Galloping Pink Nightmare
Written: Apr 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Appealing and effective commercials
Cons: Garish costuming and excessively loud sounds
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| Home_Birther's Full Review: Giddy Up Girl |
Ah...the allure of the Wild West. What little girl doesn’t dream of riding her horse out on the open range and living the life of a cowgirl (or is cow person now the politically correct term)? Giddy Up Girl by MGA Entertainment is a doll that is designed to appeal to that childhood fantasy, but alas, leaves us disappointed and wishing she’d just ride off into the sunset.
To be fair, Giddy Up Girl is not the type of doll that I normally buy for my daughter, so my expectations were not high to begin with. I generally prefer dolls that require nothing more than my daughter’s active imagination. However, when my daughter became enamored with the doll after viewing the appealing commercials on television, I relented and agreed that she could request it as a gift from another family member. Christmas arrived and she was ecstatic when she received Giddy Up Girl from her favorite aunt. Unfortunately, the thrill was short lived and did not last much beyond the initial opening of the package.
THE DOLL:
Giddy Up Girl is a soft bodied doll with vinyl head, hands and cowboy boots. Her body has disproportional long legs. The legs are designed to wrap around a child’s neck and the boots then snap together (this creates the connection that is needed to produce the sounds). The child then holds onto the doll’s hands and then runs, gallops or bounces, to produce the most annoying sounds ever made by a talking doll. The sounds may also be activated by pressing the dolls hands.
The doll says 11 phrases and sounds including: “Howdy Pardner”, “Let’s play horsy”, “I love you, Mommy”, “Giddy Up, horsy”, and “Yah all come back now”. Peppered among the phrases is the sound of galloping horses (more like drumbeats) and “Hee haws”.
Giddy Up Girl is dressed in a non-removable outfit consisting of a hot pink shirt, blue denim pants and hot pink boots. She also comes with a hot pink flocked cowgirl hat (the flocking gives it the appearance of suede) and light pink chaps and a vest decorated with rhinestones. Both the chaps and vest are removable. Her hair is braided and she comes
equipped with a hairbrush for styling.
LITTLE PINK NIGHTMARE:
There are a number of things that I don’t like about this doll. First and foremost, is the lack of sustained play value. You can really only play with the doll one way and trust me, the thrill quickly dissipates. The heavy speaker in the torso makes the doll both top heavy and unstable and eliminates any aspect of cuddliness or general doll appeal. The doll's arms are also too short in relation to the body. My daughter has difficulty holding the doll and “galloping”.
Giddy Up Girl’s voice ranks among the most annoying voices I have ever heard in a talking doll. When I say its annoying, I mean really annoying...think Minnie Mouse with a southern accent and an amphetamine induced high. In addition to being incredibly annoying, the sound is also very loud. Dangerously so. There is no volume control and this is one of the loudest talking dolls on the market. Loud toys have the potential to cause cumulative hearing damage in children and this one is designed to be used with the speaker right next to a child’s ears. For that reason alone, I cannot recommend it. While there is an off/on switch for the sound, it is easily accessible through a Velcro opening. My daughter can easily turn the sound back on even after I have turned it off. Turning the sound off also defeats the entire reason for the doll’s existence.
Pink is obviously Giddy Up Girl’s color of choice and oh, what a very bright pink it is. Garish and unnatural. A real woman of the West wouldn’t be seen dead in this color and neither would her horse.
The quality of the doll also leaves much to be desired. Giddy Up Girl retails for nearly $30.00, yet has the appearance of a much cheaper doll. The hat is made of the same flimsy type plastic used in cheap costume or carnival type hats. If the hat is stepped on it will bend and leave behind permanent creases and markings. The vest and chaps are also constructed of a low quality vinyl-like material. The rhinestone at the doll's neck and on the chaps and vest are not securely sewn. The decorative fringes are also easily torn off. As a result, this doll would not be suitable for any child below the age of 3, as it may present a choking hazard.
FINAL VERDICT:
Giddy Up Girl appeals to the wild west dreams that many little girls have but regrettably, fails to live up to its hype and commercials. Somewhere out there in Toy Land there is a western inspired doll that fulfills that dream without the annoying sounds, garish costuming and western stereotyping. As soon as I find it, this little pink nightmare will be rounded up and corralled...permanently.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
Home_Birther
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Location: Midwest
Reviews written: 76
Trusted by: 99 members
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