Creatable World by Mattel

Well Mattel dropped this on the world suddenly and out of nowhere huh?

All "SURPRISE!"

I like to imagine jazz hands.

In case you haven't seen the bajillion bloody news articles already talking about this, or the several paid reviews mattel flooded Youtube with, Creatable World is a new Mattel line of 10-11 inch scale dolls designed for everyone.
Boys, girls, whatever, dolls are for "KIDS" they say (nah bro, dolls are for everyone!)

Anyway, they're being marketed as gender neutral dolls who can be whatever you want them to be, which is nice.

They sold out on Amazon pretty fast so I had to trek out to Argos to pick up my first one. I wanted two but I only had enough for one so yeah.

For some reason Mattel are shipping these in individual shippers, one doll per box which feels a little wasteful but I suppose it allows them to very precisely distribute exactly which ones are most popular to the right areas or something.

Anyway, let's get down to this!

There was a strict embargo on these, don't put on shelves till Sep 24th.

I've heard of this before but never actually SEEN a box with this on it.

What's quite impressive is that they managed a GLOBAL release on the 24th. Australia got em, the US got em, the UK got em, and usually that simply doesn't happen.
So it shows that simultanious releases ARE indeed perfectly bloody possible, companies just don't wanna.

Inside the shipper is a big cardboard box. I find it really interesting that these have NO plastic window to show the contents, it's rather old fashioned, like 60s and 70s doll boxes.

Also this box is MASSIVE.

The back of the box doesn't tell you much. There's the logo (which is kinda boring imo) and "deluxe character kit" and then some legal bamph.

Pretty doll.

for some reason the contents isn't in english so uh... okay?
Is that spanish?

The box opens at the side and the whole inner slides out.

I chose the darkest skinned doll because it had the best outfit pieces and also because this one was the one that kept selling out the quickest.

Inside the box is a card sheet covering the actual contents and featuring that same image of the doll in various outfits and poses.

The dolls don't have names, they just have a number code. DC-725 is this one.

The other side of the card shows the other 5 dolls available. For some reason 826 isn't available till December, which is wierd as the rest all got released together.

I wonder what delayed that one specifically.

i admit, I kinda like all of them. They all appear to use the same head mold, just with different hair and skin tones. But i do appreciate that every single one has quite different hair. 725 and 474 (the blonde) have a half shaved look while 826 and 220 have curls and 619 and 073 have straight hair.

There IS a point in the marketing that's annoying me though. A lot of the news reports make a lot of talk about how the wig can change the doll from "boy to girl" because as we all know, gender is all in your hair. *nodnod* Eugh.

Finally the inside of the box.

At which point I discovered NOTHING is actually attached to the backing card, it's all loose. I held it up to photograph and several things fell out. Whoops?

So floor photos now.

The doll comes wearing a basic set of underwear but technically the top counts as a plain shirt too so that's 3 t-shirts and a jacket.

A skirt, a pair of pants and two shorts

3 pairs of shoes. A silver pair of cowboy boots, some checkered vans and some red high tops.

A cowboy hat made of soft plastic, a pair of sunglasses and an incredibly cool galaxy print tote bag.

Also a wig, which is a strange choice for a doll with rooted hair.

I can't help but wonder if a clip in hair piece or a soft wig cap would have made this work a bit better

Becuase while it's a pretty nicely made wig it doesn't FIT over the high fade of the doll and that plastic cap is SO visible.

I do like the microbraids though, they look cool. So it's a shame the wig just doesn't WORK.

 So on to the doll.

They come as I said, wearing a simple vest and short outfit which looks like underwear or sleep wear.
It's a nice touch.

I admit, this kid was WAY darker skinned than I had expected. I sort of anticipated Mattel's usual brown tone they use for like.. most of their AA dolls and have used for decades but this kid is the more recent deep brown that's kinda hard to photograph but SO pretty.

Darker than Bratz Sasha and a bit taller too.

The marketing all says these dolls are 11inches tall though I admit I didn't measure.

Their faces remind me of EAH boys like.. A LOT.

Their eyes are a bit grainy, sort of pixilated. Apparently Mattel is using a new method to print their dolls faces, the BTS dolls have the same sort of grainyness. It only really is noticable right up close.

This kid, who i'm gonna refer to as "7" for simplicity (as in 725 lol) has a dark pink lip that's fairly natural looking in real life, brown eyes and bushy eyebrows which I dig.

They have semi rooted hair with a sort of high fade going on.

The sides are, typical of Mattel these days, painted instead of flocked but for a doll who's supposed to have a wig that goes on and comes off this does make a degree of sense. The wig would destroy any flock over time.

The back of the head has these little patterns "shaved" in.

Cute.

It's just a bit of a shame that the seams are so visible on the painted head.

Interestingly the back of the head and indeed body say 2018, so Mattel have been working on these a while huh?

The body is VERY childlike and quite stylised. There's no pectoral muscles at all or a collar bone or anything.
But there defined stomach muscle so... go figure?

