Mariah Carey Christmas Barbie Sparks Outrage

The Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, is upping her festive cheer this year with her very own Barbie, but it looks like she won’t make it under everyone’s tree.

A new partnership between the pop star and manufacturer Mattel’s Barbie has launched, but the iconic doll is flying off the shelves, meaning some fanatics have been left empty-handed. Newsweek has contacted Mattel for comment via email.

The special Carey Barbie was released on November 17, and both Barbie and Carey shared the good news on Instagram, with several images of the singer’s doll. She sports a floor-length glitzy red gown, with silver sparkles and a microphone in hand. The images were captioned: “Ring in the season with @MariahCarey x Barbie – a true holiday classic worth singing about for years to come!”

The accounts also released a video on the social-media platform of Ken calling the Carey Barbie a “Christmas miracle”.

It is proving to be a must-have for many music lovers. One fan posted, “She’s literally coming for Santa’s job,” while another wrote, “This Barbie is the Queen of Christmas!!”

However, the festive cheer soon turned to panic as the Barbie doll sold out. Commenting on the post, a fan wrote: “Hi. I definitely have been and calling stores and they’re sold out. Somebody was selling it on Amazon for $200. I need this doll.”

A second criticized Mattel the brand: “Why even make a social post when she’s sold out everywhere lol [laugh out loud].”

“Damn… the Mariah Carey Christmas Barbie sold out within hours,” a Barbieless individual commented.

Mariah Carey performs onstage at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel on November 15, 2023 in Highland, California. The pop star and Mattel have teamed up to release a brand-new pop star Barbie, but fans are finding it hard to purchase the elusive doll.

It was a similar story on X, formerly Twitter, where one down-on-their-luck fan shared: “I almost secured the Mariah Carey Barbie then sold out in the middle of checkout ????”

“Please stock more! It’s SOLD OUT! @MariahCarey is the original #Barbie her songs should have been in the movie!” wrote a Carey lover.

A collector of pop-star Barbies posted: “I don’t understand why Barbie won’t make massive quantities. That happened with the Tina Turner doll and I’m still upset about it!”

Someone else on X had the doll but questioned its craftsmanship. Posting an image of the Barbie and a rip in her festive outfit, he wrote: “Mariah Carey Barbie is sure worth $75.”

Online forum Reddit was full of disgruntled fans, with one frustrated at just how quickly they sold out: “I checked out in 4 min… sold out before I could refresh good. Lots of people are not happy but they should be available within hours.”

This was a similar story for many as one shopper added: “It sold out in under a minute at Target (wanted to use a gift card so I waited until she launched there). Kept getting pulled out of my cart when I got to the final confirmation screen. Stupid resellers. Managed to snag her on Amazon at least.”

The newest addition to the Barbie collection has seen multiple social-media users say that they will purchase a doll for the first time.

Barbie Carey, at the time this article was published, was sold out online at Target and on Mattel’s website, but appeared to be available for delivery on Walmart’s website.

The lowest price for the Barbie has been mentioned online by fans at $75 in some stores, with the item going for double that in some cases online on eBay.