#barbie.. lol omg and now bratz

[sunshineandviolets]

my ocs x bratz aka my ocs as dolls pt 3 using this dollmaker !!! Safiya / Nicola / Raini Shivani / Reiko / Crystal

[flandrepudding]

The history of dolls and the rivalry between MGA and Mattel fascinates me so deeply!! The way they steal from each other. The way if one rises, the other falls. The way it’s been like this for decades now when Mattel used to be untouchable. So cool!!

Did you know that…It wasn’t MGA that did this but if I remember correctly, in the 80s, there was a toy company (probably Hasbro) planning to make Jem and the Hologram dolls. Mattel caught wind of it and in a very short amount of time pushed out Barbie and the Rockers, clearly ripping off Jem.

But because of how fast Mattel worked on this, Barbie and the Rockers made it to the shelves first. This completely sabotaged Jem and the Holograms. Mattel remained all powerful, not until decades later in the 2000s were they truly threatened again. This time, it was Bratz!!!!

I wish both MGA and Mattel could succeed at the same time. Before Monster High came back and before the Barbie movie, Mattel was not selling as many dolls. The designs were bland, and the clothes cheaply made. Rainbow High and OMG LOL (two MGA properties) had pretty much completely taken over the doll section.

But now that Mattel has revived Monster High and because of the Barbie movie, Mattel is thriving as Rainbow High and OMG LOL are now very obviously suffering budget cuts. Rainbow High might even die soon tbh with the way things are going, which is sad as they used to be so intricately designed and beautiful! I don’t collect them but I have appreciation for them.

Do any of you guys care about this stuff? If so, what’s a moment in doll history you find interesting?? I love this stuff!!!! :3

[lov3-from-loserlane]

very important question that the world needs the answer to!!!!!!

monster high vs ever after high? (and why)

This is such a loaded question you have no idea…

I was super into both of them growing up. For monster high I watched all the movies and I watched every episode of the ever after high show. Both multiple times LOL! I even read some of the books for both omg.

But I think I’ve always liked Monster High more. The characters were more relatable to me I think and I loved their bright, unusual colors. I liked the premise of there being a large friend group the movies centered around, too. But I do like the focus on the rivalry between the royals and rebels in EAH, that’s definitely unique. But more “serious” if anything.

In terms of my taste now, I’d still have to go with MH haha. I love that it was more centered around contemporary fashion at the time compared to EAH. EAH had a very specific fantasy theme, which it executed really well and I love every design for what it is. But it’s not exactly my style. And the heads of the EAH dolls are super round and bulbous, it’s the same reason why I can’t get into rainbow high or LOL even though I LOVE their outfits. I wish I could get the outfits separately.

These are the dolls I remember having between my sister and I, we shared everything. We fr played with dolls up until my mom had us get rid of them when I was 12 and she was 10 LOL. I probably would’ve been into them as a teen too if not for that, but the past 3 years my love has returned 😌

My real favorite dolls are Bratz and 2000’s-Fashionistas era Barbie. Barbie’s been breaking my heart the past 10 years though 😢 sigh.

[maleficentmrsofallevil]

But I wanted her (knockoff playline dolls)

I don't use Temu! Temu bad! Temu steals your info! Temu -

Ooh. She's pretty. Yeah. I caved.

So technically, Defa Lucy is a Mexican Walmart knockoff of Barbie, but plastic playline knockoffs aren't viewed generally with the same level of distaste as recast BJDs. Others have their reasons, but mine goes a little something like this:

These toys are made with plastic injection molding machines. Here's a sales pitch video by Fit Precision Molding, a company that makes and sells these machines:

These machines are NOT cheap. This is the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine of toys. $20K (USD) for ONE machine is a starter price - and that's if you can get it cheap from China. So a company that has decided to create their own knockoff line also tends to have the funds to pick a legal fight with, say, Mattel (MGAE and Bratz). This is not a backyard art theft sort of operation. This is easily a $200K operation just for the machines.

