Barbie Basics – Some Thoughts

BARBIE BASICS – back then. In 2010, Mattel issued a line of “basic” collector dolls, designed by Bill Greening, with the concept of basic collector-level dolls with nicely tailored clothing and a few accessories, available at an affordable price. These dolls featured new and reimagined face sculpts, on Model Muse bodies, with themed clothing – little black dress, the color red (a Target exclusive), beach wear, etc. These dolls were a big hit and are still sought after in the resale market.

I was a fan of these dolls – except for one thing … the body. Don’t get me wrong, I do admire the Model Muse body for what it is – a sleek, stylish clothing display manikin. But as a doll collector who prizes articulation for the sake of variety in posability, the Model Muse body with its stiff one-pose stance does not lend itself to many photography or diorama situations – especially if there’s a chair involved. (Incidentally, that was my fierce objection to Silkstone dolls – the one-pose-fits-all situation. Granted, those dolls were made with the intent to be left on display in their original clothing, so I don’t think the doll designers anticipated that collectors might want to do more with them besides admire them from afar. Nevertheless…)

I had Top Model and Best Model dolls – beautiful ladies from 2007-ish – sadly languishing in their boxes because I liked the dolls and the clothing, but not the bodies. So I was holding out unboxing them until I could find suitable body donors to give them better articulation than the standard belly-button or twist-n-turn body. This led to a rabbit-hole search for other types of bodies, and along the way I found R&D Susie and even considered action figures. But nothing seemed quite right for the proportions I needed to do justice to these ladies.

Then, toward the end of the short reign of the Barbie Basics line, Mattel released an “upgrade” mini collection of three dolls with a focus on shimmering metallic clothing, and those ladies were given Pivotal bodies – a Model Muse proportioned body with full articulation! Two of the Pivotal-body Basics dolls came with the typical pale complexion, and one with the generic mid-tone dark complexion. By the time I became aware of them, most were sold out, so I can’t say for sure I managed to snag all three – but I was certainly excited by the concept of articulated, fully posable, modelesque beauties, at reasonable prices, to add to my collection. (I know some collectors at the time did not appreciate articulation and did not think much of the Pivotal body, but I was an enthusiastic fan.) However, there were two problems with the Pivotal body – 1) It was usually reserved for expensive collector-line dolls, and 2) the Pivotal body was not available in a variety of complexions, so it was impossible to find suitable body donors for many dolls.

Then came the articulated belly-button body in the first line of Fashionistas meant as a replacement for the Fashion Fever line. Those dolls proved more plentiful and affordable, although they lacked the statuesque look of the Pivotal body. When Mattel introduced the MADE-TO-MOVE body, I was initially interested in the concept of near human-like posability – until I saw the body and realized how absolutely ugly the joints were. There was no way to disguise the joints except by covering them up with clothing – long sleeves, pantyhose or pants. It took me a long while to get over the aversion to the clunky appearance of the joints, especially when I saw other doll makers like Integrity Toys offering fashion doll articulation with elegantly non-obtrusive joints. Of course, Integrity bodies were too expensive for play-line body replacement, and the range of motion was quite a bit less than MTM, but honestly, how much range of motion does a doll need in most situations? So my collection ballooned to a huge mix of different doll brands and body styles.

Meanwhile Mattel continued to offer collector doll heads on stiff Model Muse bodies, until the introduction of the short-lived BMR 1959 line, and the eventual upgrade/reinvention of the Barbie Looks line. (In the early 2000’s, the Barbie Looks dolls came on Model Muse bodies, then – briefly – on Pivotal, then transitioning to belly-button articulated, and finally ended up on Made-to-Move bodies.) With the redesign of the Looks line, clothing focus changed from fancy gowns and upscale fashion styles to concept clothing like black-themed, white-themed, silver metallic, bright or pastel colors, etc. By that time, I’d grown accustomed to dealing with the MTM joint appearance and just went whole-hog for articulation, pursuing the cheapest options available. The Looks line filled that desire. And then the Looks line ended, bringing us to…

BARBIE BASICS – now. In January 2025, Mattel released the reinvented Barbie Basics line, designed by Carlyle Nuera. Like the 2010 Basics version, the clothing focuses on the color black. But now, instead of the stiff Model Muse body, these Basics dolls come on Made-to-Move bodies, like the last iteration of the Looks line, and at a similar price point (with a $3.00 increase to $25.00 retail pricing). Of course I ordered all five (and an extra of doll #3 … just because).