The doll has quite a lot of joints. Neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ANKLE??

This is so the doll can wear an assortment of different shoe heights I assume but it does present an issue when trying to stand the doll barefoot. The ankles aren't that strong and at least in my doll, one of them likes to flop and cause the doll to fall over

It also creates a weak spot when removing shoes which makes me nervous.

As I showed above, 7 came with a LOT of fashion pieces.

It means there's a lot of mix and match fun to be had. And yes, i did spend several hours playing with doll clothes. What of it?

The pieces are all really nicely made. The letterman jacket has plether feeling sleeves and little stud decorative buttons and elasticated cuffs. The skirt has multi layers of tuel and there's even actual POCKETS in the trousers.

Say whaaat?

Mattel actually put some real effort in here, it's not just printed on detail nonsense.

The hat is a bit big but I think that's because it was designed to go over a wig.

The satin-like top has roses printed on it. It's not really my taste but it's a nice little piece.

I love the bag, it's a fully functional tiny tote bag, though the strap needs to be straightened up. It slips off the doll's shoulder a lot.

POCKETS people, actual POCKETS and real stitched decoration rather than just printed on!

The shoes are really easy to get on and off as well which is nice and they have quite a bit of detail in their sculpting.

I dug out some dolls, though I couldn't find my more modern skipper.

The last "customisation is the gimmick" line Mattel really did was What's her face (the faceless doll in this picture) and even she had boobs lol.

7 is a similar height to my Skipper here, though definitely far less shapely.

They're also a similar height to petite Barbie which is interesting.

I also grabbed some "thematically similar" dolls. Lottie is marketed as a doll for everyone as well, and has a similar shapeless child-like body though is substantially smaller and of course, very limited in her articulation.

Licca Chan wears similar sized clothing despite being shorter and skinnier. Which is also interesting.

Articulation wise 7 is about on par with Monster high or any of Mattel's hinge joint dolls. It's not GREAT articulation but it's fine. It allows for a few fun poses though I found putting hands on hips and stuff a little awkward.

but what else FITS!?
 

This is where things get interesting.

See, Liv can fit Creatable shoes really quite well and the clothing mostly fits. Liv is a lot taller so trousers won't work and pants are too narrow but the skirts fit. Shirts fit fine.

In contrast, 7 is SWAMPED by Sophie's outfit. The top is a bit gapey in the bust obviously and the shorts are far too big.

The creatables wig WILL fit onto sophie with a bit of shoving but it's too shallow for her big ol' head.

I would estimate that while liv fit a 5-6 sized wig, the creatables wig is more likely a 4-5.

What's Her Face confirms this. The wig fits her as well as her original wig did, in fact they're constructed in a very similar manner, just this one doesn't have velcro and has a somewhat thicker band around the edge.

But this does suggest the wig MIGHT fit Create a Monster or a bald Sindy doll as i've managed to use WHF wigs on them both before.

All my CAMs are sort of at the back of a crowded shelf though so I couldn't summon the energy to dig one out and I don't have any bald sindy dolls around. Drat.

poor Cameron, I can't stop laughing at this photo.

So Bratz Boyz are a lot shorter than Creatables but their upper body is a very similar size. As a result, Bratz Boyz tops fit Creatables though can be a bit bulky (they're bulky on the boyz too but as bratz are generally short and chunky it kinda works on them, it just looks odd on the slender more elongated body of the Creatable.).

The trousers fit too but they're very tight, very low cut and way too short in the leg.

Cameron fit 7's outfit really well though, he could ever wear the damn hat!

7 decided to pose wearing Cameron's very nice shirt. The skirt is a bit poofy to wear under it.

This Barbie top that I was going to get rid of fit okay. A bit loose around the shoulders but it's okay and looks super cute with the blue skirt and cowboy boots.

Bratzilla stuff kiiiinda fit but the torso is way too short. So while I could get skirts on (they're tight) and jackets had the right length sleeves, the body part is far far too short for this to really work.

Still on MGA dolls, I thought maybe 4eva best friends stuff might work as they're similar short child dolls but nope. 4eva best friends are kinda chubby and as a result their clothing is a bit too big in every dimension. Shirts might work as baggy sort of tees but the bottoms are too wide.

What's her face stuff has the same problem, they're more Barbie sized in width so too wide for 7.

So moving over to Mattel. Monster High boys stuff is a kinda "ymmv" situation.

These shorts work because they're elasticated at the waist. The shirt works fine.

Trousers however are WAY too long, it's ridiculous. But I did find that Boy tops actually fit okay. Yeah they're a little long in the torso but for most styles that's not a real major issue.

In the case of Valentine's suit, his flouncy sleeves completely cover 7's hands but they were overlong on the doll they were designed for too.
What surprised me was that the jacket actually fit as well as it did.

The shorts are Makies and the same size as Bratz Boy shorts. 

The shoes are Disney Descendant boy shoes and are too big but they work.

