Always Bratz Cloe. Doll - Where Did My Money Go?

I really appreciate this viewpoint from the non Bratz collector- I think sometimes we can get caught up in what we hope a brand can be, but that side by side was jarring ! Pulled off the veil

As a Bratz fan I am personally pretty happy with the actual dolls themselves and I think 25 is a pretty reasonable price to pay for them, I mean Monster High dolls are also 25 and the quality of these feels substantially better as far as hair quality and outfit construction goes, so it works for me. I don't particularly care about the accessories and never have so I don't really mind. But this feels like a good jumping off point, and just like how rainbow high improved as they went on I'm sure Bratz will do the same thing. Honestly I think it's less that Bratz are too expensive and more that Rainbow High are too cheap, I struggle to imagine how they were ever turning a profit with the quality they have (or I guess had) for they prices they charged.

I think MGA is bringing both of them back on the cheap. Instead of choosing one or the other to pour all the money into, they're splitting it. Also the CEO likely got a big raise so that's where a hunk of the money went.

Considering this is only wave 1 of the new playline for Bratz they didn’t just want to dive in head first by spending a whole bunch on accessories right off the bat. I’m sure it’ll get better with more and more releases. Also rainbow high dolls are still $35-$40 where I live, so when you consider how good the quality is for the Always Bratz for $25 there is really no issue here. Money doesn’t go as far as it used to in the early 2000s or even the 2010s. We need to stop expecting so much for so little.

To my understanding, Bratz never had toes because their shoes we're supposed to be able to go on either foot. Most, if not all, Bratz She was do not have a left and a right, and I'm assuming it's to make it easier for kids so they don't have to worry about the shoes going on the wrong foot.

I love Bratz. Just not a fan of the bags. The real Bratz had actual fabric bags.

😂😂😂 lmfao "Dropped ya cheap bag" had me in stitches. Love ya xx

There's something in marketing that's called desire. And that's what sets the price. They know people desire bratz dolls again that's why they can charge more. As you don't like bratz, you don't feel the desire. That's why you don't feel the price is right.

I’m so glad you can see this perspective NOW even this this was EXACTLY how it was with monster high coming back. Cheap fabrics, boring plastic accessories, uninspired dated fashion. But because you hold nostalgia for it it was easier to see past those details. Even though g3 seems to be getting better details, all the g1 collector dolls are ABSOLUTELY being price gouged due to nostalgia and in an even worse way

i think we're at a really weird spot with the doll industry vs us as consumers. even if the rainbow high doll profits never, ever touched the always bratz development and production, i don't think it would be very different from how they are now. rainbow high experiencing a reboot at the same time the new bratz dolls being released feels closer to coincidental, maybe more like serendipity. MGA possibly hired someone to figure out how to make rainbow high profitable and the new direction they didn't put heart into came out right around the time a huge new reboot of their other big brand released. looking at previous rainbow high, current rainbow high, original bratz, always bratz, and the original and the current monster high, i can see a trend. original bratz were at a lower price point, had two outfits, and in general had more detailed accessories. rainbow high comes out, (are rumored to) have low profit margins until they slowly phase out the second outfits and finally phase out any of the high details we're used to and we get the current reboot we're seeing. the original monster high had detailed and themed outfits, and with the current generation, the outfits are cute, but can be lackluster and a lot of the time if they have multiple outfit pieces, the secondary clothing is printed and can be pretty ugly and uninspired. doll brands are trying to play it safe, ever increase profit margins (as always) while we're dealing with an increasingly noticable economic inflation, while still trying to appeal to the subsidiary markets like teens and adult doll collectors. i think whoever's now in charge of rainbow high decided to basically cut their losses with adult collectors and reformat the brand to be as box standard appealing to children with glitter, slime, and crystal animals. always bratz have cheap little accessories, much cheaper and less interesting than the previous rainbow high accessories, but they have strong outfit designs (for the most part. jade's cropped fishnets and weird booties my beloathed). monster high has fun new designs, but the printed fabrics, transparent booties, and ever growing collection of minor special lines (all the ones that are $30 and come in coffins with lock gimmicks) can be frustrating as a collector. rambling here, not sure if i totally make sense, i'm pretty sleep deprived. but, i think that since we've seen what these big doll brands can do when they put their minds to it, seeing cloe just have a cheap little burdine (barbie) purse and some other cheap looking accessories can be really disappointing. i figure that MGA doesn't want to take a big risk with this new always bratz release. i'm hoping that they'll eventually start hitting real home runs with it, i'm desperate for a good jade at a price point i can justify paying. TL;DR economic inflation, raised expectations, and bratz have never had defined toes (unless you turn safe search off, probably)

💯% agree! I'm a My Scene girl too, and from my outside perspective, Bratz collectors are being taken advantage of. What on earth happened to the Bratz shoes? Why are they plain boring shoes? What's with that purse? I could see 15-18.00 for her, but not 25. I'm holding my breath to see what happens next in the doll world. I hope there's a good shift somewhere 🙏.

THANK YOU for saying what so many of us are thinking...

Yeah, I kinda feel underwhelmed too. Between that and what they did to rainbow high… I guess I’ll probably wait for something that sparks joy haha.

Maybe it goes I to the articulation in the arms? Old bratz didn’t have articulation arms except the movie dolls and later on in the 2010s . Also it could went into the reproduction bratz too since they making all the big bratz lines again like rock angelz, girlz night out, etc.

I remember OG Bratz. I had several of them as a kid. The whole reason I loved them was because they were edgier than Barbie. (I still loved Barbie, though , because she was BARBIE.) While I don't plan to collect the new ones, I'm still excited that Bratz are back. They stoll feel like they lack the edge they had back in the day, but let's be honest, "edgy" won't fly with parents nowadays . . . The irony being that the same parents who complain about edgy dolls are the kids who played with edgy dolls back in the day. Oh, to answer your toe question, I don't think they ever had them in their shoes, but if I recall correctly, there were beach Bratz dolls with bare feet that were just plastic nubs. So no, they've somehow never had toes.

So I was never into Bratz, I think because of the make-up, specifically the excessive lip situation (seeing lipstick transfer on anything IRL makes me wanna vom, I'm sure there is some phobia out there for this feeling), so I think that's why I didn't want them... So Cloe would be an instant no for me. I did kind of like the new Sasha and Jade, and had Sasha on order with Amazon when she was still $24.99, but cancelled my order because I had too many bills... Now I'm thinking I might not be buying any. I'm so tired of dolls being less and less worth the money.

Bratz aren’t my thing but the price point seems fair to me. There’s dolls with worse quality for the same or even more money….looking at you Mattel.

I also don't usually like sunglasses on the dolls face, but these look great on her !

I’m not a Bratz fan or collector, and I’m excited for their fans, but this won’t be a collection I’ll ever start. I hope this reboot gets the OG Bratz collectors to bust out their stash and clean them up, redress them and find joy in what they have. I’d love to see some Bratz comparison videos from the doll collector community w/OG vs. New.

I was never a Bratz fan, but I agree with your evaluation.