Two days later: another Mermaze Mermaidz reveal.
If you thought I was angry the last time, now I'm even moreso.
MGAE, the company that fans love to say rules the playline fashion doll world, is giving us a line that once again uses ONE SINGLE FUCKING FACEMOLD.
Even after they improved with Rainbow High, they're still pulling this bullshit. They know they can get away with it with LOL because everyone expects those dolls to look the same, but they also know people bitched about the lack of diversity in faces with Rainbow High. And yet here we fucking are. One of my friends theorized they'd all have the same face and I was like "No, they know better than that." Welp, I was wrong.
Now don't get me wrong. Shellnelle here pulls off this mold way better than Kishiko. Kishiko looked more...strange, while Shellnelle looks gorgeous.
Bear in mind though, these photos aren't accurate colors. Go look up the video reviews on Youtube. The one for Shellnelle shows her off better. (I'm not sure about the color accuracy of the one for Kishiko. It seems way too bright.) I despise video reviews because they don't show detail as well, but for now, they're all we've got aside from these pics.
This type of behavior is fine for smaller companies. I don't complain if doll lines like Mermaid High and B-Kind have all one face. They're not from major players. But Mattel and MGAE can't get away with shit like this in multiple lines. It's unacceptable.
So they've given us a lovely line of mermaids, BUT they're overpriced, they don't have enough articulation, the tail sticking out of the box is so stupid, and now they all have the same face. That isn't diversity. Diversity matters so much on the toy shelves now and simply changing the skintone for each doll does not cut it in a line from a big company. ESPECIALLY because they went for a slightly more realistic face.
I wanted to like these, but for me, they're a failure and a huge step back from the company that was improving so much with Rainbow High. The price is awful, too. These are more expensive than Rainbow High Pacific Coast and those dolls come with two pair of legs, for fuck's sake! Don't even try to use supply chain issues and inflation as an excuse either. I'm comparing these to a current doll line affected by the same issues.
I'll get my one or maybe two favorites. I think we can all guess I'm going to like the rocker with the bizarre tail who should be the next reveal, but I think I also like the sporty one. But I'm really disappointed MGAE keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over. Learn and grow, MGAE. Learn and grow.
I am not impressed with the line. The dolls are pretty but. the boxes are HUGE and I don't like that it seems the tails come off. And very expensive.
ReplyDeleteI don't like that the tails don't come off either. It would be nice for them to have legs and for them to be able to switch tales. It would be like a human doll only being able to wear one pair of molded on paints. It greatly reduces new outfit options.
DeleteOverall I'm not a fan of these dolls. They top half of them are pretty but I am not crazy about the plastic tails that can't be switched to different tails or legs. I agree that it would be better if they had more unique face molds. It's interesting that they can make different mermaid tail molds but not different face molds. These dolls are definitely better quality than the Fairytopia mermaids but I don't think that's the most fair comparison since the Barbie ones are $10 and the MGA ones are $32. Also, I think $32 is a little steep since it's just one outfit and no extra accessories or stands.
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