Talk to me about Barbie dolls

[KpbS]

Are you yay or nay on Barbies? My DD has never shown much interest, but lately she has been flip flopping about if she is interested or not in them. I'm not a huge fan of Barbie (her materialism, her ridiculous proportions, her emphasis on fashion/always looking cute) but I know in recent years the brand has tried to address some of these concerns with Barbies of varying body types, career Barbies, etc. I was looking at a scientist Barbie the other day who was a "curvy" Barbie. This would appeal to my DD and then I realized that this scientist Barbie wouldn't fit in many (most?) of the traditional Barbie clothes sold since she has a completely different body type, eg larger thighs etc.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about it all.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have zero problem with Barbie. It's a toy!! I have many good memories playing with Barbie for hours and hours. Yes, she's "materialistic" but, again, it's a toy. She has cool stuff. I've never understood the passionate opposition to a toy doll.


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[trcy]

I don't love them but DD has them. She recently got over 20 of them, plus an insane amount of accessories from a family friend who's child was no longer playing with them. She doesn't play with them much and I am going to be significantly downsizing her collection in the very near future. I'll let her keep a few favorite dolls and accessories.


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[mom2binsd]

I loved Barbie as a kid 40 years ago, never grew up with body issues because of her, saved all of my Barbie's and my DD had little interest in them. DD actually rarely played with dolls of any type.

I would wait and see if she shows interest in any of them and go from there. I think it's best not to overthink some of this stuff.

[squimp]

I would follow her lead. I loved Barbies but my kiddo had absolutely no interest whatsoever. I took the money I would have spent on Barbie and transferred it to the American Girl store, LOL.

[georgiegirl]

I wouldn't worry too much. I loved Barbies back in the day. DD played with them for less than a year (never really into them or any type of doll but got several for her birthday party one year.). My boys liked them more. But I got rid of them because I didn't like spending my time putting the clothes on them (since it was too difficult for the boys.)

[AnnieW625]

I have zero problem with Barbie. It's a toy!! I have many good memories playing with Barbie for hours and hours. Yes, she's "materialistic" but, again, it's a toy. She has cool stuff. I've never understood the passionate opposition to a toy doll.


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Yes to this. My Dd1 donated her Barbies to charity when she was about 7 or 8 because she never really liked them and never played with them; it was her choice. My DD2 has a Catwoman (Julie Newmar era) Barbie that she wanted the year she was 3 for Christmas (I got a Barbie catalog and she said she wanted Catwoman), and Elsa and Anna like Barbie and a few other random barbies she has gotten for her birthday and they don't get a lot of play, but she keeps them in one place and plays with them from time to time.

I had no body issues from all my years of Barbie play. They were fun and I played with them from 4 or 5 until I was 11 (I had a full set of Barbie & the Rockers, plus the stage).


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[sariana]

Ditto PPs about playing with Barbies as a child without issues. My sister and I created all kinds of wonderful stories for them.

I also try to support companies that listen to their customers and make changes. I wouldn't buy Barbies only for that reason, but if you're inclined to get some anyway, it's a great way to thank the company for responding to their customers' concerns.

[hbridge]

I never really played wit Barbie growing up, but my sister did. All I wanted was the townhouse with the elevator...the elevator was so cool!!! However, DH was absolutely opposed to Barbie on many levels and made his opposition known to DD. The day she wanted to check out a Barbie movie from the library and asked if we could "just not tell daddy", I knew it was too restrictive. So I convinced DH to giver her the Barbie Vet. She played with it a few times, but was more interested in the animals it came with than the doll. We had a few Barbies over the years, but they were never a favorite toy and were not played with much.

DD does have the entire collection of American Girl mini-dolls and switches their outfits around regularly.

Honestly, I don't think you can go a whole childhood with a girl and not own at least one Barbie... DH wanted to and he tried :)!

[klwa]

The clothes they sell now as add ons generally have marking showing which Barbie the clothes fit. Most of the ones I've found in the cheap bin at Walmart now show that they'll fit all the types. (Generally just slip on dresses, etc.) So while she might not fit in the clothes other Barbies come in, she should fit in a lot of the little clothing pieces that you can find.

Honestly, I've never had a problem with Barbie. I had them growing up, and really had fun playing with them. I'm not an overly materialistic person and definitely not into fashion, so I didn't play with them that way. Yes, I changed their clothes for "date night" or to "go to school". But that was it. And listening to my girls play with them now, that's how they treat them. I think you get from Barbie what you put into Barbie and nothing else. It's just a doll that happens to look like an (exaggerated) adult.

[anonomom]

I'm kind of "meh" on Barbie. I had Barbies as a kid and really liked some of them (I mean, kissing Barbie. What kid wouldn't love that!), but they weren't super important to me. My kids appear to be the same way -- we neither encouraged nor discouraged Barbie, and they each had a few that never really got played with. They went through a phase of liking the various Barbie movies and they still watch the show on Netflix. It just never translated to being interested in the dolls.

[lizzywednesday]

I'm not fond of them. I had them as a kid because my paternal grandparents gave them to my cousins and me in an effort to demonstrate we were all loved equally, but they weren't toys I was either interested in or asked for, which was different from my cousins, who loved them. (They had the Dreamhouse with the elevator.)

DD didn't get her first actual Barbie until this past March, when she received one as a "party favor" at a Girl Scout event, but she has Anna and Elsa dolls and a Poison Ivy DC Superhero Girls doll, in addition to a collection of Lottie dolls. The Lotties get played with a little more frequently than the larger dolls, mostly because their smaller size allows them to be paired with her MLPs a lot more easily.

She currently prefers animal toys & figurines to small dolls, though, and I'm OK with that.

[ang79]

I loved my Barbie collection as a kid (as well as My Little Pony, American Girl doll, and other dolls). I wasn't focused on fashion, just on making up fun story lines. My mom saved my Barbies to give to my kids but they didn't play with them much so we donated them when we moved. They do own the Disney Princess barbie sized dolls from the Disney store, but again, don't play with them much. Their Lottie Dolls and mini AG dolls get much more play (though they don't switch around the clothes much, they just like making up imaginative stories). As for dolls that they dress up, we have the 18" AG and Madame Alexander dolls for that.

[mom2binsd]

That Dream House with the elevator was the BOMB!!!! My friend had one I was over there all the time!

I also still have my Barbie Camper Van!