Granted, YMY still got smacked good and hard by the company that makes Nendoroids, and they deserved to get smacked, cuz stealing is bad.

HOWEVER...

Playline companies steal from each other all the time (cough cough Barbie Extra trying to lift the LOL OMG line like that hot mess of clashing color outfits and ridiculous plastic jewelry can compare to the cohesiveness of MGAE looks cough). Generally, if one company is mad enough, they'll sue the "stealing" company pretty quickly, and the marketplace will figure it out.

The other reason it doesn't bother me is cuz I figure these companies kinda have it coming.

So when China opened up for business, companies all over the world ran there like their houses were on fire, cuz China so cheap! Such affordable labor force. Much lack of regulation - environmental or occupational safety. Companies initially balked at employees being required to join a union, but they were immediately comforted by the fact that Chinese labor unions do exactly squat for people. The unions exist solely to steal from the employees and transfer that money to members of government.

When you open a business in China, you're required to bring on a local company as a joint venture (same in Saudi Arabia, by the way), and the Chinese company will steal with delight and abandon - as actively encouraged by the Chinese government and CCP. Companies have whined extensively about this to their respective governments. "I want cheap labor force! I want to destroy water supply! I want to pollute their air! But they're stealing from me! Waaaaah!"

Well - you get what you pay for, now don't you. You want access to exploited labor forces (forced labor for Uyghurs in the Xinjiang province, imported North Korean slaves). You want rights to dump your toxic crap into the Chinese water supply and the Chinese air without repercussions - which travels over to California and gets trapped in LA, by the way (air moves, idiots).

You'll have to forgive me if my sympathies are not particularly high for you.

This sucks for anyone trying to be an ethical consumer. Walk into your local store and flip over any box. They all say "Made in China." All of them.

This is why even though dolls like Momoko and Obitsu are more expensive, I am willing to pay to import them. Japanese wages suck, but at least they're making some money. The dolls are made in Japan. That's why they cost as much as they do. If you want to be an ethical doll collector, your options are basically BJDs and Japanese dolls (maybe Korean). Anything on US shelves is made in China and therefore unethical AF.

[kewpidity]

trying not to give in to despair about politics too much, lemme show you some doll stuff ive been doing

its not much, but ive been trying to tackle small projects i wanna do with my dolls the last few days, like rebodies and redressing ↷↷↷

my tan odile got her body in, as well as the outfit i got for her- i wish i had something with more yellow in it, maybe something a little brighter, but this is the Vibe i was going for for now (not the silver rings tho, the doll i got to rebody her had like three rings so she has three big holes in her hands, i'll switch em out eventually but this is what i have for now)

i also rebodied a naturalista ive had for a little while. i really like the proportions they have but the super minimal articulation made it hard to play around with her. i might try to do something with her hair at some point since they got a little wonky from the box (i already have an idea) but i struggle with restyling doll hair and i dont wanna mess her curls up so im putting it off. the clothes are from the doll i got to rebody my tan odile and im moooostly happy with it? but its subject to change. side note, it was Hell getting her head off her old body and on the m2m one, the neck hole for fashionistas is much smaller than a barbies despite having a similar neck peg size

ive heard that bratz dolls can fit lol omg (and possible tween) doll clothes so im probably gonna do something about that as well, plus gonna try and see if they'll fit my star darlings cassie since i dont have her official shoes anyway, might as well dress her up in something else. might try that later tonight and if it looks alright i'll post about it!

id say dont mind the shitty phone pics using flash in a dark room because we dont have overhead lights in there and its 10:30 at night but honestly theyre kind of a vibe

one day i'll make a little lightbox or display or something for better pics but today is not that day

[joshybearhuggies]

I am probably quite late to this news, especially to an avid Bratz collector…. But the latest Sasha absolutely fuckin SLAHPS!

