It's funny to me cuz I remember collectors saying 2004 holiday Barbie was a sign of the quality drop at Barbie due to the fact her sculpt was considered a play line sculpt and size and the switch from the body sculpt that older Holiday dolls had to the belly button body as well as the use of glitter instead of textiles. So the fact that 2000s Barbie is considered peak Barbie to newer collectors when even back then I remember collectors being unhappy with the quality issues and the same sort of complaints that still persist to this day. I genuinely think 90s Barbie was when Barbie really peaked and the decline has always been at a steady rate, it's just hit a point where people can't really excuse it anymore. I personally think Barbie has become so monolithic as a brand that Mattel really needs to separate the different demographics she's aimed at into separate brands. Like the cheap budget dolls should be separate to the more tween aimed Career Barbies and Fashionistas and the signature dolls being for older audiences. I don't think we can really have a fair conversation about Barbie cuz fans of her point to the higher end offerings while her haters point to the lowest tier crap and there really isn't a fair conversation to be had. Compare and contrast how MGA has a whole bunch of different doll brands that are for very specific demographics. I feel like a cheap Budget Barbie is more comparable to an LOL Surprise Baby capsule, while barbie extra is more Lolomg or Rainbow High and the Bratz Repros/collectors dolls are comparable to Signature Barbie.

it IS nice to see Barbie slowly increasing in quality again after the mid-2010s! A lot of the more recent Extra designs have been soooo good! I need number 19 so bad.

I dont love Barbies anymore either. As a teen I loved the Buffy, Britney, Sabrina character type dolls. Now I love Rainbow high. Barbie will have a place in my heart but the brand has gone so greedy. Cheaply made, can’t wrap a print, can’t paint accessories and are expensive for what you get. But that Easter girl and the emerald doll are stunning.

I think it's understood in most Barbie circles that her quality has dropped drastically. I see complaints often. The thing is, they're still buying the dolls. If a doll has a nice face, collectors will literally buy her for her head alone. That's the mentality of a lot of modern Barbie collectors. Because you can always buy the doll a better body. The downside of this is that now you've purchased multiple dolls and spent more money than you should've had to in order to build the doll you actually wanted to begin with.

I also think that Barbie extra is a step in the right direction! Although some of designs are questionable, some are pretty cool like the one you reviewed.

I loved Barbie. It was my favorite toys as a kid! But I haven’t bought a Mattel product in stores since 2016 monster high dolls. Their products aren’t good anymore and it shows. People were being critical of Barbie last year saying things about the quality in Barbie just isn’t good. Mattel put out a statement saying basically that they didn’t care and people are going to buy them anyways cause it’s Barbie. That statement said it all for me…. I see some potential in their new dolls but I’d rather buy quality. Rather save my money for rainbow high. Lol god, old 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s barbies that I grew up with slapped. I will always pick up a good vintage Barbie at the flea markets. Lol

I only collect older barbies because their better quality

It really peeves me when people make the excuse that "it's low quality because it's for children!" And maybe this was just me, but as a child I was sooooo picky about fabrics and outfit quality. To the point where my favourite doll was a vintage ken, even though I generally disliked boy dolls... His outfit pieces were so well constructed, and he even came with fabric socks! Regardless, I really hope Barbie moves back towards their old design philosophy. Just put the budget into quality and realism rather than quantity yk? All of that still has a place with children, kids aren't all the same lol. A similar doll line rn is AG, and those are hugely popular, so I really think there's a niche to fill in the fashion doll space. (Not saying I hate pink or fantasy concepts... But I do think those are oversaturated atm).

Nothing but agreement here. I'm 58, and I got my first "Barbie" (it was a Skipper) at the age of 4, and I wouldn't let go of playing with them until I hit high school. The first day of high school in 1978 was so stressful that I came home, dumped my stuff on the table, and headed back to my room to get out all my Barbies and dressed them all up for a huge wedding. My mom was a trifle worried. I've been collecting them as a adult for 15 years, and my favorite Barbie period is from 1998 through 2003. Gorgeous faces on play line dolls, beautiful gowns and detail, and the collector dolls were outstanding. But from about 2016 on....I don't buy. Awful. Awful, awful, awful. Articulation is a funny thing. The dolls I grew up with had twist and turn waists, and click knees, and while there wasn't a huge range of motion, the combination of a torso joint with knee joints made them SEEM much more fun to play with. When Barbie lost movement in her waist around 2000, it was bad, because it just made the change to a leg without a knee joint that much more egregious. That's why the ribcage level torso joint in early Fashionista and the made to move bodies is so important. These things don't have to have a huge range of motion to improve your posing options immeasurably. They just have to be there.

