IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE BARBIE PINK TREE DECKED WITH PLAY JEWELRY EXPECTED TO BE TOP HOLIDAY TOY OF '01.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

TARZANA - As a girl, Maureen Kassel dreamed of living the life of Barbie. Now she's actually living it and may be making the dreams of a new generation of little girls come true this Christmas.

Kassel and the 11-inch doll have bonded in a way that could result in one of the most sought-after toys of the holiday season: the 4-foot-tall Barbie Pink and Sparkly Christmas Tree.

Jim Silver, who publishes both the consumer-oriented Toy Wishes magazine and the trade-focused Toy Book, says the tree will be sold out by the first week of December.

``I've shown it to 20 girls, and, oh, it's just jaw-dropping how they respond,'' Silver said. ``Half of them say, I want it. . . . The other ones just say, I need it.''

If enough of those young ladies indeed latch onto the artificial trees, Toy Book is predicting more than $1 million in sales in the next month. Pretty good, considering the Pepto Bismol-hued bush is the first and only product manufactured by Kassel's Home Inspirations Ltd.

Decked out with all manner of Barbie accessories - sold separately - the toy combines the tree-trimming experience with the doll's dress-up playtime. After decking the pink branches with plastic garlands, girls can then convert the ornaments into wearable jewelry. From the velvet tree skirt, which changes into a kid-sized cape, to the wearable tiara star, the toy packs a plethora of holiday-theme material into its diminutive packaging.

``It's supposed to be the tree Barbie would have in her dream house,'' Kassel said. ``That's why there's no image of her on the tree. I figured that since I don't have little tiny figurines of myself on my tree, Barbie probably wouldn't either.''

Hence the idea, introduced into a category Silver characterized as dominated by generic, nonbranded fare with little character recognition.

``The only big thing in the holiday aisle for the last few years was those icicle lights,'' Kassel said. ``It's funny, because you look at the toy world that's so competitive you have something huge all the time. Barbie is the number one girls brand, and moms make up 99 percent of holiday buying. Going after the brand just made sense.''

Once Kassel had the idea in mind, her Home Inspirations company was able to get the product into stores with remarkable speed. She founded the company little more than a year ago, snared a license from Mattel for the Barbie name and image and scored an exclusive deal with Toys 'R' Us to distribute it. The Paramus, N.J.-based company has been very keen on the tree so far, going so far as to give it a full-page blowout in its holiday catalog.

``We want to have items our customers can't find anywhere else,'' said Susan McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the toy chain. ``And it's pink! You don't see a lot of pink trees - and certainly not ones where you can wear the jewelry.''

Kassel cut her teeth as an executive at Malibu's JAKKS Pacific, so it's no surprise that her firm has a promising toy on the shelves. But given that her background was marketing WWF action figures, it does seem just a tad odd that she's grasped the over-the-top girlishness of Barbie so well.

``People ask how I can go from bone-crunching action to pink trim and sequins,'' said the Tarzana mom. ``Well, hey, there was a lot of pink trim and sequins in the WWF, too.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) In Tarzana, Maureen Kassel shows the Barbie tree she created for girls likely to see it as the must-have holiday toy. Barbie Christmas tree ornaments double as play jewelry, and the tree skirt is also a playtime velvet cape with fluffy trim.

(3) Barbie jewelry, including a tiara, can sparkle on a tree along with other shining ornaments and pink light bulbs.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer