Ramblin' on...

Current Mood : Head hurts. Sorry for yet another barely coherent ramble...

Was thinkin’ about stuff…what the heck, my head always hurts when I try to think with it, and since I already had a minor headache, might as well use it. I was thinking of why it was so easy for me to abandon Barbie, when she’d been a part of my life since Malibu -   Christmas ’71. It seems as though MH took over before I was even aware of it. I’d always thought I’d have the first four ghouls, then Ghoulia, and that’d be it. Although I really wanted Deuce, I didn’t want Cleo, and despite how loved she was, I didn’t see much difference, personality-wise, between Cleo and Clawdeen, and she was the last of the ‘Signature’ or ‘Basic’ line that I got. I honestly thought, in Fall 2010, that once I had Ghoulia, my MH hunting / collecting days were over. And that eventually, I’d go back to Barbie, once these flashy new interlopers faded a bit. I mean, I didn’t truly enjoy high school when I was in it, why was I immersing m’self and most available cash in a whole environment of it ?

Of course, I didn’t stop to think then. There were dolls to catch, and I was on ‘em like a demented bloodhound. Not sure if being so sick in 2011 added to it or just loosed the reins, but for whatever reason, I got addicted to the hunt, as well. And the characters somehow became more diverse, but more the same, too. It’s kind of anime-ish, since most dolls share a signature look no matter how many head molds are out there –  heck, you can hardly tell the cast of Sailor Moon apart in the manga without a hairstyle guide. In most girl-oriented anime and manga, if a character shows up in something other than her ponytail, bow, or waist-length curls, it’s actually confusing. It’s not that bad with MH, since there are so many yet-unused skin colors, but it’s difficult to portray subtleties in a black-and-white comic book.

Now I’m slowing down, along with most of the older MH community, from burnout and over-saturation, at least on my end of the block. There’s also the ‘fewer funds available’ thing, too. I adore the imagination and engineering that goes into the playsets and love the tiny details I can’t yet duplicate on the clothes. But I’m enjoying the challenge of sewing my own more than just buying additional – if it wasn’t difficult or challenging or just plain time consuming to make our own doll shoes, Mattel would probably post a loss in the next quarter.

Even with the slowdown, though, I still haven’t returned to Barbie. Haven’t gone back to Princess Dorrie, Timey Tell, or Elphie, either. I’m sure I will eventually, as they’re all the doll categories I kept. So much has changed in two years of MH-rule at Chez Insanity…but I have to say this, it hasn’t been boring ! That’s the conclusion I reached for Barbie. Since Mattel has to straddle adult collectors and kids, not to mention parents and investors, I think a lot of the creativity and just plain fun gets lost in committee. Even the popular Life in the Dreamhouse webisodes aren’t as enjoyable as the MH ones, with stuff going on in the background and in-jokes and sight-gags everywhere. They pull about the same numbers – it’s kinda hard to get a straight comparison, as the first season of MH isn’t on the official channel, but the reposts’ views are pretty up there – still, I haven’t seen Barbie discussion groups that chat about each new webisode.

Anyway. I’m sure I’ll eventually return to Barbie. I’ll sew better for Elphie and Hi, Dottie, too. I can analyze it to death (ha-ha) and still not know exactly what hold, what need MH has and fills for me…but it’ll be fun figuring it out !