First of all, I wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Independence Day!



Also, I'm currently the 26th most-watched user on the site, with more than 1,500 followers!



I wanted to thank everyone who enjoys reading my stories and/or blog posts. Your feedback helps me stay focused on my love of writing. Anyone who enjoys my work is invited to become a member of the Bronystories Fan Club. The Fan Club is an outlet for smaller news bites and updates, since I prefer my blog posts to have more meat to them. Speaking of which...

...let's talk more about dolls.

I may have judged Hasbro too harshly. Apparently, they have two sizes of Equestria Girls dolls. The ones we've seen so far have been the smaller versions with tops that are painted onto the body, but there's also a series of larger, more expensive "deluxe" dolls, which are meant to more directly compete with Mattel's high end fashion dolls like Barbie and Monster High.

So, let's take a look at one of these "deluxe" Equestria Girls dolls.



Umm... well... I really like her mane? I'm sorry, but when I heard there were deluxe dolls, I was hoping for a dramatic increase in production quality. Do these deluxe dolls even have posable elbows? I can't tell with Rainbow Dash's stupid unattached sleeves. Maybe deluxe Fluttershy will give us an answer.

Fluttershy! Have some class! Not everyone wants to see your bajingo!

Well, I guess now we can confirm that the deluxe Equestria Girls dolls are not only more posable, but they are also very nude under their dresses. This is a huge win for bronies with Agalmatophilia.

In contrast, let's take a look at the dolls from Monster High's spin-off series, Ever After High.





(Sigh) I don't follow professional sports, but I imagine this is what it feels like to cheer for a team who never brings their "A" game to the playoffs. I want Hasbro to be successful because the popularity of the Equestria Girls dolls is good for the My Little Pony brand. That being said, I thinks it's obvious which company invested more time and effort into their doll line.

From a marketing standpoint, Ever After High is a stroke of genius. The creators have a treasure trove of royalty-free fables and fairy tales to pull from when designing characters and settings.

Heck, even Walt Disney knew the power of familiarity when he chose an established fairy tale for his first animated feature.



As depressing as it may be, familiar characters and settings will always be a popular source to draw from. It's a sad commentary on society. People would rather see classic fairy tales rehashed ad nauseum or watch the third reboot of Superman movies instead of trying something new.

Here's a graphic from a couple years ago, illustrating the creative decline of Hollywood.



I would dare say things have only gotten worse since then.

Now, some may be saying that it's hypocritical for a brony to cast stones at Hollywood or Ever After High, when Friendship is Magic is the fourth "reboot" of My Little Pony.



And to that I say, fair enough. I'll be the first to admit that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic plays on brand loyalty. It's been one of Hasbro's best-selling girls toys for thirty years. It makes sense that Hasbro would slap the My Little Pony logo on their new line of girls dolls instead of trying something new.

No one in business wants to take risks nowadays and would rather go with the safest possible bet. Does that mean creative people should shun all past works and make something new for the sake of being new? Of course not. As long as fresh and interesting ideas can be added to an established concept, then the occasional retread is okay. Friendship is Magic certainly holds to the standard of an acceptable reboot. Even discounting the brony fandom, the fourth iteration of My Little Pony redefined what shows for little girls could be. Even though MLP:FIM took an existing IP, it added enough new elements to make it unique. Ever After High seems to do a similar thing. I think the rules of its universe are arbitrary and don't make a lick of sense, but you can tell that someone put genuine effort into making unique characters, instead of lazily slapping Snow White's name on a doll and calling it a day.

It will be interesting to see how Equestria Girls fares against Mattel's one-two punch of Monster High and Ever After High. Although, maybe Hasbro isn't Mattel's main concern...

After their victory in court against Mattel, Bratz are back and they have a new redesign.



That's right. The girls who loved Bratz have grown and the dolls have grown with them. The latest wave of Bratz dolls draws special attention to their increased height.



These new dolls appear to be the right size to wear the clothing of Monster High and Ever After High dolls. MGA seems to be pulling no punches in their battle with Mattel.

We've talked about the difference between a true investment and a halfhearted effort. This distinction can be seen not only in the comparison of Ever After High and Equestria Girls dolls, but also in the "Bald Doll Saga."

In January of 2012, cancer advocate Jane Bingham contacted Mattel about making a bald version of Barbie to support children with cancer. Mattel dismissed her idea and responded with the stock form letter saying that it does not accept toy idea submissions from consumers. Undeterred, Bingham launced the “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” movement on Facebook, which attracted widespread attention and accumulated more than 160,000 "likes." Soon after this, Mattel announced it would produce 10,000 limited-edition bald Barbie dolls to donate exclusively to U.S. children’s hospitals.



Bingham was pleased with Mattel's decision, even if she felt it didn't go far enough.

“They are only making 10,000 of these dolls, so only a very limited number of kids will even be able to get their hands on one,” Bingham said, “Each year, 12,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer, and no child without cancer will receive one. Plus, this limited quantity is bound to cause a high resale price. It’s basically going to be only a collector’s item.”

Meanwhile, MGA was carefully watching Mattel's actions.

“After hearing that Jane just received a form letter from Mattel, it gave us the green light to get involved,” MGA representative Susan Hale said. MGA approached Bingham to develop the “True Hope” collection. Under the banner, MGA released three bald Bratz dolls, with $1 of every doll sold going to support cancer research at the City of Hope organization.



Wigs are not included with the dolls, nor are they sold as separate accessories.

“We want to show that you don’t have to have hair to be beautiful,” Hale said.

The "True Hope" Bratz dolls debuted at Toys 'R' Us in June of 2012. While MGA have been careful to downplay their rivalry with Mattel when promoting their "True Hope" dolls, some comparisons are unavoidable.

“This isn’t a situation where Bratz beats Barbie. We would love to see all doll makers offer a bald version," Hale said.

Hmm... maybe Hasbro should also produce a line of bald dolls to promote cancer awareness. I'm sure My Little Pony is mature enough to handle a sensitive subject like cancer.





On second thought, maybe not.

It's becoming more apparent that MGA is a tactical genius when it comes to dolls.

MGA beat Mattel in court and are back to prove themselves again. Will Bratz be able to reclaim the popularity they had in 2005, or will Monster High keep Bratz out of the limelight? Mattel may soon have its market share undercut by MGA's own line of creepy dolls called Bratzillaz!



Is it a shameless ripoff of Monster High? Yes. This is MGA's payback for Mattel copying Bratz' style with the My Scene dolls. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

One thing that's pretty cool about Bratzillaz is their beachwear dolls. Their bodies glow in the dark, which is awesome.



It's a good thing MGA only specializes in human dolls. Could you imagine the heated rivalry Hasbro would have on its hands if there were a Bratz line of pony toys?





Oh my...



Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'll always love your bajingo best of all.