And, in spite of the uproar by many Barbie fan doll collectors who thought the reissue of Barbie Basics would bring back the former 2010 version exactly like before – on Model Muse bodies – this first reissue of Barbie Basics grants the wishes of many modern collectors looking for variety and adaptability in their dolls. Mattel has delivered with something new – easy-remove heads! Finally, collectors who like to rebody their dolls can do so without boiling water or using hair dryers or heating pads to soften the heads for easier removal, hoping to avoid the dreaded breaking of the neck peg.

Mattel’s first release of the new reinvented Barbie Basics line included:

• Five dolls, all with different face sculpts
• Three different skin tones: two pale, two tan, and one dark
• Four Made-to-Move body styles: two standard, one petite, one curvy, and one tall
• All come with shoes, earrings (removable), and some form of The Little Black Dress in a nice quality fabric with good tailoring

These dolls are designed to be adaptable so that collectors can switch the heads from body to body, and try the clothing on different dolls in this series. Of course shoes designed for tall/curvy are larger than those for standard/petite, and are not easily interchangeable.

I really like these dolls. I think my favorite is doll #3 – the tall dark-toned one with burgundy curly hair. The tan curvy one with the high ponytail is a close second. There are only couple little gripes I have:

• Doll #1, the first one pictured in this post with the blunt-cut brown hair … she has a crappy haircut that is shorter in the back and tapers longer toward the front. The hair on the doll I received is cut much shorter than what’s shown in Mattel’s stock picture. The haircut itself is probably fine, it’s just hard to style realistically without making her look like a scarecrow with bed-head. I’m sure it has to do with all the factory hair gel used to plaster down her hair and control the flyaways. I’ve seen some doll content creators shampoo and restyle the hair by curling the ends under to make it a nice pageboy. Right now I’m not interested in devoting that much time and energy to fix that hairstyle, so I guess she’ll just have to stay a scarecrow for the time being. (Sigh.)
• The earrings. I am not a fan of fat-post plastic earrings. The ones on these dolls are OK, but since they are plastic, the metallic finish tends to flake off with use over time. And once you have earring holes in a doll’s head, they are there forever. I prefer to make earring holes using a small pushpin so the doll can wear upgrade jewelry with metal posts – like for high-end fashion dolls including Silkstone. Since these dolls came pre-punched from the factory, their earring holes are too large for fancy upscale jewelry, so they are doomed to wear cheap plastic earrings forever. (Sad.)
• Not every doll head will be interchangeable to work on this new-style easy-switch neck peg. For instance, I wanted to switch a Fashionista head (the pale one with pink hair that came with a leopard-print dress on a curvy body). However, when I placed the head on the corresponding easy-switch MTM body, the head wouldn’t stay secure. I eventually determined that the inside of this particular Fashionista head did not have the typical inner smaller circle ridge of plastic. So that might be a problem for different doll heads from different doll lines or manufacturers. (Again, sad.)

“YOU CREATE” BARBIE BASICS. In March 2025, Mattel released the second iteration of the reinvented Barbie Basics line – with the “You Create” focus. There are three sets available. KIT #1 contains the set of tan dolls. KIT #2 contains the set of pale dolls. KIT #3 contains the set of dark dolls. Each set comes with:

• Three Made-to-Move doll bodies with easy-off neck pegs in a specific skin tone in different body styles (one each of either standard, petite, curvy, or tall)
• Three bald heads in the coordinating skin tone, with fully painted faces that feature brand new face sculpts
• Three different style/color wigs
• Three pairs of shoes/boots
• Various jewelry and accessories such as earrings, necklaces, glasses, etc. – enough for each doll to have at least one accessory item
• Various clothing pieces such as skirts, tops, pants, dresses, etc. – enough for each doll to have a complete outfit
• Three typical Mattel-style doll stands with round black plastic base, snap-in clear support, and sliding waist clip – each sized for the doll bodies included in the set (standard/petite, tall/curvy)
• Certificate of Authenticity
• Upscale instruction sheet featuring group photo of dolls, contents of kit, and how to assemble/style dolls

Financially speaking, each of these kits retails at $100.00 from Mattel Creations. Considering that each kit delivers three Made-to-Move dolls with presumably upscale (for Mattel) clothing and accessories – and the built-in cross-playability – I figured $33.00 per doll was a pretty good bargain. Of course I had to get all three kits and, with $6.95 FedEx shipping plus taxes, I am officially broke. Regardless, after opening each of these kits and spending some time with them, I felt compelled to share my perspective on the features and quality of these dolls. Of course it’s possible that my experience may be different from that of others.