This is a 90s Skipper dress and top and it fits okay. It's a fairly free sized garment to be honest, it's from a set that was a bit mix and match across the body types.

interestingly though, the shoes are from the Skipper pictured earlier. Now, they fit perfectly BUT in the case of that Skipper, her shoes were designed to go over the top of socks so I think are molded slightly bigger than standard Skipper shoes.

I don't happen to have any Skipper shoes to test this sadly. I would expect they're probably too narrow. Skipper has really narrow feet.

Of course there's no way Barbie bottoms will fit, they're far too wide in the waist but this My Scene (I think it's My Scene) shirt always felt too small for the Barbie body and fits the smaller doll quite well.

the skirt is Sparkle Girls, we'll get to that.

HSM tops, which are also Skipper sized seem to fit nicely.

Though i'm not sure the style is always so flattering to a flat chested doll.

The skirt here is Moxie Girlz. Much like the other MGA lines, Moxie stuff is often too short in the groin and too wide in the hips and torso. This skirt is actually a little tight which is interesting, but it also lies VERY low on the hips which I don't think looks quite right.

The romper here is actually Bratz (taller bratz) and fits really well. Arguably I think it looks better on this doll than the doll it came on.

The jumper is Barbie and is too long in the sleeves and too wide in the body.

Unexpectedly DC Superhero Girls Wonder Woman's bodysuit fits!

What!??

It looks like a gymnast leotard.

The trousers are a bit baggy and slightly too long but not nearly as swamping as I expected.

how wierd.

As for Hasbro, this Descendants dress fit really quite nicely.

This one however, despite actually being an okay length at the front

Doesn't actually fasten at the back and ends up with a sort of train at the back from the longer hem.

Star Darlings dress actually fit! Though the bodice IS made from a sort of stretchy fabric which might make all the difference.

The shoes are just a little too small.

I believe this was made for Blythe. It's very wide and bulky.

This Disney fairy outfit is gapey at the chest but otherwise actually fits okay.

Sparkle Girls stuff fits pretty dang well. This particular dress I feel is too short.

But this outfit works really well.

And this is cute too.

This means Pixy Punk stuff will fit too as they use the exact same bodies.

Now because the shoes fit Liv, I figured I should see if Sindy shoes fit Creatables and vice versa as I tend to use Liv shoes a lot for my Sindys.

This sandal doesn't quite work but then it looks a bit odd on the actual Sindy doll too.
the big problem is it's designed for a high heel fot, not a jointed ankled flat foot.

I'm not sure vintage Sindy shoes SUIT Creatables, but they do appear to fit.

And yes, Vintage Sindy can wear their shoes too.

Horah!

I didn't get a picture but Liv shoes seem to fit too (least the flats do)
I also managed to get Star Doll shoes on but they're very high heeled and quite a lot wider in the calf so can look a bit off.
YMMV on those.

Likewise MH shoes will fit on but they're faaaar too high heeled so that messes with the doll's ability to stand up and come on, who wants a child in stiletto heels anyway?

Overall i'm actually pretty impressed with this line.

The message is a good one (hey kids, anyone can enjoy dolls and gendered clothing is dumb, be yourself and wear what you like!)
the doll is decent quality and the clothing is really nice.

It's a relief to see Mattel return to form after so many years of them cheaping out with sewn together outfits and printed on details.
It's an absolute joy to have mix and match pieces that have actual 3d detail and denim garments made from DENIM rather than crappy printed cotton!
I mean guys... guys seriously... this is a big deal. Mattel has shown here that they CAN create good quality clothing.

Do I have gripes? Sure I do. The wig doesn't bloody work and looks awful. The painted hair shows off every seam and flaw in the molding and makes the doll feel unfinished. The hat is too big for the doll when they aren't wearing their wig and a fair few of the outfit pieces don't go together in the slightest (this is especially obvious in the other sets, 7 actually has the most cohesive collection of garments)

However, I appreciate the modern hairdo, the modern non pink and gimmicky clothing with actual details (I won't stop gushing over that okay?) and the doll itself is SUPER CUTE.

the price point is pretty painful at £35 a pop, but then you have to consider what you're getting for that. 3 full outfits including shoes and a fully jointed doll. Compared to the LOL OMG which are a similar price, it doesn't feel that obscene.
However, for someone like me who has like a billion bloody clothing items from various doll lines from the past 50 odd years, extra outfit pieces aren't always huge value for money.
Especially not if they're outfit pieces you don't like much and won't use.
I think, personally, i'd prefer to be able to buy the doll and maybe one outfit and then buy outfits separately.

the wording of this being "deluxe sets" though does imply some budget sets might happen and that'd be nice. I hope those are articulated though.

I would LOVE mattel to start releasing fashion packs of this quality. I've MISSED this quality so badly.

Will I get more? You damn well better believe i'll get more.

The fact my Sindy dolls can steal the spare shoes is just an added bonus hahaha. I will never have enough bloody Sindy shoes.

So yeah. Well played Mattel. You suckered me in again. Bastards!