Bratz Info

What are Bratz Dolls?

In 2001, MGA (Micro-Games-America) Entertainment released a 10½ inch doll line called Bratz. The dolls had large heads, a lot of makeup, and most of all, huge lips.

  The body was very slim, and the dolls had something commonly called “peg-leg,” as the legs had a plastic or rubber ball at the end of the leg, and a hole in the shoe, so the shoe clicks into place.

  The outfits were what “teen pop stars” wore in the late 90s (the dolls were still in design back then) and early 2000s. They were often very skimpy.

  The Bratz slogan was “The girls with a passion for fashion!”

 Bratz vs. My Scene

In 2002, a year after Bratz were introduced, Mattel saw that these popular dolls were massively appealing to tweens, and they stopped playing with Barbies at a younger age.

  To remedy this, and to get back their customers, Mattel released My Scene, a doll line that had large heads, a lot of makeup, and huge lips. Sound familiar?

  But unlike the Bratz, My Scene had the regular Barbie body, so she could still wear other Barbie clothes.

The shoes had a tiny opening for Barbie’s miniscule feet, but they were huge, giving the appearance of a large footed doll.

  Little did Mattel know that this doll would cost them…

Secret and Blind Dates

In 2004, MGA released a new Bratz line called Secret Date. The idea was that (let's use Cloe) the rest of the Bratz friends (or friendz?!) set Cloe up on a blind date with one of their guy friends, and they would go to the movies or something.

 Parents took the innocence of the line and threw it out the window.

They said it seemed like Cloe was sneaking out of the house to go to a night club and drink with a strange man she'd never met. They said that three of her accessories (two fancy cups with umbrellas and a bottle of… juice? Soda? Water?!) looked like they were drinking Vodka.

  AND, if that wasn't enough, the commercial has a young girl in a really skimpy dress and wearing a ton of makeup. In the dark.

 Luckily, MGA quickly changed the name to Blind Date. And made it more clear what Cloe was doing on that date.

  Shortly before the doll line was released, there was a Secret Date game. And you could have up to 4 players, which MGA stated as “Competitive Dating, up to 4 players!”

 “No, that's MY boyfriend!!”

“No, he's MINE!!!” Haha.

The only girls with a passion for suing Mattel!

In 2005, MGA started getting annoyed with My Scene.

 That's the nice way to put it.

To set themselves apart, they changed the slogan from “The girls with a passion for fashion” to “The only girls with a passion for fashion,”

 And sued Mattel. Mattel's response? Suing MGA and saying that they had the rights to the dolls because the guy who came up with Bratz broke his contract with Mattel and took his idea to MGA. It's kinda Mattel's fault, because they rejected his idea. And this is coming from a “loyal” Barbie fan.

  In 2009, MGA Entertainment won the battle and Mattel had to stop selling My Scene dolls in America (they were discontinued everywhere else in 2013). And they owed MGA $5,000,000 in repairs.

      The Bratzillaz

  In 2012 MGA released a new Bratz doll line called Bratzillaz.

They were marketed like this:

“Meet the Bratzillaz, the Witchy Wicked Glam cousins of the Bratz!”

 They were 11 inch dolls with inset eyes, rooted hair, and highly articulated bodies, similar to Liv, minus the double knee joints.

  The Bratzillaz had actual feet, instead of peg-leg. They could not share clothes with Bratz or Barbie, as their bodies were in between the two sizes.

 The dolls were witches and went to Magix Academy for Fashion. The backstories were awful, but the dolls themselves were really cool.

  The dolls were the rough equivalent of the regular Bratz, such as Yasmina for Yasmin, Meygana for Meygan, Sashabella Sasha, Cloetta Cloe, and Jade kept her regular Bratz name.

  They had exaggerated features of the original dolls (Aah! Dolls even crazier than the Bratz?!) like fire-truck red hair instead of Meygan’s original dark red hair. Although they looked different, they were noticeable as Bratz. Or at least as Bratz look-a-likes.

  Although the main Bratz suffered, the Bratzillaz had an amazing run. At least until 2014.

    The new Bratz

After winning, the Bratz suffered horribly. People stopped buying, and quality dropped drastically.

 In 2013, MGA announced that there would be no new Bratz dolls in 2014, because the line would be on a hiatus so that they could reimagine and fix the line.

