doll’s body next to a real woman’s body.

His point was to show society that there is no way any female could ever look like Barbie in real life, so why even bother investing in an ideal that only sets you up for failure?

Sure, Barbie is by far one of the most popular dolls on the toy market for young girls, but American Girl and Lottie Dolls are creeping up as steady competition. Nickolay himself has decided to add to the competition, furthering his own study. He is creating a prototype doll, called the ‘Lammily’ based on his researched body proportions (according to the CDC website) and is asking for all of us to help crowd-fund it.

He had such an overwhelming response to his study and images that people were even asking him “when is the doll coming out?”

“I’ve been consulting with Robert Rambeau, former Vice President of Manufacturing at Mattel, who has offered his experience and expertise in selecting a highly qualified manufacturer,” Nickolay says on his website.

The theme of his campaign is “average is beautiful” and wants girls to know this from a young age. The Lammily will have typical human body proportions, articulated wrists, knees, elbows and feet, and will wear minimal makeup. The doll will be shown as a fit, strong woman who is stylish. Lammily is 10.72″ tall, just a little shorter than most other fashion dolls.

So far there is one specific doll type being manufactured, which he hopes to release by November 2014, but there are other types in the works.

“I’m hoping to extend the line to embrace diversity. From race to body type, I want this doll to be true to you!” says Nickolay.

He told the Huffington Post that this doll is aimed at parents just as much as the girls, because there is currently nothing like the Lammily available on the market. His idea could eventually revolutionize the toy doll industry.

“The message about body image targets parents of daughters. Many young girls do not care about body image, they just want a fun doll to play with. This initial campaign is aimed more towards parents, but the future depends on young girls wanting to play with Lammily.”

It is inspiring to see a guy passionate about the issue of body image in young girls. Rather than wait for someone else to make a move, Nickolay is showing us that it is up to us to do something positive and create change in a world where it is badly needed in some areas.

Take a look at the video below to see more about this campaign and how it will ev0lve.