Aibu to be upset at barbie?

[thatcrookedsmile]

My daughter has just come in crying from yet another broken barbie.

This is because companies purposely make their products inferior to their older designs in order to ensure their product breaks or doesn't last. It's called planned obsolescence and its a bloody joke! when I was a child (90s-2000s) we used to be able to pop a barbie head back on. Now we can't because they've purposely changed the design to stop that, so you have to buy a replacement.

Well they've lost themselves a customer, after After years of buying barbie for my children and for other children as they are a good, sturdy toy, I'll have to stop. Despite her dirty face this barbie is only a couple of weeks old and the 5th since the last birthday (1.5 years ago) to snap, only to be binned.

I'm really annoyed, I've sent my first angry email.

Sorry to go off at a tangent - but who remembers Tressy dolls?

My favourites are binge drinking Barbie and crackhead Ken

Also, the brand Barbie isn't exactly short on money- why would they make dolls that break so you'd have to buy more- surely they realize parents would just get sick of it and buy other brands of dolls

I don't know of they have changed the 'recipe' in recent years. The last 'batch of dolls from 2020 and onward are absolutely not fit for purpose.

She's a good girl and not rough, I played 10x more rough than her. And some of my barbies belonged to my mother and her sisters in the 70s.
The legs are hard plastic where they used to be rubbery. They don't even come naked, you only get a skirt and they 'paint' the top part on. Bloody crap.

Barbie will to be only ever be blonde.

I was never allowed a Barbie. My mother got me a Sindy as Sindy had a sensible colour hair
I hated Sindy. I washed her hair and put her by the fire to dry and her hair melted

My mother was triggered by blonde hair for some reason.

She would have hated Ds

There are loads of Barbies for sale at boot sales and in charity shops. Great recycling too.

Me!! The ones who had hair you pulled out of the top of their heads?

I'm in hold. The 999 operator said it wasn't an emergency (despite the dismembered head)

Barbies definitely used to be better quality. But not one of my DD’s barbie’s heads have come off or sustained any other damage through normal play. If it’s happened five times in a year I’d be inclined to question if it’s potentially an issue with what your daughter is doing when she’s playing with them? My daughter has had hers all shapes (I regularly find them on makeshift trapezes or zip lines around the house etc) and they’ve not come apart.

Did has “Slapper Barbie”

Dd tried to biro on red lipstick and it ended up looking like a cross between Barbie had a night on the town and The Joker

I actually had "Tressy" (I bet no-one remembers her... she had a big piece of hair that grew out of the top of her head when you pushed a button in her midriff). She was the same size and body-shape as Barbie. She did not have as many accessories, furniture, or property as Barbie or Sindy.

My neighbour loved sewing and created her a gorgeous wedding gown, and going away outfit. I wish I had kept them.
My own daughter only had a mermaid Barbie - everything else was Sylvanian Families for her.

I was actually a little bit envious of my friend's Action Man - who had camouflage clothing, seemed to be much more poseable and had weapons (including grenades - which were so easy to lose if thrown), and ropes and grappling hooks to get to the top bunk bed.

There was no Ken equivalent in Tressy's world, so she and Tim'svAction Man did have a bit of a "thing".

obsolescence * silly me
they are purposefully causing their product to break and become obsolete within a year or 2 to ensure continuity of sales.

Where one doll used to last 50- 500000 years, the dolls now last approx 50 days.

I'm 33 and I'd say about 90% of my Barbie's lost their heads. Some would glue back on, others wouldn't (mainly the Disney character ones...I managed to kill Belle and the beast straight away and their heads would only glue on in a way that left them with no neck).

It happens. They're toys

Pfft.

Tell her to play Barbie Trauma Surgery or use it as a prime opportunity to teach her about which superglue to pick to fix it.

I actually thought this was going to be a thread complaining Barbie is rated PG13.

@thatcrookedsmile TRY Vinted

YANBU and making girls toys deliberately delicate so that girls have to play all nice and dainty is everyday sexism. Barbies should be as tough as nails.

Dd has her Bernie’s from 15 years ago and her and her brother have never been careful children.
Never broke any dolls

If the neck is now made of plastic, unless they are going to
give Barbie a thick neck like some All in wrestler then that neck is so thin and fragile it will snap easily . It’s the equivalent of playing with thin stemmed wine glasses

There's my first barbie doll now which is meant to be sturdier than a regular barbie.
www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/fashion-and-dolls/barbie/my-first-barbie-malibu-softer-body-pre-school-doll/p/217766

@thatcrookedsmile we get the Fashionista Barbie's and none of those have painted on tops - they all come with an outfit.
Well Mattel might send you a voucher or something. Mattel is one of the biggest toy companies in the world so I am sure you could find am alternative toy.
Seriously...if this was a regular issue they would be recieving lots of complaints and would withdraw the dolls from sale if they need to.
The fact I don't remember every seeing a recall for Barbie dolls (I used to sell toys) I think the quality must be fine.

The new necks are hollow plastic. The old Barbies had solid plastic necks with a plastic ball joint that you’d snap the head onto. Hollow is always weaker than solid.

@PollyAmour YES!
This is so cringy and cheesy, but I also remember the advertising jingle........
"Tressy has a secret, be the one who knows,
You can style Tressy's hair, to match the lovely clothes she wears,
Her hair GROWS!"..................or words to that effect.
I'm in my 60's btw! 😂Am I a saddo?........

Maybe children nowadays just have more of them so they don't usually need to be so robust as they are each played with less? Children used to have fewer toys in general so they had to last.

When we were young if we broke a toy we would have to wait for Christmas or a birthday for a new one. If every time she breaks one she gets a new one there isn’t much incentive for her to look after them. Perhaps buy another brand next time or Amazon stock a made to move barbie is that looks like her head could be put back. Barbie was a proxy gun in our house as toy guns were banned, she survived.

The amount of posters on this thread who are on the side of the huge corporate company selling inferior products is a great example of how we live in a capitalist society where the rich get richer and the rest of us are brainwashed to be grateful for what scraps we get.

Its a toy made for a child, it should be made robust enough for the job.

Good on you for complaining OP! We should all demand higher standards more often!

I am a vintage doll rejuvenator!

I would buy an older body on eBay. They are really cheap and can be very good quality. It won't matter if the head has a hair cut as you don't need the head.

Put the head of the current Barbie in very hot water and use some pliers to get the broken bit of neck out of her head.

Then with the replacement eBay Barbie, soak again in very hot water. Push her head down right onto her body so the neck part is inside the head. Then pull. It won't come all the way off but should be fairly easy to ease the last bit of the connector out of the head.

You then have an old (better quality) body to put the current head onto. Heat the current head before putting it onto the older body. This make it more pliable and causes less stress to the joints.