*now edited for language
I've been watching videos on doll merchandise later and I just have to say, what the heck Mattel?
It's understandable that they wanted to shift focus from traditional princess stories to more fashion oriented ones (which, I personally don't agree with - although the LGBT undertones definitely persist), but why not make dolls of more of the characters beforehand if you wanted to sell merchandise anyway? It's not like there wasn't a fairly substantial market in both children and adults for a lot of the minor characters, and the few dolls put out of them kind of suck tootsie pops.
Hear me out here:
Fairytopia Franchise
Sunburst
Linden
Glee
Laverna
Enchantress
Dahlia
Nori (justice for Nori, seriously!)
Honestly, I wasn't interested at the time but I would kill for the special necklaces/charms from all of the fairies. Instead we get, well. This. :
12 Dancing Princess
A special full set of the 12 Dancing Princesses! Maybe a one time offer? It feels like the characters from this one were just forgotten about entirely
A Countess Rowena would also be sick
Princess and the Pauper
Where is our Preminger? Where, I ask?!
Swan Lake
Okay, hear me out here. An Odile doll. they could even shake up the hairstyle, a reskinned Raquelle.
Fashion Fairytale
What happened to Marie-Alecia? Where are her glasses? Why does she look like a 50s rocker lost all her makeup and merged with a terribly underdressed historical princess? You could even have the mannequins and little dresses, or make a bundle pack with her and Barbie, and their outfits to wear.
Mariposa
Henna. That is all.
Diamond Castle
Hear me out here, Lydia. I know she's a villain but dang, look at that design.
Also, you know they'd make absoltue bank on selling official "diamond heart" necklaces.
Princess Charm School
So, there's no Isla doll here because it appears that in all merchandise, Delancy was actually meant to be the third member of the patented Girl Power Trio (DVDs, patents filed for naming rights prior to announcemment, etc.) However, it's absolutely time to change that! Isla is kick ass and as a young teen it was super cool to see a Barbie character who was interested in music too. There's definitely a market for it now, even if only among adult audiences. (Seriously though, how weird is it to see this? https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/barbie-movies/images/a/ad/41MNY4fmQWL.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/500?cb=20140104023047)
Pearl Princess
1) Lorelei is a stone cold strong attractive woman (I am not allowed to use the acronym, according to guidelines.)
2) Does anyone else find it weird they didn't try to market some strange "hair studio" toy? Seems off brand for Mattel. Imagine having the power of Lumina, and tranforming your "favourite character"'s hair, or your own! It'd be some dumb pearl pin or spray thing, I think.
3) A Kuda toy would have been super cute! Imagine a little bathtime one, haha. Kids in the target demographic probably don't tend to bathe as much as shower but tactile, squishy things are super fun at any age.
Mermaid Tale
Calissa is pretty much a rip off Enchantress, at least design wise. I'm genuinely surprised they didn't try to milk this. Then again, I guess kids probably wouldnt find mummy dolls very cool.
Also, Eris.
The Pink Shoes
Where is Hailey????????
---
I feel like Mattel seriously underutilised characters they could have absolutely capitalsied on, even in a special appeal to an adult audience. Limited time dolls, for $200+ a pop? I wouldn't sign up (probably), but I know some people absolutely would.
Also, a jewellery range. Fairytopia especially. Imagine, one of Elina's necklaces, but real and official.
That's all for today, folks. What characters do you wish you could see more of in merchandise - and is there any merch that you think was an absolute flop?
Cheers