This is a really silly thing to post about but I was doing a second dive into Barbies that came with little animals, and I became charmed by the "It Takes Two" camping set. These are 2022 releases and at the time of me writing this post and putting it in my queue are still available in stores.
The conceit is that it is dolls in the Barbie line going camping or hiking with their animal pals. To me what is interesting about this is both the animal pals and also the snapshot of what is happening in the Barbie line these days - what characters, what their design looks like at present, what animals they hang with.
Skipper is depicted with a campfire and a bunny friend who is roasting corn on the cob. She is in her mid to late teens now and has dark hair with a purple streak to look cool and hip.
Chelsea is paired with a pet owl! She has a blanket and pillow along with binoculars, presumably for bird watching. (And to call back to my Chelsea/Kelly age post: she is definitely no longer the toddler she was at debut. Chelsea has got to be 7 years old here.)
But these children aren't traipsing around the woods alone - there is some measure of adult supervision.
Brooklyn (left) and Daisy (right) are both packaged with more traditional animal companions (dogs) but Daisy comes with a kayak, which I personally think is extremely cool.
