LIBERATION 42: BRITNEY SPEARS

Every new group of high schoolers, it seems, promotes one of their own to the position of ‘video diva’.  This position is usually held by a young woman with an overstated sexuality, a peppy song, and a mediocre voice. It is almost always an undeserved post with a rapid turnover rate. (Madonna has lasted, but when was the last time anyone heard from Tiffany?) With the fabulous success of Hasbro’s Spice Girls dolls, however, collectors can now look forward to seeing each title holder immortalized in vinyl. Play Along Toys (a division of JAKKS Pacific) has made its initial entry to the toy market with a line of six Britney Spears dolls. I chose the  “…Baby One More Time” doll, which immortalizes the “there’s a reason I’m in reform school” look from the video.

The Doll

This face shows one of the big problems inexperienced designers experience when they first try to make a celebrity doll in the 1:6 scale. In an attempt to make the mold as accurate as possible, they fail to take into account the delicacy of the scale. The face is totally dominated by the large nose. Despite this, the face mold is reasonably attractive looking. The face also sports molded tiny silver studs. Britney has brown eyes and coral lipstick, blush, and eye shadow. Her hair is brown with platinum blonde streaks- if you think this looks fake on real people, you should look at it in this size! Her hair is styled in two shoulder length braided pigtails. The bottom of the pigtails is very straight- so straight I suspect it was trimmed after braiding. The hair is rooted only around the hairline and part, and the head is painted a strange beige color that adds to the ‘fake’ impression of the hair when it shows through.

The body mold is ordinary enough and designed very similarly to Mattel’s. There is no twist waist feature. Britney’s much-evaluated ‘assets’ are sculpted as if worn with a push-up bra. She has nice, subtle definition in her navel and back. She has three extremely weak clicks in her leg- the third click would not hold long enough for a picture. She is done in a tan tone vinyl and can wear Barbie’s shoes.

Doll Scorecard
Face: B-
Body: B
Hair: C
Overall: B-

The Outfit

This outfit is taken straight from Britney’s video “…Baby One More Time.” The black miniskirt is pleated and has a petticoat of tulle. The white shirt ties in front and has a nice collar. The grey sweater is incredible quality- soft and well stitched- but is too small for Britney. She also wears a well done black push-up bra, pink bikini panties, and extremely well done black fishnet stockings. Her shoes are cute high heeled oxfords.

Outfit Scorecard
Fabric: A
Style: C
Execution: B
Overall: B

The Accessories

Seriously- does anyone know what the pink fuzzy things that were tied to Britney’s hair are called? Whatever they are, she has two of them, plus two pink ribbon bows for the bottom of her braids. She also comes with a ‘platinum single,’ a microphone, and a lovely black ‘leather’ backpack.

Accessories Scorecard
Concept: B
Style: B
Playability: A
Overall: B+

The Result

Britney resisted redressing in anything but tacky teen fashions. The outfit she finally chose is a Barbie “Bongo” fashion from 1992. Here, she poses graciously with  “her biggest fan”, a blue haired Takara doll. Britney’s too-tight swearer provides the perfect finishing touch for Blue’s schoolgirl outfit, and fits her perfectly.