I still find the knee high boots fairly unnecessary but i will give them props for not giving the boots high heels. Not sure i care for most of the dolls, but i think the best of the bunch is Wonder Woman by far. Supergirl isn’t bad either.
Also, the girls the talked to said they did not want skinny "girly" action figures, so Kim "instructed her team to use gymnasts, dancers, and basketball players as primers for sculpting more muscular versions of the dolls and action figures."
Apparently there’s something wrong with my eyes.
I don’t like the tights on WW. They remind me of that dreadful TV series that tanked, what, just a few years ago?
Perhaps WW shouldn’t have been included, and instead Wonder Girl should take her place. Poison Ivy seems a bit out of place to me as well. BUT…both she and WW are leading female characters in their own rights, while the others are either newbies, female versions of male leading characters, or female sidekicks to male characters. (Edit: Or is that Wonder Girl?)
That’s, however, the comic-book-nerd-girl me, NOT the little-girl-who-ADORES-playing-with-dolls me. That me thinks the whole concept and execution are pretty damned cool!
Those dolls are no better than Barbies. Seriously, look at the proportions and compare them to a real life person and then to a Barbie. It looks like they had their barbie staff design them and it’s business as usual.
I actually like the Wonder Woman on the right better. Yes, less clothing, but it really doesn’t strike me as sexualized. I realize I’m looking at a child’s toy and am going to have a hard time finding it attractive no matter what, but I’m not really finding it to have any prurient appeal, especially with the pose it’s in. The one on the right is more muscular than is perhaps realistic, but that fits with the mythos. The proportions on the new figurines don’t look right for a human being, even an athletic one. I’m discounting the head and face, since it’s supposed to appeal to children and the big eyes and more childish expression probably helps. I Google Image searched pictures of female gymnasts and basketball players and they… don’t look like the new figures. The only real improvement is in the heels. I’m not really seeing how this is significantly better except in terms of the clothing. Though they do get an A in the category of asking the target demographic what they want.
These new action figures first off do not look like real life people…because they AREN’T! They are comic book characters…who still are super thin and sexualized over all in the comics. Secondly, the models for these and design are not of female athletes, the basis is the more kiddish manga reference material we see many illustrators moving too.
These look like Skylanders/Disney Infinity/Pixar -ized versions of the DC heroines.
I’m just seeing anime here.
What? They don’t look like lumpy cosplayers? Unrealistic!
Wait a minute. Aren’t we supposed to discourage gendered toys?
Sadly, it’s obvious that these too will give young girls unrealistic head size expectations.
http://www.theonion.com/video/bratz-dolls-may-give-young-girls-unrealistic-expec-14303
agreed, still not realistic. reminds me of bratz.
why don’t they get girls to design dolls for girls? at least it would give them a starting point.
edit: soulb beat me to it.
I’m just confused since Wonder Woman in the group photo is a different figure than the one in the comparison photo. The comparison photo looks significantly better, albeit with the Anime fish-eye look
The ones at the top are 12-inch dolls while the one in the comparison is a 6-inch action figure.
It’s a step in the right direction. They look like they are ready to fight! But the giant eyes??? So Bratz-y. Has that big head look women get when they over diet.
You must not have kids with Barbie dolls. None of those figures are overtly buxom. Sure, they’re slim–which isn’t a huge leap from our current collective vision of most female athletes–but at least they’re better proportioned. Plus–and this important–these are teenage versions of the characters.
Agreed. The Bratz-y-ness is a bit overwrought, but I suppose that’s the current trend and hard not to follow when you’re selling toys.
Who else is gonna go on a crime spree with Harley Quinn? Weren’t they a team on and off in the animated shows?
Yes, it sounds like they test marketed some more matronly looking dolls and girls didn’t respond. The boys stuff is very muscle packed, so having a realistic figure isn’t a necessity I don’t think. I mean, it is meant to be cartoon-y. It just doesn’t seem that original looking except I do approve of the outfits. That’s a WIN!
My take-away from this article is that Mattel had no female designers on staff and had to hire some for this niche product, which seems like a bigger issue.
