Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Barbie Sweet Orchard Farm Fashion Pack

I was in Walmart yesterday and checked out the Barbie aisle, like you do. I found a fashion pack I'd been interested in and decided I didn't want it, when I glanced further down the aisle and saw a large pack in the Sweet Orchard Farm section. Mattel has had some farm dolls and play sets for a while, but they currently produce a whole line of dolls, playsets and vehicles called Sweet Orchard Farm. I couldn't find this pack online on either Amazon or Walmart.com after I got home, but there the pack was in the store, brightly colored and appealing. When I noticed that the two dresses both appeared to also be printed on the back, I leaped over and grabbed a box. They *were* printed on the back, and there was also a t-shirt, a skirt, shorts, a vest, a hat, a purse, and a pair of short boots. The whole set looked decent, for $9.97, so into the cart it went. I'm going to share all the pictures from my photo shoot, and then talk about the pros and cons, at the end.





Pros:
-The only piece that isn't finished in some way is the flowered skirt, and only the hem is unfinished. Since the skirt is made of knit fabric, it shouldn't unravel.
-The pieces are very wearable, for everyday. Although that rose dress *is* a little short. Even the vest, though, looks better on than I thought it would.
-Most of the items were not held on by tags in the package! Maybe Mattel has heard all the complaints about tags tearing holes in clothing? Most of the clothes were merely slipped over cardboard tabs in the box, but they all looked fine in package. The vest was held in by tags, but the fabric is woven, and a little thick, so there was not as much chance of it developing a hole. The hat and purse were also held down by tags, but the tags on the purse went through the "loops" holding the strap to the purse. Once you pulled the tags free, you could slide the tags out because the tags had small ends on the back side of the cardboard.
-The dresses are printed on both sides!! The ribbon belt does not go all the way around the back of the checked dress, but that's not as big of an issue, and happens on real clothes sometimes.

Cons:
- Except for the shorts, all the clothing pieces have no back openings. You have to sliiiiide the dresses and t-shirt on, and those clothes are tight! There is not a lot of give, even though the pieces are knit. I wonder how they fit on a non-MtM Barbie? The Sweet Orchard Farm dolls all have straight arms and legs.
- The hem isn't finished on the flowered skirt. I think the skirt looks not quite right, because of that. It looks unfinished, because of course it is.

If you find this pack at your local Walmart, or another store that happens to carry it, I'd definitely pick it up. The shirt, shorts and vest will all work with other things, and the boots and purse are cute. I definitely want to perk them up with some paint details. The dresses would be nice with jackets and pumps, to make different looks. Even the hat can be worn with other styles. I would have liked to see back openings, but then again, maybe the backs wouldn't match the fronts of the dresses then. The rose dress does not have a front or a back; it's two identical pieces sewn together. Plus, the pack wouldn't have been $9.97 if more of the pieces had closures. I do wonder what it would cost though; I wonder if I would think the price was worth it.

While I was pulling the hay bale from the back of my storage shelf, I saw the set of three rustic metal stars that I picked up at a craft store, and I used one in my photo shoot. I thought it looked nice hanging on the "barn" wall. Here's my secret: those three stars shed rusty pieces like crazy. Here's residual bits in the plastic bag that I store the stars in.
And the pack that I didn't buy? It's this one:
The flowered print on the right side of the dress looked very dull in the store. The elastic around the neck of the denim shirt was already folded over a bit, and I was afraid that the neckline would fold worse on a doll body. Plus, I had forgotten that the black polkadot piece was shorts and not a skirt. The fact that the purse doesn't look well with either of the outfits is just a plus. Or, a minus.

Autumn is coming soon here, which means farm visits, for pumpkins and apple cider and corn mazes and hay rides! Do you like visiting farms? Do you live on a farm? (I think I know at least one reader does.)

8 comments:

  1. Wow! I had never even heard of Sweet Orchard Farm, so I had to look it up. I actually really like the line as a toy for kids!
    We grew up near lots of orchards and vineyards and part of me would love, love, love to live on a farm. But in real life I know that farming means always being overworked and never having any money, always being two dollars from bankruptcy, so sod that! My parents (mum and step dad) theoretically live on a goat farm but none of their goats have ever gone to the abattoir and they make their money elsewhere.

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    1. I really like the new line too. Mattel seems to have put some thought and creativity into this one.

      There are a few vineyards around, where I live. The Dancer went to school for eight years with the youngest daughter of a family that owns one of the local vineyards, and that girl spent most of her vacation time working in the vineyard. I can understand having a sense of pride, though, in your wine or whatever you produce, especially if your farm goes back multiple generations. The closest I'd get to living on a farm, though, is living out in a more rural area.

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  2. Hi Barb! I do like the fashion pack, the gingham dress looks quite cute. And they are printed on the back, which is very rare nowadays with Mattel (how sad is that?).

    Where I live in Spain we have very high temperatures most of the year, and I don't expect colder weather to arrive before October this year. We barely have Autumn and we almost jump from Summer to Winter. Winter is very mild here, and we just have 2 or 3 weeks of true cold weather. We don't have those types of farms here, but I'd love to have the experience to visit a pumpkin farm.

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    1. I think the gingham dress might be nice for a doll to wear going into fall, with the purple and red colors. I know, being so excited that a dress is printed on the back kind of shows the sad state Mattel Barbie fashions have slid into.

      How about you come visit me to experience Autumn and pumpkin farms, and I'll visit you when it's below freezing and we have huge piles of snow here. ;)

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  3. If you're going to be doing more barn photos, just to let you know, Dollar Tree has the barbie sized bales of straw right now.

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  4. Hi Barb! I was a bit confused when you said they were printed on the back, and thought that was really strange that anyone would NOT do that. Then I thought maybe you meant the fabric was reversible, but on reading MC's comment, I realised that Mattel is completely bonkers!! Do they think people only look at their dolls from the front??

    As to the farming bit, we have a 50 acre property but it's not a farm as such...just natural bushland with kangaroos, echidna, pygmy possums, wombats and wallabies...haven't seen a koala there for ages though. We use it for holidays not a permanant residence. I have seen pumpkin farms though when we travelled to Tasmania. :)
    Big hugs,
    X

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    1. Mattel has proven that there is no corner they will not cut to make the playline dolls, except using toxic materials (and with the glue head issue, people were even questioning that one.) It's a good thing that I can also sew doll clothes.

      I think it would be fun to see what that pumpkin farm in Tasmania was like.

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