Mood:
incredulousNow Playing: "Paulie" - movie taped off Cinemax years ago
...it's less of a frustration now ! A few years ago, I was seriously in love with my first 'made for adult collectors' doll. It bothered me because I was in the midst of being a serious Barbie and sixth-scale collector, and this love object was much bigger. I wished like anything that this doll was Barbie sized, even said so on doll groups. Was informed that various people had written Mattel for years, wanting them to continue this line of dolls that would have included this oversized adoration, in sixth scale.
The doll was, of course, Elphie - Tonner's sixteen-inch 2005 Wicked Witch. A quick glimpse of the home page and the largest individual page will show you how that internal struggle went...and most of it's documented right here on the blog entries. I have never, for one nanosecond, regretted going out of scale and getting the doll of my dreams. Heck, even now, my thoughts are haunted by the 2007 brunette one. I have loved this doll for every moment. And I broke free of the 'I have to collect *only* Barbie size dolls, so that all my props and things will work and I won't have to buy numerous scales and store 'em.' line of thought. I must have eight or nine different scales of dolls, and I love 'em all. I owe a lot to our Elphie.
So I was actually upset when, two years after Tonner's amazing success with their fantasy Wizard of Oz line, Mattel announces that they're gonna make essentially the same things they already have - and they're finally gonna make their own Wicked Witch, about a decade after they 'finished' their versions. In my book, they're trading on Tonner's success, but only after ignoring their customers for years.
Apologies for the watermarked photos. They're the best I can find. Evidently, if the eBay sellers can be believed, despite the fact that this is a 'pink box' release (unlimited numbers, it's not designed to be adult-level collectable at all, and can be found at Wal-Mart and other retailers), it's difficult to find. Some have even labelled it as 'shortpacked', which I find difficult to believe, as these kinds of dolls are normally 'x to the shipping carton', all the same, not in a variety assortment like action figures.
Still, you can kind of see what Mattel's doing here. Considering their last Witch was a Margaret Hamilton porcelain, with the expected nose and chin you could cut cheese with, they're clearly not going that route with this prototype photo. Their Witch looks almost as soft and pensive as Tonner's, pretty but not stunningly beautiful...I was kind of surprised.
Well, I shouldn'ta been. If there's one thing that drove me away from Mattel and Barbie more than Elphie and other dolls, it's Mattel's own business practices. Back when I haunted barbiecollectables.com, before it became the Barbie Secret Circle club, we'd get 'sneak previews' of beautifully lit and photographed dolls that would soon be available. These would be greeted with gasps of delight and quick checks of available credit for pre-orders.
Then the actual doll would hit the shelves. (crickets chirp as mutterings from the villagers gradually grow louder) The stunning doll was not in evidence, but a not-at-all special doll would be deboxed to the growing anger and frustration of the multitudes. Mattel reps would always say 'Well, now, the prototypes are just that, kind of like a serving suggestion ! ' and folks stuck with it would try to make Blah doll into Amazing one, and the rest would flood the doll shops with returns. Meanwhile, the eBay sellers would continue to show the proto photos. Posts of 'never again will I buy a doll sight unseen' would sprinkle the message boards, and a few weeks later, more stunningly photographed dolls would surface...
Why am I getting into all this history now ?
Does this ranting make a bit more sense now ? Arrrgh. I confess, I was still interested in the 'Barbie Elphie', so when photos started to surface on eBay, I eagerly clicked. Yikes. In fairness, it could just be that the prototype photo has the hat pulled down too far to see these sharp-angled eyebrows, but still, there's a big d@mn difference between proto and production again.
Even holding your finger over the production doll's brows doesn't improve her much, or get her any closer to the prototype photo. Her eyes are bugging, the makeup is blending in instead of enhancing her, and frankly, with the curled hair, she looks more like a Rhea Perlman (Cheers, Carla) doll than an Elphaba one. Is it just me, am I the only one who'd get upset if I ordered the doll on the left, but got the doll on the right ? If they'd just kept the soft expression...I can't tell if the doll's color is changed or not. It's kind of harsh in the auction photo I boosted. But that can be any number of exterior influences.
Anyway, at least I won't waste time looking for it. If it makes you happy, I'm glad, but honestly, I'm amazed all over again at Mattel. Wish it could have been in a good way. And I'm darn glad I'm not their customer anymore. They can blame Bratz and videogames all they want, but they're killing themselves a lot faster than any other toymaker possibly could.
