Best of 2020 - Before the Countdown - Let's Hear It For Barbie!

2020 will always be remembered as a very challenging and difficult year.   I've made it almost through a pandemic and continued to teach elementary school (face to face with students for the past four months!). 

I believe many collectors turned to their hobby for escape from the pressures of the world.  With so many "sheltering in place", there were no restaurants, no movie theaters, no place to go.  So ... we stayed home and played with dolls!

When Integrity Toys (IT) was not putting dolls into collectors' hands, Mattel was able to step it up this year.  (Note:  All photos property of Mattel.)

What a great year for Mattel!  Many of these dolls could've made it into my Top 10 list this year!  Let's take a quick walk down memory lane ...

Sadly, Mattel failed at their attempt to add articulation to their Silkstone line.  Let's face it, many Silkstone collectors stayed with the line because they liked the original body style.  Collectors who wanted the articulation, didn't like Mattel's interpretation.  It was a mess and no one seemed happy.  While celebrating its 20 year anniversary, Mattel decided that 2020 would be the last year for the Silkstone collection.  I was able to grab my favorite from the 2020 releases, The Best Look.  (BTW, Silkstone ensembles look great on the East 59th Street girls!)

Last year, I actually put the flagship collection of BMR1959 as #2 in my Best of 2019 Countdown.  Collectors loved the diversity of this line, which combined modern interpretations of Barbie characters and Made To Move bodies.   Mattel gave us a second round in 2020 with four new dolls.  All of these were phenomenal (Ken and Midge deserve a special shout-out; they easily could've ranked higher on my list)!

We have a terribly cute, pale skin, redhead male with freckles!

There was a tall girl ...

A short black girl ...

And an amazing doll using the Midge mold (those heavy eyebrows were controversial, but so many fans loved her "in spite of" or "because of" them). 

Just when we thought articulation and funky dolls were exclusive to the BMR1959 line, Mattel throws us a new line called "BarbieExtra".

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

WOW!  These ensembles look great on Poppy and The Industry bodies.  But the dolls truly stand well in a collection on their very own.  They all came on articulated bodies (but would have been perfect had they been on Made To Move bodies).

Speaking of articulated dolls, we got a whole series of Barbies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

There was climbing:

Baseball:

Skate Boarder:

Surfing:

And Kick Boxing:

Mattel continued to surprise their Fashionista fans with some very cool dolls.

A couple standouts from this line were

#135 Barbie with vitiligo

#150  Barbie with alopecia

#154 A lavender haired ken

And #164 A black Ken with shaved sides to his hairstyle (my favorite fashionista of 2020).

And the striped dress on #147 should be on everyone's radar.  It looks great on every doll I tried on it on.

Another doll whose ensemble was a must was Hudson Bay Barbie!

Then we have the PUMA clothing line!  How many collectors spent the first few weeks of 2020 haunting Walmart to acquire this entire collection?!

If vintage was your thing, then we have the reproduction of The Barbie Dreamhouse, complete with a gorgeous reproduction platinum bubble and three reproduction ensembles!

The final group of dolls truly showed Mattel's innovative thinking.  Who would've thought of dressing Barbie as male Star Wars characters?  These dolls were truly amazing!  Here is only a sampling of four dolls offered (not shown are Darth Vader, Princess Leia, or R2D2).

There was a lot of strong Mattel product this year, and the offerings were quite diverse.  I think there was a little something for everyone.  (And you could probably buy everything in this post for less than you might pay for one Poppy Parker on secondary market!)

Since several of these found their way to my house, Mattel and Barbie definitely deserve a place in my countdown.  

Best of 2019 - #2

In a lackluster year for Integrity Toys (IT), another doll manufacturer decided to wake up the collecting community - for that matter it stirred up the general public as a whole.  

For old farts like me, these can be very confusing times.  Technology is moving so rapidly it's nearly impossible to keep up.   Societal changes are pushing boundaries and demanding more open-mindedness and tolerance.  Fortunately, I believe the more educated one is (in all things), the better off one will be.  Fear is a product of ignorance, ignorance is nothing more than the lack of educating oneself.

"Non-binary" is a new term in our vocabulary.  It seems young adults have evolved beyond gender definition.  People are demanding to be met on their own terms.  It's a very exciting and interesting time in our history.

I had always considered Mattel (the parent company of Barbie) to be extremely traditional.  After all, they have actually helped define gender roles for over half a century!  I shared in the general surprise when Mattel forged ahead in this area in 2019.  Earlier this year, Mattel introduced the first "gender-neutral dolls".   These dolls could be accessorized as either male, female, or gender neutral.  (Photo property of Mattel)

I was very impressed with this concept; however, the dolls did not fit into my collection as a whole.  (Not because of theme, but because of shape and size.)

Mattel kept forging ahead - the next big surprise of 2019 was the BMR1959™ line.  I understand that the name given this line celebrates the year that Barbie® was first introduced to the world and suggests a celebration of 60 years of doll production, but this line of dolls couldn't be any further from the traditional norms of Barbie®.

Collectors have been begging for Fashionistas to be put on the Made to Move Barbie® bodies for years.  I love the articulation and first blogged about these when they were released over four years ago (Link to my review: Made to Move Barbie Review.)  Unfortunately, most of the Made to Move dolls are sports-inspired or yoga dolls.

The "BMR1959™" mini capsule was packaged in brown FSC certified shoeboxes made from materials that have been responsibly sourced and feature a fashion sketch of each doll by their designer, Carlyle Nuera.

The outside of the box states "The BMR1959™ collection celebrates the fashion heritage of Barbie® and showcases how current trends influence the brand.  These bold, fully posable dolls capture the diverse looks found in today's street wear culture.  From high-low fashion fixes, re-imagined '90's gear to juxtaposed patterns, textures, and silhouettes, this curated ensemble is all about personal expression and style."

When you open the shoebox, the dolls inside are packaged quite well.

Here is what they look like in the boxes - each doll has a different interior color.

And closeups of their faces!

This is what diversity is all about.  There are different body types, different ethnicities, different genders, and different preferences.  The ensembles are very vibrant and exciting.  What an amazing way to celebrate the 60th birthday of another "old fart."   This is a very positive step forward for Mattel!

With the cute packaging, cool clothing, and Made to Move bodies, the retail on each doll is $29.99.  After Thanksgiving, each doll went on sale for $19.99 online (Amazon, Target, and Walmart).  I got all six, shipped to my home, for less than the cost of one doll by Integrity Toys!

Best of 2019 - #2 goes to Mattel for being so forward thinking on Barbie's 60th birthday by modeling tolerance to both children and adults and celebrating beauty in all its shapes and forms!