{"product_id":"1998-barbie-womens-national-basketball-association-wnba-barbie-doll-nrfb","title":"1998 – Barbie – Women's National Basketball Association – WNBA Barbie – NRFB","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe WNBA Was Two Years Old and Mattel Put Barbie on the Court With a Button-Activated Shooting Arm\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWNBA Barbie was released in 1998, the year the league completed just its second season — a league that had launched in June 1997 with eight teams, an NBC television deal, and the explicit ambition of building a sustainable professional women's basketball competition from scratch. Mattel putting Barbie in a WNBA jersey with a functioning hoop was a genuinely significant piece of mainstream visibility for a league still proving it could survive its first decade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe press button in the doll's back makes her arm swing to actually shoot and pass — a mechanism Mattel used selectively on sports dolls when the sport in question had a specific action worth reproducing — and the endorsement by Rebecca Lobo of the New York Liberty anchors the doll in a specific moment of WNBA history: Lobo was one of the founding faces of the league and one of its most recognisable players in those early years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eManufacturer:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mattel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCountry of manufacture:\u003c\/strong\u003e China\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel #:\u003c\/strong\u003e #20205\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMelody Likes box condition grade:\u003c\/strong\u003e Excellent — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/4504\/6718\/files\/MelodyLikes-Doll-Box-Condition-Guide_05303af8-20b2-4137-8091-87f3c51d9668.png?v=1773150063\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eView our box condition guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mattel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47488003113150,"sku":"BARBIE-1998-WOMEN'SN-WNBABARB-DOLL0001","price":95.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/4504\/6718\/files\/1998-barbie-womens-national-basketball-association-wnba-barbie-doll-nrfb-front.jpg?v=1779363574","url":"https:\/\/melodylikes.com\/products\/1998-barbie-womens-national-basketball-association-wnba-barbie-doll-nrfb","provider":"Melody Likes","version":"1.0","type":"link"}