Surviving Bratz Games

Personally, I love Bratz games. There are few games out there that mix the urban style most of us enjoy with a fashion doll that we can play with without feeling remotely childish. The Bratz dolls project the style I like and are cool enough that I can play with them whenever I want without embarrassment. The trouble it, it doesn’t matter how much I love the Bratz Games, they are trying to take them away.

The legal problems the makers of the Bratz games have faced are pretty daunting. The company has been sued by Mattel, the maker of Barbie games, for copyright problems. The company claims the creator of the Bratz games was working for Mattel at the time making the design rightfully the property of Mattel. Unfortunately for the Bratz games, they are now the property of Mattel. Fortunately for us, however, Mattel plans to continue the development of the Bratz games. That means that regardless of the fate of MGA Entertainment, the company that makes Bratz games originally, Bratz will survive.

Bratz Games and the Real World

There’s always been arguments that the Bratz games are the true reflection of the “real world.” Of course, you can argue anything away when it’s as vague as that is, but it does make you wonder if the Bratz games became so popular because they seemed to really make sense to the girls playing them. Are Bratz games a true window of the real world?

First, of course, we’d have to decide what we want to call the “real world.” It’s different for everyone, and in this case, I think the Bratz represent a portion of the world that is underrepresented. The Bratz aren’t from the suburbs. They are a racially mixed bunch from the big city. They dress in urban styles and drive urban cars. They have boyfriends that look tough – not like the neighborhood lifeguards, and this resonates with a lot of people who might have always felt a bit off when they just had Barbie to play with.

I don’t think a single line of dolls can represent the “real world” effectively, but they can show a side of the world that doesn’t often get enough attention from toy makers. And this job they do very well indeed.

Bratz Games and Growing Up

Bratz games are perfect for growing up. As much as I love Barbie, I have to side the Bratz games when it comes to dolls that show us what it’s really like to be a teenager today. I love to play with my Bratz dolls and think about the styles they are wearing and find the best ways for them to get around. Not that all of my friends have gigantic eyes and little pouty mouths, but Bratz also just seem to look more like the teenagers around me.

Barbies are very wholesome, but Bratz have so many different looks in their sets of dolls that they seem more realistic. After all, not everyone can have beautiful blond hair and slightly tanned skin. I like playing with dolls that showcase all of the different ethnicity and Bratz seems to have that covered much more effectively than Barbie or an of the other dolls – except maybe the Tinkerbell collection. But somehow playing with Bratz games is much more socially acceptable than playing with tiny Tinkerbell dolls, so there you go.

Mattel Has Its Own Bratz Games

It’s no secret that Mattel won the lawsuit against Bratz games. Mattel won, hands down, and now things are very much in a limbo state. Nobody seems to know what will happen next or when it will happen, but the only recent development that is known for sure is that the Bratz games won’t be going away any time soon. Mattel has launched its own line of the popular dolls.

After winning the lawsuit, Mattel owned all of the rights and what not for the Bratz dolls and seemed to be able to do anything they wanted with the dolls. So they started their own line of Bratz dolls and got ready to launch them. MGA, the founder of the Bratz dolls, was able to get the line stopped through the courts, however, making things that much more interesting. Now nobody seems to know what’s up or down with the Bratz dolls. Will Mattel be able to launch the new line? Will MGA come back with a stage-up? It’s up in the air, but it will be very interesting to watch.
 

What’s In the Future for Bratz Games?

Nobody knows for certain what’s in the future for the notorious Bratz games. The losers in court, the Bratz games legally belong to Mattel, the maker of Barbie, but so far not much has changed. I can walk into the stores and see Bratz dolls on the shelves ready for purchase. I can find plenty of Bratz products in the form of toothbrushes and backpacks, but I keep hearing all of these doomsday stories about Bratz games and what is coming for them. The trouble is, nobody seems to know what is coming.

Bratz were once the main competitor for Barbie, but she’s gained back some of her market share of late thanks to the intense buzz and drama with the lawsuit regarding Bratz. But with Bratz still around, it’s not for certain that Mattel has won this particular contest just yet. As it is, Bratz will be manufactured by Mattel eventually, so regardless of who makes them, there will be Bratz for us to collect and enjoy. It does make one wonder if collecting the original Bratz games will be profitable in the near future.