Hello everyone! The other day, the official Barbie Instagram showcased a picture of the new Fashionistas coming this year -including a doll in a wheelchair, and a doll with a prosthetic leg!
This has been covered by a whole bunch of media outlets, including USA Today and Teen Vogue, as well as basically everyone on Instagram, so I won’t bother rehashing the details but I just wanted to say -YAY, this is awesome!
I know we had Becky a little while ago, but it’s great that there’s another doll in a wheelchair available for another generation of young girls and boys. And of course, the prosthetic leg is super cool! (Is anybody else thinking of Deandra-The-New-Girl, or is that just me?)
Also, you’ll notice that the Fashionista in the wheelchair has the MTM body -does this mean this she will be our first MTM Fashionista? Or perhaps this was just for the promotional photo… We’ll have to wait and see!
In the comments, I also noticed something interesting regarding the body type of the “Good Vibes Only” doll. After a bit of research, I discovered that yes, there will be a fifth body type!
“[There will be] additional body sizes — a Barbie with a smaller bust and less-defined waist.” -Kim Culmone, Mattel’s vice president of Barbie Design
How cool! Great for a NB character. What is interesting is how Kim says there will be additional body sizes, as in, plural! Instead of just saying ‘an additional body size’ in the singular. Perhaps there are more to come!
And here’s something else I thought was cool -back in 2001, there was a sign language Barbie! It would be great if they reintroduced this again.
I saw this post on the @one6thsense Instagram account -two new playsets are coming soon! A pool float (which is super interesting!) and a couch (which is less interesting, expect for the fact they are showing Life in the Dreamhouse on the television).
Finally, here’s a promotional picture of Barbie as an astronaut. Why? No reason! Just thought it was cool.
Barbie Girl's Dreamhouse 
The wheel chair is nice but the Lammily wheelchair came out first without a doll so you can use it for any 12 inch fashion doll. In the same way that Mattel copied the veey cute Malaville albino doll (a lot cuter than Mattel’s fashionista), they are copying trends started by smaller doll companies. I suppose it’s okay that they’re trying for diversity but it’s interesting that they have the power to get the publicity and credit as a larger company with name brand recognition. It’s true their wheelchair doll came out long before Lammily and the prosthetic leg doll is very cool.
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Ah that’s annoying! I didn’t think about that before, but I totally get what you mean. Mattel gets all the credit for something they didn’t even start! (I think that Becky was such a long time ago so she doesn’t count for as much nowadays.) It was like they just wanted to check how the dolls would perform and then launch their own version later on, sort of how they released the curvy dolls not long after Lammily.
Also, I looked up the Malaville dolls and they’re so nice! Very expressive faces and their hair is beautiful
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Except Lameily has a very weird, unnatural looking, bulky body and a bland, boring face
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I’m so glad Mattel is introducing a Fashionista in a wheelchair! I actually own Becky, the original one from either 1996 or 1997. It’s been a while since we’ve had a doll in a wheelchair, as you mentioned, so it’s great that kids of this new generation have more options.
I’m also curious about the new body types. I’ve been on board for more body diversity since 2016 when the first wave launched, and I think it’s great that they’re expanding on that. It will be good for girls to see a wide variety in the Barbie line and see that beauty comes in all sizes. As someone who has struggled with body acceptance before, I believe we need to spread that message. Mattel is now taking positive steps toward achieving that goal.
Also, have you heard anything about any more planned movies/specials? I’m quite convinced Mattel’s done making Barbie movies (at least for now) but after Dolphin Magic I wonder if they have plans for any Netflix specials? I know they still have Dreamhouse Adventures (which I personally don’t care for) but Dolphin Magic was actually pretty good, and I’d be interested to know what ideas or plans Mattel has for the future.
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I’m curious about the new body types too! This isn’t something I expected at all, so I’m excited to see what they come up with, and how the dolls will look in the other clothing. I wonder if we will get new Ken body types too. (Probably not, since they didn’t make much of a media splash and I rarely hear anybody talking about them IRL.)
I haven’t heard anything about any movies or specials, and honestly? I think they’ve flushed the idea down the toilet and are just gonna focus on Dreamhouse Adventures and YouTube for now. I doubt they’d bother spending money on one full-length Netflix special when they could probably make a whole season of DA for the same cost, y’know?
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So exciting!! I can’t wait to see all these new Barbie things in stores.
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Me too! (sorry for late reply, I forgot to check WordPress lol)
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