Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie: Fairy Cheap Piece of Junk
Written: Jul 29 '04
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Pros: It's purple. It's a mermaid. It's a crummy Barbie.
Cons: It's another fine, fine Mattel product.
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line is suing Mattel for pain and suffering in addition to the purchase price.
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| pippadaisy's Full Review: Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie |
Just the other day my poor little four-year-old spent the entire day running around with me getting blood work done for me and the baby. I felt awful for her, and so on an errand to Toys R Us later that night to get a new gate, I let each of the kids pick out one toy, something I don't normally do. My daughter, uncharacteristically for her, headed down the Barbie aisle, and chose the Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie.
~&~ The Basics ~&~
The Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie is part of the Fairytopia line, which includes fairies, mermaids, and other sorts of fairy tale creatures. Barbie has the classic Superstar head mold, with platinum blonde curly hair down to her thighs (or where her thighs would be if she had legs) with violet curly hair underneath.
One her head is a lavender crown, fastened by three pieces of lavender elastic sewn into her head. Her make-up is dramatic Vegas showgirl at its finest, in shades of violet and lavender.
Her outfit consists of a lavender and violet bra top that snaps on, and her tail. The tail is oddly constructed; it is a sort of one piece with a loose "knee" area to make it look like Barbie is using her fin to swim. The tail bends at the normal place that Barbie would sit, and lavender "scales" are painted on instead of Mattel's usual panties to keep even the mermaids modest.
The tail is covered with a metallic-ish lavender rubbery material with violet accents, and the tail and detachable fin both have lavender inset jewels. The detachable fin appears to be a clear silicone material with some of the metallic finish paint at the top for an ombre finish.
Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie comes packaged in a mostly clear box with a sea theme, and includes a small mirror, comb for her hair, and a small pop-up book about Fairytopia.
~&~ The Real Deal ~&~
I was seriously hoping that my issues with Mattel Modern Circle Daytime Ken Doll were a fluke, but apparently, the crack pipe is being passed through all of Mattel's product design department.
The first issue with Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie is the tail. For whatever reason, the design team decided that her fin should detach at the bottom. Now, if she had actual legs and you wanted to have some sort of Little Mermaid thing going on where she could lose her fin and walk, I could understand, but all this design "feature" means is that the tail falls off just about every five seconds, meaning that a four-year-old comes at me about every five seconds with a fin, a Barbie, and a whine. This is not a desirable feature.
Secondly, the paint job on the tail? Did Mattel not think that this is a toy that would get played with? After less than 24 hours of nothing but being carried around (and reattaching the fin), the paint was already chipping on the tail, giving Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie a sort of used look, if you know what I mean.
Third, woe betide the parent who removes the tape securing her bra top on, because the result is a Barbie who can take her top off faster than Anna Nicole Smith with a half-dead millionaire.
And finally, my own personal pet peeve is the name itself. Mattel obviously owns the trademark for the Fairytopia name, since they already have their Ello Fairytopia People Places and Things Set as well as the Ello Fairytopia Character Builder Set, so you have to assume that some lazy executive decided to milk that trademark application for all its worth and create this sub-par line.
~&~ Kid Value ~&~
Aside from the tail issue, my daughter is totally in love with this ridiculous piece of plastic. She carries the thing around with her, looking like a mermaid amputee, and I'm hoping that my husband has some epoxy hidden around the house so we can glue the darn thing on once and for all. After less than a day of play, the elastic was stretched on the crown, but my daughter seems thrilled with her drunken prom queen mermaid amputee doll, and wants the rest in the series because Mattel Fairytopia Magical Mermaid Barbie needs "friends." I don't foresee that happening.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 9.99
Type of Toy: Action Figure
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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pippadaisy
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Divorce seriously cuts into the amount of time for reviewing.
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