The return of Tokidoki Barbie

Can you believe that August is almost over already?  Usually the month seems to just crawl, but not this time!  Maybe having Mama home made it go a little faster; in years past she would have spent the early part of the month prepping for school, and the latter half teaching.  Again, not this time!  Anywho, it's been a quick month and Birthday Season is just around the corner for us.  And as in 2011, I have my eye on a certain very unusual Barbie doll.  Y'all remember this little gal, right?

I assume that you do remember her, but I could be wrong so it's time for a brief history lesson.  This is the first Tokidoki Barbie that Mattel released, and I fell in love with her as soon as the promos hit.  I loved her pink hair, I loved her Steffie face, I loved her tattoo, and I loved her Cactus Friend, Bastardino.  Then parents freaked out about her tattoo, the doll became a hot item, and she sold out before I could place an order.  Tokidoki was a Gold Label doll, meaning there were about 25,000 produced.  What galled me was the fact that most people who bought up this doll were not even collectors, but rather price gougers who thought legit collectors needed to pay more than the fifty dollars Mattel was asking for.  So I didn't get my Tokidoki Barbie then...but I may have a chance to get another one this year.  Look what Mattel's got now!

This is in honor of Tokidoki's tenth anniversary, and this time she's going to be a Black Label doll, meaning I have a chance of finding her at Wal-Mart, like I did with first-wave Katniss and several other items in my collection.  I'm going to be honest:  I don't like this doll quite as much as I did the first one.  She doesn't have a Steffie face (I'm a Steffie fan) and her dominant color is pink.  However, this doll DOES utilize a face sculpt that I don't yet have in my collection.  The sculpt is called the Karl sculpt, named after a doll that paid tribute to designer Karl Lagerfeld.  Tokidoki's spiny little comrade is also pink, and her name is Polpettina.  I liked Bastardino, but I like Polpettina better in spite of that pink.  She's not a sickeningly garish pink like most of the pink on the doll, but rather a soft, pale pink.  She reminds me of strawberry ice cream, one of my favorite treats.  Oh yes, as a final little touch, this Tokidoki Barbie also has a huge tattoo.  Pictures of the details can be seen here.

So basically this new Tokidoki Barbie is going to be just as flashy as her predecessor, but not as hard to come by.  That's good news for me, but not for those who enjoy the thrill of the chase.  For those of you who like a challenge, Mattel threw you another bone to chew on.

Apologies for the lousy quality of this picture; I had to make do with what few stock photos I could find.  Anywho, I like this sassy lassie a lot better, but guess what?  She's a Platinum Label doll, the hardest of the hard to find.  Mattel is offering her up in the form of a treasure hunt on the Barbie Collectors site, so if you want to find this doll, go to Terri Gold's page and follow her instructions (link to her post is here).  I wonder if her Cactus Friend has a special name like the other two?  His closest match on the Tokidoki website is Malandrino, but the two are far from a perfect match.  In fact, this Cactus Friend looks like he may be a cat!  I say this because Malandrino is very clearly a dog.  (UPDATE:  this black cat may be named Buddy; he looks strikingly similar to the black Cactus Cat in this video by Toy Genie Surprises.)

So there you have it.  I have another chance to own a Tokidoki Barbie, as do the other collectors out there who missed out on the first one.  Yeah, she's not the same as the old one, but beggars can't be choosers.  I'm very excited for this lovely lady's release, and as soon as I find one the rest of y'all will get a review.

Cheers,
RagingMoon1987