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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask about Sindy dolls?

76 replies

Charlieandlotta · 13/05/2014 09:41

Dd is asking working on me to get her a barbie doll. I'm afraid I really can't stand barbie and the way barbie dolls look.

Has anyone got an Sindy dolls? Are they nice and would you recommend them? Where could I buy some and which ones should I get?

Thanks!

OP posts:

Offler · 13/05/2014 12:35

DD has at least 6 of my Sindy dolls, 2 horses, 1 foal, a scooter, some house furniture (we made 2 shelves of a large bookcase into a house for her!) loads of clothes (some were hand me downs to me from my cousins!), a sunbed, hair dryer sit on thingy, carriage for the horses, and lots of other little bits and bobs! We also have an action man motorbike and sidecar .

She also had squillions of Barbies

BomChickaMeowMeow · 13/05/2014 12:37

My mum couldn't stand Barbie either. But Sindy looks pretty weird as well when you think about it. Same dimensions as Barbie but with a massive head and eyes.

Lottie dolls look like a little girl. To me, that's a different thing than a Barbie. But it amounts to the same thing, it's just role-play. With Barbie the child is role-playing with the doll as a friend, with little girl and baby dolls they tend to act out a family scenario - mums and dads etc. Both involves role-play and learning so I don't see how one is more valuable than the other, it's just slightly different.

Original poster

Charlieandlotta · 13/05/2014 12:38

"But do you think your DD would be disappointed if she's set her heart on a Barbie instead? Lottie looks much different to Barbie."
I know that's my thoughts exactly. [cobfused]

OP posts:

Original poster

Charlieandlotta · 13/05/2014 12:39

at cobfused. It's those cobwebs I must clear.

OP posts:

Theas18 · 13/05/2014 12:42

Hmm. Fence sitting here.

Don't you think by getting her something " not quite what I want" you'll miss by a mile ? That was what I recall from childhood.

Do you really think she'll grow up thinking women are meant to be Barbie shaped because she plays with a barbie? If she grows up in a household like yours? I would suggest not. Barbie is a toy and that's where she fits into the scheme of things, no more "real" that Thomas is like a real train!

Buy her a Barbie or don't get her a " teen doll" thing at all. However don't be surprised if it's top of the list when she's got her own money at Xmas/birthdays.

Barbie play in our house was a passing fad mainly involving dressing up of dolls both in " outfits" but in bits of toilet roll and wrapped scrap fabric. It didn't last. We may even have discussed how ridiculous barbies proportions were...

I believe my girls have grown up OK in the end!

Offler · 13/05/2014 12:47

And if you think Barbie is bad, wait until you see Monster High dolls

gurningpug · 13/05/2014 12:55

I think you should get her a barbie

AMumInScotland · 13/05/2014 12:56

I think it's tricky getting them something that you think is a better alternative to the thing that they want. You're likely to just disappoint. And I say that as a child who often got a more 'educational' version of the 'nasty plastic tat' that other children had.

Sorry, but having the same plastic horrors as other children has an importance of its own. I don't think they do any harm as long as they are part of a wider context where girls get to play with a range of things and aren't assumed to always want pink sparkly things.

MyrtleDove · 13/05/2014 12:59

Worth pointing out that I loved my Barbies as a child (I was born in 1989 so had both big hair Barbie and the more natural-looking late 90s Barbie). Sindy was much less interesting! I still became a full-on feminist and me loving Barbie didn't hamper my ambitions at all - I played with Barbie while wanting to be an archaeologist!

gurningpug · 13/05/2014 13:01

I showed my DD the Lottie dolls a while ago. she said they were boring and sissy. i suspect they're the sort of thing parents like, meanwhile their children are lusting after the slut vampire monster high doll

eddiemairswife · 13/05/2014 13:02

I have two Sindys upstairs with a bedroom suite, that belong to my daughters and have been played with by my granddaughters. I remember spending one Christmas afternoon making Sindy a nightdress and negligee. What I found most disconcerting about the Bratz dolls was the way their feet came off with their shoes.

pandarific · 13/05/2014 13:13

How about going rogue and getting my little ponies instead? Ponies are brilliant, and neatly bypass the body-issue. Still have a sack full of them in the attic somewhere...