the holiday barbie this year is unforgivable, and i thought the gold one in 2020 was bad 😭 I agree with you tho, it’s incredibly sad. Especially when you look at what they’re competition can achieve, this is nothing but greed

I have loved Barbie for over 40 years. I was gifted the first two Holiday Barbies when they came out, when I was a young teenager. They were definitely better quality back then. As a mother and still collecting today, I prefer the older Holiday Barbies as well as the Dolls of the World Princeses. Even the collector Barbies were much better than today. They were truely awsome quality back then!

Girl all us barbie collectors have complained about the decline in quality the bad thing is no one can come to an agreement on what they like, hate or are ok with. The rubber legs is a whole argument by itself 🤣. The only thing most of us seem to agree on is the clothing is cheap and there are small glimmers of hope for the future

I actually went to the toy aisle I walmart (in Canada) and there was one thing I noticed. I saw parents heading to the Lols and the Rainbow High side. And no one was looking at barbie. The LOLs were the ones most bought because their section was completely empty. And fully stocked is the Barbies. It really shows.

I think this years holiday batbie would be massively improved with just some gold embroidery. Something to make her pop and not be lost in a sea of red. . Barbie Extra I feel has improved a lot this year. My biggest problem with it was that the designs used too many colors and just looked like a mish mash. The easter? bunny barbie here tones the colors down and thus makes her look more cohesive.

I totally agree with your assessment. My first Barbie was back in the late 70s, and I continued to buy Barbies until the early 2000s. Then I lost interest in collecting but started again in 2020 when I heard the Barbie Fashion Model Collection line was ending, and I snapped up a few of those (not enough), then I went down the collecting rabbit hole. Now I am collecting many lines, but I have generally avoided the "collector" Barbies because the value isn't there. I literally didn't look at Barbies for twenty years except the odd collector doll on the Mattel website, and I got a rude awakening when I came back in 2020. Both material quality and quality control had plummeted. I remember I actually threw out some of my 90s Barbies, including the 1997 Holiday Barbie, because I thought they looked kind of cheap and tacky compared to higher-end collector dolls on the market at the time. Now they look so luxe in comparison to today's Barbies! I thought Barbie would only get better, because she had through the 80s and 90s. Right now I think the lines with the best value are Extra, Barbie Looks, and Rewind (although the upcoming two don't look as good), especially if you can get them on sale. The biggest flaw of the Extra dolls is the pixelated screening on the majority of them. The Holiday Barbies and Looks dolls generally have good faces, but the clothes aren't great. So, it seems Mattel can make a reasonably-price doll, a doll with good screening, a doll with good hair, and a doll with good clothes, but not all in the same doll. I don't know where that is going. Maybe a day will come when I don't buy Barbies at all, but I hope not.

The Barbie extras are amazing. I love them so much. I’m uk based and just ordered this one on the sale at under £10 . I’m also 54 years old and have just come back to collecting after a 25 year break. And yes you are right the decline in quality is huge from when I was buying 1990 Barbies.

I only collect older Barbie’s from 2000s they are such good quality. It sucks that modern collector Barbie’s are so over priced :( they be charging $100+ for a Barbie that should only be like less than $60

My thing is, mattel is very much capable of making high quality Barbie’s at retail price and they just choose not too, they’ve done it with my scene so Idu why they can’t do it for barbie, instead they limit that quality specifically to the signature Barbie’s they sell on mattel creations and those Barbie’s are like $30-$200, if mattel made play line retail Barbie’s the same quality as those Barbie style signatures with the diverse face molds they do for the Barbie looks line I’d be more inclined to buy them, but with the way their moving rn…it’s looking really bleak, the only Barbie collector Ik that actively criticizes the deep decline is beauty inside a box

The Easter Barbie is from 2010, Brooke. Barbie Box Dates are ALWAYS right - it just either says the EXACT year of the doll’s release or the year before the doll came out. Glue Seepage was a thing Mattel did from 2008-2016 by the way :) Loved the video!