Sooooo…. When Bratz came back to shelves I 1000% got my life collecting the girlies from my childhood that I couldn’t have. In this fun process I reacquainted myself with these fashionable icons, I also remembered my odd connection to their bodies.

I love their hight being a little shorter than our standard Barbie. I adore the big heads and sultry screenings. AND THE FASHIONS!…… but………. Them “feet shoes” ugh …. It bugged me then and it kinda still erks me today. This bugged me so much that for a moment there I wouldn’t pick a Bratz doll up. When I did I would always find another body for the head. Which also wasn’t really a fix because I wanted them to still remain short. Frustrating for sure. Until I happened upon the LOL OMG hybrids on IG. I made one myself and before I knew it I had a lil army of these hybrids. The color match was spot on and I adored the articulation in the arms/wrist. The dainty lil manicured hands also made my already beloved girlies SING!

With Falicia I’ve already made two in this form lol 😂 I mean I absolutely LIVE for this form factor. It solves all my problems, I get a doll in the same scale, the option for standard shoes, a doll that keeps her feets 🥰 and I could still use many of the fashions for the Bratz dolls.

So because of this level of play I admit I hadn’t given the latest Bratz dolls a fair look. I saw them in passing for sure but until literally tonight… I didn’t think to purchase. Seeing Sasha with floor length hair and upon closer inspection ✨articulated arms/wrists✨😳😳 I had to! She was even on sale to boot.

Immediately I thought…. Maybe I could give the stock Bratz body a go with this articulation. I definitely missed out on the previous Bratz with the articulated arms/wrist aaannd I also missed out on the Bratz dolls that had the full body articulation treatment some time ago. So here we are, I find myself opening this adorable Sasha and hoping I like this doll on her stock body.

I’m so so so happy to say that I am in bed writing this silly little blog entry because I ADORE this body. Now I can finally make useful all the Bratz shoes I’ve hoarded over the years! Telling myself “ONE DAY”! And today is that day! Ugh! I’m floored! I WILL BRING HOME MORE! Mark my words🥰👌🏿

Also we will not unpack the logic of my not liking the “feet shoes” but still keeping said “feet shoes” because they’re too ✨CUTE✨ to toss or sale… we just won’t, there’s no time 😂

I think the new girls still feel like Bratz dolls as well. They’re everything I already love with a more contemporary spice. I think my next girly might be Jade…. Or Yasmin hmmmm

To think…. I only went in Walmart for milk lol 😂 gosh I’m a mess

[rightventricle]

what kinds of dolls do you like? do you collect them?

i love several kinds omg. okay so my gf and i collect american girl dolls and we have like. 50 of them bc mainly i find cheap tlc dolls to restore and customize. and i sew clothes for them :•) they’re our main collection and we have lore for all of them, and they’re a huge source of comfort for me

i also started collecting monster high; i always wanted them when i was little but i wasn’t allowed to have them so now i do :,) i started with the new generation3 dolls but i also managed to find some old g1 dolls for a decent price (the resale on those is crazy, people price them like they’re made of gold 😭). i have some cool Rainbow High and LOL OMG dolls too, but i’m not necessarily collecting either of them as much.

aand i’ve always loved barbies and have started collecting some vintage ones again (my old collection was donated by my mom -_-) and my gf has a lot of her old Bratz dolls which is awesome bc i also didn’t get to keep mine

OH plus i discovered ball jointed dolls a few years ago, LOVE them, and finally own 2 that i do my own customizing and sewing for !

{ kinda adjacent to the dolls, we also collect some different kinds of plushies, and i collect fnaf plushies and figures :3 }

thank you SO much for asking, i got that doll hobby autism and i loveee talking about them !! <3

[firespirited]

I was wondering why Mattel is really on my using Saran or Poly hair instead of kanekalon or nylon. Is nylon no longer being used for dolls? I did see that kanekalon has health risks now, so I assume that is why it is not used anymore? I was just wondering if you had some insights/theories as to why those seem to be the only hair fiber found in their current dolls? Or maybe I completely misread the whole doll hair thing…anyways, thank you for your time. :)

Hi! in 2002 Bratz released a couple of lines with cheap Nylon or doll grade Kanekalon hair and it was speculated that it was because Mattel had bought out the stock of saran PVDC manufactured by Asahi Kasei, Bratz used saran almost exclusively until what was deemed budget lines and clear corner cutting (as evidenced by how simplified dolls were compared to prototypes).

