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Saturday, February 6, 2016

The New Barbie Bodies

By now, you have probably seen or at least heard of the introduction of the new body types Barbie is offering in its Fashionista line of dolls. They are offering a Curvy body, a Petite body and a Tall body. Probably the most talked about is the "Curvy" body. Many believe that this is a direct response by Mattel in answer to the Lammily doll. If it is, then thank you Lammily! Now, I do own more that one Lammily doll, but I do not like their ad campaign bashing Barbie. I think there is a place in this world for dolls of all sizes and shapes. Bravo Mattel!

Now if you know me at all, I did have to order some in each of the new body styles. Mine arrived Friday and they did not disappoint (except for the fact that they don't have articulation :-( ].  I took some pictures and did some comparisons to other dolls. I will share these with you all and, of course, voice my opinion.

We will start with a photo of all of the new dolls I received.

From L to R: Petite Blue Brocade, Curvy Chambray Chic, Tall White and Pink Pizzazz, Curvy Sweetheart Stripes
I really love the Curvy dolls! Maybe because I am a bit curvy myself! So I compared the Curvy girls to Lammily.

They are all very close to the same height. Chambray Chic has flat feet and Sweetheart Stripes has high heeled feet, but they are not as high as the original Barbie. Lammily, is wearing black mid-heel pumps. Oh, BTW, I put my mini me head on a Lammily body!
Here we have the girls stripped naked! As you can see, the Lammily body has a much longer torso than Curvy Barbie. Also Curvy Barbie has a much more defined waistline. Her legs are also more, well curvy, than Lammily's. 
Now from behind. BTW, I should note that Curvy Barbie could stand on her own as long as she had her shoes on! Visually, it appears that Curvy Barbie has wider hips that Lammily. I did move Curvy Barbies legs out a bit to aid in her standing, but with a narrower stance, her thighs almost touch, which is true for most curvy human ladies!
I swapped Lammily's outfit with Curvy Barbie's outfit. As you can see, it appears that they do not have much trouble sharing clothes. However, because of Lammily's long torso, the dress barely covers her bum and it definitely shows more leg.

Now, without the sweater you can see that the Lammily pants are very loose on Curvy Barbie. They sit rather low at the waste too. Also, when putting Curvy Barbie's dress on Lammily, I had some trouble pulling it over Lammily's hips. Much to my surprise, Lammily's hips are wider even though they don't look that way to the naked eye. I think this is because with the more defined waistline and more shapely legs on Curvy Barbie, She has the illusion of looking like she has wider hips.
Next, I tried on some other Lammily clothes on Barbie. All of the skirts from Lammily were too big for Curvy Barbie. However, there are some pieces that work.

Here, each of my Curvy Barbies are wearing Lammily jackets. They look good, right?

Chambray Chic has on a running suit from Ty Girls that I had purchased for Lammily and Sweetheart Stripes has the suit jacket from Lammily's Rockin' London set.

Next up, is the Petite doll comparisons. I compared Petite Blue Brocade to a hybrid articulated Skipper doll, a Skipper doll with a Simba Supermodel body and a Momoko doll.

L to R: Skipper on Simba Supermodel body, older Skipper on a hybrid articulated Skipper body, Petite Blue Brocade, Wake up Momoko. Petite's hair makes her look taller, but these girls are all pretty close in height, with the Simba Supermodel body being slightly shorter than the rest. We should also note that Petite Blue Brocade has high heeled feet. 
Naked Petites! Petite Barbie has a more mature and defined shape than the Simba Supermodel and the Skipper Hybrid bodies. Momoko has a defined shape, but is slimmer that Petite Barbie. (Note: I had put on some Barbie flat footed tennis shoes on Momoko and need to apply heat to remove them, so I just pulled her pants down!)

From behind, it is easier to see that the Simba Supermodel is shorter. Skipper definitely has a more juvenile body than Petite Barbie and Momoko (sorry, I forgot to move her hair aside) is slimmer)
Now for some clothes sharing. Skipper on the Simba Supermodel body wearing the Blue Brocade dress and Petite Barbie wearing a current Skipper outfit. I think both look very nice.
Petite Barbie in Momoko's top (I couldn't get the pants off because of the shoes, but I don't think they would have fit anyway). Hybrid Skipper in Petite Blue Brocade dress.  I do see some clothes swapping opportunities here. 

Finally, because I often have used a Liv body as a rebody choice for Skipper, I decided to compare these 2 as well. This is Generation Girl Mari on a Liv body. Still some possibilities here!

Now for the new Tall Barbies! 

Left to Right: Barbie Look Sweet Tea, Tall Barbie White and Pink Pizzazz, Fashion Royalty Perfectly Suited Giselle
Giselle is obviously the tallest of the 3, however, she does have high heeled feet. Tall Barbie has flat feet and Sweet Tea has high heeled feet, put is still a little shorter than the new Tall Barbie.  Also, note the differences in their bodies. Both Giselle and Sweet Tea have defined waistlines and shorter torsos. Tall Barbie has a basically strait up and down figure and a long torso. I think you would say she has a boyish figure. 
Here they are from the back. Giselle and Sweet Tea both have shapely behinds while Tall Barbie has a flatter looking butt. I do like the uniqueness of Tall Barbies shape. Someone mentioned that her body reminded them of the Mixis doll bodies, with the straight up and down waist and hips.

The big question is - can they swap clothes?

Tall Barbie and Sweet Tea have traded clothes. Doesn't look too bad, right? Well I could not close the skirt on Sweet Tea skirt on the Tall Barbie body. I haven't tried any regular Barbie clothes on the Tall body yet, but they may be a better fit.


Tall Barbie cannot wear Giselle's pants, but she can wear her jacket (Giselle better keep an eye on her stuff!).  Giselle, on the other hand can wear both pieces and look pretty good in them!

