You Create How They Sell To You

I didn't buy any of the first 3 "You Create..." sets. The online Mattel shop doesn't ship to my country. The items were not available in Amazon. They were not made available in local toy stores. The only way to get them is to request a third party to buy for me. Clearly, I wasn't the target market.

I will never support a product which was not made for me. If you made those for a group of people, that excludes me, why should I bother? Why should I make an extra effort, pay additional fees, for something that is not a necessity nor life-changing? It's my money and I get to decide how it is spent. I want to spend it with little to no hassle.

I didn't buy any of the first "You Create..." wave even from secondary market, even if I really wanted some heads and wigs from that line. It hurts to be excluded from that product an the best way to hurt them back it to boycott that product. HIT THEM WERE IT HURTS, THEIR BOTTOMLINE! That's the language they know.

 

I heard that they never sold out. They are still available from that exclusive online shop. If they change their mind and made them available to my country via Amazon, I'll surely buy. 

I don't know if they got that feedback from the last wave. They must have. They had poor sales last year. They had to fire a lot of employees. The numbers spoke for itself. Mattel changed how they sold the 2nd wave.   

FR3E

While other doll hobbyists use AI to make their dolls move like fashion models or beauty queens, I opted to imagine a doll band, in the tradition of Jem and the Holograms, and use AI to generate songs that reflects my sentiments.

Here is FR3E, a trio girl band and teasers of their music...

 

Notes on buying 2025 Barbie Basics

1. The selling point for me are the head molds, not the fashion, not the body. I prefer the pivotal, the old articulated Fashionista body or the recent iteration called the Gigi body.

2. I didn't want to have to buy from Amazon since Bezos has ties with Israeli military. I also sympathize with the Teamsters. If I opt to buy from someone locally, I'm sure they will source it from Amazon. Mattel doesn't ship to my country. This is my first time ordering a newly released doll from Amazon and I just learned how high the mark ups are. To be clear, I have no problem with their marked up prices. It's how they earn to be able to continue to provide reselling services. I'm just glad I have the privilege of not needing their services, for now.

3. Related to the Barbie Basics are the You Create Kits currently on pre-order at Mattel Creations. They not shipping to my country means that they don't think of me as the potential buyer, so why should I bother buying? If they will be sold locally via the authorized dealer, I might consider.

4. Barbie Basics model number 3 is a good-enough match to the second to the darkest Mizi clone body. She is rebodied in one below. She's wearing a Xianxian Fashion and so is model number 1, above.

5. I prefer the eye design on the original Barbie Basics. I have repainted a couple of the Looks dolls and I might repaint model 3 as well. I have a different eyes-thetic, that's all. 

6. I hope the next series of the Barbie Basics will all include bald heads and wigs. They can make them wear hair towels and bath robes if the wigs will drastically increase the price. They can sell the wigs as fashion packs.

 

How far will your US$35 go?

I got everything from the above photo for a total of less than US$35 -- one doll and 2 fashion sets. Mattel is selling the 45th Anniversary Black Barbie for the same price. That's one doll with less articulation and a fashion set. 

With high inflation rates all over the world, I wonder how Mattel will survive with Chinese brands as competition. Not by short-changing their customers, I hope. Wait until you learn how much the executives and  the CEO from Mattel get.

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Please note that while I patronize the Chinese brand, because it's a more economical option, I am against the Chinese government in invading our territories.

I'm not really a fan of the Xianxian doll heads. All, but one, of my Xianxian dolls have been body donors. Even if I am liking them so far, I have enough of the current skin tones. If there will be new skin tones available, a tan or a darker one, I'd buy those in an instant. I'm not gonna rebody all of my dolls. I still like some body diversity.