Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Monday, July 22, 2019

Mattel Wild Hearts Crew Cori Cruize Doll Review

I finally found another doll besides Jacy Masters at my local Walmart. At first, I had just been thinking about grabbing Jacy, even though I wasn't particularly fond of her outfit. But then I saw someone post on Instagram that Jacy was not a rebody candidate, as her neck is noticeably thicker than even the Curvy Barbie necks, so I decided to wait, in case I did choose to rebody.

There were still only three of the dolls available at my Walmart last week. Apparently, available in early July means "If you're lucky, you'll find some at your Walmart, and if not you can pre-order and get it whenever." I really liked Charlie Lake the best, from the pictures, but I didn't want to wait forever to get this review done, as other people have managed to get their hands on several of these dolls and reviewed them already.

According to Mattel's website, Cori Cruize is a musician, who creates her own songs. However, her full paragraph description is actually Charlie Lake's. You can absolutely see the care Mattel took with this new line. Anyway, you can tell Cori is a musician, because she has a Walkman. No, really, it looks like an actual old school tape cassette. Isn't she just so cool and rad?



Part of Cori's hair is done in cornrows, which are really hard to see from most positions.
Underneath her jacket, Cori wears a sleeveless unitard. Her accessories include earrings, a necklace, a belt, shoes and her cassette player. Her given motif is flames, which are on many of the items that come with her.

I know many of you were interested in her body type, so let's get into that. It appears that there are at least a couple of different body types in this new line, but as I said, finding all these dolls was impossible, and I wouldn't want to buy them all anyway. They all are decently articulated, having bending elbows and knees, as well as the usual shoulder, hip and neck movement that standard Barbies have nowadays.

Cori definitely has a fuller figure than the Made to Move dolls. However, she has a much thinner waist, proportionately, than the Curvy crew. I didn't get exact numbers, but Cori's bust, waist and hips are all smaller than Curvy's measurements.



The other big question is often clothes swapping. After all, our girls can always use more clothes, right, even if they get "stolen" from another doll? Sadly, none of the different variations I tried were very successful. I couldn't even get Cori's unitard past Curvy's thighs. However, even though Made to Move is slimmer proportioned, the unitard didn't work for her either. It didn't close in the back, and her torso is slightly longer, so that the unitard pulled up rather awkwardly.

I decided to try a Curvy dress on Cori, and although it looked acceptable from the front, where it hit on Cori's backside was rather... unfortunate. I imagine a tee and an elastic-waist skirt might work better.
I decided to try clothes on Cori that fit my older Barbie dolls, since they had larger busts and hips than some of the current Barbies. Yes, the dotted skirt is from a Made to Move doll, but it is currently being worn by a Fashion Fever Teresa, so it works for older Barbies too. For Cori, not so much. The blouse technically fits, except for being very loose at the shoulders at the back. The skirt went over her hips, but wouldn't close completely.

Lastly, Mattel made Cori's feet a completely new type, because what else does Mattel do? I was hoping the feet would at least be similar to a Curvy body with arched feet, and while the Curvy shoe does mostly fit, Cori's foot is slightly longer.
Since I still have Mattel's Ginny Weasley outfit lying around, I tried one of her shoes on Cory, and it does slide on completely, but was a bit loose, and the arch is not the same.

I have quite a few thoughts on this doll, compared to previous Mattel lines, but first I would like to ask if you now feel some of Mattel's other recent dolls are overpriced, considering this doll sells for only $14.97 at Walmart. Yes, she doesn't have articulated ankles and wrists, but she does have more accessories than you get with many standard Barbies. And how much of a mark-up should wrists and ankles be, anyway? Maybe I'm off base about this.

This new line is touted as being the next in the Monster High/Ever After High mode. One article says the dolls are "offering a new bridge between kids, tweens, and adult collectors alike." Hmm. Didn't know Mattel acknowledged that adult purchasers mattered at all for playline. Anyway, I don't even like Monster High, but I call absolute nonsense on the WHC being successors. For one thing, Monster High had an engaging storyline with the dolls right from the start: they were different from the world around them, because they were monsters. They turned into bats or were sewn together or had lupine characteristics. I don't remember any monster dolls being available in the playline market before. The WHC girls are different because: Mattel tells us so. They wear their hearts on their sleeves! They're into music and photography and skating and dreaming! HashtagDaretobeDifferent!

