Knock Off Model Muse in Mattel Box?

[magkelly]

I just finally got around to opening one of the Basics dolls I got for Christmas. I'd left her in the box, opened the others, saved her for later. Boy did I get a big surprise when I did. FYI this girl came straight from TRU. My folks bought her for me $20, full price but she sure doesn't look like it.

She has a body that feels almost hollow, that leans from side to side and sits, but her legs don't bend. They also have visible seams. They're clearly molded from cheap plastic, not the type used for the model muse bodies in this series. Her arms are like a model muse but that's about it. Her head is lightweight like a knock off doll but appears to be the correct sculpt and the makeup looks about right from the pics I'm seeing. Her clothes look okay but they're a bit too big on her, not like on my other jeans girls. Hair is okay. If she were a knock off she'd be a good one I guess, but there is no way this girl should have Mattel written on her tush. I can't see any difference between her box and the others I still have. Only the doll inside looks different.

I just sent an inquiry to Mattel on this one. Offered to send them pics. I've never seen anything like this. I've seen the odd messed up doll in terms of paint or whatever, but this is a full on rip off doll in what looks like official Mattel packaging from TRU! The doll says Indonesia on her rear but otherwise except for the fact that she's practically hollow she looks almost legit. I cannot believe that they'd let this one out of an official Mattel factory. No way.

I'm very interested to see what they have to say about this one. This is a $20-25 collector's doll and it's not even near playline quality. Anyone seen knock off Mattel collector's dolls? Black label? Because this is a first for me. I've never seen the like!

[Wardah]

Could she have been a return that someone had swapped the bodies on?

[kittyasauras]

That's what I was going to say, she may have very well been a return.

[DollyKim]

Pictures would help, I've handled quite a few Mattel bodies in my time.

[magkelly]

Face seems okay, but her head is made of thinner plastic than any other Basic I have. Definitely not a MM body though there seems to be some attempt to make it pass for one? It's almost hollow and is seamed on the sides and legs though it's hard to see the leg seams here because of using the flash. The joints are a bit like an old action Barbie doll? She can bend from side to side kind of. She's not as skinny as a model muse, not as defined, but she does have the MM arms and the more defined neck bones sort of, except they feel almost hollow. This doll has almost no weight to it, not like a regular MM.

She feels like a dollar store rip off, but she's made of slightly less pliable plastic than that. You know those old bodies that sometimes came with the My Scene girls that had bending elbows and legs? It's plastic like that. Not quite bottom of the barrel thin but still really cheap compared to any regular Barbie doll. Not even Fashionista quality really. I have the picture with all the Barbie bodies from Flickr. This body isn't on there. It almost looks like some weird lightweight clone between a MM body, a pivotal, only it has no bending arms or legs. She has no butt to speak of...

Definitely not regular Basic/MM quality this doll. Her clothes seem okay, but the stitching is a little off here and there on her jeans and her top seems too stretch, big for her. It could be Mattel QC issue, but to me it looks like they tried to copy one in Indonesia, make her look very much like she was supposed to, but didn't quite make it. She's more like a good clone of the Barbie she's supposed to be than the real deal.

[DollyKim]

I'd say it's a Mattel QC issue because she looks generally like a Black Label to me.

[Kd_Bunchanumbers]

LOL, that body is just the Flashdance torso with Model Muse Arms and Hollow plastic legs. It's an actually Mattel product and no, it's not a knock off. It was just one of the variant Model Muse bodies they chose to include in this line. I think one of the other Jeans Basics has the same body type.

Off the top of my head I don't remember other dolls that specifically just use this combination of parts, but the 2010 Harley Ken/Barbie set had Barbie with the torso and arms but with jointed legs, Flash Dance Barbie and the Barbie Basics 2.5 having the same torso.

Anyways, she's the real deal. I just think you're being a tad nit picky because a lot of Barbies have the issues regarding her clothes and head. She just has a different body type.

[magkelly]

There are variants in this line? 10 Basics Barbies later I have yet to see a doll with this body. Just the same skinny MM body, nothing different except where the arms are posed. I'm just really surprised by this one. She seems very cheaply made compared to my other 9.