More idle chatter about Barbie's head molds

This post ties in with the last one, as to my delight some of the dolls are already starting to make their way into stores...or at least the stores near where I live.  Meet Norelle (left) and Minnie.

Both of these made my top five list due to their unique hair and their happy faces.  By coincidence, both of these happy faces happen to be new sculpts.  Norelle sports the Julia Roberts-esque face with a fairly wide nose and a very wide smile, while Minnie wears what Katti's Dolls refers to as the "AA Smile."  She uses AA to mean African-American, not Alcoholics Anonymous, by the way.  Anywho, here's a closer look at these heads.

I've griped in the past about the lack of diversity among dolls of color; so many of them get saddled with the Asha face or the Mbili face.  Those are both nice faces (Mbili is one of my favorites, in fact), but that gets a little monotonous after awhile.  So it's nice to see these new heads making their debut and I hope Mattel will keep up the good work.

At the same time it's also nice to see what I like to call "old friends," molds that have been used off and on over the years, or even molds that have been gone awhile.  Kira is making a comeback, appearing on #62 "Sweet in Silver" and #82 "Wear Your Heart," and the old Teresa head from my childhood is making an appearance in this latest line as well (she's this doll, oddly also named "Wear Your Heart").  The new Asian head, first seen on the doll I call "Suika," has also reappeared on a very beautiful doll with...with painted bangs???  With the hairstyle that #73 "Rosey Romper" has, rooted bangs likely would not have looked as nice so I can understand this.  "Rosey" is very pretty though, and it looks like her eyes are straight.  Remember that Suika's eyes are not, nor are those of most of her #60 sisters.

I'm more excited now than ever for the next wave of Fashionistas.  That doll with the blonde Afro is calling my name.

Cheers,

RagingMoon1987