Review: Barbie Fashionistas Swappin' Styles Head: Sporty
Posted by Lindsay
If you follow the Clearance Bin, you know that sometimes I buy Barbies. The ones you see here are half ones that I will keep as is, and half ones that I have bought for the purposes of transformation.
I was excited to see a few months ago that the newest round of Fashionista Barbies had added removable shoulders/head to their arsenal of cool aspects. And sure enough, now they've started selling solo heads. I love this idea!
This is specifically a “Sporty” head, which means that it matches the “Sporty” Fashionista doll, as far as coloring and skin tone goes.
See a (previous generation, no swappable head) “Artsy” Fashionista being contrasted with Pop Life Barbie here.
If you follow the Clearance Bin, you know that sometimes I buy Barbies. The ones you see here are half ones that I will keep as is, and half ones that I have bought for the purposes of transformation.
I was excited to see a few months ago that the newest round of Fashionista Barbies had added removable shoulders/head to their arsenal of cool aspects. And sure enough, now they've started selling solo heads. I love this idea!
This is specifically a “Sporty” head, which means that it matches the “Sporty” Fashionista doll, as far as coloring and skin tone goes.
See a (previous generation, no swappable head) “Artsy” Fashionista being contrasted with Pop Life Barbie here.
Appearance and Construction: 7/10
I don't have any of the new Fashionistas with this head-swap mechanism, nor do I have any version of the “Sporty” Fashionista. I picked out this head because I liked the hair, the ponytails, and the sunglasses.
The brown-black mix in the hair works well, and the eyeshadow is a great mix of colors without being glittery. Overall, I approve. The only big flaw is the sunglasses left a shiny mark in the center of her forehead, and that's pretty annoying.
The brown-black mix in the hair works well, and the eyeshadow is a great mix of colors without being glittery. Overall, I approve. The only big flaw is the sunglasses left a shiny mark in the center of her forehead, and that's pretty annoying.
Packaging and Accessories: +1
The package seems fairly simple, just a box with a head in it.
It gets more complicated when you open it up, because there is a little plastic key holding the stand in place from the bottom that you have to turn to release it.
The stand itself is pretty solid, giving whatever head you aren't using a place to sit, even a place to display. I could see this becoming a tiny styling head in the hands of a young enthusiast.
The sunglasses are pretty nice too, although I don't love that they're held on with rubber bands crisscrossing the back of the head.
The necklace looks fine, but is boring. Still, it's a decent amount to come with a head, so I'll give a bonus point.
The stand itself is pretty solid, giving whatever head you aren't using a place to sit, even a place to display. I could see this becoming a tiny styling head in the hands of a young enthusiast.
The sunglasses are pretty nice too, although I don't love that they're held on with rubber bands crisscrossing the back of the head.
The necklace looks fine, but is boring. Still, it's a decent amount to come with a head, so I'll give a bonus point.
Play and Display: ---
Here is the other thing it comes with: a little flyer showing how the doll mechanism works. Looks like there's a button that releases the piece from the doll when you want to switch it.
I don't have one of these dolls, so I can't report on how well it works, but the post inside the bust looks to be decent quality, and it fits on and off the stand easily.
Bonus Section: Discussion of Custom Potential:
I love this concept, even though I don't have any of the new Fashionistas. If you're determined and careful, Barbie head-swapping is pretty easy.
The newest dolls (and this head) have a new larger piece inside, but it's similar to the two pronged one I see more often.
The newest dolls (and this head) have a new larger piece inside, but it's similar to the two pronged one I see more often.
New internal piece
Older internal piece
As expected, the head works fine on this older body:
In short, this way I can buy just the head if I like it, and put on any body I please. Love it.
Also, the head and stand combination might be a good start for a 1/6 scale bust, now there's an idea...
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 8/10
If you aren't either a doll customizer or a fashion doll collector, this might not seem like a cool innovation. I am both of these things, and I think it's very cool.
For the head and accessories, I paid a slightly expensive $5.99 at Toys'R'Us. I'd prefer to pay a bit less, but I often buy dolls just for the head, in which case I'm usually paying more than that.
So for me it's a pretty decent deal.
I'll let you know if I turn this head into some interesting art. Earlier this year, I sculpted a life-size clay head.
Erin put it to good use...
