New Line of Dolls Is a Blessed Event for Mattel

Mattel, the people who brought you Barbie and Ken, are introducing an expectant family of dolls--complete with a father, a now-she’s-pregnant, now-she’s-not mother, a newborn infant and lots of accessories.

But lest inquiring minds want to know, it’s not Barbie who’s pregnant.

“They are completely separate lines,” Mattel spokeswoman Kathy Thorpe said. “We don’t want anybody to think Barbie is expecting, because she’s not married.”

The new fashion-doll toy is called the Heart Family New Arrival Set and is just beginning to appear in stores, Thorpe said.

Mr. and Mrs. Heart--they don’t have first names--originally arrived on shelves early last year with their twin-toddler offspring. “Now there’s a third child on the way,” Thorpe said.

The 11 1/2-inch mom doll doesn’t look pregnant, but a child can pretend she is by dressing her in a maternity smock. After delivering the baby by imaginary means, Mrs. Heart can immediately go back to wearing her pre-maternity-size clothes.

The set, which has a suggested retail price of $25, also contains such accessories as a bouquet that Mr. Heart can give Mrs. Heart, a suitcase, camera, photo album, diapers, rattle and bottle.

The Hawthorne company decided to develop the mother and baby because “for years, little girls have been telling Mattel that they were interested in this kind of doll,” Thorpe said.