The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Off Topic => The Dollhouse => Topic started by: starrynights on November 09, 2019, 01:42:54 PM
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Is it just me, or does it seem most dolls now adays are packaged blind boxed? I don't remember this problem a few years ago. It also seems that everyone is moving to plastic clothes and hair. Do you think this is a trend that's gonna stay and what's your opinion on it? Fan of it or nah?
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Yeah, I've noticed this, and I'm against it! :p Blind bags/boxes/whatever are fine for little cheap 'pocket money' toys (like MLP blind bags), I guess. But if something costs more than, say, £5 - I wanna see what I'm buying, damn it! I don't get why they're so popular all of a sudden.
(I'm not particularly a fan of plastic clothes, either, although I haven't actually noticed that trend myself.)
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Yeah, I've noticed this, and I'm against it! :p Blind bags/boxes/whatever are fine for little cheap 'pocket money' toys (like MLP blind bags), I guess. But if something costs more than, say, £5 - I wanna see what I'm buying, damn it! I don't get why they're so popular all of a sudden.
(I'm not particularly a fan of plastic clothes, either, although I haven't actually noticed that trend myself.)
Yeah, I don't like it either - I find not knowing what I'm getting incredibly frustrating. Especially when the few things I actually want out of the blind boxes are super expensive second hand. (Cutie mark crew Princess Luna, anyone?)
I've noticed the plastic clothes problem on recent mlps, barbies (eah and mh resorted to this right before they got cancelled too), and newer doll lines like off the hook and capsule chix (I still love capsule chix....they're posable! I just made a little wig and found some tiny fabric clothes for mine) I personally really dislike plastic clothes and hair.
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Oh it's certainly a trend for EVERYTHING at this point. Those Poopsie unicorns and dolls are the worst offenders in my opinion. It's a nearly $100 dollar toy, you aren't even going to let them pick the one they want?
A little more excusable is when the toy is supposedly blind, but if you look online you can see what's inside. I guess it's fun for the kids then, and the parents are comforted by the fact that their kid will be happy.
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Oh it's certainly a trend for EVERYTHING at this point. Those Poopsie unicorns and dolls are the worst offenders in my opinion. It's a nearly $100 dollar toy, you aren't even going to let them pick the one they want?
A little more excusable is when the toy is supposedly blind, but if you look online you can see what's inside. I guess it's fun for the kids then, and the parents are comforted by the fact that their kid will be happy.
It's less bad if you can look somewhere and tell what's inside but still I find it super annoying - especially since if you sit there and inspect every box people are gonna think you're up to no good.
$100 for a blind box toy!?! That's ridiculous. This does bring up another thing though...
Why are poop related toys so popular? There's poop candy even!
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I'm mixed on blind toys. I'm fine with it on cheaper toys, but the more expensive the toy the less okay I am with it. Toys that are a couple bucks like Shopkins or blindbag/Cutie Mark Crew ponies? Perfectly fine with that. Hairdorables and smaller Poopsies? Kinda pushing it for blind toys I feel, but not outrageous. The large Poopsie unicorns, llamas, and human dolls? Nooooo, that's terrible. If you're spending $50 on a toy, you better know what you're buying. Imagine buying two of them and they're both the same? Yikes!
As for plastic clothes and hair, it depends on the dolls, I guess. I'm more okay with plastic clothes and hair on smaller dolls, such as Capsule Chix, Shopkins Happy Places, etc. Or the plastic tops on normal size Shoppies (which are still relatively small dolls). On like, Barbie size? Noooo they better have rooted hair and fabric clothes if they're that size! This is why I don't buy most Ken dolls, since most of them have plastic hair instead of rooted.
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Oh - yeah, I don't mind plastic clothes on tiny things like Lil Shoppies, Off the Hook, etc. But plastic clothes on Barbie, MH, etc-sized dolls? Nooooo thank you.
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First time I encountered plastic "clothes" was when my daughter was given a Princess Cadence with a, like, pink plastic lump as her cloak. I was "euw, what is THIS thing meant to be??!!". I think it's a very weird concept and I would never buy a doll or toy that had solid plastic "garments".
If Capsule Chix had fibre hair and fabric clothing I would be more likely into them, I love the articulation and the concept and the body shape... but all that the hard plastic... no way.
I also don't get the "blind buy" thing. I mean, it's probably slightly addictive for some people/children in the way that any type of gambling can be, so that's probably it. And so it makes more money for the companies. But it doesn't appeal to me at all.
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Everything plastic, smaller and blind boxed is a cost cutting/increasing measure first and foremost.
In the past kids could choose their favorite character and you had to make the others inteesting to them by generating a story (this is Barbie, but don't you want to have Barbie's best friend and her sisters and her boyfriend?? Barbie is so alone without them. And all her pets! And her friends' friends... lol)
Now they have to buy several others to get to the favorite and it doesn't matter that there is no world anymore. Characters are now much more relegated to a theme, a color, a hobby... etc.
It also frustrates kids more, so more whining to get more toys. The toy is designed knowing that kids will not settle for what they get blind.
Smaller parts means more items generated with the same amount of material.
Plastic clothes don't have to get sewn/assembled and are only one material, one mold for each item and all look the same without major QC changes.
No more crooked velcros, tiny hooks that fall off over time, no buttons that need to get re-attached -- now all clothes are rubber with a slit in the back for easy dressing.
It's not just a trend because kids like surprises; behind all these things is a business. We tend to forget that toys are not gifts from Santa, they are sold to make money.
So I guess this type of doll is here to stay. Turns kids into collectors real quick.
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I remember years and years ago reading an article in an anime magazine about the popularity of blind-boxed figurines in Japan. At the time, the American writing the article talked about blind-buying like it was a strange, unfathomable novelty. Fifteen years later: here we are. XD
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Yes, so many toys now are the "blind box" type. Our youngest (just 8 now) loves the LOL dolls. Thankfully she seems happy with what she gets, and the larger fashion ones aren't blind box.
I mostly try to avoid them, as I don't want to have to gamble to get what I want. Thankfully a new toy I am interested in has a code on the bottom. Someone on YouTube listed which codes went with which figure. It worked! I got just what I wanted.
If more of these types of toys had a code I might be interested in buying more. But I am not made of money and I want to know what I am buying.
Like someone else said, if it's over $5 I better know what is in the box!
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I think box openings on YouTube and instagram are what made them so wildly popular and why all the toy companies are trying to cash in. I find them frustrating and only buy one or two -or none to avoid duplicates.
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If Capsule Chix had fibre hair and fabric clothing I would be more likely into them, I love the articulation and the concept and the body shape... but all that the hard plastic... no way.
Well you're in luck, they've just introduced hair into the line! Also some clothing pieces are actually fabric, I'm not at all opposed to the sculpted pieces though considering the whole point is the mix/match aspect, kinda like Lego figures almost haha ^.^
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If Capsule Chix had fibre hair and fabric clothing I would be more likely into them, I love the articulation and the concept and the body shape... but all that the hard plastic... no way.
Well you're in luck, they've just introduced hair into the line! Also some clothing pieces are actually fabric, I'm not at all opposed to the sculpted pieces though considering the whole point is the mix/match aspect, kinda like Lego figures almost haha ^.^
The new series with fiber hair each have one visible doll and one of three dolls that are unique to that particular doll. So if you get all three visible dolls you will end up with 3 different second dolls.
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Capsule Chix have brushable hair now? Oh..! I may have to buy one then. Maybe..