Signs of life: return of the Bratz

RagingMoon1987 here, with a very small tidbit of news.  Kewpie83 has reported that the Bratz are FINALLY coming back.  Sheesh, it feels like that hiatus lasted longer than the year it was supposed to!  Anywho, Kewpie83 says that the new Bratz dolls are available for pre-order here in the U.S., and will be available in stores by July 25th.  Toys R Us has some additional odds and ends on its website.  The new line apparently is entitled "Hello, My Name Is..." and has the four characters we all know and love (or hate, depending on your opinion of the Bratz).  Yasmin, Jade, Sasha, and Cloe will all be returning to store shelves, along with Cameron and a new character named Raya.  Wikipedia points out that there was a character named Raya once before, but this character is supposed to be a completely different doll.  Here's what the old Raya looked like; she was from the Magic Hair line.

Tan, blonde, dark eyed.  In other words, she wasn't that different from other obscure Bratz characters like Tessa and Rina.  Let's hope that the new Raya doesn't look like this.

Here's the kicker:  no one, not even Toys R Us, has released pictures of the new product yet.  All TRU's website has are silhouettes.  Here's all they have on Jade, the one I'm most curious to see.

TRU's description of the product states that Jade will have a "Plaid Meets Punk" sort of style, good news for me since I love plaid.  If all the descriptions on TRU's website are correct, then these dolls may be very similar to the dolls that I had when I was a teenager.  The dolls in 2003 had mix-and-match fashions, plus several accessories, and the new "Hello, My Name Is..." line appears to be going in that same direction.

If the picture that Kewpie83 uploaded is accurate, then these new Bratz may only be available at Toys R Us stores.  This is problematic since the nearest TRU to Malden is eighty miles away, and I'm not in much of a mood to drive eighty miles just for a doll that I already have several examples of.  Guess I'll just have to wait until the official release for images!

So this new release certainly sounds interesting, but I can't help wondering what MGA is going to do to try and keep the Bratz afloat this time.  They've done joints, hair play, dress-up, pop stars, you name it!  They even made the main characters taller, like this!

I don't know how popular these taller Bratz were, but they were released shortly before the hiatus so I doubt there were many made.

Oh yes, there were also the Bratzillaz, a line which was more of a Bratz-LIV-Monster High mosh-up than anything.

Oh sure, the Bratzillaz were cute and all.  I liked them enough to snap up five of them (the fifth didn't fit into the picture), but apparently these weren't a success either.  MGA has said absolutely nothing about the return of these witchy women, and the Bratzillaz' Facebook page hasn't been updated since June of 2014, a full THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO!!!  Too bad too, because look what could have been!  Bratz Boulevard has prototype pictures!  That doesn't mean these awesome products ever would've been released, but it certainly would've been fun if they did!

As a final thought, I certainly hope MGA has ditched the nylon hair this time around.  That crap made the first wave Bratzillaz virtually un-usuable.  My Meygana's hair is still a mess, and Miss Emily reported that Yasmina's hair was no better.  My budget Meygan had a similar problem; her hair was so bad that I ended up having to cut it.

I still have a lot of trouble getting Meygan's hair what I want it to do, so I desperately hope MGA chose a different fiber this time!  If any of y'all get one of the new dolls, please let me know what their hair is like.  I'd love to hear from you.

I think Talolili may have a dolly review in the works, so keep your eyes peeled!

Best wishes, 

RagingMoon1987

UPDATE:  Purple Monkfish has the new Jade already!  Her review of this new doll can be found HERE.