The issue's no longer so clear-cut: multiple manufacturers create nylon in high qualities and many colours. The issues surrounding Kanekalon concern it's human sized fiber and high heat which wouldn't be a problem for doll grade kanekalon which melts on the low temp of a hair straightener if you're not really careful.

I can't explain why Mattel has chosen to go with poly hair which feels unpleasant and doesn't hold up to brushing, why Hasbro systematically undermined their own products with terrible nylon that made even Disney princesses with straight hair unbrushable. MGA seems to be favouring Qiyue Kiwi hair (but not on LOL OMGs), is some kind of exclusivity contract why other dolls don't use it? DongGang make a very nice nylon, why hasn't Mattel gone with them? None of it makes sense. Maybe there's a good reason and I have no clue.

Maybe the reason is the same as the short sack-dresses and skirts designed to fit multiple body types: they've chosen to invest in face-molds, accessories and body diversity over makeup, clothes and hair. Maybe there's been a supply chain issue or unknown chemical instability?

It's baffling that we have more direct access to designers than we have in a long time and no-one seems to know about the hair. I'm not sure we will ever get an answer, we never did about the glue-head syndrome. The disconnect between what the designers want to create for people and what a company is willing to produce is wide: we know from pleather and glue head issues that many dolls are not manufactured to be long term collectibles. Some aren't really supposed to be redressed and restyled: the clothes are sewn on and the bun comes down to reveal a nub of hair or an empty head.

I wish things looked like they did in 2002 where the excuse for hard to brush 'Style It' dolls was potential corporate meddling, by 2008 you were lucky if the doll didn't come with a rat's nest on her head. Nowadays, we have these confounding decisions to stick badly rooted coarse hair on expensive collector dolls, on dolls with an implied collector value as long-lasting items and then other dolls priced seemingly at random (collector Rainbow High ranged from $40 to $100 for no discernable reason). It's not even clear when profits are being reinvested into the toy lines and we speculate that some toy lines are operating at a loss to get a foothold in the market.

Let's just say that a bunch of companies have shown they don't even have the sense to invest in brand loyalty with quality product recently, the media companies have exhausted so much goodwill it's embarrassing to anyone who's ever cared about running a business. Even banks can't seem to think five years ahead. It's why I'm delighted MGA is getting sued, yeah it's frivolous and far-fetched but we might get some insight on how they're running things and what the design process might be. It is absolutely not the "collaborative" Monster High/Barbie mermaid "voting process" we've seen on social media and more of a "Oh shoot, we gotta make the Krystal Bailey doll darker skinned, people are furious!"

TLDR It could be that whoever's running these divisions knows nothing about dolls, let alone hair. They just look at numbers and make decisions on numbers, short term ones too, no long term projections or testing.

[rebelwhodoesntknow]

BRO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR DOLL COLLECTION I LOVE DOLLS AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT

OH FUCK YEAH ANOTHER DOLL LOVER ON HERE

By now my doll collection is… too large to describe each doll individually. I brought a cheap set of shelves to hold them and I’ve completely filled it. I need more shelves and I may have a problem. But ANYWAYS

I mostly collect fashion dolls, but I do have a row of various porcelain and Madame Alexander dolls that I’ve found at thrift stores and also on the side of the road for some reason? Ive found wild things during bulk trash pickup month

I have the Monster High deluxe school where I store all of those dolls (mostly gen 1, I have 1 gen 3 atm) that I also found at a thrift store

As of right now, I primarily collect LOL OMG and Rainbow/Shadow High but I do have like two Barbies and a few Bratz. I also go mildly insane for mermaid dolls so I have three Mermaid High dolls (rip to that line) and one Mermaze. Also Winx dolls I love Winx Club but the market for those dolls is so FUCKING expensive it’s insane. I have a few other oddball dolls but that’s most of them!

