MT Bijou Multiple Skin Tones???

[magkelly]

Is it my imagination or is the Bijou in shorts significantly darker than the other two Bijou Moxie Teenz dolls they made? I was just looking at pics of them all on Flickr waiting for mine and I could swear that the shorts doll looks a lot darker and that the eyes on that doll look a bit different. Has she got two skin colors like the Liv Alexis or am I just imagining it? Lighting could account for some of the difference on Flickr but even looking at them in the box online on Amazon they do look different to me. I'm kind of hoping so. It would be better if she was much darker. Melrose has such a tan and Arizona is even more tanned. If she was really darker there would be even more contrast between her and those two. Anyone got more than one Bijou? Is she much darker? Can I get two different wave Bijou dolls, change the eyes and wig on one, then end up maybe having two very different AA characters? That would be very cool. Thanks!

[lemondolls]

What do you think of the vinyl color on your wave 2 Bijou? I haven't seen any wave 2 dolls in person, TRU is the one store that sells them here and it only has wave 1 and 3 (both marked down to $14.95, nice!).

It seems like maybe there are variances, I read a post from someone who was so excited to finally get Bijou and then was disappointed she looked too similar to Arizona, she could hardly tell a difference. My w1 Bijou and w1 Arizona are noticeably different, but my w1 Melrose and Arizona almost look like they could be the same doll -- the difference is only apparent when their faces or limbs are held close for comparison. I wish both Arizona and Bijou had been a couple shades darker, but oh well, I still like them a lot.

Has there been any official confirmation the MT line is completely and forever cancelled? I've seen speculation but nothing concrete yet.

[magkelly]

MGA doesn't always send out a press release to the fact that they are killing a line but when they debuted all their new product at Toy Fair there were no MT's to be found. That's pretty telling. I imagine they would if it was the Bratz given the huge history of that line but the MT's really haven't been a huge thing sales-wise and I have a feeling they are letting them go out with a whimper. I actually did email them about new ones and while they didn't come out and say it in so many words they basically directed me back to the dance dolls and indicated that was my best bet for anything new MT wise. It was like they were saying take it or leave it because that's it.

I'm not too surprised that they are fading them out. Sales were not that great and the Liv dolls are also fading in popularity after being hugely popular for a while. I'm sure they're looking at the declining popularity of the Liv dolls and thinking maybe they won't go there again. Why make another wave if people aren't even buying the competitor's dolls that are similar?

This is the first time that I can remember that I've seen Liv dolls just sit there on the shelf at my local stores for months. Even recently when Target was cutting them by like 30% on sale they just didn't move. The MT's are $15 at my local TRU and they have a whole shelf full of them that they can't seem to sell.

Not even the new Liv color brites and sleep dolls are selling. When those Alice dolls came out people were fighting over them. Now it's like they're all yawning over the whole Liv concept. But the MH dolls they can't keep them on the shelf. Fashionista stuff too. It's mostly selling like gangbusters now except for certain items which never do well here.

Mattel has definitely regained it's spot as top dog of late. I feel bad for MGA actually. TRU is still representing them fairly well but otherwise they have like 6" of shelf space now. The whole section that used to be there is MH territory now. It's kind of ironic when you consider they're being beaten down by little monster dolls that look a little bit like the My Scene dolls they trounced. Mattel may not have won their lawsuit but with the MH dolls they got the last laugh anyhow because those dolls have seriously undercut MGA's bottom line. The Bratz are still selling but they're not nearly as popular as MH. Liv? Spinmaster will need to rev that line back up quickly, get some new articulated basic dolls and a bunch of new wigs out or they'll soon find it's dead.

All of the doll companies they're sort of backtracking on the articulation thing a bit, even Mattel with the latest Fashionista Kens. That's a mistake. Kids like articulated dolls. Collector's like articulated dolls and now that they've had them they don't want to go back to stiff legs and non-bending elbows. It's probably a cost cutting thing but it's been killing Liv no doubt about it. Those basic Liv's used to fly off the shelf and now the $11 Color ones are just sitting there for months, cool colored wigs or no colored wigs. Non-articulated arms apparently equals no sale. Even the Barbies sans articulation sit there while the stuff that has it flies out the door.

