How long do doll fads last?

[tuneful87]

I'm no expert, but I'm curious to know how long most doll lines last. Some, like Barbie, just keep going and going and going. But most faddish type dolls tend to last a few years and fade out, correct?


While I love Monster High, I've become addicted and I'm terrified of them lasting for another few years. I KNOW I won't be able to stop buying the dolls or custom fashion for them. Please please PLEASE assure me that they won't be around too much longer! PLEAAAAAASEEEEEEEEE!!!!


I'm at 25 and counting...I cannot let this get out of hand!

[fiwen30]

How long is a piece of string?

[little.fox]

They could be the next Barbie and we'll still be buying them in 20 years! Yay!

[SuniMoon]

Honestly? I think they'll fizzle out and die in a few years. As AMAZING as they are, they're such an odd thing... And while there will always be little girls out there who are a little different, and want to play with monster dolls... The rest of the worlds little girls are going to shift back to pastel pink and "normal" things after the fad dies down. ):

I swear, I am gonna stash some of these away, mint in box, not for collectors purposes, but in case I ever have children. xD

[okapishomapi]

I swear, I am gonna stash some of these away, mint in box, not for collectors purposes, but in case I ever have children. xD

That's a super idea! Although, I'm going to try really hard not to be one of those moms who only wants her kids to play with the toys she thinks are best.

"HERE, PLEASE PLAY WITH THESE PONIES THEY ARE THE BEST TOYS EVAAARRRRRR."



On topic - I can see them fading away, too. Although since they're so ridiculously popular now, I can imagine it will take them a long time to give up on the line. And, of course, it could turn out to be something like MLP or LPS that just lives on through multiple generations, at a stagnant but profitable popularity.

who knows

[hathorcat]

I love them but I do think they are very much a fad...the whole Twilight/Vampire/Werewolf thing is a current trend for the last couple of years and will last another couple...it will fade away and with it any product line which goes with it...

I would say love it now!!!!

But thats just my opinion!! I am sure no one expected MLP to last for 30 years...

[SurfStar]

I think it's hard to say honestly. There seems to be as much of a collector market for these as there are children markets. In addition, it doesn't seem like the vampire/monster trend is dying down too much in literature. I feel like if Mattel played their cards right, the dolls could definitely stick around. I know when I was younger that I would have LOVED to have a doll line like this.

I settled for Barbie because she was the closest thing. I think that this makes a good alternative to the kids that don't always want pastel and pink. I enjoy them for now and I'll just take them at face value for the time being.

[Wardah]

Most doll fads die out because something new and exciting takes their place. Nobody knows what the next trend will be but I doubt people will go back to the "pastel pink" that has not been in since Bratz. And even then don't see Mattel letting them totally fade away after all they put into it. I think it might end up being like Polly Pocket where they are still selling her but not at the pace where it is impossible to find them on the shelves.

[kamakazee82]

... i really think MH is on the downward slope ...

supply issues means that kids, collectors, and parents, are NOT finding the dolls they want and are moving on to other things ...

too many new dolls/accessories released far too quickly with far too little product ... see above ...

those are HUGE blows to the line ... mattel has a sinking flagship in barbie (girls just don't want pinkpinkpinkpinkpink and perfectperfectperfectperfectperfect ... and they are losing the battle to try and keep this top line in stores to sell it ... too much, too fast and no backup support ... just saying ...

saddens me as i love this line, and i would have LOVED it as a child because i was repulsed by barbie's "beauty" and was always kind of saddened by the knowledge of "this is what guys want and i will never be it ..." and i have always loved monsters ... i used playdough to modify my barbie and give her wings and clawed or cloven feet and fins ...

mattel really needs to step up and find the right balance of supply for the demand so they don't keep up this lack of product and/ore my fear of flooding the market too late after the demand is gone from lack of stock earlier ...

[Clementine]

I don't know, perhaps it will just shrink slightly in the coming years, even once the MH crazyness is over there are still going to be loads of girls who want toys like this. As a kid it seems like me and all my friends only ever played games that involved adventurers on an epic quest or zombie invasions and shapeshifting magic using villains and mad vampires (before they were a fad) We settled for barbie in her hot pink glitter dress and had to imagine her as a monster/adventurer/shapeshifter ourselves
I think they will continue as long as mattel can keep coming up with fresh ideas for the line and little girls want monster toys

[Private_Bubbles]

I think the MH line will last for a lot longer if they slow down the releases, they seem to be releasing so many dolls recently but the supply and quality cannot be maintained. I think if they pace themselves more they'll last for a couple more years at least.

[SurfStar]

I think the MH line will last for a lot longer if they slow down the releases, they seem to be releasing so many dolls recently but the supply and quality cannot be maintained. I think if they pace themselves more they'll last for a couple more years at least.

Kind of the same thing that happened with the MLP line too. Too much too soon. Even when there isn't a supply problem, people get tired of constantly buying something - especially when they are as hard to find as some of these guys are.

[DoomBunnies]

Well, considering I watched a girl yell at the empty spot on the shelves where they should have been that she hates MH now because there are never any dolls anymore, and that I've only seen dolls in stores 5 time since the year started, I'd say they may be on the rocks. With the lack of dolls in stores, I can't imagine the profits for the first quarter are very good. I was even told at a Target that they don't carry the dolls anymore, simply because while they keep asking for them they haven't gotten a shipment of them in months, and are tired of not getting their inventory.
So, if Mattel doesn't get their act together on this I'd say probably not that much longer, when even the stores themselves are sick of the lack of product.

[Wardah]

I don't tend to go by what people working in the stores say since 90% of the time they don't really know anything. However if Mattel doesn't step it up they might see MGA's Brazillaz taking their place.

[kamakazee82]

... i love it when people say they don't trust the store employees ...
 
... you just have to ask the right person ... you don't ask the person stocking clothes about toys, you don't ask the person grabbing carts in the lot about groceries, you don't ask the person on top of a ladder with a large box if they're busy ... you get ahold of the right person ... lol
 
stores are very upset about the lack of product and we may very well see a few drop the MH line at least for awhile ... eight feet of emptiness doesn't sell anything, where if you fill it with stuff that IS selling it's a heck of a lot more profitable ... i truthfully wouldn't be surprised to see target/walmart/and especially a lot of smaller chains reduce, if not remove their monster high section ... targets are calling for an end cap of product that mattel is paying for, just for it to sit empty. larger walmarts had a large rounder that mattel paid for that sat mostly empty, if not totally empty, 99% of the time ... they are not impressed with the lack of product they were promised ... and i know a lot of mh fans are really getting sick of not finding anything and on th rare occassion they actually do find something 99% of the time there are some rather shockingly bad paint and quality issues ...
 
mattel is quickly digging a hole they won't soon be getting out of ... if they ever do ... :\
 
 
 
ETA: sorry, i worked retail for 10 years ... and i get really sick of people saying i know nothing when i can answer their question without looking because i've been asked the same question 60 times previously THAT DAY ... "we haven't gotten a truck in the last three seconds, sorry, we still don't have any of the hottest toys of the year." and i loved it when i'd have the baby depertment person walk over to me with a parent n tow and give me there hand and say "here, they're lost" lol best moment ever was a dad screaming at the bike department guy who was up on a twenty foot ladder, putting a fully assembled bike on the rack, asking about why we didn't carry an action figure that was exclusive to another store ... "sorry sir but you're asking a bike builder, who's desperately trying not to drop a heavy bike on your head about something he doens't work with, when you've answered your own question ..." arg  sorry ...