Let's Chat About The Barbie Talking Townhouse!
Written: Jan 12 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Comes with some accessories, Folds for storage, Talks!
Cons: A bit flimsy, not to scale, tiny pieces, and stickers!
The Bottom Line: They just don't build them like they used to, but the Talking Townhouse is a fun toy, despite durability issues. Wait for a sale!
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| erinrounds's Full Review: Mattel Barbie Talking Townhouse |
As the mother of a new Barbie fan, I have had something of an education in the last 6 months or so. Things have changed since I played with Barbie's 20-some years ago. They do all sorts of things now, drive cars, have babies (ahem), work at any profession imaginable, and of course, Barbie has a new pad too. This years holiday season brought about a new condo style Talking Townhouse.
This is the one present Maddie wanted desperately from Santa Claus, and being the good guy that he is, he obliged. She's thrilled, I'm not quite as much, so pull up a chair and let's chat about Barbie's Talking Townhouse.
The First Impression-
I must say that I had definite mixed reactions to the Barbie Talking Townhouse from the get-go. I was thrilled beyond belief that assembly was minimal, and more than a bit disappointed with the whole look and feel of the townhouse. The townhouse comes in it's storage state in the packing box. When folded, it's only about 3 inches wide, and can easily store under a bed, so that's nice. Opened up, it's still not a huge thing, approximately 2 and 1/2 feet tall, and wide, you won't need alot of room for play. The Talking Townhouse is a light purple color with light green accents on things like the roof, door trim etc. The inner window casings are a bit different, with the panes done in pink. The windows vary in shape, from a bay window, a round window, and so on. They all have panes, and add to the look of the townhouse.
--NO! Assembly Required. That's right, good news to this tired Mom on Christmas night after promising Maddie that she could play with it first thing in the morning. I couldn't have been happier to see that it was fully intact save for snapping the built in table into place, placing the stickers (grrr) and adding in the 3 AA batteries. Sticker assembly was a bit awkward in places just due to the shape of the house, but all in all, even given my extremely tired state, it only took about 30 minutes.
The accessories merely needed to be freed from plastic, and we were ready to play.
The Grand Tour-
Before you can play with Barbie's Talking Townhouse you'll need to open it up. This is fairly easy, it opens like a book, then the two floors of the house lift down and latch into place. The finished shape is square with two solid walls, and two open sides for play.
In typical townhouse style, Barbie has an upstairs, and a downstairs, with a connecting staircase. The townhouse is mainly just two big rooms, with smaller alcoves for the bathroom and kitchen.
-Downstairs, the visitors will find Barbie's modern living room, and kitchenette, as well as the stairs to the top level. Once you enter the front door, you'll be directly in the living room. Barbie has gone high-tech and has a media center built into the wall. Inserting one of the computer cards will activate the television, and welcome Barbie home. The television can also be slid upwards to reveal a built in laptop computer and she can put down her purse, computer card, and cell phone while she whips up a snack.
You can put Barbie's sofa, end table, and popcorn dish in the living room, and the dishes in the kitchen.
The kitchen has an oven and dishwasher that open, a built in sink to dump the dirty dishes in, and lots of stickered knick-knacks, flowers in the bay window, a cutting board on the counter and so on.
There is a built in, flip-down eating bar off the end of the pull down part of the doll house. The bar stools fit neatly at the bar, though you can guess how well Barbie herself fits on the stools. She sort of has to perch against them.
The stairs wind upwards from the kitchen and it was promptly brought to my attention by my 3 1/2 year old, that Barbie doesn't fit on them. They are narrow, I'm sure in an attempt to keep them compact, and much more suited to the little Kelly dolls than her full sized counterpart.
-Upstairs Barbie has her private quarters, the combination, bedroom and bathroom. The Bathroom has a built in sink, talking shower, towel ring, and a stickered medicine chest on the wall. The loose accessories include a waste basket, towel, 4 shelf stand, toothpaste, blow dryer and a comb.
