Vee Filez Bratz Doll

Okay, I did it. I plunked down $100 for a Bratz doll. A Bratz doll with the same wonky arms and bowl-legged stance as the playline dolls found in Target and Walmart. Why? Because she’s freakin’ fierce! And she’s a limited edition. But let me start from the beginning.

Vee Filez is a joint creation of Bratz and the New-York-based fashion and media company Vfiles. For those of you who are unfamiliar with vfiles.com, let’s just say it’s like Pinterest for poseurs. I had never heard of it until the official Bratz Instagram account posted that their exclusive Vee Filez doll was available for pre-order. Their link took me to the vfiles website to order the doll. I was shocked at first at the price, but the doll is limited to 290 worldwide, hence the hefty pricetag.

Besides, I pretty much crossed the threshold of pricey playline dolls when I purchased past Comic Con dolls like Monster High, Ever After  High, and Equestria Girls at secondary market prices.

Vee Filez is a Bratz with a backstory. She is an intern at vfiles.com (natch).  While certain traits seem typical for a fashion intern, she has brains as well. Her favorite class is Marine Biology, and her passions are fashion and Model U.N. Somehow I don’t think Bratz are going to inspire girls to pursue careers in the STEM fields like the Project MC2 dolls, but hey, they’re trying.

Canadian hip hop? Really?

For the $100 that she set me back, Vee Filez comes in a great presentation box. It’s like the box for Target’s Create-a-Bratz but inverted. With its black and yellow caution-tape vibe, it’s so urban and edgy. She also comes with an extra outfit and several accessories, including a backpack, a shopping bag, goggles, a lip-shaped hair brush, large hoop earrings, a cell phone, a necklace and bracelet, and the ubiquitous hipster slouchy beanie.

Vee Filez comes dressed in a green moto jacket, ripped jeans with leopard-print patches at the knees, and red and white sneakers. She wears a tank top that reads “GIRL POWER” and undies, with the waistband showing. It reads “VFILES + BRATZ.” It’s very Calvin Klein.

Here she is just in her undies.

Girl power!

What appealed to me most about Vee Filez was her platinum hair. It’s even whiter than Bratz doll Cloe’s hair. It’s styled into two chunky braids down her back. Her white hair contrasts nicely with her tanned skin.  Here is her hair from the back. Check out the”VFiles” logo on the back of her jacket.

Here she is with the hipster beanie and the goggles.

I like the beanie but I’m not crazy about the goggles.  She’s not going skiing. Are they supposed to be sunglasses?

Shopping at vfiles.

Her second outfit consists of a varsity jacket with hoodie, a leopard miniskirt, knee socks, and Timberland-style boots. I added the gi-normous hoop earrings with this outfit.

Vfiles backpack.

I thought the hipster beanie went much better with this outfit, which is my favorite of the two outfits Vee Filez came with.

So what do I think of her? I really like her. With her platinum hair, she’s like the Gwen Stefani of the Bratz world. Her clothes are great and her accessories are fun. She’s a beautiful doll.

What do you think of Vee Filez? Does her pricetag justify how limited she is? Or did I just get sucked in (again) by hype, cool packaging, and slick marketing techniques?!!

By the way, you can follow Vee on her very own Instagram page.

The Barbie Look Sweet Tea Barbie

Sweet Tea Barbie is one of three dolls that comprise the new The Barbie Look collection for Spring 2016. Each of the three dolls were inspired by looks that were featured on the Barbie Style account on Instagram , which, if you’re not following, you’re missing out on some amazing Barbie clothes and scenes.

The Barbie Look dolls are part of the Barbie Collection Black Label series. The Barbie Look dolls retail for $29.95 each. I was immediately drawn to the collection because the dolls are fully articulated, yet are reasonably priced. Sweet Tea Barbie appealed to me the most because I loved her outfit, and I thought her face was very pretty. It’s more sophisticated than the sometimes-vapid, open-mouthed playline Barbie face. According to Sweet Tea Barbie‘s designer, Bill Greening, the face has “only been used on a few higher-priced collector dolls.” Her long brunette hair ends in a curly flip, and I love her bangs. She’s like a modern Audrey Hepburn.

Sweet Tea Barbie wears a pink satiny sleeveless blouse with ruffles down the front, paired with a black floral skirt. She comes with a white purse, pink strappy peeptoe sandals, and rhinestone earrings and a bracelet. She also comes with a stand and, like all Barbie Collector dolls, a certificate of authenticity. The attention to detail is very good.

Rhinestone earrings

Rhinestone bracelet

Designer-style handbag

I especially love how her fingernails are painted pink (see above photo), but her toenails are painted black. Maybe Sweet Tea Barbie has a little bit of edginess in her!

Sweet Tea Barbie comes with tea-themed accessories, as you would imagine, including a plate with a non-removable scone, a cup and saucer, and a menu. The menu is written in gibberish. It would have been more fun if it had real words and read like a tea room menu. Oh well.

The Barbie Look dolls are articulated at the neck, elbows, wrists, and knees. They can’t quite put their hands over their mouths like the Integrity dolls do, and they’re not articulated under the bust, but I’m happy to have an articulated Barbie again after the Barbie Fashionista line, which started out as the articulated alternative to the usual Barbie line, suddenly started using un-articulated bodies (bad move, Mattel).  Are there any playline Barbies that have an articulated body anymore?

I can sweep my hair back, but I can’t cover my mouth

I have to admit, Sweet Tea Barbie isn’t the only Barbie Look doll I fell in love with. I also purchased the Urban Jungle Barbie. She’s equally sophisticated but edgier than Sweet Tea Barbie.  I want both their outfits in real sizes, please!

For a reasonable price, Sweet Tea Barbie offers a more articulated version of the Barbie doll. Although intended for the adult collector, I think it would also be suitable for older children and teens. But with none of the playline dolls featuring full articulation anymore, would you justify spending $30 for articulation when we used to be able to spend around $20? Is this a harbinger of things to come with Mattel? It seems that with their playline sales dropping, perhaps getting rid of articulation wasn’t a good idea. What do you think?

Do you have any of the Barbie Look dolls? What do you think of them?