Bratz dolls are Back 2010! This is also their 10th Anniversary!

Bratz are here! Take a peek at them!

http://www.bratz.com

There are so many different opinions about these dolls! Woo! So many!

One of the main concerns is

1) Lack of an edgy, outrageous approach, unlike the 2005 Bratz dolls.

This is my answer to that…so what? That was not the Bratz original style. In fact, that is when the Bratz LOST all of their diversity and originality. They DROPPED the Fashion Passions altogether because the lines became so intermingled with one another, they couldn’t come up with quality styles for each of the Bratz. Of course, there’s only so much individuality you can have before you just run out of ideas, but at least have one line that expresses the individual style. Freestyle a little. I’m talking about lines like Style It, Xpress It, 1st Edition, Formal Funk…those kinds of lines where the Bratz had distinct fashion styles that they expressed. And the the themes allowed them the freedom to express their fashion passions.

We don’t want a repeat of 2005, we want a repeat of 2001-2004.

2) Lack of articulation

Did the Bratz ever have articulation? That’s what made the Bratz popular. The Bratz got new bodies now and so people said they didn’t see “articulation”. They said the feet aren’t as big, and the bodies don’t have curves…but the two dolls they saw had baggy clothes on and short hair cuts and three-inch shoes…They looked urban.

3) Bad quality material

I have to admit this is also my concern. Of course, we have to wait a while. MGA is spending a lot of money on Moxie Girls, and have just gotten over the court case. They probably don’t have the money they used to.

4)No creativity with the fashions and make-up

Don’t know. Because this is only the first line, and only one outfit we saw, I can’t really say. But so far the Bratz look like they are right in style. Of course, no one can replace Carter Bryant. He probably had a huge hand in the make-up of Bratz. But hey, to me the Bratz look okay. Of course, I would like to see more make-up.

People were mad about the eyes, but I like the glossy approach.

So take a look at it, look out for it in stores, and look at the commercials and TV spots after this week!

I personally grew up with the Bratz dolls. My generation was actually the generation that they were directing these dolls to. At some point in generation next, more than any generation before us, we had a hard time playing with just ANY toys. In fact, our generation was tired of the glitzy, glam Barbie, the same old Blonde and pink, no diversity, no edge (which I think this generation is retreating into AGAIN). But as the generation of “Scorpios”, as Generation Next is also known, we just were attracting to the darker side of things, edgier music like punk rock, and into the hidden issues of things, not the surface of everything. We were not superficial, neither were we completely into the “fake” outer shell of Barbie.

Basically, to us, she was a plastic blonde bimbo, who believed she could do anything, especially with her unrealistic body, like big boobs and a tiny waist, and everything being pink including the “Barbie car” and the “Barbie mansion”. And what black, Asian, Native American, or Latin can relate to that kind of girl? None. Even the dolls that were supposed to represent diversity proved less than adequate to Barbie. Who even remembers any of their names? They all wore the same outfit as Barbie except in a different color.

Well, actually the problem wasn’t even only that. Some of the “still-superficial idiots” dumped Barbie, the original bimbo, for a new one, Britney Spears. Critics and Analysts alike realized more girls were buying CDs instead of dolls, especially with the rise of teeny, bubblegum pop music and CD players, and even…*gasp back then* Mp3 players.

And even today, barely anyone buys dolls….unless it has some pop singer’s face on it.

Back then, all doll companies took up a challenge. All companies were competing to bring tweens back into the doll world. All were trying to create dolls that fit the generation that would be Y2K. 21st Century kids needed something fresh, something new, something that fit how far the world has come. We needed a dolls line that was trendy.

For some time, the only doll company who had any measure of success with reaching tweens in even a small way was Mattel and their lines of Generation Girl Barbie and Diva Starz. And even though they were popular for a little while, they only lasted each about three years or four. Zodiac Girls had a small success and Mystikats. But none of the dolls could beat out the pop star Britney Spears….

In 2000, when I was 10, I happened to stumble upon a website that had this urban beat, and these urban-looking girls, with sneak peeks at the clothing. The website was under construction, but I’ll never forget the song. Because it had this “come on” in between every Bratz outfit. At first I thought it was going to be a cartoon, but then…

In 2001 a commercial came onto the screen that was like this:

I liked the urban tone, but was shocked when I saw them! I immediately went back to my computer that year, and saw that the site had finally been constructed. It was the dolls that I fell in love with. They had sass, diversity, urban originality, and they were just….everything Barbie was NOT. They represented the girls of the 21st Century, Generation Next: Edgy, dark, diverse…girls who didn’t follow the norm, but did their own thing. Girls who took risks. It represented the many styles that were becoming popular at the Turn of the Century. And most of all, it gave Mattel the first run for their money EVER since their debut.

Bratz was a creative edition to the doll world. At first, Bratz didn’t do so well the first holiday season, but unlike most doll companies, MGA had nothing else to work with. They had gotten a good designer on their team, and they didn’t give up. I had first started joining online fan groups back then, and I thought it was cool (never knew about Myspace and Facebook or WordPress, I was on Yahoo Groups the biggest Bratz area at the time ;p). I would keep up with ALL the details.

Then the next summer they released Funk N’ Glow, and it was over. The Bratz boomed in the markets. After that, all the wannabe copies came. The only one that even proved to be measurable was Myscene, which was liked for their beauty, realistic look, and City-like soap-opera webisodes. They were the first to do it, now LIV is doing it…and they weren’t kiddie episodes either. They were very mature. Bratz didn’t really get all into that. They were not a doll line to imitate, though they did imitate the movie deal. But the movie was NOTHING like the others, Bratz the Video Starrin and Stylin.

Of course there’s a price you pay for fame. When too many people start to know you and love you, of course, eventually you lose your identity and what originally made you popular. A new generation was coming into the mix. The “Sagittarius” generation, who is still the tweens of today, are running the show. And though they are very diverse, they lack the same edge and intense approach we have. They are much more freedom-oriented, diverse, open-minded, mutable, and often VERY superficial. They are blinded by fame and glory, so the cheesy, smiley Barbie might be right up their alley. And the type of Bratz they liked was the 2005 ones, where Bratz lost their identities in Rock Angelz and Dynamite, until the point they dropped the Bratz Passion Fashions altogether, but got PLENTY of attention. They can be a bit rebellious, but they don’t mind conventional either.

Well, then there was this ongoing battle between Mattel and MGA on who had the rights of the Bratz dolls. At first all seemed to be going in Mattel’s favor to the point Bratz were to be removed from shelves by 2009…but then, something miraculous happened. A new case opened up in the Appeals Court, and MGA won the rights to Bratz once again!

I mean really, what would Mattel do with the Bratz but throw them away? Nobody would buy a Mattel-owned Bratz because Mattel lacks what Bratz had: an Iranian CEO.