I love the red head, but she’s def mid in comparison. Got her and the AA variant both for $15 at Burlington. Would not pay a penny more.

The red one is giving Jessica rabbit ❤

I just really hope Barbie will rise again! I love her so much !!! And I am hopeful that she will get her glam and stardom back. I am seeing that the newest releases almost all have makeup on and it makes me so excited and happy !!! I want her to quit the dreamhouse adventure universe, get Ken back as her boyfriend (NOT BESTFRIEND) , finally get a new face screening again and be all girly and pink again and I am confident in that idea. I belive in you Barbie !

I love dolls and watching your videos talking about them really helps calm my anxiety and I feel calm and safe so thank you for always being here to talk about dolls 🙏💖

barbie issues aside (I agree wholeheartedly with your grievances surrounding the brand and it's pretty heartbreaking to me to see this quality decline after having grown up with late 90s and early 2000s barbies that were such a large part of my childhood and truly inspired me but I digress), it's honestly so impressive to me just how knowledgeable you are about dolls, doll materials, the doll production process etc. like I've been collecting dolls for a decade now but there's a lot I don't know about but I'm able to learn a lot from you and you help me identify subjects I'd like to learn more about. I really enjoy your content because you speak so naturally yet with such eloquence and it's just so refreshing. you're a gem in this community and I'm so grateful we have you!

One thing that turns me off to a lot of the special edition dolls, like holiday or day of the dead, is that they want such a hefty price for a doll with NO articulation. You don't even need the Made to Move body, just something like Barbie Extra and then I'd go for it.

The 2004 Holiday Barbie is my favorite Holiday Barbie. It’s also the first Holiday Barbie I have core memories of unboxing and playing with her that Christmas. ❤

I am gifting the 2004 Holiday Barbie to my grown daughter this year. I found the AA one in the green gown and blonde one in the burgundy gown! I too was impressed with the metal choker & hand bag, plus that box opening! I/we have all these Barbie’s also.

As a kid I went to A LOT of antique stores and estate sales. I’d always be entranced by the older Barbie’s (especially the holiday ones.) I always loved seeing the Barbie’s based off movies or special collab ones like Harley Davidson, Toys R Us and McDonald’s. I had a ton of the Barbie’s from the early 2000’s when the movies came out. After the Princess in the Pauper, Fairytopia and Rapunzel era I feel like the dolls and movies kinda fell off

I miss the 2010 face so much!! The makeup and style was everything

I still loke modern barbie for what it does, but I agree 100% that people should be critical of the things that they are spending their money on or that other people are going to spend money on. Extra is a step in the right direction and I hope we contine to see improvement in quality because honestly, I would love to see a doll that has a hearing aid with this level of styling done to her (this is an example; there are many other molds I wish barbie would elevate).

I LOVED my holiday Barbies as a kid, but I even noticed a sharp decline in quality from the ones I got as a kid to the ones my sister received. The fabrics became what I can only describe is plastic-y. There’s no shape or drape to it. I also noticed less detail in lace, embroidery, or beaded details. There’s so plain nowadays, which can be ok but not with the materials Mattel chose. I’m actually thinking about getting this years holiday barbie to deconstruct the dress and make my own version of it.

I really like the Barbie Signature Looks and BMR 1959 lines, specifically the Kens, but I never saw them in stores only online

The best Barbies for me are from 1998 to about 2009. These were my childhood Barbies. They had some of the best quality and style for not that much money. I remember Cali girl, Fashion Fever, and the Top Model line were excellent. Life in the dream house was great. After about 2010 they definitely went down in quality. Although, I'm still mainly a Barbie collector because I prefer the more realistic proportions, but it's rough lol since the clothes are mostly abhorrent. I hope they put more quality and thought into their products. The fashionistas line should at least have basic articulation like the Barbie extras do. But sadly, I think they will continue on the decline overall. Although (!) they've actually have been getting better with the looks like and the extra line. Maybe there is hope.

