The other day, as I was thinking about the Barbie Looks dolls and the glimmer of hope that Mattel wants to actually give adult doll people things they want (basic well articulated dolls well suited for redressing and getting multiples to switch heads or customise or whatever) and I thought it’s a shame they aren’t investing in the future collector market.

I can buy a lot of collector dolls released in the 90s for less than they retailed for, but I sometimes struggle to replace (or finally obtain longed for) childhood dolls for a human price because they’ve become collectors items themselves. Some playline dolls from past eras became iconic enough to get the reproduction treatment like Malibu, Peaches and Cream and Totally Hair Barbie. Not having been a child for A Bit, I can’t be sure, but has there been a Barbie released in the last ten years that will send people in 20 years feral with nostalgia? Life in the Dreamhouse dolls felt like the last really nice quality thing. The Midge from that line brought me back to buying Barbie again after years of hating everything in magenta and not liking the faces or general vibe. I’m not sure quality is always what fuels a doll becoming a kind of mini phenomenon, but without perspective of being In It like I was for the media landscape of doll advertising in the 90s, I don’t know of any Barbie that just made kids go wild.

Can’t imagine anyone desperate to get a Color Reveal doll in 20 years because of the doll itself. Can imagine someone wanting it to do the sparkle swirly water thing again, but not masses of people looking to buy used ones on eBay. So many non Fashionistas are the same sculpt, same screening, same hair.

Considering they’re targeting a younger demographic with Barbie now than when I was Barbie’s target, maybe it’s moot. Maybe people will not be looking for the stuff they had at age 3 as much as age 9. I still think about what Barbie dolls ten year olds now will be trying to buy and thinking there’s almost nothing iconic or classic I can imagine being worth bothering for.