[cuppykin]

For the assumption game: You prefer Bratz dolls over Barbie

THAT WAS how it was for me and actually still is, I like a lotta Barbie specials, but overally Bratz is the cooler doll in my eyes, and nowadays I try to seek out dolls that have a same vibe now that Bratz did back then (Like Rainbow High and LOL OMG)

[psychoticwillgraham]

also, more doll opinions based on how many of each brand i own:

Mattel (specifically Barbie bc that’s what i have): fucking awful quality, the hair is utterly disgusting and greasy, very cheap in every way. some of the outfits aren’t too terrible tho like the 80s repro girl and pink vinyl one.

MGA (bratz, lol surprise omg, rainbow high, na na na surprise): the two bratz girls i have, the alwayz line, are pretty good clothing and hair wise, nothing special but nothing godawful either. the upper arm joint tho…. the right arm one on my alwayz jade immediately broke as i tried to get her shirt back on so now it’s loose and I’ll probably have to glue it in and lose some pose ability. lol girls we’re mostly good except for the hair being a mixed bag. lady diva’s hair was particularly godawful. RH/SH were amazing quality (i have only pre reboot ones and don’t plan on buying any reboot girls), so that’s that. the one na na na girl i have is unfortunately one of the plastic non fabric ones and it’s. Fine i guess. nothing to really judge there.

[kiddiekat-toybox]

Oh no I’m starting to get a bit into LOL OMG too I DO NOT NEED ANOTHER DOLL LINE TO COLLECT

[ohfugecannada]

So I’ve been on a bit of an My Little Pony kick since I’ve been watching a few of youtuber Shunks’s MLP iceberg videos (which I highly recommend you check out if your an MLP fan btw) and somthing that struck me today is how there really aren’t any other examples of dedicated toy lines that fit into the “horse doll” niche My Little Pony fills.

I know that feels like a weird to say, but... i dont know. When I started researching it I assumed MLP had to have some competition in this market. Like, just look at the fashion doll world, for instance; Barbie came onto the scene in the 50s, essentially creating the fashion doll toy nice as we it today and now there are many individual brands like Bratz, Monster High, LOL OMG, Disney Princesses etc etc that have taken inspiration form Barbie yet still have their own identity, providing competition and maintains the fashion doll su genre of toys.

Meanwhile MLP just... doesn’t have that.

I mean sure there were a few toy lines that tried to replicate their style and success, like those “fakies” like the Lanard ponies, those Cabbage Patch Kids ponies, and those Bratz Ponyz etc. Plus you do see those funny dollar store knock offs from time to time. But for the most part, especially in the modern day, My Little Pony doesn’t have any other competition in the Horse Doll niche like you see Barbie has in the fashion doll niche.

Granted, there are a few good reasons for this; conceptually, I guess designers find it easier to think of possible themes for a n 11” female figure to explore, eith a horse, even a cute stylised one, I feel like they’d have more limited options when crafting a theme, backstory characters etc. (Though, i dont know if that’s entirely true. I’d say that the horse dolls we know, I.e. mlp, have only really fallen into the thematic category of “pet toy”, fantasy or slice of life play sets, but that’s for another post...)

the second bigger reason I think is that the competitors in the past I mentioned earlier borrowed to much from MLP and its style. The candy coloured coats and manes of the horses, the rump symbols, the posed bodies etc, they were basically identical to MLP without doing much to innovate or actually carve out an identity of their own. There was also the fact that these Pony or horse centric toys were spin offs or side lines to other more popular non-horse centric dolls (Ponyz and the Cabbage Patch Ponies being good examples) which meant they were often just used as accessories to capitalise off MLP’s success.

