It has been quiet here this month, because a lot has been going on in my working life. I’ve been spending a lot of time staring at the screen, updating links and distribution channels for my books – which means not much sewing or knitting has been going on. I’m getting to the end of that project, though, so decided to treat myself to some new girls.

Mattel introduced five Barbie Basics dolls this year, which went on sale earlier this month. They have the made-to-move articulated bodies and I ordered three of them. Here’s the whole collection – the images are linked to the landing pages on the Mattel website:

They are a mix of made-to-move body types, although it’s not that easy to see as much from my screen shots. Doll 1 is MTM Original; doll 2 is MTM Original; doll 3 is MTM Tall; doll 4 is MTM Petite; doll 5 is MTM Curvy. And they have different face sculpts: doll 1 is Kit; doll 2 is Karl; doll 3 is Claudette; doll 4 is Kayla/Lea; doll 5 is Heide.

And here are my new girls:

The MTM Original is the same body sculpt as my redhead Barbie Looks 20, but these girls have much (MUCH) nicer hair. It’s not rooted as thickly as on the Looks 20 doll but it’s a lot softer. Why these three? I wanted #2 since I love the Karl face sculpt. I love the tall girl’s burgundy hair and was curious to see how tall she would be. (She’s tall! I love how regal she is.) And I always have to get the redhead. It’s a thing. I mean, she has freckles. How cute is that?

You can see that I unfastened the hair on two of them. There are always these plastic things holding the doll’s head into the package – when you cut them off, the stem remains, so I took down their hair to pull out the stem with tweazers. The blonde’s hair looks good down IMO and I like that it has a mauve-blue halo. The tall girl kinda needs her hair tied back again, but I’m deciding whether I should try to comb it out first. (What will it do if I do? Tough call. It might just frizz out instead of staying in little curls. Hmm.)

The quality of them is fine but not fantastic. The tall girl had a sticky elbow, but I managed to coax it into bending. Their dresses are kind of meh – velcro fastening on the backs, unlined and pretty plain – but the finishing on the bodies is disappointing. The tall girl, particularly, has marks that look like blemishes on her arms and legs – I suspect the colour of her “skin” makes the shortfalls of the finishing more apparent. I saw the same on the last Silkstone I bought, so wasn’t that surprised.

I do need to find an alternative stand for my girls, in both sizes. The crotch stands that come with the Tonner girls and the Silkies aren’t as stable as would be ideal. Sometimes a girl tips right off and falls, and I worry that the ones made of harder materials might chip. These girls came with those plastic stands that have waist clips. Invariably, I break the waist clip, snapping off one end while trying to get a doll into it. The riser for the blonde girl had bent, as well, just as the one for the Looks 20 girl did. Both of bent in transit (probably due to heat) so that the riser is on an angle when you assemble the stand. The doll tips forward instead of standing straight up. There has to be another alternative, so if you know one, please let me know. 🙂

All issues aside, I do think they’re pretty and am really looking forward to dressing them. 🙂