I really want the 2004 Holiday Barbie. That's the year I was born and she is BEAUTIFUL

Great video, I completely agree with everything you said! The few collector line Barbies I have all come from the late 90’s and the Noughties. For me the Noughties were peak era for Barbie; with the incredible Fashion Fever line and all the absolutely amazing collector dolls available including those first ‘model muse’ dolls. I have almost all the articulated Barbies from the early fashionista years 2008-2012, then it all went to crap from 2013 on. Now the only dolls I pick up are from the Extra and the Looks lines. The Extra dolls are pretty cute I have to say. The body they have is the same articulated body as the early Fashionistas. I’m with you that I prefer this body, I don’t like the MTM body as you can’t put boots on them without damaging the ankle joint. I recently acquired 3 fashion dolls from the Integrity Toys collections; they’re so breathtakingly beautiful and high quality I likely won’t be investing much money at all in getting more Barbies. They just look so sad and cheap next to the Integrity dolls (yes I know it’s like comparing apples to oranges)

I love love love the 2022 Odile Holiday Barbie (the one you have)! I got really lucky and found someone's return in store at Walmart for $20 each. I bought two, one that I unboxed for myself and one staying in- box to give to one of my daughters when they're older. I currently have mine as part of our Christmas display but I'm thinking about using her as a topper for my toy themed Christmas tree. She's sooo pretty, I was planning to give her a MTM body but honestly the Model Muse one looks so pretty and elegant with her that now I'm torn. 😅

I’m enjoying and collecting the Barbie Extras. I’m also VERY happy with the Barbie Looks line!!

WE collectors DO NOT hate Barbie, I’m an exclusive Barbie collector and only collect barbies, though not satisfied with most of the modern Barbie quality, I still want it to do well so badly. But fortunately in 2022, we got sooooooo much improvements, which gave me hopes.

The only Barbie dolls I buy now are the Looks line. I love them! MTM bodies, gorgeous face sculpts, good quality hair and basic fashion. Right up my alley. I also have a lot of Basics and Holiday Barbies, but I don't buy them anymore as I am satisfied with what I have right now.

I have that 2004 Holiday Barbie. She’s beautiful, I love her face with rooted lashes and her hair!

Brook, I have to agree with everything that you’re saying. I have been collecting Barbies for about 20 years now and I have noticed a very steep decline in quality. It’s very upsetting because I grew up with Barbie she was my friend she was my playmates she kept me from being lonely. However, The quality has just gone down so much in the past few years. This is why I’ve started collecting older dolls from the very late 90s to the early 2000’s. let me tell you it is a huge difference. By the way I ordered the green doll.

If you don't like the look of Made to Move joints I recommend the BMR1959 doll in the blue jacket and purple dress, her joints are completely covered and is only $15 on amazon. I'm pretty critical of barbies too because I still have my old ones and I know how good they CAN be, but it seems that without competition they try to get away with the bare minimum. OMG gave us Barbie Extra, one of the better modern lines. If we had competition for Holiday Barbies maybe we could get some better dresses.

As a kid I never connected to Barbie. The only Barbie I liked was the one that had a pregnant belly. I loved myscene and Bratz so I would take the belly and use it on my myscenes. Lol

And if they make a pretty doll, it's US exclusive (the red-haired holiday doll never released here in Europe and the Mattel Creations dolls are expensive af if you need to pay for shipping abroad)

omg 2004 holiday barbie also comes in BURGUNDY dress i need both immediately

I think the price point on playline dolls like the Barbie Extras are fine, I'm personally not interested in most of the designs but if I was I wouldn't feel robbed at $25. It's more the Mattel Creations collector dolls that feel unjustifiable in their markups and that's honestly across the board with MH as well? $100 for a doll with the qaulity comparable to other $30 to $50 playline dolls on the market just isn't adding up.

Your “Sweetie” doll has a great face that came out at that time. I especially like the articulated dolls with this face that came out at that time. I missed those because I stopped buying Barbies at that time for Monster High. When I discovered what I missed in Barbie at that time I started collecting them on the 2nd market (EBay).