OVERALL IMPRESSION. Not gonna lie, I was excited and curious to get these dolls. I have tons of wigs and clothes from years of doll collecting, so I was eager to try out a bunch of stuff. However, based on past experiences with wigs (quality can vary widely by manufacturer in how it’s made, what hair fiber is used, and how it actually fits on various dolls), my excitement was tempered with trepidation.

SHIPPING. Originally when I ordered these March 10, the projected delivery date was mid-April. However, a week later I received notification that the items would ship within a week. Color me surprised. Each kit arrived in its own Barbie-brand shipper packaged inside a large shipping box. Since I’d ordered all three kits, they were shipped together and an outer box was needed.

PACKAGING & PRESENTATION. I have to admit, I was impressed. The promo photos are fabulous – bold, stunning, and showcasing the girls in the most favorable way possible. None of them look shabby or odd, but simply stylish and professional in every way. Surprisingly the package design and quality easily rivals that of expensive collector dolls like JHD or Integrity. The packaging is primarily black, since the focus of this collection line is “ode to black.”

• Each box features really nice photography of the kit doll collection on back.
• The front of the box has a Velcro-type tab fastener that lifts to open the box French-door style.
• Inside are four compartments – three sized to hold the doll body and head, and a fourth that holds pull-out cardboard containers with the accessories – clothes, stand bases, wigs, etc. – sealed inside black paper “surprise” packages.
• Each doll compartment is covered by a thin but sturdy black translucent plastic cover that lifts out with a thumb hole at the top. The dolls are secured at the waist and legs with double strands of plastic tab ties that are easily cut with scissors. I wanted to preserve the packaging for some future diorama project, so I lifted the inner box with the four compartments out of the heavier outer box to unhook tabs at the bottom of each compartment and slide out the stands without tearing up the inner box.
• Each detached doll head is held in place with a clear plastic “bowl” open in the front and held to the box with back tabs that are easy to fold over and slide through a slot in the back of the inner box. Easy peasy. So far so good.

DOWN-LOW ON THE GOODIES. As I said, I wanted to really like these doll kits. However, before buying, I watched some Youtube reviews by doll-content creators. Honestly, there weren’t that many reviews available, because not a whole lot of content creators had these dolls in-hand to review. It was Broken Dolly TV that clued me in to the fact that there might be some problems with these kits. And, after opening KIT #1, I was able to confirms some of the issues Broken Dolly TV had warned about.

THE DOLL HEADS. Most of the observations (and issues) I had with the doll kits involved the heads.

• Face Sculpts – I liked almost all the face sculpts. Most were intriguing with modelesque features that elevated them from play-line Barbie fare. There were a couple of face sculpts in KIT #2 (pale dolls kit) I found a bit odd, and it took me a while to warm up to them. Part of that process involved finding the right clothing and hair balance that worked with those particular faces.
• Face Paint – The faces were painted well and didn’t have evidence of pixilation. The detail was excellent for budget collector-level Barbie dolls. However, one of the dark heads from KIT #3 had a smudge of red on the jaw – no idea how that happened, as none of those doll heads appeared to have any kind of blush applied.
• Head Shape & Size – In every kit, it was pretty obvious there was a small head, a medium size head, and a larger head. The size difference was mostly in the height of the head, not necessarily the width. Presumably the heads were made different for both the sake of variety, and to look proportional on certain body types. The drawback to this situation is that the wigs don’t fit every head the same, and so they are not entirely interchangeable.
• Mold Ridge – Overall I was very please with these dolls until I noticed the mold ridges under the jawline of every single doll head in every kit. It was appallingly obvious, and not something I could ignore once I noticed it.
• Corrective Measures – My main concern was to remove visual evidence of the mold ridge on the heads, so that when the dolls were displayed or photographed, the ridge would not be visible. I tried sanding the ridge down using a nail file and nail buffer sponge block, but that was slow and tedious. By the time I opened KIT #3 with the dark dolls, I was impatient enough to use sand paper – BIG MISTAKE! The abrasive grit left huge scratches in the first doll’s jawline, and it took me nearly two hours to correct it with careful buffing to point I was satisfied enough to let it go. Most of the mold ridge was gone, but I was seriously frazzled after that experience. The ridges were most prominent on the pale doll heads, and sanding left white-gray discolorations that I was just marginally able to remove by using nail polish remover. (CAUTION – NAIL POLISH REMOVER CAN REMOVE FACE PAINT!)
• Summary Comment – Overall, my dissatisfaction with wasting an entire day sanding, buffing, and repairing brand new dolls that should not have needed any work at all put me off the whole kit-n-kaboodle. There is no excuse for dolls of this level to be sold with obvious mold flaws – especially when so much design effort and detail was put into this collection. Cheapy play line dolls may come with the occasional case of wonk-eye, but I was appalled to find mold flaws this bad on collector dolls. I’m still pissed just thinking about it. So, be warned – this is a known flaw that may be present in every single You Create Barbie Basics kit.

