Kira's Comeback Care of Carlyle

One item from this year's National Barbie Convention piqued my interest. It was not a doll but a sketch for the 3rd Global Glamour Barbie. I first saw it from this site.

The dress on the sketch has an undeniably Filipino flavor, specifically the sleeves of the Philippine terno. When I zoomed in, I read the word "Philippines". (I can't read the other words above it.) Now, that is the dress the first DOTW Philippines should have had!

More details on the doll was provided by a Mattel employee, Carlyle, in Flickr. Below is a portion of the screen shot from that site. It looks like it is his design. Good job!

The Kira face sculpt will be used for Mutya, the third Global Glamour Barbie! When I said that Mattel is deaf to our feedback, of course I was exaggerating. Somehow, the ideas on my old blog entry made its way to Mattel.

 OOAK Kira I did

It's too early for me to be excited over a sketch. There are a lot of factors I'd like to consider before buying a doll. Two of them have been satisfied by the sketch but there are more.

• Dress (check)
• Face sculpt (check)
• Facial screening (uggh!)
• Skin tone (check)
• Articulation (meh)
• Price tag (naah)

___________

24Nov2014 Update:
I've made up my mind. I'm not getting the Mutya Barbie.

27Jan2015 Update:
This is my first impression from the publicity photos.
 

Mattel: A Slow Learner

Once again, Mattel sales fall by 9% for the second quarter of 2014. One would think that they have learned enough from the last quarter. The decrease is partly due to the sales performance of Barbie products which is down by 15% compared to last year. This is the biggest decline for Barbie since mid-2009 according to this article.

Even though Mattel tried to improve the sales by giving discounts every now and then, buyers were a lot more wiser! I don't know how buyers feel that the dolls were being offered a certain price and then be offered a lower price after a month or so. If I were the buyer, I would feel like a fool! Why can't they offer the dolls at the lower price right away?

Even at a lower price, the sales did not improve. It is safe to say that the increase in price alone is not the issue. Buyers want certain innovations and a level of quality before they will buy at a given price. The doll community has been filled with a lot of whining regarding the degrading quality of the newer Barbie dolls. A lot has been too tired of whining since the toy company is not really showing any sign that they are attuned to the demands of the adult consumers.

As much as I want to echo the bright ideas the whiny collectors (like me) have been voicing out, I still think it is futile. The ideas have been posted out there. It's not my job to sum it all up for Mattel. Plus, what's in it for me?

What else? A higher price tag for the dolls I want to buy.

Jean

Barbie doll (Generation Girl face mold) inspired by X-men Jean Grey wearing her classic color.

I like her pale lips and light gray eye shadow which is really shimmery in person.

Red

This is not a re-root. I want to call him Allan.

The Never Starting Story

Last year, in the hopes of making the most out of my existing dolls, I gave them characters. It was easy to cast them as fashion models so that there is an excuse to make them wear beautiful clothes normal people don't wear. They all work for a modeling agency called Posers Inc.

The models of Posers Inc.

Posers are people who pretend to be what they are not. A modeling agency sounds like a good venue for that. I was supposed to write a cliche story about rising to the top of the modeling industry but then I didn't really have that much inspiration nor motivation. Plus, a lot of doll folks are already doing that.

Just thinking of all the work (writing the story, making the props including the costumes for each dolls, then taking pictures, editing etc.) makes me overwhelmed especially if I'm trying  to raise my standards for my work. Plus, I have other plans, both doll and non-doll related. That story never started.

Focusing on my existing dolls, made me realize how much I like certain dolls more than the others. Whenever I have a new idea for my dolls, I usually try them out on my favorites first. Just like this new story that might never start as well.

The TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got me inspired to make a story about superhero spies. I call mine P.O.S.E.R. Agents. P.O.S.E.R. stands for Peace Operation and Strategic Espionage Reserve. My top two favorite dolls are the first two agents.

Being spies they can take on any role, fake any job. Unlike by simply being models, they can look un-glamorous and still be in character. Even if I cannot make a full length spy story yet, short stories with snap shots will do... for now.

Agent Kayla

Agent Kira

Kayla is a martial arts expert while Kira is the sharpshooter. Both agents work as models in Posers Inc. They both have no idea that the other is a P.O.S.E.R. agent as well. Each one competes with the other to be the top model. What happens if they are required to cooperate for a certain mission?