Saturday, July 25, 2015

2015 Water Play Nikki, my first Barbie doll purchase in over a year

I got up early this morning to grab the new 2015 Bratz.  Their "nationwide" debut was a bust for me, I saw nothing, not even a shelf tag.  You can look at pictures of them here or here.  I doubt they will be scalped the way Monster High is, it's just an issue of waiting.



Anyway, a few weeks back, I bought a Barbie doll for the first time in over a year.  It's Water Play Nikki.  She has bright, sparkling eyes and a sweet expression.  She's fresh-faced, and has sweet neutral colors.  It's also the first big head Desiree sculpt I've ever bought.  The eyes are printed lower on the face than usual, it made all the difference in the world to me.


The body turned out to be even worse than expected, obviously the molded suit makes it impossible to easily re-dress, and the legs are hollow hard plastic.  The arm ball joints were taken away, and the neck knob has also been re-engineered so she can only look side to side.  It was only $5, but it seems spiteful.

 The head also has some nicks in the vinyl, the largest is on the ear, there's a smaller one over the upper lip that isn't as noticeable.  And there's a bit of detritus (or two) embedded in the surface of the vinyl on her cheek.  It's also full of drippy glue, though at least the hair is saran.

I'm still pretty happy with it, overall.  She needs a new body.  I found out recently the face paint template will be reused on other dolls, but there's no guarantee I'll see one of those with centered eyes.  The beach dolls are cheap and plentiful, I got to cherry pick the best from a dozen.  I like her, despite the flaws.





4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Her face is very sweet, I like the happy expression. I look forward to see her with the new body you are going to give her!

jSarie said...

Shame about the body, but she really does have a fabulous face!

MissSpottyJane said...

Thanks! I love the face, so finding a new body is something I'm actively trying to do.

danipanda said...

I have all these dolls! They remind my of the 2001 palm beach line! I personally dont mind the molded swimsuits and i havent had any trouble dressing them. I like the Summer doll best cause off her peach bathing suit. I like the colors they come with. My nikki has smaller eyes than this one and they are a little closer together. I however do hope to see fabric swimsuits on the next beach line