Yesterday we talked about Bratz, so it’s only fair that we give Barbie some space today. Especially this Barbie, the Video Girl Doll. While this piece of plastic looks like any other Barbie doll, it harbors a secret: a hidden camera in a pendant around her neck, which can record up to 30 minutes of video.

Mattel gushes over the spy-doll:

Budding filmmakers, take note: Barbie® doll now doubles as a video camera! Girls can record and play back clips with this multi-tasking doll, which has a video camera built right in. Capture everything from a doll’s-eye-view, then watch it instantly or upload to your computer. There’s an LCD screen on Barbie® doll’s back, and a camera lens hidden discreetly in her necklace. Talk about making movies in style!

Unfortunately, as currently configured, you have to manually start and stop recordings, limiting the doll’s utility for actual spying. But we’re confident some hacker is already working on a motion-detection hack that will turn this girl into La Femme Nikita in no time.

Barbie® Video Girl™ Doll [Shop.Mattel.com via NYT]

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