Mini Barbieland toys are popping up everywhere, and I can’t remember the last time a Barbie range has made me so happy. I love all things miniature, so mini doll houses and dolls satisfy two of my collecting passions. I do wonder why Mattel hasn’t done a range like this earlier. They have produced miniature Barbie dolls in the past, but the Barbieland range includes dolls, houses, vehicles and accessories, a little bit like the Polly Pocket range, but without the wee compacts that house Polly and her world.
Mini Barbieland currently includes three houses, all based on real Barbie houses albeit with some modifications. They have working lifts (elevators) doors that open, a couple of pieces of furniture and all come with a mini doll and pet. I chose the largest – and pinkest – house as it reminds me most of the Barbieland houses in Barbie the Movie. It came with a mini Totally Hair Barbie, a little dog house and dog, secreted away in a little pink box. There’s a movable swinging chair, a bed and a slide down to a tiny swimming pool. There are little heart shaped depressions where the dolls can be attached securely, but of course they will stand and sit (or lie) anywhere, but will be prone to falling over. The door opens, the dolls slide into the pool smoothly and the bed is just the right length. It’s just so much fun.
There are five vehicle and accessory sets including cars, a plane and a boat. I couldn’t resist the camper van, which comes with a mini doll that seems to be Brooklyn and the jeep and tent which comes with a possible mini Malibu doll. The roof of the camper is removable (and becomes a pool) and the doors open. The dolls sit comfortably in the camper and the jeep and seem to be a much better scale and fit than full sized dolls.
There are four ranges of mini dolls, all are blind box, but there is a code stamped on the inside bottom of the packaging, to avoid doubling up, just keep a record of the codes. Some dolls do have two codes each, but a quick search of the net should reveal cheat sheets, or again to avoid doubles, buy only the codes starting with the same number (usually a 0 or a 1).
The Cutie Reveal dolls come in little plastic tubes just like their full sized counter parts. There is a little heart shaped hole in the top of the tube, but as the dolls are in a plastic bag inside the tube, it’s sometimes hard to tell what you’re getting, so it’s better to use the codes. The dolls come with the tiniest little matching toy, only a few millimetres high and easily lost. They have squishy plastic removable animal heads, and these present a bit of a concern. This sort of plastic often becomes sticky and sometimes melts hard plastic, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on the heads.
Colour Reveal dolls come in clear plastic tubes with a printed removable wrapper, again just like the full sized dolls. Instead of peeling the wrapper off my doll, I carefully cut around the lid with a blade, so I could remove the lid while leaving the container intact for use in a shopping or Christmas diorama. The dolls are painted and need to be submerged in hot water in their tubes, or in my case under the tap to reveal their features. Very much fun.
The Pop Reveal dolls come in a clear plastic lidded cup in a cardboard wrapper. Inside the lid is a squishy plastic coloured dome – that I haven’t yet worked out the point of – and they also come with a straw. It’s easy to put it all back together again once the doll is removed for use in future dioramas.
Finally, there’s a range of itty bitty Fashionistas that come in plastic lipstick tubes, and here is my only real criticism. The lipsticks are quite useless once the dolls are removed. Kids may find some play value, but I would have much preferred a little plastic box or tube that could be used in doll sized play. Nevertheless, the dolls are identical to their full sized counterparts meaning my dolls can have mini versions of themselves and I love it.
And of course, this whole range is the perfect size for dioramas of dolls playing with dolls.
Next week a look at other miniature dolls.
Don’t forget, I’m now on Instagram – @jenjoysworld(and a non-doll photo art account @jenniferbs_world). There’ll be some unique content and behind the scenes stuff, so head over and follow.
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