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It's part and parcel of Christmas, the mad rush around the shops, looking for that perfect gift, particularly for our children. In fact, toys are a big business and almost 11 billion dollars would have been spent on PlayStations and other games during the holiday season. And nowhere is the business more competitive than in the world of dolls. Barbie has long been on the throne as the No.1 selling toy doll, but now there is a serious challenger. And in the fight to be No.1, nobody is backing down. Here's ABC's John Burman.

In this corner, measuring 9 inches tall with big eyes and even bigger blink, the challenger Bratz. And in this corner, with flowing blond hair and impossibly disproportionate bust, the forty-seven-year undisputed undefeated champion, from Mattel, Barbie. Now you might think the world of dolls isn't the kind of place for a knock-down-drag-out brawl. But you would be wrong.

Candy is not gonna save Barbie. Barbie's not gonna save Barbie. And the leadership that they have a Mattel right now is not gonna save Barbie.

You sound like a linebacker on a football team. You like taunting Mattel.

It's good.
It's good. It's good for the business.

Trash- talking in the doll business is good?

I'm not trash- talking. I'm telling them, I'm talking about the facts.

Meet Issac Larian, the seemingly nice man, who wants to pummel Barbie. He is the CEO of Micro Games of America, which makes the Bratz doll. He might now strike you as a doll kind of guy. He came to the US from Iran with nothing.

I came here in 1971 with one-way- ticket, and $750 in my pocket and a big American dream and I have lived the American dream.

Larian went from washing dishes to building a toy company, to the American dream on stair rods, largely due to this big eyed, big headed cartoonish doll. When Larian first saw the Bratz/ design in 2001, he thought they look like aliens.

Do you still think they look like aliens?

No, I think now they look beautiful, I've grown to like them.

Last year’s 2 billion dollars in sales can make many things beautiful. Larian now says Bratz has a 40% market share, and is the No.2 doll in the US market. No.2 for now. Larian thinks his Bratz girls are breathing down the lanky plastic neck of No.1. That would be Barbie.

What's wrong with Barbie?
It's time for her to retire. She has been around for too long.

And you wanna help Barbie retire?

Yes, I would help her retire. I will throw a party for her.

He is welcome to throw a party for Barbie anytime he wants. But it won't be a retirement party. She has been and will remain the No.1 fashion doll in the industry.

Meet Chuck Scothon, a senior Mattel Executive and former high school offensive lineman. His product is the long leggy glare of the toy business. Since she was first created in 1959, Barbie has been an icon among icons, with almost absurd success. One study found that 90% of American girls between 3 and 10 years old owns a Barbie doll.

And now we are traveling through the world fairy utopia.

Scothon doesn't even like to talk about Bratz, let alone the fact that they might pose a challenge.

How was, do you think, this became a story?

I think a lot of people like to talk about the underdog and the leadership positions. I think at the end of the day, it's really about making more out of something than there really is.

But last year, Barbie might have started to show her age. Sales dropped 13%, just as Bratz were getting white-hot.

Is Barbie in danger?

Not always. Barbie has been and will continue to be the No.1 fashion doll.