Don't we all think of swimwear in January ? Part II !

Current Mood : Beachy ! 

Whoo-hoo ! What a great day ! As you can see, Abbey's swimsuit arrived - rrrowr ! It really is amazing. In Abbey's packaging description, it mentions that the ice crystal necklace she wears keeps her at a comfortable temperature without freezing less artic-enthused students. So I leave it on her all the time, even though Cleo's info says she has to keep parts of herself 'under wraps' constantly, I haven't put those bandage-pieces back on her yet. What can I say, I'm inconsistent.

Anyway. I really do have more vivid purple shoes for the Monster High ghouls, but they simply didn't look right with the outfit this time. So I went with the semi-translucent lavender. It's great when you can take a half hour and try on a dozen or so shoes on a doll 'til you find the 'right' ones. Abbey's issue necklace doesn't quite sit right with the tie-halter of the swimsuit - at least that's what I thought. As it turns out, the suit has the cutest little tiny crystal sewn to it already ! So if you wanted, you could assume that crystal and the necklace do the same thing, and take it off. You know I did ! Also, from photos, I assumed that the waistband of her little wrap/sarong was simply white elastic. Nope - it's fun fur ! Yet another thing indicated in her 'monster style' info/bio. And her swimsuit print, which sort of looks like yer often-seen tropical flowers design, is really snowflakes ! Wow. Lot of attention to detail here - it's wonderful, and I love it !

Before long I started thinking - which is probably why it suddenly got so cold around here. Wonder what the temperature is in H*ll ? Anyway. These are tiny little things that impress the heck out of me. A little bit of plastic, a thin strip of fur - not much, and almost effortless to include. But it does indicate Mattel going a bit out of its way to really 'plus' everything. This truly impresses me, and it hits me. If Mattel can do this for a fledgling line of dolls, why can't they do it for Barbie ? And, since clearly they can, why aren't they ?

Well, 'cause they don't have to. Mattel's got us former and current Barbie fans not only used to less and less from them, but sort of expecting such. Thin dresses with a nice print on only the front side. Fashion packs with no accessories when even Dollar Store doll clothes include cheap-jack shoes and semi-useable and in-scale cosmetics. We're used to crap tactics because we haven't seen much else in a long, long time, and we long-time collectors / fans know the bar will probably be set lower long before it gets reset higher. Probably eventually, we'll see the same shrug-off attitude applied to Monster High...but for now, nearly every tiny thing made for MH is plussed and well-imagined.

Even non-MH fans have noticed. When someone posts another adorable photo of the latest doll and all the tiny things that make him/her special, the Barbie communities sigh and weaken a bit. THIS is what's missing from Barbie ! This is what she needs besides more 'princess, ballerina, and PC-friendly career' stuff. It's nice, and I'm sure it sells, but right now, is there anything more boring than Barbie ? Has anything truly new come out for her - that isn't tech, and can be used with yer standard $5. swimsuit doll - lately ?

I just wish sometimes that Barbie was still special. Let's face it, it's much easier to find shoes for every outfit for her !