NYTF 2016: Mattel

We’re back from the big apple! As you know, February 13-16 was one of the biggest toy trade shows in the world– New York Toy Fair. Even though it was my second year attending, I still felt overwhelmed. This year, I decided to invite Barbee0913, aka my mom, to attend with me. Trying to cover the show for one blog is a lot of work, let alone two! Over the next week or so, I’ll be putting out articles on what we saw at the show. This report features Mattel!

I’d like to say there were tons of exciting things on display, but alas, I can’t. There was a lot in the room, but not a lot when it came to what I traditionally look for– dolls! I’ll start off with the bad news.  Ever After High wasn’t represented at all. They had some standees and a handful of Dragon Games dolls on display, but nothing new. I don’t even know if they had a rep manning the booth! It makes me worry about the future of Ever After High, to be honest!

Barbie was represented well enough. They, of course, had the new Fashionista‘s on display. In person, I’m still not completely impressed. I love the variety the new bodies will introduce to the Barbie franchise, but they still aren’t articulated. If I were in charge, getting all Barbie’s to be more like the Made To Move line would be my first priority.

Spin Art Barbie, coming in two skin tones, is kind of fun! Assuming Mattel has some refill packs or you’re crafty and can make your own outfits to use in this once you run out, this could be a fun ‘gimmicky’ Barbie for the crafty types.

This Starlight Adventure Barbie Hoverboard ties in with a movie we’ll be seeing later this year. I quite like this cool toy! If the demonstration model works anything like the one we’ll see on store shelves, kids will probably love it. It flew really well in the showroom!

The Presidential 2-pack will probably be a favorite of many, as well. The president wears red, white and blue and the vice president wears yellow. What I really like about this set is that as you will see in the pictures, Mattel is playing with diversity and pairing dolls of different colors together. Also, each has a different hair style.

The Flipping Fun Gymnast set is adorable, however gimmicky it may be. When you place Kelly (or Barbie’s student, I guess), on the balance beam and pull a lever, the talented student will flip and stick a solid landing. It’s really neat to see in person. The student character looks a little plastic, but for the effect, I can totally understand the reasoning.

Hello Dreamhouse is the big item Mattel seems to be pushing this year. It’s an interactive talking Dreamhouse that listens to you as you speak and responds back. For example, you can say “Hello, Dreamhouse. Can you turn the bedroom light on?” and it should turn on the bedroom light. Each room has a floor switch that will allow you to turn the lights on in any room that way, as well. If you say, “It’s time for school”, the house will react with a voice responding to you and turn on the ‘shower’. It’s a neat concept and kids will probably love it. Let’s hope it’s easier to put together than the past dreamhouses!

The Thingmaker dates back all the way to 1964. I remember it as a Creepy Crawler maker. 2016’s Thingmaker has lost the goop and molds and gained filament and an extruder. Yep. It’s a 3D printer. Priced at $300.00, Mattel could have a winner on their hands with this. The app this works with is already available. It allows you to create pre-programmed ‘things’, choose the perfect colors and send them to the printer.

As far as Monster High is concerned, there were some things on display. Dana Treasura Jones, daughter of Davy Jones, made her showroom debut, as well as Ari Hauntington. I love the color scheme they chose for Dana. It fits her theme perfectly. Ari, however, looks a bit like a Spectra clone.

This is Ari. The picture directly below is an interactive Ari that will sing at different ranges as you move your hand higher and lower in front of her. (You can see this in the video.)

This Ari is a basic Ari. She was on display with the Draculaura and Frankie that became famous in the leaked sizzle reel about the relaunch.

The Welcome to Monster High set, featuring Draculaura, is a cute set, but there’s not much to it.

The set comes with the Draculaura on the left, not the one decked out on the right, ready to dance.

A new theme for this year is “monster-cute”. These blind bag miniatures totally fit that bill. The first wave will be our favorite ghouls. Following that, they’ll have release others with different themes and patterns.

There were many other brands on display in the Mattel Showroom. You can see pictures in my Flickr album. Below are the video presentations from the booth.

One more Mattel video will be added to my channel, featuring the new American Girl building kits. I’ll add it here soon! (Keep an eye on my channel for it!)

Also on display were the new DC dolls, which I think I’ll save for their own post. Pictures can be found in the flickr album mentioned above.

Overall, it will be interesting to see what happens with Mattel this year. What I expected to see a lot of (Ever After High and Monster High), I didn’t. Do you see anything you like? Share your thoughts below!