So In Style Marisa and the Mini Coupe

This Mini Coupe is the best Barbie related car I have seen in a while.  Typically you would see a vehicle like this associated with Bratz, or MyScene dolls. 

 
First of all, it's red, which is a color rarely used with Barbie.

I didn't know for sure the doors opened until I saw it deboxed on Flickr. A definite plus.


The all black interior looks really upscale.

 
Racquel, was the perfect owner for this car.  It fits her upscale status.  There's enough room in the back for the baby's car seat, and her husband can still look manly driving this car when they go out.  He probably has some two seater, that isn't appropriate for the baby.

Racquel has stopped by her parent's house to visit for awhile. She is now headed to meet Halle for lunch. Ever since the New Year's party, her friend has been in a state.


As Racquel is pulling out of the driveway, her sister, Faith, approaches the car.

"Can you drop me off at the campus? (Faith)
"I've been in the house for over an hour.  Why are you just now asking me?" (Racquel)
"I was waiting for Dad to come home, so I could borrow his car.  But since you are here, I can just get a ride there, and catch a ride back from one of my friends."  (Faith)
"Ok, but hurry up.  I don't want to be late."

 
"So where are you off to? " (Faith)
"I'm meeting Halle for lunch." (Racqel)
"You could have invited your sister along." (Faith)
"We'll do lunch another day.  I have a feeling this lunch is going to get a little heavy." (Racquel)
:"Ooh.  Sounds interesting." (Faith)

In this picture I am showing again how those side bending knees on the second and third generation fashionista bodies, come in handy for natual posing, as demonstrated by Faith's seated position.


Here are Faith and Racquel for a side by side comparison.  Marisa is currently rebodied on a Sassy fashionista body.  It was the best fit that I had in my collection.  It is not a perfect match, because the Marisa doll has olive undertones. I will look for a very light complexioned body with olive undertones.  In the meantime she will be sporting this Sassy body.   None of the bodies commonly used to rebody African American dolls are going to work. 

I wasn't sure how So In Style Marisa would play out in my stories. I didn't have this combination in mind at all.  The above story originally had Racquel and Halle in it.  I stopped to put a little newly purchased, hair product on Racquel's hair, and remembered that Marisa also need a little product in her hair.  When I picked Marisa up, it hit me that they would make great sisters.  I named Marisa, Faith, because when I first saw pictures of her, I immediately saw a resemblance to Faith Evans, the R&B singer. 

Faith Evans, singer.

Stay tuned to see what happens at the Racquel and Halle lunch date!

So In Style Dolls Rang up $11.99 at Target!

I went to Target yesterday looking to see if they had the Barbie Basic 3.0 dolls stocked.  This Target was in the process of restocking the toy section and had put lots of new fashion doll items on the shelf.   I noticed the four So In Style dolls sitting all alone at the end of the aisle.  There happened to be a worker there with a price gun on her cart.  I had her scan the dolls, expecting to hear $24.39.  But she said $11.99.  WHAT?  I picked up the Marisa doll and had her scan that one, too.  $11.99!  I was tempted to buy all four, but then remembered the Grace and Marisa doll were the only two on the list.  (I have  been pretty good at sticking to my list). 

So the question is, has Target received enough calls and direct Twitter messages to start changing the price, or is this a fluke?  I really don't know the answer to that.  I started my Twitter assault just a few days ago.  I imagine there were countless other people ticked off enough to call and send messages to Target, as well.  My plan is to go back to the other Target that had them marked $24.39 and see if they are still that price.  It they are marked $11.99 or something close, I will know that the change is not a fluke.  If it is a pending change, it may take the stores that had them for $24.39 a minute to change the price.  I have no clue how the whole Target coding system works.  It just dawned on me, doesn't the Attorney General in each state handle price gouging issues?  I will continue my research to see if the people were again able to affect a change.  If the answer is no, I will continue my work to bring attention to the matter.  Keep your eyes open in your respective areas.  [You see what we were able to temporarily do about those pending bank fees.  Power to the people!]

How fitting that Grace is in a pnk and green outfit.  This is the reason I bought another Grace doll.  Her mom, Camille Langford is a soror in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and these are their colors.  The Marisa doll will be named Faith, because she looks just like Faith Evans to me.  Especially when you look at her on the back of the box.

Target and Their Price Gouging of the So In Style Dolls

Recently we have been made aware that Target Stores in some states are chargine $24.39 for the new So In Style dolls.  Most of the people I know who have experienced taking the dolls to the front to purchase them, have asked Target managers to check their price.  Why?  Because these dolls typically retail for $12 -$14.  Where is this $24.39 price coming from?  I was pretty convinced it was a pricing error, but then thought, could Mattel be charging $24 for this basic doll with no accessories? 



Photo property of Aurorakinta via Flickr



Further research from our dear friend Debbie Garrett from Black Doll Collecting, revealed that Mattel's suggested retail price is $14!  Again where did this $24.39 Target price come from?  Target has responded that "due to the anticipated popularity, this is the price we have decided to charge".  Well this has really ticked me off and I am determined to make some waves over this one.

I am not ticked because of my personal desire to purchase the dolls.  I am ticked because this line was primarily created so that little African American girls could experience doll play with dolls that more resembled them.  This has been an issue all throughout our history.  Even today I think companies should do a better job at the diversity of the dolls and toys that are available.  So TARGET, you take a line of dolls that were initially priced comparable to the Caucasian counterpart (Fashionista dolls), and you almost double the retail price because of their anticipated popularity.  So once again, it is the African American and now Hispanic communities, with the addition of the Hispanic doll to the line, that suffer.  So the dolls that were FINALLY created for them is now so overpriced, they still may not be able to experience doll play with dolls that resemble them!!!  Of course the dolls are going to be popular because the creation of such a line is long overdue.  Stop trying to make extra dollars on the backs of our kids!