As for my Bijou she is definitely darker than my Arizona and definitely darker than the dance Bijou I saw at TRU. I just didn't really like her rooted hair or the pink outfit or I'd have likely brought one home to make a new character out of the skin tone difference was that obvious. It's not just Bijou though. All 3 of my Tristen dolls have slightly different skin casts. So do both of my Leigh dolls and my Melrose dolls. I have one Melrose that is a bit lighter. One that is a bit darker. Put different makeup and other colored wigs on them and it's pretty easy to see them as different characters. The colors of the dolls they even varied in the same wave from what I can tell. The only doll I can see that was pretty consistent was Gavin. I haven't noticed any color variants with him as yet.

[DollyKim]

Now is the time to hit Toys R Us for whats left of clothes and wigs and accessories, check their clearance section on line. I have all the outfits and they're nice enough.

If MGA is going to rip of Liv, sine Barbie has sharp teeth, they need to do a better job. I would have liked them if they were 1/6 scale or more of 1/4 scale like Tonners. A playline Tonner size could do well as I don't see little girls getting to play with collector dolls.

[lemondolls]

I've avoided buying the wave 3 formal wear dolls because the rooted hair is a turn-off and their dresses don't interest me. I only have the 4 original MT girls from wave 1. Their new $15 price at TRU is good but I'm waiting on another sale to pick up Gavin and Leigh, since it looks like we won't get a wigged Leigh. Maybe I'll get a second Leigh and remove her hair for wig fun when they go on DEEP discount. (Last week I bought a 1st wave Liv doll for $1.00 at TRU, a sale like that for MT would be awesome, ha.)

My local Walmart doesn't stock MT or Liv. :\ The new Liv dolls at Target don't seem to be selling here either. For kids, I think a sleepover theme and colorful Liv wigs (and basic dresses) just aren't edgy/cool enough when Mattel is offering humanoid cats, snow monsters with shimmery blue skin, and vampires. I really like Liv dolls but I haven't bought the Brites or Slumber Party dolls. Maybe I'll buy some Brites for the colorful wigs if I find them on clearance for ~$5.

[Wardah]

MGA doesn't always send out a press release to the fact that they are killing a line but when they debuted all their new product at Toy Fair there were no MT's to be found. That's pretty telling. I imagine they would if it was the Bratz given the huge history of that line but the MT's really haven't been a huge thing sales-wise and I have a feeling they are letting them go out with a whimper. I actually did email them about new ones and while they didn't come out and say it in so many words they basically directed me back to the dance dolls and indicated that was my best bet for anything new MT wise. It was like they were saying take it or leave it because that's it.

MGA took down the Moxie Teenz facebook page. They usually take down the page if the line is dead.

Mattel has definitely regained it's spot as top dog of late. I feel bad for MGA actually. TRU is still representing them fairly well but otherwise they have like 6" of shelf space now. The whole section that used to be there is MH territory now. It's kind of ironic when you consider they're being beaten down by little monster dolls that look a little bit like the My Scene dolls they trounced. Mattel may not have won their lawsuit but with the MH dolls they got the last laugh anyhow because those dolls have seriously undercut MGA's bottom line. The Bratz are still selling but they're not nearly as popular as MH. Liv? Spinmaster will need to rev that line back up quickly, get some new articulated basic dolls and a bunch of new wigs out or they'll soon find it's dead.

Don't feel too bad for MGA. Their Lalaloopsy dolls are very popular, mostly with kids that are too young for Monster High. I think Spinmaster is done with Liv but they have a new line they are coming out with called La Dee Da.

All of the doll companies they're sort of backtracking on the articulation thing a bit, even Mattel with the latest Fashionista Kens.

Ironically at the same time as they are cutting articulation on the Fashionista Kens they are adding wrist articulation to the Monster High guys.

[DollyKim]

It might be Mattel is going to split Barbies between sturdy play line and articulated 'collectable'. Every joint costs more to make so a $10 Barbie that doesn't do much is fine for a kid and we'll have to pay $30 for wrists.

[Wardah]

But the success of Monster High (and the success of Liv before Monster High came and stole their thunder) amongst kids as well as collectors proves that most kids want dolls with articulation unless they are preschoolers. And at least with Mattel there could be other reasons they are doing what they are doing. They removed the chest joint from the Fashionista girls but maybe that is because the chest joints look ugly in swimwear. And as for the Ken legs I have heard there were a lot of people complaining about problems with loose legs so maybe they went back to the stiff legs that got less complaints while they work on improving the legs.