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Mattel introduced a La Llorona Barbie doll earlier this month —and it promptly sold out.
The doll is part of the 2025 Día de Muertos Barbie Collection and was made available to members of the Barbie Club 59 program—an exclusive club that provides member benefits like early access to new merchandise, including the La Llorona/Día de Muertos Barbie. The price of the doll was $110. And while it is no longer available from Mattel, it might be found on sites like eBay.
“This Día de Muertos, we celebrate traditions both festive and enduring,” the Mattel Creations website said. “The stories of this lost soul are deeply rooted in Mexican folklore, and we honor her with this homage.”
The La Llorona Barbie is part of a larger collection of dolls created in honor of Día de los Muertos—or Day of the Dead— a holiday typically observed on Nov. 2. This is a day that coincides with All Soul’s Day—mostly observed by the Catholic church and other Christian traditions—when families create ofrendas or altars to honor and remember their deceased loved ones.
More and more people know about the traditions and rituals of Day of the Dead because of the popularity of the 2017 Disney film Coco.
Over time, the observance has grown with Muertos-themed attire and tchotchkes being in demand year-round.
Perhaps no ghost story is told as often in Spanish-speaking communities as the legend of La Llorona. It’s a Latin American ghost story about "the Weeping Woman.”
The story goes that the woman was betrayed by a man. In a rage of anger, she drowned her children and then forever wanders near bodies of water searching for them, weeping all the while.
It’s a cautionary tale—in the style of the “Cucuy” or "bogeyman” to warn children against staying out late or straying into danger, especially near bodies of water.
Versions of the story exist in many countries, but the basic elements of the tragically bereft mother in her own river of tears are common throughout.
Mattel’s version of the La Llorona doll is dressed in white lace tiered gown—and looks very much like a macabre brunette Barbie. And she has those same Barbie anatomical dimensions, to better accent a white corset bodice. She also has blue hands and skeleton-face make-up. She wears a headdress of black roses and a lace veil.
A ghostly woman in white, this La Llorona Barbie traverses the banks of the river while tottering on white stiletto pumps. She’ll search for her children while lighting the way with a large candle.
Last year, Mexican designer Kris Goyri collaborated with Mattel on Barbie and Ken dolls also dressed and decked out in the spirit of Day of the Dead.
Javier Meabe is the designer of the La Llorona Barbie. On a social media post, he called this new Barbie a “passion project” and said it connected him to people who shared their La Llorona stories with him.
It’s not known if Mattel Creations will be re-issuing this particular Barbie.
