The toy company that makes the popular Beanie Babies is retiring the names "Marvelous Malia'' and "Sweet Sasha'' from its Ty Girlz collection--and first lady Michelle Obama is pleased. The dolls have been renamed "Marvelous Mariah'' and "Sweet Sydney,'' Chief Executive Ty Warner of Oak Brook-based Ty Inc. in Illinois said in a statement on Feb. 2.

製造超人氣「豆豆娃」的Ty玩具公司決定在其娃娃系列中，放棄「神奇馬莉亞」和「甜美莎夏」的名字，美國第一夫人蜜雪兒‧歐巴馬感到欣慰。總公司在伊利諾州橡木溪的Ty公司執行長華納於2月2日發表聲明說，這兩個娃娃已重新命名「絕妙瑪麗亞」和「小甜甜雪梨」。

Although it would be a stretch to say the 12-inch-tall dolls bear a resemblance to the first family's Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, they appear to be the only African-American dolls in the 30-doll Ty Girlz collection. "We feel it is inappropriate to use young private citizens for marketing purposes," said first lady Michelle Obama's press secretary, Katie McCormick Lelyveld.

雖然硬要說這兩個12吋（30.48公分）高的娃娃神似第一女兒7歲的莎夏和10歲的馬莉亞，似乎有點牽強，但不容置疑的，她們是Ty玩具公司30尊娃娃系列中唯一一對黑人公仔。「我們覺得利用年幼的小老百姓供市場行銷並不恰當，」第一夫人蜜雪兒‧歐巴馬的新聞祕書凱蒂‧麥考米克‧雷利偉德說。

The original names were inspired by what Warner called "this historic time in our nation's history,'' but he insisted the dolls were not intended to bear the likeness of President Barack Obama's daughters. The switch is in deference to the first family after Michelle Obama said using her daughters' names was inappropriate, Warner said. Profits from sales of the original dolls will be donated to charity. "We appreciate the company's response to this matter,'' Katie McCormick Lelyveld said.

這兩個名字靈感最早得自華納所謂「我們國家歷史中歷史性的時刻」，但他堅稱，這兩個娃娃無意在造型上刻意模仿歐巴馬總統的一雙女兒。華納說，這次是由於蜜雪兒表示用她女兒的名字不妥後才更名。至於原來已經出售的娃娃所得利潤將捐給慈善公益事業。「我們很感謝Ty公司對這件事做出善意的回應」，凱蒂‧麥考米克‧雷利偉德說。

To collectors, the dolls with their original names will become more valuable, said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of timetoplaymag.com in New York. "I'm sure many of them are being put away in a closet and are never going to be opened,'' he said. "Those who bought them for their children to play with, they're not going to have much value.''

紐約timetoplaymag.com總編輯席佛說，對娃娃收藏家，擁有原始名稱的娃娃較有價值。他說：「我確信，這些娃娃大半會收納在櫥櫃中，永遠不見天日，那些買來給孩子玩的娃娃，則不會保值。」

Chicago attorney Marc Cooperman, who has represented another toy company in lawsuits involving Beanie Babies' names, said he believes Ty Inc. got what it wanted: publicity. "I would suspect that the company knew when it introduced the two dolls, they would cause some commotion and the company would get some press out of it,'' he said.

曾代表另一家玩具公司打豆豆娃娃名稱官司的芝加哥律師庫波曼則表示，他相信Ty公司已經達到免費炒作新聞的目的。他說：「我懷疑從一開始引進這兩個娃娃就很清楚，他們勢必會引起一些騷動，媒體也會報導。」

The original sweet Sasha features long dark-brown hair in two ponytails, and Marvelous Malia has just one ponytail. Though renamed, their features remain the same.

原始版「甜美莎夏」留兩條長長的黑褐色馬尾，「神奇馬莉亞」則只有一個馬尾。雖然已經重新命名，她們的外表並未改變。.

Ty Senior Vice President of Sales Tania Lundeen said her company avoids naming dolls for "any particular living individual" because it might interfere with how kids use their imaginations to play with them. "When children play, they play with the dolls how they wish, and we don't want to impose any preconceived ideas upon them by implying any further connection," she said. However, since the release of the news, the Ty company had got a lot of attention.

Ty玩具公司負責行銷的資深副總裁塔妮亞．倫汀說，她們公司避免用「仍在世的特定個人」來為娃娃命名，因為這可能會干擾孩子在玩娃娃時發揮他們的想像力。「孩子玩娃娃時，是和他們夢想的娃娃玩，我們不希望因為影射任何進一步的關聯而強加在他們身上任何先入為主的想法，」她說。但自從新聞披露後，Ty公司已經引起廣泛注意。

Photo shows dolls "Sweet Sasha" (R) and "Marvelous Malia" sitting on a shelf at the gift shop in the Ritz-Carlton hotel on January 22, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. The store quickly sold out of its first shipment of the dolls. The dolls sell for $9.99 each.

圖為「甜美莎夏」（右）和「神奇馬莉亞」（法新社）今年1月22日在伊利諾州芝加哥麗池卡爾登飯店禮品店的展示架上。該店第一批運到的歐巴馬女兒娃娃很快就銷售一空。這兩個娃娃售價各為9.99美元。