Malia and Sasha Beanie Babies NOT Based on Obama Girls

(Getty Images)

In what can only be interpreted as a desperate attempt to keep its once-popular Beanie Babies relevant, Ty Inc. has released two new Beanies named Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha. Marvelous Malia. (From Ty.com)


And the company line is that they are not, despite all appearances, supposed to be Malia and Sasha Obama. Company spokeswoman Tania Lundeen told the AP that the company chose the names because "they are beautiful," and not because they wanted to cash in on the popularity of Barack Obama's two young daughters.

"There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls," Lundeen said. "It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."
Sweet Sasha (From Ty.com)

Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, have become public figures as their father, Barack Obama was elected president. When the girls appeared in J. Crew on Obama's inauguration day, so many people visited the company's Web site that it temporarily crashed. Public figures have a legal right to control how their image is used, but Ty has not commented on whether the company's lawyers had anything to say about the development of the dolls.

The two dolls are part of the TyGirlz line of products. Launched in 2007, the line features Beanies with the names Paris, Brittany, Lindsay, and Jenna, but not Barbara.

More Pictures of the Obama GIrls (because we know you want them)

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• Malia Obama is Growing Up and Gorgeous (Election Night Pictures)
• Obama Girls See 'Avatar'
• Tweens Choosing Sasha & Malia Over Celebs
• Sasha & Malia Get a New Swing Set
• Malia and Sasha Obama Girls Wear J. Crew to Inauguration