Barbie merman doll bends at the waist so kids can pretend he's "swimming" in the sea or sit him up to soak up the sun!

In case you missed it: Last year, Barbie Signature hosted the second Doll Design Showdown, with an "Under the Sea" theme and led by Barbie Product Designer Angel Kent. Barbie fans worldwide voted in two phases. First, four design sketches were presented, and the top two vote getters proceeded to the design prototype stage and one last round of votes. His tail and fin are colored in ombre shades of blue and purple and a hint of pink; colorful stars and a scale-pattern add more fantasy touches.In the Barbie: Princess Charm School bloopers, there is a parody of Barbie in A Mermaid Tale when Blair, Hadley and Isla surf. Barbie has been released as a mermaid countless times, but before this toy, Ken was only given an official release as a merman once (to my knowledge, at least) - and sadly, that doll had almost everything that I believe can possibly ruin a doll (limited articulation, molded-on clothes, etc.). So much as I've been wanting to see a Ken merman, I took a pass on that one. Now, they release this gem, and he's exactly what I've been longing for! Thousands of Barbie (and Ken) fans voted from around the world, and the results surprised even us. "I have to be honest and say I did not think he’d be the one to win, "Angel reveals. "It came as a big surprise to me and the team, but in hindsight, it makes sense! He’s the first Signature Merman ever."

|Songs: " Do The Mermaid" | " Queen of the Waves" | " Queen of the Waves (Eris Version)" | " Show Me Some Love" | " Summer Sunshine" | " Walking on Sunshine"We've had the pleasure of designing mermaid dolls for Barbie Signature before, but this is our first merman, and we made sure his radiant tail would glimmer from every angle, with rose golden scale details and iridescent fins. You'll even see those fins attached to his forearms as well! The trident is not included, but you can google "Aquaman trident" and find a lot of them that would work with this doll. When Xylie and Kayla are having manicures a shark is having a mainicure too. So when everyone is looking at him, he replies "What?". Calissa and Merliah are playing cards. Calissa asks for any threes but Merliah says "Nope, Go Human" (It's a reference to "Go Fish"). Reflecting on the process that led to the creation of this doll, Barbie Designer Angel Kent recalls how he approached this and the other options in the Showdown. The biggest change from last year was in the design sketch phase. "I wanted them to be cohesive," Angel says, "so I themed them altogether as an undersea theme, my favorite – whereas in the first [Doll Design Showdown] each doll had a different theme."