Barbie's bedroom is a chaste affair, with a single bed, flanked by two nightstands. Her bed flips up when you need to fold the dollhouse away. The bed is long enough to sleep on, has a loose pillow to put on it, but to Maddie's distress, no blanket.
It's All About The Little Things-
Every girl will be taking care of herself, and doing some entertaining in her swinging bachelorette pad, so what comes with the happening townhouse?
Sofa
End Table
Popcorn Bowl
(2) Computer Cards
Cell Phone
Letter
(2) Bar Stools
Dishwasher Caddy
Utensils (small!)
Spatula
(4) Cafeteria Style Trays
(2) Plates
(4) Cardboard Meals
Drink Pitcher
(2) Drink Cups
Pan and Lid
Bed Pillow
Table Lamp
Bath Shelf
Waste Basket
Toothpaste
Blowdryer
Comb
Towel
As you can see, Barbie stocked her new house all ready to play. Some of these accessories are quite tiny and I imagine could certainly be a choking hazard. Most notably the toothpaste tube, cell phone and the utensils.
I was pleased that this came without needing furniture after shelling out the $50.00 for it. There is still room to add in more Barbie items for play should you choose, but it's not really a huge space. Maddie added in her other dishes, some little accessories, and there's often clothes laying around too.
What's All The "Talk" About?
I mentioned briefly the computer cards that came with the accessories. Don't worry if you lose these, they are what makes the talking part of the Talking Townhouse work for the most part, but each slot for the card also has a doorbell type button underneath it that serves the same purpose.
If you insert the card into the slot outside the front door, the following response is generated:
"Scanning access card. Welcome home Barbie" with the computerized voice and electric blips in the background. Barbie replies with "Thanks, it's good to be home."
Inserting the card again will elicit the following:
"Welcome home Barbie, Lights are on." From the "house" voice and Barbie replies with "Thanks!"
There are two other slight variations of the welcome message, and with all the door messages the inside living room light, and outside porch light activate.
A trip to the kitchen can produce any of a number of responses from the slot there. An example is the following conversations:
-Computer-"Scanning access card. Pizza is cooking."
-Barbie-"Mmmm, that sounds good."
-Computer-"Pizza is ready."
-Barbie-"Thanks, I think I"ll have a soda too."
Pretty lengthy conversation actually and it totally enthralls my daughter.
Stepping/pushing the doll onto the shower floor will elicit the following:
"Shower starting" From the computer voice and Barbie's reply of "Thanks, La-la-la La-la-la" with water rushing in the background.
Push again and hear:
"Brrr, that water's cold!"
The "talking" aspects of the house are a fun feature, and really add to the playtime. Maddie enjoys that best of all. I appreciate the tiny on/off switch located near the battery compartment, so that I can occasionally have quiet play. The voices are on the loud side, so you might want to put a piece of masking tape on the speaker to muffle the volume a bit.
But Size Does Matter!-
So here's my little rant about the Talking Townhouse, you had to know it was coming. =) I was expecting something a bit more substantial for Santa's $50.00. If you are as aged as I and remember Barbie's Dream House and are expecting something like a modern version of that, you will be sorely disappointed. The whole feel is a bit on the flimsy, unsturdy side, and I have a hunch that the Talking Townhouse won't be around for all that long.
The design is cute, but it's really compact, and I pointed out the details that really bugged my small daughter. Luckily I could fix her up so that Barbie had a blanket, but the stairs are hopeless.
All In All-
I don't think that Barbie's Talking Townhouse is a bad toy, just a bit disappointing. If you go into the purchase with the right expectations you might well be pleased. Wait for a sale, stock up on batteries and be careful. As for us, I think the Talking Townhouse may well be a "starter home" and I'll be checking out eBay for an oldie but goodie, and kicking myself for getting rid of my old dollhouse!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50.00
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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