I'll admit that I'm cynical. I'm old enough that I've seen cycle after cycle of "it's okay to be different/be yourself even if you're different" messages aimed at kids roll around, not that I disagree with the sentiment. As I've pointed out up above, MH dolls really were quite different to the playline doll scene. And my beloved Ever After High did at least offer a new take on fairy tales, with the children of fairy tale characters. I mean, that's been done for ages in literature and movies, but not very much in doll lines. Plus, even though there were plot holes galore, the idea of whether or not the EAH characters should follow their parents' tales, or not, made for a storyline with a little appeal to  it.

Also, I personally liked the MH/EAH clothes a lot better than these new outfits. At least at the beginning of their respective launches, those outfits had more details, and painted accessories. Of course, they were more money, but all of a sudden, everything you got in those doesn't look so bad price-wise. Weren't they close to $20 US?

The doll line I would compare the WHC to, is My Scene. They were "edgier" than your standard Barbie. They had bigger heads. They wore more contemporary clothes. They had slightly fleshed out interests. Fifteen years from now, some doll company will probably produce a whole new line of doll friends that are completely different to these, and yet exactly the same. I guess I shouldn't be too negative about this; it's hard to make a group of dolls that absolutely stand out from any dolls made before. I think that I'm just reacting to the hype around these dolls, and maybe it's also related to the fact that I am that much farther away from the "just setting out to find yourself" stage in life than I was when my kids were into My Scene.

Some of my underwhelming feel for these dolls, though, I lay at the feet of Mattel. The WHC base outfits do not have the care and detail of My Scene, Monster High or Ever After High. The individual outfit packs, from what I've seen, are even worse. *One* item of clothing, a couple of small accessories, shoes that are recolored versions of existing ones, and some temporary tattoos for you and your doll. Hard to see tweens or adults getting excited about those.

I have seen people on Instagram excited about this line, and lucky you if you like it, I guess. They are something new from Barbie after Barbie after Barbie, or even release after release of Disney Princesses. But this group doesn't have a lot to draw this adult collector in, right from the start. It just feels like another gimmick line that will be discontinued in five years or less.

What do you think? Do you like them? Will you buy some? Were you only interested in taking their stuff for other dolls? Are they comparable to past dolls? Since I'm not interested in Cori as a rebody candidate, I'm going to try to sell her here for $7.00 to recoup some of my expense. Without her box, I can probably ship her in the continental US cheaply enough that she'll be close to the $14.97 plus tax that you would pay at Walmart. If you're outside the US and want her badly enough to pay for the higher shipping costs, let me know. I hope you enjoyed this review!

14 comments:

  1. I will admit that I like these dolls quite a bit with their funky hair and edgy but not tacky clothes. But follow-ups to the Monster High squad? Not bloody likely! I'm glad that Mattel is trying to think out of the box, but I predict that these will be short-lived like all of Mattel's dolls that aren't Barbie.

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    1. The dolls aren't bad, although I'm really not fond of Cori's unitard. When do people wear these outside of exercising? But they definitely aren't worth their hype. I don't expect to see them around very long, either.

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  2. I actually really love that her little cassette player has a cassette in it.
    I'll admit I'm a little curious about these dolls but it feels a little same old, same old to me. Like My Scene they're all "edgy", and like the S.I.S dolls it's Mattel jumping up and down screeching "SEE! Not all our dolls are ridiculously white and Nordic looking!" But add to that a similar jump up and down for different body types.
    I really don't expect these dolls to last long enough for worldwide release.
    I'm going to laugh all night over the idea of them being the new Monster High.

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    1. I originally thought the cassette player was neat, but it doesn't make these dolls as cool and cutting-edge as Mattel is trying to make them out to be. Also, this doll is supposedly all about writing and creating her own music. It would have made more sense to give the doll who's into rock music the cassette player. I'm over the different body types thing, since Mattel isn't making clothes to fit the different bodies anymore.

