LETTER:Barbie's elusive black friend

From Ms Penny Hancock

Sir: The children of Anthony Femelly are lucky to have been bought the Duplo "World People" set last Christmas (Letters, 26 May). I searched high and low for the set for my own two avid Duplo collectors and finally discovered that it had been withdrawn from the retail market and is only available through educational catalogues. Black people are no longer included in the standard Duplo set either.

Barbie's black friend Shani is also hard to track down; not all toy shops stock her and the few who do are slow to re-order when stocks run down. The only exception is in Brixton Woolworths where I am told it is difficult to find a white Barbie.

Yours faithfully,

PENNY HANCOCK

Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire

28 May