Unfortunately some of holiday dolls from the 2010's suffered the budget cuts that came when the lawsuit with mga was brutal, they lost a lot of money and with it some great ideals lines and doll artists, the cost of the materials they used for the dresses also went up and the declining sales also had a lot to do with the changing of ceos some of them focused on unimportant lines and as a result we get stuck with poor quality, Mattel is coming back slowly, I've been disappointed at watching the decline in real time I'm 35 and watching the best years of Barbie disappear I still collect some new lines I prefer original 80's and 90's if Mattel gave more spotlights to their creators we could be getting old school style back

I love your channel and and I love babrie dolls and I'm also a doll collector but I collect the old ones

Even just some silver trim on the 2022 girls petals would’ve made her look so much better. I still want her though cause her hair and face is gorgeous

Barbie extra #1 is a good one! Can’t really think of any which is crazy

I just really mist the paris hilton glam of barbie! When barbie has a 200 careers! Now she’s just a youtuber! Good that I didn’t get rid my fashion fever fashion packs, they are so high quality, detailed and real fabrics!

I feel like Barbie needs to get her Mphf back. Kids want Barbie if she stands out like she used to. She was constantly pertrade as a star and icon the it girl! She had confidence and was all pink and glam. Barbie doesn’t stand out anymore sadly because she isn’t what she used to be. If you are quite and basic and average you don’t stand out in the doll world you know ?

The share holders got greedier

Barbie extra body joints and old bend and snap knees look so much better than made to move Barbie bodies!!!!!

I think the Easter Barbie is the super super budget line, it retails around 5 dollar I think.

Wow I've never seen a Barbie extra I wanted but OMG I love that doll.

Wow ! So nice to see Barbie dolls .

My mom got me the Easter Barbie when I was a kid I loved her so much I loved her face & her cute lil dress I was not a fan of the necklace though I took it off of her 😅

thanks for the great video!

One of my biggest complaints about Barbie is that Mattel does not make beautiful clothes for her anymore. Gone are the Fashion Avenue and Fashion Fever outfits. They are more concerned with making tent dresses that fit the plus sized Barbies but look terrible on the traditional Barbie doll.

I used to collect barbies I had so many and I let my niece sell them all 10 years or so. I kept a few like my Greek barbie and a few fairy ones. I love love rainbow high and have started collecting again for like a year now I wish I would have started when they first came out missing a few series one and two. I have a few new barbie extra the pink one and teddy bear one. I did get some brazt and of course all the monster high. I wish I would have collected when monster high was around the first time but I had given up collecting by then. I did see the new 350 dollar art barbie that is beautifl i may get her if they even get it back in stock. The collecror barbies seem more like the ones i used to collect which is hopeful since one reason I stopped collecting was quality had went down a lot. The amethyst barbie seems nice also oh and the red head holiday one is amazing. I would get more dolls but I refuse to buy inflated prices from ebay or wherever. It's a shame that the fun in collecting is harmed by this keeps the average collector from getting ahold of these dolls that should have reasonably prices. I saw her on ebay for 85 which is double retail and that makes me sad not only for collectors but a lot of these dolls are for kids. The specific collector dolls I get having some more hype over getting them but some of the markups are just too much. Thanks you always have such great videos. 👍

You could cut around the glue stain with an exacto knife so that its like the floating barbie logox❤

Model body is a redhead variant of 2022 Holiday Barbie is on

I stopped collecting Barbies when I was 11 and I haven't looked back since getting into Monster High as a teenager. I currently collect Shadow High, Rainbow High, and Monster High. As a kid I loved the Barbie Movie dolls and I remember Barbies that were around when I was a kid in general having a lot more quality with things like better fabrics, amazing ballgowns that didn't feel cheap, and actual click knee joints instead of the boring, unarticulated plastic legs on most modern Barbie dolls (the articulation on MTM and other more articulated Barbies isn't bad at all in my opinion). The point is, Modern Barbie just doesn't do it for me anymore and I cannot see myself buying them they way I used to buy Barbies in the past.

