TBT: My Scene
It’s time for another #ThrowbackThursday! Hands up if you remember this awesome Barbie doll line!
When this line of dolls was first announced, I saw the pictures and was like, “OMG what has Mattel done to the best doll on the planet?” But then I found the website and the webisodes, started watching them, and the series grew on me. In fact, it became one of my all-time favorite doll lines.
The series launched in 2002 with three BFF’s living in New York City - Barbie, Chelsea, and Madison. As always, each one had a distinct personality. Barbie was very tech savvy, Chelsea was an expert and making her own fashions, and Madison was the super gutsy one never afraid to speak her mind.
Left to right: Chelsea, Madison, Barbie. As you can see, the dolls have enlarged heads, and they also had enlarged feet/shoes, probably to keep them in proportion. However, removing the shoes would reveal a normal Barbie foot underneath. Not long after the initial release, we also got some fashion packs to dress the dolls in.
The second series introduced a new friend, the Asian Nolee who was big on yoga and skateboarding. The second launch also gave us the first My Scene boys, Bryant (who became Nolee’s significant other) and Hudson. Unlike the girls, they had plastic bendable arms and legs, whereas the girls had stationary arms and rubber legs that bent at the knees.
During this time, a PC game was also introduced. You got to play as each of the three main girls, preparing for a big weekend event. You had to earn money by mixing music tracks, designing clothes, and decorating store windows. You also got to buy the perfect outfit and accessories for the big event.
A little later, we met River (who became Barbie’s boyfriend), Sutton (the British guy with an irresistible accent), and Ellis (a skater dude who basically replaced Bryant in later series and developed a crush on Chelsea’s cousin, Delancey, who joined the group after moving to NYC from California).
I literally can’t begin to name every single line of dolls this series brought us. The series lasted from 2002 until 2010, and according to a site I found listing all of them, there are more than 87 total lines! We had Hanging Out (that’s where the story really started picking up - the guys started a band and so much of the series was focused around that), Night on the Town, Chillin’ Out, Shopping Spree, Mall Maniacs, etc. There are literally too many to list. Click here to see the complete list.
As is customary with major Barbie lines, playsets were also introduced. It started with a little cafe and salon, and then we got the official Daily Dish hangout, the Jammin’ in Jamaica tiki bar, etc.
We also got three movies, though two of them last less than an hour. In My Scene Goes Hollywood, we get the very first (and to my knowledge, only) doll ever made of Lindsay Lohan:
Yep, a movie was made, and Lindsay Lohan was literally in it. Why Mattel chose to use her of all people, I can’t imagine. Even at that time, she wasn’t a good role model for girls. She was already on her downward spiral.
Around 2004 was when I began to outgrow and lose interest in the series. I got the Getting Ready set (which introduced new character Kenzie), and at that point, the face molds went Bratz-like to more Barbie-like with open mouth smiles.
Speaking of Bratz, remember the comment I made about how, when I first saw this series, I was like, “What is Mattel thinking?” Apparently I wasn’t alone in that, because Matel was sued by MGA Entertainment, the company that makes Bratz, because apparently the guy who designed the Bratz dolls was working for Mattel at that time, and when the Bratz were released, the guy’s involvement was obscured. Well, I do see some similarities:
Yep, the doll were only one year apart, because the same guy was involved with both. Personally, I prefer the My Scene line. First off, Mattel’s dolls are better quality. I have a Bratz doll, and she’s so cheaply made. You can’t even more her arms, really. And their feet. OMG their feet. With My Scene dolls, if you take off their shoes, you still have a regular Barbie foot underneath (yes, those big feet in those sandals up there are sculpted; it’s like one big shoe). With Bratz, if you take the shoe off, you lose the entire foot. I never could get into Bratz.
Anyway, as I was saying, 2004 was around the time I began to lose interest. So several new series were launched after I was past the point of buying them. At one point, for some reason I don’t know, Barbie was replaced with an exact lookalike named Kennedy.
Why? I have no idea. They literally looked the same, and that was even in the story. That was the whole point of introducing Kennedy - they were all at a club one night and the girls mixed up Barbie and Kennedy because they looked so much alike.
Kennedy was first introduced in perhaps one of the weirdest Barbie lines to date. A lot of people found it downright creepy. It was called Fab Faces, and each doll had five buttons on her back. Pushing one of these buttons would cause her face to form in a certain way depending on which button was pushed.
Here’s a better picture:
I don’t know what expression that is, but it looks like she ate something that didn’t agree with her.
So anyway, toward the end of the series, the boys disappeared, as did Nolee. Delancey suddenly got black/dark brown hair, and we were introduced to Nia, the Latina from Miami. At this point, the webisodes took on a style that was so Bratz-like it’s a wonder another lawsuit didn’t surface.
Eventually the series ended, as all series are wont to do. The My Scene line was extremely popular, and I think it’s one of the longest-running Barbie lines to date (lasted nine years). We have the Fashionistas and Monster High lines now, but they aren’t that old (yet). ;)
Here are a few more shots in honor of strolling down memory lane:
(Same picture as above, left to right: Barbie, Hudson, Chelsea, River, Ellis, Delancey, Nolee, Madison, Sutton, and Kenzie)
(Front to back, left to right: Hudson, River, Sutton, Chelsea, Barbie, and Madison)
Those pictures show the graphic style of the webisodes and boxes. Here’s what they looked like in the Hollywood movie with Lindsay Lohan:
Hmm...not sure which one is better.
And last but not least is the changed style of the girls when the series ended. The five girls are (top right, left to right): Nia, Delancey, Chelsea, Kennedy, and Madison.
So there you have it! One of the most popular Barbie lines, one of the longest-lasting lines, and one of my all-time favorites. And yes, I do still have my complete collection of them (dolls, clothes, playsets, etc.). I don’t own every single doll, but the ones I did have, I still do have, in mint condition, dressed, the works. :D
Hope you enjoyed this blast from the past. Thanks for sharing it with me. Stay tuned for another Throwback Thursday!