  In 2015, the Bratz were back, but were they better? The dolls were re-launched with the “Hello, My Name is…” line.

Also, with these new dolls, the Bratzillaz were no longer in production.

 The “Hello, My Name is…” dolls sold very poorly and so the Bratz were put on hold again for 2017. The dolls are slated to return again sometime in 2018. It is unknown if the dolls will regain the popularity they once had in 2001, or if Barbie will keep her throne at the top of the toy industry.

 I personally prefer the “brattier” look of the 1st wave dolls, but some prefer the 2015 dolls’ kinder look.   

 I really hope that MGA pulls their act together and makes a doll that we won't forget. Or else…

What do you guys think of Bratz dolls? Hate 'em? Love 'em? Meh 'em??? I personally like them, but not everyone does.

'til Next Time! - JCole, who's laughing to death over the competitive dating

I'm Back and a few updates!

Oh my Goodness this is crazy! As some of you guys know, my family recently moved and we didn't have WiFi. We've moved in, got a computer set up, and so now posts should be coming more now. 

Anyway, AG released three new dolls, one looks like Lanie, another looks like Kanani, and another is just another doll, but she's unique, because she appears to have a darker skin tone than usual.

There are several new accessories and clothes, like an Xbox S! I have an Xbox One, does that count?

Read more Here and Here!

Barbie has a few new things. Jurassic World Owen and Claire, a UNICORN doll (Yesss!), Beekeeper, a new Dream House (Seriously?! That girl has a new house every year!!) and a few more Career and Collector dolls.

Sorry this was such a short post, but longer ones are underway!  

    'til Next Time!!  - JCole

Updated Barbie History

                                   *** A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR ***
I have decided to merge my doll history posts into one big post, so it'll be easier for new readers, enjoy! - JCole

Today we will be talking about Vintage Barbies. There are a few different terms for Barbies 
through the years: Vintage, Mod, 90's and New. Vintage Barbie dolls can be from 1959 to 1966 or 67. The debut doll is the Ponytail Barbie, with her high Ponytail and poodle bangs. A good reference for Vintage and Mod Barbies is vintage and mod barbies
I have found this website extremely useful for information on Vintage or Mod Barbies. Ponytails can be from 1959 to 1964 and are highly coveted by collectors (Not to even start MENTIONING their prices on eBay...) and is very well known in the doll community. They can be Blonde or Brunette. Next up are - Yay! - Bubblecuts! Bubblecuts were sold from 1961 to 1967 (The reason I was so excited is because my grandmother has a Titan/Redhead Bubblecut Barbie from 1964) and were available as a Blonde, Brunette, and Titan. White Ginger, Sable Brown, and Brownette are Rare variations found in these dolls. Some of these dolls have been found in the Bendable Leg Barbie's makeup and head markings. The Bubblecuts with the Bendy-leg Barbie makeup usually look like they have white lipstick on, but dolls with white lips actually had these gorgeous pink lips that have faded to a pearly white over the years. Next is Ponytail Swirl! (In the photo is an Ash, BTW)
 
I honestly would love love LOVE to have one of these (Particularly a Brunette) and they came with either Blond, Brunette, Titan (later red), Ash, Lemon, or Light/Platinum Blond hair. Some Transitional Swirls had the Bendy - Leg Body, Swimsuit, and Box. They were sold in 1964. So, I've been talking about this "Bendable Leg Barbie," so who is she? the Bendy - Leg Barbie, as I like to call her, is almost as fabulous as Swirly-Swirl In my opinion.
 OH MY GOSH I've always loved her hair! And her shoes! And her Swimsuit! Okay, okay, I like the entire doll. The Body most of the time only holds 1 or 2 clicks, instead of the original 3 or 4 clicks. Instead of the hard, plastic joints we're used to today, her legs looked lifelike and just plain COOL. Her hair color/colour was either Brunette, Titan, Blond, Ash, Light, or Yellow. The 1967 Twist 'n' Turn Barbie Trade-in marked the end of the Vintage Barbie era, and the start of a new era of Barbie... The Mod era!

