World's Most Popular Doll

I am always curious about dolls.  I thought I would like to know who is the most popular doll in the world.  I was sure I knew the answer. So I turned to google, the harbinger of knowledge.  And... I was right.  It is of course Barbie. Not only is she the most popular doll, but also the top toy in the world.  They have been manufactured by the hundreds of millions.  I am sure there are few little girls that have not heard of Barbie and owned at least one. I read recently that the sales of Barbie had fallen at least 15%.  It appears as though Barbies reign as the most popular doll is slowing down.  But Barbie has been at the top for over 55 years.  It will be interesting to see what the next most popular doll will be.  I am sure Barbie will reign at least for a few more years.  A phenomenal doll with a phenomenal reign in the top spot.  I have collected quite a few of these dolls through the years.  My favorites are the mod era from the late 1960's to the early 1980's.  I also have quite a few of the higher end Barbies for collectors and dutifully kept them  in boxes to as we were told to keep their value.  Several years ago I decided to debox them as I am a doll collector, not a box collector.  I took quite a while to get them out of their boxes as they are literally sewn and wired to the box.  Barbies that I had paid anywhere  from 39.99 to over a 100.00 dollars for were not attractive out of the \boxes as their full skirts were full only because they were sewn to the boxes and the real insult was some did not have undergarments.  Some of them are very good quality like the "Little Debbie" series and the Mackie Barbies.  I am sure they are others, but these are ones I owned and am familiar with.  Since I de-boxed my Barbies and saw how cheaply they had been done, I have never purchased another Barbie. Every Christmas I loved buying the new Christmas Barbie, but I have not bought one in many years. I love Barbie and the concept of a fashion doll I find intriging as we all like to dream of beautiful clothing and always dressing in the latest and most fashionable clothes.   I understand and love the concept of the cheap Barbie, so every little girl can own one with beautiful clothes, but to sell dolls at high prices for collectors without even underwear is heartbreaking.  I don't know if others have been disappointed like I was, but I no longer purchase them.