LIBERATION 21: HOLLYWOOD NAILS TERESA

Ah, September. When children head back to school and Mattel starts shipping their new fall play line dolls. The Hollywood Nails dolls (Barbie, Christie, and Teresa) feature mostly-realistic hairstyles and lengths, the bend-and-move body with high heels, and some great play accessories. I’ve managed to spot Barbie and Teresa so far, but Christie doesn’t appear to be shipping yet. Keep your eyes peeled!

The Doll

Teresa, of course, uses the Teresa face mold, which is my favorite of the open-mouth smile molds. She has big brown eyes accented with brown and tan shadow. Her lips are a lovely dark raspberry color. The hair is fabulous: a blunt shoulder length bob with bangs and a center part. The majority of her hair is black, but her bangs and the strands of hair framing her face are a dark red color. Mattel even did a fairly good job making the hair even in the back.

This is the second edition of the Bend and Move body, with elbows that are harder for little kids to break and, interestingly enough, are slightly more poseable than the original molds. She has the high heeled feet instead of the larger ‘poseable’ feet, which are flat and large enough for the doll to stand unsupported. The flexibility on these bodies is just fantastic!

I love the fact that Mattel put polish on these dolls, but I wish they’d apply it with a little more care.

Doll Scorecard
Face: B
Body: A
Hair: A+
Overall: A-

The Outfit

This is an interesting play line concept, to say the least. The outfit consists mostly of fabric tubes that can be squished up as belts, or worn as tops/skirts/dresses. The fabric is sheer with the exception of the long pink tube on the far right and the tiny tube top. There is also a little shoulder wrap in a fuzzy acrylic knit. Colors are predominately pink and purple. The blue-purple screen printed tube has pictures of different Barbie friends and family on it, including a picture of the vintage ponytail face. The shoes are quite possibly the best part of this outfit… clear pink glitter platform slides. The tubes can be difficult to get on and off, as they are only moderately stretchy, and they are hemmed only about half the time, seemingly at random.

Outfit Scorecard
Fabric: B+
Style: B
Execution: B-
Overall: B

The Accessories

The play value here is incredible… and so is the potential for household disasters. Starting the list off is child-size press on nails in the same glittery pink plastic as the shoes. Some kids might be able to use these without problems, but I know when I was six I would be likely to forget about them and then rip a nail off. Ouch! Next up is highly spillable pink nail polish in a cute heart shaped bottle. Finally, we have a large bag of sparkly white glitter- I guess no one at Mattel has ever had to vacuum this stuff up. Other accessories are a rather cool shaker for the glitter (or a jumbo coffee mug for Teresa), a large purse that doesn’t open, and the obligatory hairbrush.

Accessories Scorecard
Concept: A
Style: A
Playability: A
Overall: B (high mess potential)

The Result

This flashy outfit is the fall outfit from the new ‘Four Seasons’ gift pack. Note the great fit on the beret and the bronze ‘B’ at the neck! Now if the shoes were only brown, not black…

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