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.

😂😂😂 this and 'likes-a-drink Ken' gave me the giggles!

Coming soon to a toystore near you- Crack head Ken's Dream Den.

Can I just say she has loads of toys always looked after well. She really is a good girl and looks after her things.

She has a cheaper £5 set if dolls with worse quality hair that have lasted the same, she's played with older dolls that lasted, we got her a few barbies over the last year or so (last birthday and xmas) and all are broken within 18 months.

I spent more on barbie because they dress better (ha) and their hair doesn't go all plastic tangly as the cheap Disney princess ones (who all look like they've been dragged through a hedge backwards)

I am not a "my kids would never hurt a fly or kill a baribe" kind of parent. If my boys toys broke quickly I would think fair enough but the expensive doll is taking the piss.

A couple of my babies lost heads exactly the same by the looks of it, in the late 80s, they were on a ball type thing and couldn't be fixed. I'm not sure this is a new thing?

@Wtfishappeningnow I don't think Barbie toys are particularly less quality than they used to be.
I had a Barbie pet cat set in the 80s that in my memory was very solid and sturdy.
I looked it up online recently - it was a lot more 'plastic' looking than I remember.
I inherited some Barbie furniture from the 70s - it was pretty much the same level of quality as what you get now.

😂😂 Genius!

Also in my 60's and remember my Tressy with great affection. She was BETTER than Barbie in every way. As for Sindy, she was just the copycat UK version of Barbie with bad hair. And never ever as good as Tressy.

Thank you! I'm really annoyed because we splurged for the branded product (and not a second hand one which I'm obviously now regretting 🙄) and I feel very cheated.

It's the same with primark, the cost is similar or more than second hand better brands or even tkmaxx but the quality is so bad you have to replace quickly. My sister bought me a primark jumper and it bobbled after the first wash, I haven't worn it again.

They cost a tenner, an hour's wage. I agree they should make things to last but they would then charge more. Maybe today's children prefer piles of cheap crap, I doubt many children have a Barbie as their main birthday or Christmas present.

I 100% agree and really hate the quality of the new barbie stuff. They feel cheap and nasty as well as break all the time. When I got my daughter her first barbie I actually thought it was a fake because it was so rubbish. It’s a shame because she really loves the cartoon.

Lots of these posters saying this has never happened to them in the years of owning barbies clearly haven’t read the post properly 😂that’s the point! The ones made even a few years ago are far better made than the ones you buy now.

We bought a barbie for my daughter at Christmas time and its head came off a few weeks later. We haven’t bothered to replace but I did mention to DH how surprised I was that it had broken. DD isn’t destructive with her things at all so I assumed it was a freak accident. It was also significantly lighter than the second hand barbies we’ve inherited.

I remember when the heads used to just pop off and back on again.

My daughter used to re-enact her History lessons - Henry Vlll's wives.
It helped her remember which ones were beheaded.

I do agree in general with the ‘toys are crap per’ now line of thought. Polly pockets in particular give me the range. But… my children are pretty rough with their barbies- they’ve been in the bath, garden, dropped off climbing frames, been painted etc and they’ve seemed pretty indestructible so if you are having a repeated issue there probably is something about how your daughter is playing with them that is contributing to their quick demise.

@inloveandmarried I'll try this when I get a couple of new (to me) ones. screenshotted for later

@inloveandmarried tha k you!

Brilliant 🤣

Sounds like yr child needs to learn to look after things.

Thanks OP this thread has made me laugh.Sorry about your daughter’s doll though. YANBU. I think the quality of most things nowadays is not what it was. I never had a Barbie or Sindy as a child. I have mentioned this on MN before. I had a Sheena doll. It was like a large sized Tressy doll with hair that grew from the top of her head with a button on her back (or front?). She wore a fetching lurex purple trouser suit. My Nana made her a full wardrobe of clothes including a tweed coat with a fur collar. Like a PP I wish I had kept them. We also operated on our Tiny Tears dolls fake biro stitches, blood, broken limbs and sticking plasters. Happily I turned out completely normal ha ha !

Well my daughter did, and that's why I'm so angry. Especially as the price of everything has risen so this has cost more, in a way, than it would have before.

I'm a facebook, charity shop and shpock scrounger, we went all out and its bloody annoying.

Nothing is made to last these days.
Its infuriating.
Its how companies are making their money.
My mums tumble dryer is still going strong ( we now have it) after more than 45 years. She had her washing machine for years aswell. Ours lasts on average 5/6 years.

Used to happen to me with 90s Barbies. I just loved brushing their hair I think.

Well, clearly she does look after her things or she wouldn't have been so upset that it was broken.

@Lenor This is what I'm talking about. I'll tell you what my nan gave me her old washing machine that was at least 10 years old when I moved out 10 years ago and it's still going strong, but my sister has replaced hers in a shorter amount of time than I've had my 2nd hand one. And she doesn't play rough with her washing machine.

It's happening with loads of products. There are documentaries about it. People are paid, in a job, it is their job role, to make sure the product fails in a time frame which keeps the customer coming back.

How long does your mobile phone last? Around about the same time it takes you to pay off the contract? Funny that.

I'm baffled. My daughter has Barbies about 30 or so so they don't all get played with at once obviously. She's 5 but been playing with barbies since age 2 and never had any problems apart from the odd matted hair but nothing a bit of fabric conditioner won't fix!
But like others have said, buy second hand I was looking on eBay and they've always got loads of barbies and accessories going on there!

We have the opposite problem… the barbie stuff has stayed sturdy despite acting out gymnastics, skiing and flying experiment and is multiplying, taking over our house.

@DrPrunesqauler same with my washing machine. I don't know how old it is exactly but it's at least 20 years old. My sisters has had to be replaced amd she's only had it around the 5 year mark.