Peruvian Barbie is one of a series of collectors' Barbies in national costume which first became available last year. Although I'm still a little squeamish about the whole Barbie concept, my daughter has a few thanks to the dueling Grandmas. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess, and when I found out this Barbie even slings her baby, I couldn't resist.

Peruvian Barbie (henceforth PB for the sake of brevity) looks a little more sedate than her American counterparts. She has lovely long brown braids, a tan complexion, and flat, natural-looking feet rather than the permanent heel-feet sported by other Barbies. Her dress, shawl and sling are made of a nubby, brightly-colored woven cotton instead of the usual Spandexy nothings, and she wears delicate tan huaraches. Her baby has brown molded hair, a perma-grin, and wears a blue diaper with Velcro closures.

Wow! thought I when I took PB out of her package. What neat clothes! What nice hair! Her dress has a high neck and long sleeves in solid black, and a long, flared skirt in multicolored stripes, while her shawl is solid blue and her sling is multicolored, looking for all the world like a miniature Maya Wrap. For sheer keep-it-on-the-shelf, out-of-children's-reach appeal, this is a really attractive doll as Barbies go.

If you intend to actually have a little kid play with this doll, though, you run into some limitations. PB's flat feet won't fit into standard Barbie shoes, and her dress is difficult for little fingers to remove and put back on (although heck, most kids I know leave all their Barbies hanging around naked anyways) because of its high neck and long sleeves. My four-year-old had a hard time manipulating the shawl and sling once she'd untied them, and wound up carrying the tiny baby in her own big-doll-sized sling.

Maybe it's just because she's less likely to be dragged into some of the more violent situations that have befallen some of our other dolls, but our PB seems to have held up very well over the last year or so. Without lots of small parts, there isn't much to detach or get lost (although I could swear the baby originally came with a hat ... hm ...), and PB's hair is still securely braided, which I find miraculous considering that most of our Barbies were sporting dreads within a few weeks of purchase.

I'd recommend PB mainly to collectors, or kids who have sufficient manual dexterity to deal with wiggling her in and out of her dress and retying her shawl. The sling is a great touch, and this is definitely a more palatable Barbie than most, if you're not much of a Barbie enthusiast to begin with. Still, for a younger kid who's a die-hard standard-Barbie fan, PB might be a little too sedate.



Recommended: Yes