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  3. Hi Barb! I think you're so right about the price point. I wonder if Mattel could make a line of deluxe Fashionistas with articulation at that price range. If you think about it, the Barbie Style Luxe weren't much more expensive than that and had great quality and rooted lashes.
    I don't think you're being negative, just realistic. I don't think Mattel is expecting this line to last long. If they wanted to do like a "trendy" or "edgy" doll line, it could have been a Barbie spin off line. Just imagine it with Made To Move bodies and this whole "cool" concept, they will sell like hot cakes, at least if it was only for their bodies.
    The whole walkman thing had me laughing. Do people at Mattel think anyone under 20 will know what it is? I guess it's the part where they appeal to adults.
    I really enjoyed this review. It just confirmed to me that I'm not that interested in this doll line.

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    1. I'm glad that you liked the review. If Mattel was really seeking adult playline collector dollars, they would be better off making deluxe Fashionistas, or something similar. I'm sure there are adults that like these dolls, but I'm not sure how many are into the "edgy teen" vibe.

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  4. Thanks for this review. I especially appreciate your comparison photos and your citing that these dolls have thicker necks. I would have considered them for body donors - but given the thicker neck and some of the other body quirks like the narrower waist, I'll pass on that option.

    The "cool" factor on these elude me. Probably because I'm older? Regarding the accessories, I still like cassette players - when I can find them, lol. But I cannot imagine that they are a current accessory. As Monstercrafts mentions, it's not likely kids today would recognize that technology. Shrug.

    I do think sometimes that there is a counter-agent at Mattel - someone deliberately making choices like not making the dolls' parts exchange-able, etc. Might explain some of their WHY decisions. Sigh.

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    1. So far as I know, it is only Jacy that has the thicker neck, but if you don't like the body anyway, then that makes them a no for you. I can't say for sure if any of the other dolls can take a Barbie head, so there's that.

      I don't get the cool factor with these either, although I'm probably older than you. :) Still, my youngest daughter is not that far out of high school, and I have a niece who is ten, so I'm not completely out of touch with fashions for the young.

      You gave me a good laugh imagining some secret agent from Hasbro, encouraging Mattel to make different bodies for all these dolls. It seems like a waste of money, if nothing else, making new molds and then having to design new clothing and shoe sizes. Glad you found the review useful.

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  5. While I'm not interested in the Wild Heart Crew, I love this review and couldn't agree more with everything you said.

    For me, these are a little too punkish. I don't like the outfits, and their slogan is...overused. The cassette player is cool, but not enough to justify buying the doll.

    Yeah, this new crew becoming the next Monster High is a joke! Like you said, Monster High's "be bold" message made sense, and Ever After High was a perfect alternative for those who weren't into monsters. These dolls, though, don't have that appeal. I doubt parents (or even kids) will be storming the aisles to buy them.

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  6. Yeah, to me these outfits looked exciting when I first saw the pictures, but I'm already over them. Honestly, it might have been better differentiating the girls' styles a little bit more. Most of these clothes would only be worn at the local rave, except for maybe for Charlie's. :) Charlie's outfit is actually kind of unique from the others, and slightly more like what I would see a teen wear. Maybe that's why I was drawn to her.

    I have no idea why Mattel tried to hitch these dolls to Monster High. It's like they are acknowledging that Monster High and Ever After High dolls are still popular, while refusing to make more. Glad you loved the review!

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  7. Not for me Barb, I'm culling the dolls I have right now, so I don't need ANOTHER type of doll.

    Love the new header!
    Big hugs,
    X

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    1. I totally know what you mean about not needing another type of doll! A lot of my interest in these dolls was because they are cousins to Barbie.

      Blogspot finally let me put the header up. :)

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  8. Thanks for sharing the clothing/body comparisons!

    I'm not really looking to collect new lines right now (unless I find spectacular deals), but I do find the ridiculous hair colour to be weirdly eye catching so I was curious about these.

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    1. The hair is probably one of the best things about this doll. It's pretty soft.

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