It's so sad because mattel has worked so hard to keep barbie relevant. When Bratz was taking over mattel panicked and worked hard to keep barbie on the market. And now it feels like they aren't even trying. Other than barbie extra which most collectors only buy for the outfit prices to use on other dolls. I love barbie and collect barbie but I definitely can see the difference in quality from when I was a kid (I'm 21 born in 2001)

I hate that so many justify the lack of quality due to it's demographic being kids. As if kids don't deserve quality dolls for them to play...that's such a disgusting mentality to have. Kids do have the mental capacity and intelligence than what so many adults don't think they have. I was a kid once, and whenever someone gave me a cheap doll, I'd go right back playing with any other higher quality Bratz or Barbie doll that I had and forget about that doll for good. I was more into Bratz than Barbie but so many of my dolls were Barbie and even her playline dolls were so much better than what Mattel produces today. It's sad that nothing Mattel produces for Barbie interests me, even the Extra line because I'm only interested for their clothes for my Liv dolls.

man the one in the red cant find anywhere ugh wish i got her when she came out hopping i can get her

Have you heard of the Legend's Of Ireland Barbies? I want those ones so bad, they're so pretty. If you ever find them around I'd love to see/hear your opinion of them.

Great video 💖

The decline for barbie started in the 2010's. And as much as people like to praise that era for barbie; you cant deny that theres a quality diffrence between fashion fever and the fashionista line. I think, the decline in sales in the 2000's and the price increase for materials really screwed barbie over (and that MGA lawsuit didnt help either). But mattel still has faith in the brand. Barbie extra is a step in the right direction and with the upcoming movie. I think that there is still hope for barbara.

Will you do a full video on the Futari Wa Precure dolls?

They need to make the budget dolls bend their arms and legs at least. The fashionistas especially should be articulated there is no excuses why it shouldn't be.

I don't buy modern Barbies (mainly collect the 90's ones) due to the overall lack of quality and unreasonable pricing. There are some exceptional modern dolls though, e.g. my all time favourites Barbie x Puma from 2018.

I completely agree with you. The excitement and love for Rainbow High should tell them something. It purely comes down to corporate greed.

I think 2 years after the 2008 economic crash happened barbie started changing their quality in their dolls due to that happening then now 18 years later the quilty has gone down alot.

Unfortunately... Mattel keeps bringing in CEOs that either don't care, or KNOW NOTHING about toys. It's all about PROFIT for them. And they scratch their heads and wonder why MGA beats them on every level. It's quite sad to watch.

The only Barbie line I’ve ever enjoyed is the Princess of the world line and I wouldn’t really consider collecting any others because they just look boring to me 😂

For some reason, on holiday Barbie 2004, her eyes look really wonky on camera. Her dress is gorgeous though!

I’m a Doll collector and my daughter has become one over the years but she doesn’t hold interest in Barbie she loves my classic Barbie’s and the old holiday but has yet to even ask for any modern Barbie she says omg rainbow and monster high are just more interesting than Barbie

Judging from what I've seen on eBay, nobody's interested in my old Barbies from the '70s and '80s. No love for the old Superstar face I guess. 😅

The overall quality of Barbie has fallen. That is sad. Wish they would get back to putting out the quality that they use to have.

I don’t understand why Mattel says that young kids don’t care about quality. First of all that is completely false but mainly my question is... why did you do it before? Sure you can say that certain lines are or used to be targeted at older kids but then why cave club as an example... it was targeted at really young kids yet it had articulation, painted details and layers and look at MH G3.. it’s not targeted at tweens anymore it’s targeted at younger kids yet you add layers, textiles, painted details and articulation. (Of course not like RH quality but being that high quality isn’t that important to be honest) and I am also not saying that Every Barbie has to have articulation... no I am talking about textiles and clothing quality Edit me: I also wanted to add that i always think that they put the money into diversity....which is totally true! Like think how many different disabilities Barbie has had in her dolls ALL the head molds and skin tones.. that costs a lot but if they can still manage to have money to put quality into other doll lines then there is no excuse for Barbie.

Hey Brooke! Pretty Barbies. I disagree with you in regards to some of the designs of Barbie extra. Like you, I get them when there are sales and not all of them. Some of the extra dolls have questionable fashion choices.

I have been a Barbie Collector for over 20 years and absolutely agree about the decline of quality. I do not collect any Barbie after 2010 as I feel that that was the start of the quality decline. I love Barbie and truly hope Mattel brings back the quality and amazing style that we once had.

@xCanadensis the answer is simple. Fiduciary responsibility to Shareholders demans. They demand more $$ each year. It happens with all corporations over 85% gets split between CEO and Shareholders(banks) so not much left over for innovation so stock buybacks are implemented to make a company look like it's doing better when in reality it's rotting