Mattel announced a new Lucy doll set for 2008 at the Toy Fair in New York City just this week. This doll set will feature both Lucy and Ethel from the candy factory episode, Job Switching.

Watch the video here on Everything Lucy.

This special Lucy Doll set will be available sometime this Summer 2008. Another Lucy doll is still scheduled to be released this year as well.

For those who have been collecting all the Lucy dolls this now makes the 3rd Lucy and Ethel doll set. The first was Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress and the second, which was actually two different sets, was Lucy from The Christmas Show and the exclusive Platinum label edition of Ethel in The Christmas Show.

I was actually not impressed with the limited edition Ethel version of The Christmas Show. To me it looked like Mattel just took extra Lucy's and changed the head slightly and dressed her in the exact same outfit as the one used for Lucy. For marketing, this reduced costs for Mattel in production and for the limited amount of money they invested, they produced an exclusive Platinum label doll where they could command a higher price and made more money.

As collectors of the I Love Lucy series of Mattel Barbie Dolls, you'll also notice that a previous Lucy was released in 1998 of The Candy Factory. This one featured Lucy in a grey outfit with a pink bonet hat for the show. I guess they couldn't make up their mind which outfit was used, Pink or Grey and now they are coming out with another from the same episode featuring Ethel as well in Pink. Are they saving production costs by not producing more featured episodes from I Love Lucy?

I'm still waiting for the Harpo Marx Lucy myself!

This will be the 14th edition of the "I Love Lucy" dolls by Mattel. The complete lineup since they started in 1997 are:

1997: Vitameatavegamin Lucy ("Lucy Does A TV Commercial")
1998: The Candy Factory Lucy ("Job Switching")
1999: Grape Stomping Lucy ("Lucy's Italian Movie")
2000: Lucy & Ricky Boxed Set ("Lucy Is Enceinte")
2001: Carmen Miranda Lucy ("Be A Pal")
2002: Lucy's Paris Gown ("Paris At Last")
2003: Putty Nose Lucy ("L.A. At Last")
2004: Lucy's Polka Dot Dress ("Sales Resistance")
2005: Gypsy Queen Lucy ("The Operetta")
2006: Showgirl Lucy ("Lucy Gets In Pictures")
2006: Special Edition Santa Lucy ("'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special")
2007: Lucy & Ethel Boxed Set ("Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress")
2007: Pilot Episode Lucy ("The Audition")
2007: Ethel Platinum Edition ("'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special")

You can view each of these previously released dolls on the Barbie Collector site!