REVIEW: Bratz Instapets Raya and Jade

I'm not a big follower of Bratz anymore. After never finding the second wave of Study Abroad dolls, I got fed up and stopped keeping up with their news. I remember seeing photos of these and not being impressed and I guess that line with Felicia never appeared. I don't even remember the theme.

But anyways, I thought Bratz were done again, but somehow this Instapets line made it out. I think it's mainly outside the US, but the wonder that is Hollar.com got the everyone-except-Sasha line in. (Surprise surprise. Sasha gets left out way too much.)

If I hadn't been buying a mini Lalaloopsy, I doubt I would have picked them up, but I wanted to hit that free shipping mark, so I said what the hey and bought Raya and Jade. They were $8.50. Can't complain.

Here's a shot of the back of the box so you can see how cool Sasha is and join me in being irked that of course she wasn't on sale. She does exist, as I've seen her on ebay, but I don't like this line enough to even pay regular price for it, much less shipping cost and above retail for Sasha. Sorry, Sash.

Also annoyed that Raya's bee did not come with the cute glasses. More glasses are always a good thing.

Jade almost did not get bought. She travelled in and out of my cart a lot, but in the end, I grabbed her and I have no regrets. I actually prefer her to Raya, which I wasn't expecting.

Anyway, I think the big draw of this line for those dedicated collectors is that they finally realized these dolls needed articulated arms to compete. A little too late, MGAE. Maybe next time for the...what? fourth Bratz return?...they'll get it right. Yes, even though this version of them shelf sat and tanked, they're actually contemplating doing this again. Look, guys, either get it right and give people the old school dolls in the style they love (only probably with arm articulation because everyone is spoiled) or give it up. These dolls used to be awesome and this last incarnation was a bit painful to watch. They had some good elements, but mostly, it did not go well.

So! Let's look at crazy train Raya. Raya's my second favorite character (after Jade) that actually appeared in multiple accessible lines. She's supposed to be the funny, silly, mix and match girl and she pulls that off pretty well.

The bee shirt is cute and the skirt is just bizarre enough to both suit her and actually look pretty good.

Her hair is decent quality.

The arms though. The articulation isn't too bad, although it doesn't hold a pose that well. She can't put her hands on her hips without her arms relaxing so much that it doesn't look good, for example, but she can do other poses. But the hands. The giant hands. Why? The arms are soooooooooo skinny! Why didn't they make the hands more delicate?

She does have really cute earrings though AND they went in without the posts bending, because not only did they listen about the articulation, but they also fixed the ear holes being too small. Exciting, but again, too late.

Oh, and I totally forgot to mention that they learned a good lesson from Mattel and the box is now that peel the plastic front off the cardboard back style that Mattel is doing right now. Major points for me not slicing my fingers open in several places on the death plastic. However, some points off because they still tie the hair down like it needs maximum security.

Look at this goofy chick. Raya definitely takes her bee love pretty seriously.

The little bee phone case is adorable though. The cases are my fave part of this line, aside from Jade's shirt and Raya's earrings. The phones don't really like to stay in them, but the girls can hold onto the case, which actually keeps the phone in.

Big, good, strong hands.

Yes, I just made a Neverending Story reference in a doll review. It's getting late. What can I say?

Raya's bee is adorable.

Jade's stuff is cute, too. The phone case is my fave piece. Love the dark purple.

The yellow earrings annoy me because she doesn't have a spot of yellow on her, so I gave them to Study Abroad Jade.

The white glasses are cute, but I'll never understand opaque glasses. They somehow look cute on her despite not looking functional whatsoever though.

Hey, Jade, do you see the future of Bratz?

JADE: I see...a whole lotta white.

Jade is actually really awesome though. Her hair is a lovely blend of black and purple and her outfit is darling. I LOVE that shirt! I guess I'm a sucker for shirt with shoulder ears like Shibajuku Miki's and now Jade's. And it helps that it has long sleeves to hide the super skinny arms, so now the hands actually don't look enormous.

Love the skirt, too. And the boots. And the cat ear headband looks adorable.

So, yeah, I actually really recommend picking Jade up if you're a Bratz fan. She's a nice little addition to my Jade collection and she definitely surprised me, because I thought I'd like Raya a lot better than her. I do like Raya, but I don't 100% recommend her. If you're a fan of her silly style, she's great. If not, then I'd say pass.

I just checked Hollar and Raya is the only one left, but they have been known to get products back in again. They get a lot of MGAE stuff, so it's a good place to keep an eye out.

PHOTO CREDITS: Mine.