Charles's Pages about Doll Stuff - www.dollstuff.net

SpongeBob SquarePants® Barbie®

I saw the new SpongeBob SquarePants® Barbie® doll at Toys 'R' Us a couple of weeks ago. (It's also being called Barbie Loves SpongeBob SquarePants, but I didn't see that written on the box.)

SpongeBob SquarePants® Barbie®'s face

I really like this doll a lot . The outfit and accessories are great (especially her pineapple purse ), the packaging is fantastic, and the SpongeBob keychain she comes with is really cute. My favorite thing is that it's packaged so Barbie and SpongeBob are holding hands. SpongeBob has a "kiss print" on his forehead, too. (You can see it better in this larger picture - make sure to click on "all sizes" at the top of the page.)

I'd like to get this doll... But there was no way thanks to the bone-chilling price-tag. TRU raised their prices a few months ago, and I think US$23 is way too much for a doll that doesn't "do" anything. Most other stores will have it for about $20 (which is still pretty "steep").

Her purse

(It's also a bit disheartening because, once again, I've been working on a doll with an outfit that's almost exactly the same as this. )

The doll is very pretty. (She looks kind of gross in the box thanks to the return of the classic Indonesian Flat-Face thing but that's just because her hair is pulled back to tight.) Not surprisingly, she has the enlarged 1998 "Generation Girl™ head, with the same face paint design that's being used on most of the new dolls with that head.

SpongeBob SquarePants® Barbie® Prototype with the mysterious new head

Speaking of which - you can add her to the growing list of dolls that were photographed for marketing with the new "pointy-chin" head (see the picture to the left) but were produced with the old head instead.

The black version of SpongeBob SquarePants® Barbie®

I'm still disappointed that the new head isn't going to be used, but it's hard to get too disgruntled when the dolls with the old head look as nice as they do.

BTW, this doll is also available in a black version - but, of course, they didn't have that one. Which doesn't surprise me - black dolls are becoming almost impossible to find where I live now.