Jesus to battle it out with Barbie and Bratz on Wal-Mart shelves

A foot-high plastic Jesus doll that quotes Scripture and a three-inch Daniel in the lions den are about to battle it out with Barbie and Bratz on toy shelves in Wal-Mart stores across America.

London, Aug 1 : A foot-high plastic Jesus doll that quotes Scripture and a three-inch Daniel in the lions' den are about to battle it out with Barbie and Bratz on toy shelves in Wal-Mart stores across America.

Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the US, announced that 425 of its 3,376 stores will be housing "faith-enriching toys" in an experiment to see whether characters such as Spirit Warrior Samson can give superhero figures like Spiderman a run for their money.

The move is a first for the chain, for though it has sold religious-themed products including stationery and books in its stores, it has never doen the same with a toy line.

The toys have been made by One2believe, a Californian company, and will be sold mainly in stores in the Midwest and South, the country's religious heartlands.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart confirmed this.

David Socha, the chief executive of One2Believe, said that the "faith-enriching toys" were "real superheroes they (children) can believe in" rather than dolls and figures with violent or sexual overtones.

"The gradual decline of what children are offered is definitely heavy on our heart," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

"If you walk down the toy aisles you see a lot of reproductions of Satan, or dolls that promote promiscuity.

"I think we have to glorify good not bad and most parents want an alternative to what's out there. That's what we aim to provide and I believe there is a very large market here," he added.

He added that it was not only Christian parents who would rather their children played with Goliath, Moses, Mary or Noah than a Bratz doll.

"We have been pleasantly surprised that even people of lukewarm faith or no faith see the figures as a way to tell kids great stories, with or without the religious aspect," he said.

The Jesus doll is the runaway best-seller, Mr Socha added, followed by Moses and Mary.

However, Ellen Johnson, the president of American Atheists, told Canada's National Post: "Personally, I don't think kids are going to go for it. Nobody's really all that interested in Jesus. Kids aren't."Religious and family-themed products are a multi-billion-dollar market that is still to be tapped.

ANI