For real. I’ve always been a fast reader and that can probably be attributed to constantly reading my whole life. There’s no big secret as to how I finished my required reading in two class periods when at least a month was dedicated to the book.

Eh, I don’t think dolls should have to be 100% realistic. Dolls and cartoon characters tend to be stylized to make them look more interesting. Even characters that don’t have idealized faces and bodies will still have exaggerated features. Something that’s very realistic would look boring.

Getting rid of the original would be a dumb financial move, the whole point of the new dolls is to MAKE money. Besides, what’s wrong with diversity? Most toylines, even the ones that all have the same body type, try for a diverse set. It sells better. Especially these days, consider, Barbie no longer dominates the…

I hope so. They’re doing this as a financial move, I think it could be successful if they market it right and offer enough options. It’s true that the other body types will start out limited in options, but if they can offer enough early on it’s not gonna be a big deal.

Well, it would be a stupid decision to discontinue the stuff they’ve been selling all along. Besides, the new theme is diversity. Selling a short Barbie and a curvy Barbie doesn’t mean they gotta get rid of the original Barbie.

Ah, yeah, I remember hearing the criticism about how the first black Barbies were just recolors of the original white Barbie mold. Yeah, they’ve had different face molds for a little while.

That’s probably a big reason Mattel is doing this. Barbie’s appeal has always been that she’s a blank slate character, and I think there’s value in having a doll like that... But nowadays she has some serious competition from character-based dolls. Mattel doesn’t want to give Barbie an established character, but what…

The interview with the Mattel person or whatever makes it clear that this is a money move for them. It might or might not work.

In all fairness, the “blank slate” of Barbie has always been a large part of her appeal. Mattel didn’t allow Pixar to put her in the first Toy Story movie because they don’t really like her having an established personality or backstory. (they changed their tune when the movie became a hit and boosted profits for the…

Great point. There’s not enough retail shelf space to sell every doll variation in this lineup, so you’re right, they might be trying to test out for the most popular variations before choosing some to put out in stores.

The one with the blue hair is rad.

There have been different face molds for quite a while now.

She is pretty rad. Probably why they’re putting her as the front for the “curvy” options. If they have any concerns about how girls will receive her, well, making her so cool will get rid of those.

Only for now. They’re still trying to figure out how to market and package the dolls as individuals.

I like ‘em. Plus, the dolls still, you know, look nice and interesting. A few times a year or so I see an article about some random person making a new doll with realistic proportions and she’s intended to compete with Barbie. But those dolls are always boring. In addition to realistic proportions, they always only…

I believe 7,000 years ago is a little before large human civilizations. Human populations at the time would’ve been small and scattered.

Yeah, that’s why I’m not really a fan of most “all bodies are beautiful” campaigns. The women shown are still usually conventionally attractive, even if they’re larger than most models seen in ads.

I’m not against all reboots of everything, but Labyrinth is one of those movies that you can’t really recreate. Cult classic films are generally like that. For starters, it’s a type of movie that you don’t really see anymore. The 1980's had a lot of kid’s movies that were weird, dark, fantastic, and very strange. You…

Seriously. Labyrinth is a cult classic, and it’s very difficult to create a good and successful reboot of one of those.

Agreed. I’m not against the whole idea of reboots, but this isn’t really one of those movies that you can reboot. It’s dark and strange. And like you said, a cult classic, not something mainstream. Remakes of cult classics aren’t usually very good and generally aren’t successful because the appeal of the original is…