Mattel announced Barbie will be made of recycled plastic

[toyjunky]

So I was going across the Barbie collector website this morning and came across a few interesting things.

Mattel plans to make Barbie out of 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials in their products and packaging by 2030.

They apparently already released one collection made from 90% recycled ocean-bound plastic. "Barbie Loves the Ocean Collection"
http://www.barbiemedia.com/news/detail/170.html

What are your thoughts?

1) My thought is that while that sounds like an interesting idea, it makes me wonder the long-term stability of the products. Will these dolls "go sticky" or deteriorate in other ways within 5 years or 10, or will they be able to hold up long term. After all, we all know what has happened to the 80's vinyl dolls, and older ones from previous generations, let alone G3 mlp (which some started going sticky/changing (Divine Shines for example) a LOT faster than the older 80's dolls).

2) I wonder if this would create a demand for the older dolls once all new ones are made from recycled plastic.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Barbie regrind time!

The ocean one sounds like a neat idea though. I'd love to see some collectors dolls that just look like the actual plastic they're made from instead of like proper dolls.

[Ponyfan]

I saw some of the Barbie Loves the Ocean dolls at Target.

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Ponyfan

[BlackCurtains]

I think this is a good thing. As far as durability, I believe technology has advanced far enough that they can make things to last out of recycled products. I have some 100% recycled grocery bags that are probably 10+ years old now. I use them a lot and they've been washed in the washing machine and put in the dryer many times through the years. They are still strong and useable.

Dolls are different, of course. I guess time will tell but I wouldn't be put off from buying them if I collected Barbie just because they are recycled.

[Carrehz]

The dolls themselves aren't my style, but OMG the art on those Ocean Barbie dolls is so cuuuute!

[Leave a Whisper]

Kudos to them for making an effort to care about the environment. As for whether they'll last? We'll see.

[Mewtwofan1]

I hope they last for a while, I hope technology and recycling has gotten to the point where durability and stability can be maintained for years in products. I like that Barbie and Mattel are taking a step to at least try and become more environmentally friendly.

[Taffeta]

Over to you, Hasbro.

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

Last week Mattel announced they were doing Hot Wheels NFTs. Getting mixed messages from them. Do they or do they not care about the environment? I think this recycled Barbie thing is solely for publicity. If they really cared they wouldn't be getting into NFTs. Not cool, Mattel.

[Becca]

I think the playsets in this line are really nice toys, they are designed better for children in mind than the playsets from even ten years ago. Whether or not recycled plastic lasts, it's probably not an issue they thought about, because these are 'just toys'.

The dolls in this line, from my perspective of a few years of collecting Barbies, are incredibly boring. There has been dozens (maybe a slight exaggeration) of dolls with all of these facemolds. That in itself wouldn't be such an issue, but there is not much variation in the facepaint between the iterations of the same mold either.

But also, as unbelievable as this might sound, it's nice that the facepaint is not pixelated. Because that is a thing with Barbie these days. There are even collector dolls (with a collector doll price tag) that have pixelated paint. Here's an example @ Flickr (not my picture).

Considering that the essentially blind bag dolls (which is a trend that I hate: how many will you have to buy to get the one you want), Color Reveal Barbies, that were first introduced late 2019, are on their -I don't even know how many-th series, I'd say it's a safe bet that this is just for publicity.

(A Barbie collector hating on Mattel? More common than you think.)