In conclusion, I am loving the direction that Barbie is taking with this new group of dolls. However, I so wish these ladies had articulation! I do think my favorite body of these is the new Curvy body because she is such a departure from what we have seen in the past. Will I body swap any of them? Probably. I see some viable alternatives for both the Petite and the Tall bodies. Of course, this will depend on skin tone matches. I hope that Mattel is just waiting to see how they sell before making a more substantial investment in the bodies. I for one, will do my part and purchase more! I already have my eye on some of them!

To see more of Mattel's new Fashionista body types go to ShopMattel.com.

Thanks for stopping by. And don't forget the winner of Blog Giveaway #2 will be announced tomorrow with Blog Giveaway # 3 not being far behind!


33 comments:

  1. Thank you for the thorough comparison! I haven't ordered yet (yet!). I'm a little dismayed that Tall Barbie is so straight-up-and-down. Curvy Barbie strikes me as the most exciting of the options (not least for the blue hair possibility).

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    1. I am totally thinking I might swap the Tall body with a Sweet Tea body since the skin tone is a very good match and the clothes seem to fit. I agree that the Curvy girl is the most exciting of the bunch!

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  2. Great comparison shots! Thanks so much for this informative post!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your comments!

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  3. Great comparison of all the body types. I am still on the fence about these dolls, not sure if they will joining my little doll world. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You are welcome, Chris. I do always enjoy doing these kinds of posts.

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  4. Cieszę się, że przedstawiłaś nowe ciała Barbie. Bardzo dziękuję za porównanie. Lalek w Polsce jeszcze nie widziałam, ale pewnie wkrótce się pokażą. Bardzo jestem ciekawa, jak prezentują się na żywo :-) Uważam też, że to dobry kierunek, każdy wybiera taką, jaką chce!
    Pozdrawiam serdecznie!

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    1. They are currently only available in the US and from ShopMattel.com. I hear that they might start appearing in stores in March or April. I hope they show up in the international markets soon too.

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  5. Thank you for taking so many comparison photos - I really feel like I have a better sense of these new doll sizes now!

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  6. Thanks, this is exactly what I needed to make my doll choices. I seen Curvy doesn't have the Rosie body, the petite doen't have a skipper body and tall isn't model muse. They gave them new bodies.

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    1. Yes, they all have brand new bodies although there are some clothes sharing possibilities depending on the outfit.

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  7. Great review! I plan to do my part and purchase a few of these ladies, even though there's no articulation. So many of us have been wanting Mattel to add diversity to their bodies. They have done that. I think we need to step up to the plate and be supportive however we can. My Dasia doll isn't articulated, and I've found a way to make her prominent in my doll stories. If Mattel gets the support for these new dolls, maybe they will invest in articulation. I think keeping the price point low is important for this first wave. Parents are much more likely to spend $10 on a doll than $19 on a doll. Thanks again for the thorough review.

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    1. Can't wait to see what ones you decide to buy. I agree about Mattel wanting to keep the price point low at this point, but I do hope we see some articulation in the future.

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  8. BTW, do They have bendable knees?

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    1. Unfortunately, no. They have stiff knees like the current line of regular Fashionistas.

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  9. Thank you for the comparisons! If you turned curvy Barbie and Lammily to the side, I think you'd have discovered where the butt bulk was hidden. I don't have either of them, but I remember Lammily's profile had a lot of butt.

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  10. My curvy dolls haven't arrived yet so it was great to see what the new curvy body looks like. Thanks for the review.

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  11. Thank you very much for this post, it's great to see the actual bodies! The body types are very realistic, Mattel did a wonderful job.

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    1. Linda, you disappeared! Hope everything is ok.

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  12. Wonderful comparison post! I just received my blonde curvy girl yesterday, but haven't taken her out of the box yet. I pre-ordered a few more, but now after seeing your beautiful tall brunette, I want to get her as well! I love these new Fashionistas this year...I think they all have such beautiful faces and it's fun seeing the new body shapes! I think I prefer the curvy Barbie over Lammily because she's more hourglass shaped.

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    1. I just wish the Barbie Curvy girl had some articulation. It is like in life, we all have different shapes and sizes! That's what makes us all so interesting!

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  13. I don't collect this kind of doll, but I still find your post to be quite interesting and informative. I prefer curvy Barbie over Lammily. However, "tall" Barbie looks more like a 13-year old with her straight torso. As a playline doll, I suppose that's what Mattel was aiming for. But I don't understand all of the hype over the "wide variety of skin tones and hairstyles." I already have Barbies (Barbie Basics and So-In-Style dolls) in a wide variety of skin tones and hairstyles ranging from kinky, natural hair, short Afros to long blond curls. In fact the black Barbie featured in your post has the exact same head and hair as So-In-Style "Chandra" Barbie. Thank you for putting together such an informative post. I enjoy these.

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  14. Thanks for the comparison, I was wondering how Petite compared to old Skipper and Simba Super Model. (I think they would be more similar in height if Petite didn't have high-heel feet.)

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    1. I have a flat-footed petite body now and you are right, they are the same height as the Skipper body. The Petite body is more mature!

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  15. Great to see some comparison pictures. The tall Barbie body is a bit more rectangular than I would have expected but it is a common body shape so I guess that is what they were aiming for. I really like the curvy body though and I do hope they add articulation sometime soon.

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    1. I have rebodied the tall body on the Barbie Look Sweet Tea body.

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  16. Surprised you were able to get Curvy Barbie clothes to fit Lammily! I certainly wasn't able to get Blue Curvy's skirt over Lammily's butt/hips, haha

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  17. Wow, I didn't realize they didn't at least have click knees. Hmm. That rather changes my desire for any.

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