Barbie So Excellent Cali Girl Doll with Ear Piercer Earrings & Exclusive "Cali-Zine" Magazine
Written: Sep 10 '06 (Updated Sep 10 '06)
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Pros: Lots of accessories and a different concept.
Cons: Requires good motor skill to use piercer.
The Bottom Line: Cali Girl So Excellent Earrings - Barbie is an unique set, offering three piercing options on each ear.
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| Lisa_J's Full Review: Barbie So Excellent Cali Girl - Barbie Doll with E... |
Barbie Cali Girl So Excellent Earrings is one of the unique BARBIE sets that my youngest daughter received from her Grandmother. Miss was 9 at the time. She enjoyed initial play with this ensemble and it then became another doll amid the masses.
Contrary to some paranoid parental views (yes I have a few friends like THAT), this set didn't encourage Miss to acquire more piercings, nor did it set the path for future career ambitions. Just recently this set headed for storage, probably destined for donation.
The Barbie Cali Girl arrives in a box that mildly resembles a hut. Upon receipt Barbie offers the appearance of sitting at a piercing station, but in reality is firmly packaged via the typical ties, stitching, rubber bands and other pain in the backside over-packaging paraphernalia. This set includes: Cali Girl Barbie, a (you need to assemble it) bar stool, earring combinations, Barbie style ear piercing gear, card-stock table and surf board, and a Cali-Zine magazine.
This Barbie is typical Barbie height (approximately 12" tall). The doll has a tan appearance. The long hair offers the appearance of a nicely done foil (highlights) and is styled in an updated manner. The doll is dressed in a mini-skirt (no underwear, kid you not), a halter top and a corduroy jacket. The shoes are a wedge style slip-on sandal.
With regard to the piercing capabilities, the doll has three earring plugs in each ear. Sorry.... No belly, tongue, or other hidden piercings. While the packaging claims "66 earring combinations" factually the doll arrives with five primary earring sets and several dangle options. These earring pieces are tiny. The set also includes tiny cotton balls, a small jar and of course an ear piercing gizmo.
Importantly there are no needles in this set. The primary danger of this set is a possible choking hazard via the small parts. The manufacturer warns that small parts aren't intended for children under three. Further, Mattel suggests this set for children 5 and up. However, I will mention that use of the piercing features requires good fine motor skills, making this a set best used by the older Barbie fan.
As mentioned, Barbie Cali Girl has three earring plugs in each ear. When wiped with icy cold cotton ball (yes this is one of THOSE water play sets), the earring plugs darken. A earring is loaded into the piercing applicator. The tip of the earring is put into the earring plug hole, pushed into the hole, applicator is squeezed and Barbie now has an earring. Earrings can be pulled out and reused.
The Cali-Zine magazine is more of a cleaver marketing tool than actually being a worthwhile exclusive magazine. While it does include a few games and interesting tidbits about each Cali themed doll, it has much "buy me" type of inclusions.
Overall the Barbie So Excellent Cali Girl Doll (with Ear Piercer Earrings & Exclusive "Cali-Zine" Magazine) is worthwhile for the Barbie enthusiast who appreciates unique sets. Miss enjoyed initial play sessions with the ensemble. She is really good with regard to keeping sets together and will be storing the entire set now that Barbie interest has dwindled. Because the set is unique, initial playtime was enjoyed, and the pieces didn't break, I consider this to be an above-average set.
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Thank you for reading!
©2006 Lisa_J
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Action Figure
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older
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Epinions.com ID:
Lisa_J
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Location: Pacific Northwest - Washington State
Reviews written: 1010
Trusted by: 668 members
About Me:
Mom of two wonderfully spirited daughters. Childcare Director. Spectator fan of dance.
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