$29.99 - are you out of your mind?
Written: Apr 13 '02 (Updated Apr 13 '02)
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Pros: Pretty, plays with her, made her hospital stay happy
Cons: Two words - Glitter and Noise
The Bottom Line: A nice doll that my daughter loves. Not worth the price tag (it was a gift). Get yourself two cheaper dolls for the price of this one.
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| ned1's Full Review: Mattel Disney Dazzling Princess Belle |
So what do I think of Half a can of Hairspray Barbie - read on to find out.
If you know Barbie, like I know Barbie, you that Mattel makes any excuse to earn another buck. They seem to churn out doll after doll all with the same look and the only unique identifying item being the clothes they wear (which greatly impacts the price) and the style of their hair.
Every one seems to have the same facial appearance - that voided empty headed look we've seen for years. Granted when I was little Barbie had much less makeup, more natural hair and an awesome Malibu tan. Since then, and the 80s, someone clued her into the dangers of tanning and how big hair is better. She also seems to have clearly passed the Tammy Faye school of makeup application with flying colors.
When these Barbies first appeared around the 2001 holiday season I put my foot down. I told my then 4 1/2 year old that she would not be getting one of these Barbies/Dazzling Princesses. So at this point you're wondering how can you write a review on a toy you don't own. Before you call me a fraud, read on to see how and why that foot lifted up and why she now has one.
However, before we get to that, let me first cover why I said no. The first reason is simple - price!! These dolls retailed at $29.99 (I think Costco had them for around 16 or 17 dollars) and at some other places for 23 or 24. Five magic words jacked up the price - Mattel Disney Magical Princess Belle. You're paying for the Disney name, despite the fact that this doll looks nothing like Belle from the movies. It's a brown haired Barbie with a Belle dress and her hair in a similar fashion to Belle - they may as well have called her "Halloween Dress Up Barbie."
To me, that was crazy to pay for one doll for a four year old who will strip it and play with it like any 7 dollar Barbie (if you are a collector the story might be different). My argument to her was, this is just like SkipperBelle (a Barbie they claimed was Tinkerbell, but in reality was just a Skipper in Tinkerbell clothes). Nana paid some ridiculous price for that doll, because Peter Pan was Claire's favorite movie. A year later the costume is gone and in street clothes you can't tell SkipperBelle from any other cheaper Skipper.
Claire reluctantly knew that she wasn't going to get one and chose other things to place on her Christmas list. In fact I never heard begging for the doll and hadn't really thought about them until last Tuesday.
Claire was hospitalized for dehydration on Monday night. She was feeling pretty well, but her IV limited her motions. She had taken her blankie and favorite dog beanie baby to the emergency room, but being that we had expected to go and be released, we had nothing else with us. By late Tuesday am she was bored of basic cable and sitting in bed. All that changed when Nana showed up.
Without my knowledge, Nana had picked up one of these at Costco during the X-mas season. She held it back as a birthday gift for Claire - since her Halloween costume was Belle and she wears the dress all the time (for shopping, going to preschool and just to hang out in). Claire's birthday in three weeks, but Nana thought she could use a pick me up so she brought Belle to the hospital.
Claire did pick up and get excited when she saw Belle. We broke her free from her plastic cell and the fun began.
To me Belle is just like any other Barbie - she came with a hairbrush and shoes and her dazzling feature - a sparkly yellow ball gown (just like the one from the movie) covered from top to bottom in glitter. Her hair is styled similar to Belle, with the one difference being it took half a can of hairspray or something else to get it to stay that way. I think her preferred brand is Aqua Net extra hold.
For Claire that took much of the fun away from the doll - her big thing is brushing and styling hair - you couldn't get a rake through that hair without wrecking it or breaking the rake. Imagine your own big 80s, teased-up, Aqua net style would have looked after being in a rainstorm. Claire spent her whole time in the hospital obsessing about messing up the hair - "don't touch her you'll make her hair ugly!" "Stop it, you made her curl look bad". What kind of fun is that - maybe this is make your child OCD or give your girl an ulcer Barbie.
The feature that makes this Barbie so unique and expensive is the little button on the back of her. Barbie/Belle runs on three button cell batteries (included, but not likely to be replaced). Push the button and she makes that mystical ting-a-ling-a-ling sound and her rose lights up. Oooh, ahhh that's worth an extra 15 dollars for the Barbie. NOT!!
My daughter found that feature to be amusing, but being trapped in that small hospital room and having to listen to it 24/7 drove me bats. Of course half her amusement was driving me bats. I don't like that feature for one reason - Claire is almost five (well within the age range for the doll) and her main thing is Barbies in the bathtub. She loves to take them in with her. She grabs a handful and chucks them in. One night when I wasn't looking she chucked her in Barbie as Glenda the Good Witch doll - which also ran on button cell batteries. Glenda made some hideous screeching noise and passed on.
Claire can still play with her, but that expensive talking feature is no more. I don't blame Mattel for that, but I also truly don't see the need for a feature that puts additional responsibility on parents to separate out the water friendly dolls from the rest. Claire would have liked this doll just as much if she came with the rose (and it didn't light up).
The other con in my book is the GLITTER. As the mom of four, I have enough to clean in my house without adding items that make a mess. The glitter was (and still is) a nightmare. Within minutes of having Belle out, the bed and Claire were covered in a sparkly mess. The glitter got on her hands and on her face. I was constantly picking it off her eyes. When my pediatrician came into the room she became concerned and asked what was on Claire's head. She got a good laugh when she looked closer and saw it was glitter. In my opinion the doll would have been much better with a shimmery fabric and no glitter.
Overall I rate this doll highly - it's a quality toy that looks nice and has been played with. I can't rate it low because of the glitter and noise. However I can say think twice about getting one. If you collect Barbies it might be a nice addition to the collection. If you have a five year old who loves Belle it might be a nice gift, and in comparison, the normal Belle doll at the Disney store isn't much cheaper.
My opinion is that 29.99 is crazy to spend on a doll that will be stripped and played with like any other cheap Barbie. Yes Claire loves it, because she loves Belle, but she doesn't love it more than other Barbies and she wouldn't have missed not having it if she didn't get it as a gift.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
ned1
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Member: Nancy
Location: in the Barbie aisle
Reviews written: 894
Trusted by: 347 members
About Me:
Off to Basel (1/21) - in search of Swiss Miss Barbie - back (1/26)
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