Research is mixed on whether Barbie's bad rap on body issues and her adult-leaning fashion sense have any impact on children, said Jody LeVos, once a leader of Mattel's child development and learning team and now chief learning officer for Begin, a company that creates learning apps and other educational fare for kids.
Among parents, she said, "there's a big nostalgia factor" when it comes to Barbie.
"I don't think there's one specific doll that's most appropriate. I think doll play allows children to really practice storytelling skills, perspective taking and social interactions," LeVos said.
The Barbie line's overall sales have soared in recent years after a period of decline in 2013.
Joaniko Kohchi, director for Adelphi University's Institute for Parenting, questioned Mattel's motives.
"If we're going to think about Mattel guiding our choices then we have already kind of limited them," she said.
McKnight made it clear that My First Barbie will not be a separate, parallel Barbie universe. She said new content featuring the doll will hit Barbie's YouTube channel later this month, with an animated special about the planning of a surprise party.
Andrea Werner, a pediatric occupational therapist in West Hartford, Connecticut, and mother of a preschooler and an infant, supports doll play as developmentally valuable.
"There are plenty of dolls on the market," she said. "Companies will always be trying to sell consumers the next best thing."
Kohchi isn't entirely sold on My First Barbie as appropriate.
"We know that if you're going to hand a child an image and say, this is beauty or this is wonderful or look how pretty that is, it should resemble the child a little bit more closely," she said. "It's certainly still a little older than a preschooler."