So yeah, long story short, I’m surprised to learn how few actual examples there are in the “horse doll” sub-genre of toys...

[coreysdolladventures]

Time to do a new intro post as the other one is kinda bothering me so!!

I go by Lorelei, Korie, or Corey so any nickname of those I'm fine with. I use he/him they/them pronouns and am an aroflux pansexual. I'm 29 and have been into AG since I was about 10, Barbie since I was like 3, and I just like aesthetics of other dolls and other toys.

I use to work for AG at the temporary Las Vegas locations from Oct 2015 to Mar 2016. I do love to talk about it so please send me any questions if you have any.

My AG collection currently includes American Girl of Today #4 named Dani, PC Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, and Nellie. Non PCs I have are Rebecca, Lea (who is now an OC named Hope), Luciana, Nanea, and JLY # 56 named Ali (like alley). I also have Wellie Wisher Willa who is going to be an OC.

My other 18 inchers are the Cinderella inspired Disney ily4ever doll named Orchid and the Tinkerbell inspired Disney ily4ever doll named Tori. I also have the Our Generation Theodore doll (who is mini me) and a Paloma Our Generation from Goodwill.

Barbie collection wise, I have too many fashionistas out of the box, but in boxes, I have the Wedding Party Midge Gift Set (1990), Toy Story 2 Tour Guide Barbie, Teen Talk Barbie (1991), Winter's Eve Barbie (1994), and Happy Family Pregnant Midge and Baby (2002).

I also collect Rainbow High, Bratz, LOL OMG dolls, Disney Creator dolls, and anything that I can get my hands on.

I have a collection of lots of Snow White stuff as well which includes dolls.

[resinboy]

I’m going to rant about Creatable World dolls because I have so many thoughts now that it’s been a couple years since the line ended.

I adore Creatable World so much. I’m so sad the line tanked when it did, but at the same time, I get it. Firstly, doll lines come and go like crazy. Hot topic one year, losing to whatever Barbie’s doing & the next trendy toy the year after. It’s fine. It’s rare for anything to take off like Monster High and Bratz did, and I wasn’t expecting Creatable World to catch that lightning in a bottle.

Secondly, everything about Creatable World that set it apart and made it cool and unique was a double edged sword.

The base conceit about creating your own characters is amazing, and I’m sure imaginative kids would just run away with that. But at the same time, I feel like a lot of kids need more of a jumping off point for who the dolls are and how they’ll interact with each other. You can only go so far with a mini-me doll.

On top of that, marketing. I feel like a neutral, well-articulated regular person doll like CW is going to get a LOT more playtime mileage out of a kid’s toybox than a super beautiful gimmicky Barbie doll that talks and is covered in glitter, but a little kid is probably going to be way more inclined to grab a super sparkly pink mermaid with battery powered movement or something like that off the store shelves. The creativity aspect and being like a regular kid are more conceptually interesting than visually, and that’s just not going to grab a little kid’s attention. I don’t think a kid’s going to understand how much more love they’re going to get out of a doll like Creatable World than a more eye-catching novelty doll.

Then, there’s the nonbinary/genderfluid/lgbt+ angle they were using to market them. It’s a great attention grabber that’s going to get news sites talking, and wealthy neoliberal parents shelling out for these so they can show off how open-minded they are on Instagram. However, it’s also going to get homophobic weirdos to boycott them, and I think alienate the average parent that isn’t super invested in “politics” and LGBT+ civil rights issues. Part of what makes Barbie so eternal, I think, is that she was shocking at first, but now, even when the brand is getting tired and stale, Barbie is just THE fashion doll that almost every little girl had across classes and political affiliations of parents. There was a Barbie to pander to every kind of parents’ values, and market to every little girl’s lifestyle. Parents knew Barbie from their own childhood, so she has security. CW banked too hard on one demographic of buyer, and once they had all the ones that were easy to get, they were done.

