These three dolls were in the OG mini doll ballet studio. I'm thinking this was not marketing as much as a little girl "playing" with the dolls in the store.
I do feel like Our Generation missed the boat somewhat with LORI. They released some of the cars, campers, houses and furniture to some stores, right before Christmas, but never completely stocked them, leaving customers really interested in buying and not being able to. Even now, the LORI stuff is still just on an endcap, and there's usually only one camper, patio set, etc. when I look. I also still occasionally see people asking scalper prices for these items on eBay. In my opinion, OG should have introduced a new furniture set or a mini camping accessories set or something to keep people talking about the brand, after the Christmas fiasco. The posts I wrote about the LORI dolls are two of the most heavily visited posts of the ones I've written, so people were interested in this stuff. We'll see in the fall if they bring something new and exciting out for the Christmas season.
Speaking of brands, the Ever After High brand has been going through a lot of changes recently. Most of the EAH stuff that I saw at Target is on clearance. The only new dolls are the basics with the new smiling faces. I don't mind the basic line, as I'm sure it's profitable to have low costs EAH dolls available. As I've already talked about, I also bought two basic ballet dolls to do head swaps for the new faces. I don't mind the new faces either, although to me, they look more like younger siblings to the original dolls, and they may become siblings in my EAH collection. I do still want to see higher-priced doll waves, some with the older faces.
I've read people's opinions that while a smile is perfectly in character for Maddie, who is a Wonderlandian and enjoys craziness, Apple doesn't seem like she smiles much. I must admit I've watched all the EAH webisodes, and Apple does smile a lot, although a lot of times, it's in the prom queen/royal wave kind of way. Here Apple just looks like a little girl who wants to play. Then again, if their target audience for these dolls is three or four years old, that kind of friendly smiling face is probably appealing.
ETA: I forgot I was going to include this picture I took at a Toys 'R Us, of a first and second release signature Darling Charming. As you can see, the newer release (on the left side) is lacking the bracelet and the paint on her neckpiece, that the Darling doll on the right has. Re-releasing signature EAH dolls with fewer details is not winning Mattel any friends, either.
Cute Dolls. :)
ReplyDeleteThey are, aren't they? I hope both OG and Mattel work to preserve what they have.
DeleteHi, I just bought one of the Lori dolls. I just haven't had time to post it yet. The store that I was in had only a few of the dolls and one outfit. The dolls are very cute but I would be nice if the put out more outfits. On their website http://loridolls.com, they only have four.
ReplyDeleteI do wish they had more outfits, too. All I ever seem to see anymore in my store is the one with the fake fur jacket, which in my opinion, is the least attractive of the line.
DeleteTarget is not doing the Lori lines any favors. You can't even buy them on their website! You can buy the camper, car, and ballet studio, but the dolls and their clothes are only in store. And with their "in stock" feature only going by the lot items numbers it's an absolute shot in the dark if they actually have the item. Last time I went to a Target (we have none locally), the Lori end cap was practically empty. Maybe it's not their main priority, but they seem to be trying to kill the line, when it could be a successful niche item.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Our Generation needs to look out for its own interests, and find some way to promote and sell this line better.
DeleteI really like looking at the Lori dolls and their stuff (I noticed one of the ballet studios on clearance at my local Target, but I think that was because the individual one was dented rather than that they're all being reduced), but haven't really been drawn to pick one up yet. Still, good to see that the line's doing well enough to still have new releases, even if Target isn't stocking them as well as they should.
ReplyDeleteYep. I'm still tempted to buy the camper and the ballet studio, just because they're so cute. I certainly don't need them, because I don't want to use up that much space for the mini dolls in my collection. But still....
DeleteThe ballet studio in my photo above has a ding in the floor that has discolored the plastic. I wonder if Our Generation shouldn't have boxed the studio and the camper. When I was there, there was a child "driving" the camper all over the floor, but I doubt the parents were going to buy it.
Yeah, I've seen that in-store playtime happening too.
DeleteI suppose it's a trade-off - they definitely catch the attention more by being out in the open (or at least they caught my attention! ;)), but if they're all being broken, I wonder if it's worth it for them...
I'm thinking that if that local dented ballet studio doesn't sell and is reduced again, I'm thinking I might pick it up - I'm not sure I'll buy any Lori dolls, but it's a perfect size for AG minis and action figures, so I think I can find a way to put it to use. ;)
Is it just me, or does Mattel seem determined to ruin themselves? I've heard so many complaints about Barbies, Monster High, Ever After High; they lost the Disney dolls, too; I mean, it seems to me that if they were floundering, they'd be trying to make their customers happier, and they don't seem to be doing that at all. But again, maybe it's just my own interpretation of what I'm reading and seeing. I know personally, my daughters and I are very, very sad that the EAH line seems to be disappearing. My 7 year old LOVES them, and my 4 year old is starting to, just when they seem to be vanishing from the shelves. They have not taken an interest in the Lori dolls at all, though.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that Mattel is spending a lot of time second-guessing its decisions. Honestly, they probably are struggling financially, but there doesn't seem to be a sense of direction to the decisions, unless the direction is to only sell to the preschool market. I did see that there may be an articulated Curvy doll in the works; that would create excitement about the Barbie brand.
DeleteI'm not sure if Target in Australia is the same company as Target in America but over here, they have announced that they are going to stop selling toys and many other lines and just focus on fashion and homewares so they are selling off a lot of toys at the moment, and, of course, not adding any new ones.
ReplyDeleteThe new EAH dolls are not here yet either. Looking at all the pictures on the net, I can't decide whether I like them or not.
It doesn't look like Target Australia is the same as Target America. The Targets near me went to a lot of effort and expense in the past several years to add a grocery section, so I doubt they'll be changing their stores again that drastically.
DeleteThe newer smiley faces seem to look about the same online as in person, but it would still probably be easier to tell if you wanted one by looking in person. Hopefully you'll get some in somewhere.