AS FOR THE REST. I did not complete my inspection of KIT #3 after losing a day to facial reparations. However, based on the other items I did inspect from the rest of the kits, I can say the following:

• Clothing – Overall, the clothing pieces seemed made out of a nice quality blend material and seemed tailored nicely. All closures are Velcro-type, but of a high-quality thin precise kind that lays well. I have not noticed black dye transfer onto any of the dolls, but the clothing hasn’t been on that long. In the first-release group, the dolls came dressed in their black clothing that was made out of a similar type sturdy rayon-blend material, and I haven’t noticed black dye transfer. The only black transfer I noticed was from packaging on one of the pale doll bodies in KIT #2, but it erased easily with a white nylon eraser. I tried on only about a third of the clothing items from KITS #1 and #2, but didn’t try every item on every doll body type, so I cannot say for sure whether each piece is compatible for every doll body size. Based on reviews I watched on Youtube, I’d feel confident in stating that there’s at least 20% of the clothing and shoes that aren’t going to fit every body type. There was some wrinkling of the asymmetric hemline skirt that was wadded up inside the black bag. It will probably require ironing before it can be used. The vinyl clothing pieces seem very plasticky in texture. Reviews I’ve seen suggest that visually these clothing items work satisfactorily to the point that the texture is not a fashion/styling issue.
• WIGS – The wigs, for me, left much to be desired. Admittedly I hadn’t tried them all, not having opened the ones that came with KIT #3, but of those I did try, some were pretty nice, while most looked a little too “wiggy” for my taste. One main issue was the hair fiber used for the straight wigs. I believe some sort of nylon fiber was used. It was very stiff and shiny and did not flow well on the doll. The wig caps, made of a flexible silicone type rubbery substance, gripped and covered most of the heads pretty well, but because some heads had a larger forehead area or a larger crown area, the same wig tended to sit differently on different doll heads. I ended up using double-sided tape to secure some wigs in place. There were a couple wigs that simply didn’t work well. The mid-part straight auburn wig had a lot of bulk at the top front and did not sit well on any of the doll heads I tried it on. I ended up putting that wig on a completely different doll with a much smaller head. The pink wig I received in KIT #2 was a poor facsimile of the one pictured in promo photos. What I got looked terrible on every doll I tried it on. The styling was completely off – the bangs weren’t full as shown in the photos, and the hair sat back from the face, showing the bald area above the ears. I’ve found much nicer wigs from Monique (China) with much better hair quality. So these wigs are pretty much a mixed bag.
• ACCESSORIES – As mentioned earlier, all the jewelry accessories are hard plastic with metallic finish that may begin to wear or flake off with repeated use.
• SHOES – There are several new shoe and boot molds included in these kits. Some molds are repeated in different colors in different kits, like translucent instead of black. For the most part, the shoes for tall/curvy dolls are made larger to accommodate those dolls’ larger feet, but standard/petite may be able to wear some styles intended for curvy/tall, depending on the particular shape of the shoe.
• STANDS – The doll stands included in each kit are typical Barbie stands with an elevated plastic round base and a snap-in back stand with a sliding waist grip. There are no saddle stands included in these kits. Stands for curvy have a wider waist grip than for other dolls. One issue is that the waist grips are designed for nude dolls, not dressed dolls, so extra bulk from clothing layers could cause the waist grip to snap under pressure. Also, I personally do not like to spend time and effort styling a doll, only to ruin the effect with some plastic waist grip showing up on the clothing and preventing it from laying as intended – that kind of thing just kills the whole look. I prefer Kaiser stands that don’t have a stick-up-the-back feature, but instead have a close-fit adjustable waist grip that can be slipped in through the back where clothing closes, or slipped underneath clothing, depending on the style of garments. Second choice is an adjustable saddle stand. Unfortunately, most of the Integrity saddle stands I have are made for taller dolls and won’t work on standard or petite MTM, even with shoes. So…

FINAL THOUGHTS. While the concept, presentation, packaging, and overall quality can be rated satisfactory to excellent for these “You Create” doll kits, there are certain flaws and drawbacks to consider when deciding if any of these dolls are worthy to be added to your collection. If you are a picky collector, you may want to pass on the “You Create Barbie Basic” kits due to the issue with the mold ridges on the doll heads.

Hope you found this review somewhat entertaining, if not helpful!