One of the Barbie and The Twelve Dancing princesses range; in fact, I think this one is the most important one...the one the other sisters look up to.
Take us back to Christmas 2006 and Little Miss was especially looking forward to ownership of this one, as she was often advertised and did look rather lovely in her peachy pink tulle- what looked like layers of it, and she really did look as though she could dance. So, the long awaited dancer came into her posession.
The doll itself is the same size as the other Barbies, and looks remarkably like them- long flowing blonde hair, perfect features and figure. Her dress is rather lovely, with a full flowing skirt and underskirt. She also comes complete with a little cat, Jetty, although what this does I don't know. However, he is genevieve's best friend so I suppose he has a right to be there. The only thing I can't understand is why he comes with a bit of rope attached; I tend to tell Little Miss not to hang things (obvious reasons I think) and then manufacturers produce a toy which can be suspended from things.
Anyway, the doll requires two AAA batteries and mum needs a Phillips head screw driver to get the batteries installed. These go into her legs! Bizarre but when I thought about it, it was actually the only place the correct size and shape for batteries.
Once you finally get the doll out, untangle all the wire fastenings and insert the batteries, then the doll is ready to dance. Press the button on her leg, and she will spin from the waist up and her skirt lightsa up rather prettily. Unfortunately, she can't stand on her own, so you have to hold her up and keep your finger on the button to get this movement.
~~Price and Availability~~
Retails at about the £17 mark, and available from toy shops. Now that the 12 Dancing Princesses frenzy has abated, it can be picked up for a lot cheaper than this.
~~Made by~~
Mattel... those well known Barbie makers
~~What I thought~~
Firstly, as with all Barbies, it was difficult to unpack- their hair always seems to tangle in all that wire! Then, unlike the normal Barbies, this one needed mum to insert the batteries before it could be played with.
Little Miss found the doll fairly impressive for a short length of time, but after a while the novelty of the skirt lighting up and the very slow twirl did wear thin. Genevieve is now relegated to being a "normal" Barbie and is played with like the others. in fact, I do believe she is less important in our household because she can't even go in the bath (batteries).
Her dress is a pretty one, but so are the other Barbie dresses if you like that kind of thing.
For a short term novelty, this is quite good, but it doesn't last long; it would perhaps be better if she could standf or dance alone, because children tend to want to play with a few things, not standing looking at one toy doing a repetitive twirl.
As far as a normal Barbie is concerned, and for imaginative play, i would recommend it, because it has been well played with, but for the concept, it is fairly average.
Thanks for reading.
Daniela
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