Midge (Barbie) - "Happy Family" Line

"Happy Family" Line

The year after Midge and Alan were married, a picture of the couple with twin babies was shown in a pamphlet, but the dolls were never produced. However, in 2003, she and Alan were re-introduced with a family consisting of them and two different kids, three-year-old Ryan and newborn baby Nikki. This was known as the "Happy Family" line, and was similar to the discontinued Heart Family line of the 1980s. The dolls came in both European American and African American versions. This was the first time an African American Midge was ever produced.

Midge was sold "pregnant" with Nikki, who was a tiny baby inside Midge's magnetic removable stomach. This led to some controversy with some consumers saying that the doll was inappropriate for children, or that it promoted teen pregnancy. Another cause for this controversy was that Midge did not initially have a wedding ring, but this was later fixed. She also was packaged without Alan. Customers complaining about the doll led to Wal-Mart pulling the Happy Family line off their shelves. A new version of this Midge was produced for Wal-Mart, this time not pregnant and with a cardboard cut-out display of Alan and Ryan standing next to her inside the box. The Happy Family Line included everything from a talking house, a backyard swimming pool, neighborhood market, and playground.

Later, around Nikki's first birthday, Midge was "pregnant" again with another child, who wasn't named or given a specific gender, as the gender was a surprise when the owner opened the doll's box. Midge has two known parents who are simply called "Grandpa" and "Grandma". At first, the grandparent dolls were sold together as part of a big set consisting of the dolls and a kitchen play set, but for Nikki's first birthday they were sold separately. They too came in both Caucasian and African American versions. They use different body molds, to reflect their age.