ScarlettlovesRhett · 13/05/2014 13:16

I loved Sindy when I was young - me and my sister had the house, horse, car etc, every birthday and xmas was sindy stuff!

I don't understand the Barbie thing either, but I looked at the 'Lottie Dolls' link, and they're brilliant. Tbh though, if your daughter wants a Barbie, she wants a Barbie - anything else is wrong

crazykat · 13/05/2014 13:22

When I was little Sindy was the cheaper version of Barbie. I had loads of Barbie dolls and a big fold out house which I wash I'd kept for my DDs.

I'm pretty sure The Entertainer had loads of Sindy dolls in last week.

AMumInScotland · 13/05/2014 13:24

this barbie doesn't look too bad, though it doesn't show how the fake poop goes back into the dog....

nannynoss · 13/05/2014 13:43

I used to love Barbies as a kid. I got given a few Sindy dolls now and again because they were cheaper, but I only ever played with them when friends came to play. and they had to play with Sindy
If I'd asked for a Barbie, I'd be secretly disappointed with a Sindy.

fluffyraggies · 13/05/2014 13:54

I had a barbie. One with odd grey/blond wiry hair. And a brunette Tressy! Anyone remember those? Late 70s. You pressed her belly and pulled her hair and it got longer if i remember rightly you had a key which wound it all back in.

Tressy was always the villain in my games. Poor doll.

hellymelly · 13/05/2014 14:04

I loved my Sindy, although I did also have one of the earlier Barbies, that is now quite rare, due to her age (1960s) and hair colour (mink). Sadly mine had her feet chewed off by a poodle and so has to live in boots...
The earlier Sindys were lovely, and Paul, with his beatle suits and his MG, was much cooler than Ken.

hiddenhome · 13/05/2014 14:09

I have a vintage Sindy doll. I love Sindy. You can buy them from Ebay and also buy outfits and horses etc.

Whitewaters · 13/05/2014 14:17

I had loads of Barbies as a child, they were my favouite toy by a long shot. I don't think her body size ever really crossed my mind.

I played games where she owned her own shop, was a hairdresser, was an actress and stunt woman, was a doctor, was a vet, was a singer, was a queen, was a lifeguard, was a dolphin trainer, was a mother... All of the time though she was an adult. And I think it was an important part of my socialisation - I, as a child, got to play at what I thought it was like to be a grown up. I don't think it would have bothered me if it wasn't a 'Barbie' per se (I had Sindy, Disney Princesses, cheap versions off the market) but I wouldn't have plate with a doll that was meant to be a young girl, it wouldn't have fitted in with the games I wanted to play.

Also, if you go for vintage toys will you still be able to get clothes/accessories? I loved spending pocket money on a new outfit or accessory (like a car or a dolphin!) for my Barbies and I don't think I would have played with them for as long if I hadn't been able to change their clothes and accompanyments so I could play a different game.

nannynoss · 13/05/2014 15:15

white I had the dolphin too! That and the Baywatch Barbie was definitely my favourite. I, also, never thought about her body shape. I never thought about ANY body shape until I was about 13.

slackcabbage · 13/05/2014 15:26

Funnily enough, dd came home from playing at a friend's house (who had Barbies) this weekend and asked for one. But I feel the same way about them as you Charlieandlotta!

(Although if you Google the 'Barbies of the World' range, they don't look too terrible!)

DD already has two of these which a friend brought her back from the States - the horse riding ones but she finds their clothes really difficult to get on and off.

Will investigate vintage Sindys's!

wigglesrock · 13/05/2014 15:49

Yes, I think your daughter would be disappointed if she wanted a Barbie & you got her a what you felt was a more appropriate doll. My mum wouldn't let us have Barbies, I still roll my eyes. I've 3 daughters, they have Barbies

diddl · 13/05/2014 16:00

WEll this is addictive!

Have found 2 dolls.

Can't find my fave blonde one though!

One I think is a "weekender" & the other "new look" with light brown/gingery hair.

Struggling to find clothes but have found trousers & bolero of a "zing a ding" outfit!!

TheTerribleBaroness · 13/05/2014 16:06

Diddl not sure yet. They would have been part of the Long Night of the Museum thing that happened recently but she couldn't pick them up in time.

I just spotted a link for a queen of the ball outfit from 1971. Bids start at £45. I've got that one! Mind you, it's falling apart.

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