Did you find this useful? I hope you did, and Before I end this post, I DID leave out Miss Barbie and Fashion Queen Barbie, but I focused Mainly on the basic, non-fancy fancy dolls. I'll get to them later.
Photo credit: WWW.invaluable.co.uk and barbielistholland.wordpress.com
Hello again! I've decided that after Barbie, I'll go through dolls such as Fashion Queen and Miss Barbie, and then Barbie's friends and family. (Such as Midge, Skipper, Ken, etc.) If in 1967 while you were watching Saturday morning cartoons, you might have seen this commercial. This is one of my all-time favorite Barbie commercials, I mean, I can quote the entire thing! I love the TNT face mold, and I'll just say right now, if I had one, her nickname would be Firecracker because the abbreviation of Twist 'N Turn is TNT. I'd want a Go-Go Co-Co (A.K.A. Light Brown) hair colored one. The Mattel Barbie Trade-In was a huge success, which some people say is because Maureen McCormick is the little girl in the commercial, and she was later Marcia Brady on a 1960s? TV show called "The Brady Bunch." 
 Here's a Sun-Kissed (Light Blond) Trade-In Barbie. The Trade-In Barbie comes with really everything the normal, full price ($3.00) Barbie came with, except the ankle stand. I think this post has been pretty long, so I'll talk more about these Mod Barbies next time (Hopefully Tuesday) and I'm dying to talk about the 1969 Talking Barbie, but we're still in 1967 =(.
Photo credit: EBay   Video credit: Barbie Collectors (YouTube)

Note: All Barbie dolls that were traded in were given to charity! Pretty cool, right?    
                         Hello again! Today will be a continuation of last weeks post, "MOD'ern Barbies." Last weeks post was about the Mattel Barbie Trade-In. Now we're in 1968, when Firecracker (See last weeks post) got a new outfit.
 See the pic? This is a pretty cute outfit, in my opinion. this is the same box the last one came in if you bought it full price. Instead of the bikini and mesh covering like 1967, she now came in what appears to be a shirt, shorts, and belt. Barbie still came with the ankle stand/"X" stand and hairbow, though it was now pink instead of the orange one she used to come with. Now, my personal favorite Mod Barbie doll, Talking Barbie!
  This is the original Talking Barbie from 1968 and all of her plastic glory. Instead of all of these fancy thingamajigs of today, This Barbie has a pink flower-shaped pull string/cord that activates 7 different sayings. Although there are 7 sayings, I only know 2 and a half, A.K.A I can't remember one. She says stuff like: "Would you like to go shopping?" "Stacy and I are having some tea." and something like "What should I wear to the dance?" That last one is the one I'm not completely sure about. I like how on this doll, her speaker is on her back, instead of nowadays, on the doll's chest or stomach. Although this makes her look better from the front, she may sound "faraway," If that makes any sense.

 This is a prototype, with a clear torso instead of a flesh-tone one.
Photo credit: The-beautiful-world-of-barbie.tumblr.com (Prototype), Fashion Doll Guide (TNT), and Joeslist.com (Brunette Talking Barbie)                                                                        Welcome back, and today I'll be talking about Barbie dolls from the 80's and 90's. These dolls are pretty well known, and marks when Barbie started to turn into the pink, pink, pink doll of today. I actually have a 1997 Dolls of the World Fourth Edition Native American Barbie, A.K.A. Brown Deer or Savannah. I have the entire doll, and almost all of her accessories, excluding her moccasins and stand. I really like the 1980's/90's articulation, although most of the time the hips are loose and the knees don't hold all 4 clicks.there is a few different types of 90's Barbie body. I really don't like the "Articulated" body, because the joints are super loose, like, 90% of the time, and the legs are prone to break! (in my experience)

Down below is the other 90's Barbie doll I own (excluding the outfit and accessories) and from her left knee to her foot is missing!! Brown Deer has much better articulation, at the neck, shoulders, waist, hips, and knees. Her right hip is fairly tight, where her left is a little loose, but her knees hold 3 of 4 clicks, which is not that common, as most of these rubber click-legged dolls only hold 1 or 2 clicks. It is actually pretty rare to find a played-with doll who's legs hold all 4 clicks. Sometimes never removed from box dolls still don't hold all clicks. Okay, I admit it, Brown Deer's knees originally held all 4 clicks, but she's been played with! Also, about 99% of 80's/90's Barbie dolls are BEACH dolls. A bit annoying, yes, but some actually have cool features, such as UV rays change her hair color! I found this pretty cool.
Well, I'm going to end this post here, and I hope you enjoyed this post.   'til Next Time!  - JCole
Photo credit: The Barbie Collection and Pintrest