A ton of people have already said this, but the ability to swap between long and short hairstyles to shake up the gender presentation was a great idea, but the wigs just ended up looking awkward and wonky and not staying on right.

The fashions of these dolls are really incredible for a kids’ toy. Beautiful, detailed, well put together, practical fashions that are trendy and cool, stuff that a real kid could wear and play in. I love it. But then we come back to the problem of not being able to catch a kid’s attention in comparison to more outlandish cartoon fantasy aesthetics like the LOL OMG dolls and Rainbow High (which are gorgeous imo). Creatable World dolls are relatable, which is probably going to be super fun to play with, while Barbie and other teen/adult aged fashion dolls are aspirational, which is going to draw a kid in and be more interesting on the store shelves.

But this brings me into the next thing - quality. These dolls are sturdy, beautiful, well articulated, with super detailed well-designed clothes and despite the bad design choices of the wigs, the hair itself was really pretty and soft. Kids don’t care about that quality stuff until way down the line when their cheap toys fall apart and their really good toys give them years more of play. And the more complex the toy, the more you’re going to lose with quality control, the more you’re going to have to hike up the price to turn a profit. So Mattel ended up trying to sell these 30 dollar gender diversity dolls with a very subtle, understated aesthetic to a rapidly vanishing middle class right when Covid was committing economic murder. So like, a minuscule fraction of parents actually got this doll for their kids, and an even more minuscule fraction of adult doll collectors and customizers bought these to give their little Skipper dolls better articulation and clothes. But kids weren’t begging for these (I was but that’s besides the point).

It’s crazy because Creatable World is the only playline doll I’ve ever loved enough to collect as an adult, and as a lefty genderfuck myself, I wanted these to succeed so bad. I’m sure this is cliché to say, but I wish I’d had dolls like this as a little kid. They bring me so much joy, and I found myself inventing all kinds of characters and storylines for mine just dressing them up and posing them to display in my little glass doll case. I can’t even begin to picture how many hours of fun I would have had with these dolls as a kid. I probably would have brought them absolutely everywhere with me.

Mattel probably won’t see this and probably doesn’t plan on releasing these dolls ever again, but IF THEY DID, I’d say a few things that could make this line sell better would be:

1. Fixing how the hair works.

2. More sparkles or something to better catch kids’ attention on shelves.

3. More purchase options than just the $30 kit with the doll and a ton of clothes in a big set. Selling the dolls and clothes separately, more attention-grabbing THEMED outfit packs. I feel like wave 2 was going in that direction and if it weren’t for Covid it’s might have worked. A sleepover set with pajamas, a sleeping bag and a teddy bear! A picnic set with a little basket and a blanket and a cute gingham dress or button-up shirt and shorts! A party outfit with lots of glitter! You have to make up for the lack of guidance with the character with adorable themed outfits.

4. More accessories and playsets. Again, I feel like they were GOING to do that before the line failed, but I think little toys and foods and like a closet or bed, and if you want to go REALLY crazy, a dollhouse or mini playground. The dolls and their clothes were amazing, but just not enough to really get the average kid’s imagination running.

What I feel like Creatable World was and didn’t take full advantage of was being a middle ground between Barbie and American Girl Dolls, but for all kids instead of just girls. More real and relatable and action-friendly than Barbie, more affordable and accessible than American Girl (and less babydoll-looking). There’s so much about both of those brands that kids go nuts for that Creatable World could have done that would have been amazing, and I don’t have my hopes up for it, but I’d be thrilled to see Mattel try it again someday at a better moment for it.

[maretriarch]

barbie drastically needs a revamp if she wants to survive in another 20 years or so. she's been having her ass pounded by other more creative doll brands for 20 some years now (bratz monster high lol/omg dolls etc). they need to return to the fashionista series imho or some sort of fantasy theming and stop (smack) screen (smack) printing (smack) clothes (smack) no kid wants these cheapy looking dolls, it's only parents buying it for them bcs they remember playing with Barbie in their youth