The Many Failed ACTION DOLL Lines! 

I always find the idea of the action doll perplexing because I basically treated my Barbies like action dolls. Not that I was being rough with and throwing them. But my dolls would legit be dressed all the way up like regal MODELS and then they'd go on spy missions and fight the bad guys and minions in their heels LOL.

I'll never forget the day Mattel was introducing Cave Club and the representative said "now we're making dinosaurs for girls " 🙌🤣🤣🤣🤦‍♀️

How you make a Padme Doll that doesn't have fully removable clothes or come with a 2nd outfit and then a billion fashion packs based off of the thousands of garments she's worn in the prequels is beyond me. Also, creating a Sabine doll and not letting a child dip her hair in water and make it change colors or make it so you can draw on her armor and pants with a washable marker is so silly. The character is super creative and loves art.... THE IDEAS ARE ALREADY THERE!! This line was sooo lazy, my god.

I’m still upset over how the WWE line was handled! It clearly wasn’t designed by a wrestling fan. In a video about the line, the designer went to one WrestleMania show and looked at pictures. ALL dolls should have been in ring attire, it’s important to the character, like a superhero’s costume. I didn’t recognize a single outfit on the basic dolls, they don’t fight in casual clothes. They also needed a 1:6 scale ring ASAP and accessories like title belts and fashion packs with alternate ring attire. (Charlotte’s robes are amazing!) They left out everything young fans love about wrestling and just made buff fashion dolls. The line could have been amazing with a little effort and a team that knew it’s source material & audience better.

In Spain we had a doll in the 70's called Core who actually had an action line. They sold her as an alpinist, rescuer, safari... And she was a success!

I had the She-ra dolls as a child. Loved them so much 🥰

What I'm getting from this is that Action Figure Dolls are most popular when they're based off of recognisable, already beloved characters. Also that superhero dolls sell better than athlete dolls, which makes sense when you think about it. Superheroes have more potential for imagination.

tysm for including the Black version of dolls! I've always heard of Dusty, but never knew that Skye existed. Skye's really cute in comparison to Dusty. I can't believe the even used a little Black girl in the commercial. Great video!

I'm sure being British you had a giggle about an American hairdo called the "shag". It was a very choppy haircut usually longer in the back. Love your channel!

They had the Padme dolls from Episode 1 which kind of fell in the middle because they were marketed towards girls as fashion dolls, but they were placed next to the Star Wars action figures.

The only action dolls I like are DC Superhero Girls and Winx Club. I used to own a Bloom doll during the time they got Belivix with a set of wings you could put on and take off. I love Charlie's Angel's early 2000s version with Drew Barrymore in it.

Dusty has a 1970's "healthy" tan from being outdoors playing sport doesn't she?

I loved Wonder Woman! Back in the day they pushed her to be a action and fashion doll. Her television show really helped her popularity.

These modern action-fashion doll hybrids are mostly misses for me, probably because the fashion aspect suffers because the makers themselves don't know quite how to market these dolls. Those half plastic half clothing dolls also make no sense to me. They never seem to commit to any idea fully. This was a very interesting video!!

Definitely check out "Tenko and the Guardians of Magic", she had a pretty cute action doll toyline based off of the shortlived animated series of the same name and was actually based on the real-life magician Princess Tenko. The line is so flipping cute and I want them as a grown adult NOW. It definitely gives the same vibes as the Princess Gwenevere line but even PRETTIER, I think you'll like what you see.

I was happy to see this video drop today because I just thrifted a Star Light Adventure Sal-Lee Asha doll for 99 cents. I wasn’t collecting very much when they released but I remembered them being a really odd Barbie line.

Yes, Miraculous Ladybug is French. I find it fun to watch it in the original French. It gives my College French a workout, but most of it is simple dialogue and easy to follow.

I LOVED my Wonderwoman Barbie growing up, I remember my sister had a Supergirl one as well. I do actually remember playing action games with them which was unusual for me.

Power Rangers tried to do this in the 90s with Kimberly, Trini, and Aisha!

Sailor Moon could work so well with this concept, a fusion of the awesome Figure Arts and the Bandai Dolls is my dream doll

You forgot the Bionic Woman doll from the 70s, she was so cool

I enjoy the DC Supergirls, I still have Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy! And I love the show Miraculous so much, I have few of the dolls too!!!!

I have Bumble Bee! To me She was the flagship doll!

I'm surprised cartoons like Kim Possible & My Life as a Teenage Robot didn't get their own dolls.

I loved Sun Spell and Moon Mystic, the Barbie-sized Guardian Goddesses 😍

Here's a tidbit. Miraculous ladybug was originally going to be an anime but they gave it up and made it 3d style cause the spots where to hard to animate. Lol

I remember the WWE Superstars dolls and DCSHG very clearly. I don't own any WWE dolls, but I have seen them be used as body doners for Barbie doll customs. As for DCSHG, I have a few of the earlier ones from before the reboot with full fabric clothes, and Poison Ivy's, Katana's, and Frost's signature dolls are probably my favorites from the line. The reboot and Mattel adding more molded on clothes really killed DCSHG for me, though, because I hate molded on clothes on dolls. For the Miraculous Ladybug dolls, I do own a Ladybug doll, and I kind of want to get a Queen Bee doll from that line.

I definitely remember the Sailor Moon and Totally Spies dolls!

This video was so good! I cracked up at the sports related injury comment 😂😂

Barbie has made pretty good dolls based on comic characters like the DC line from 2008, but they had budget back then

My aunt when she was little preferred to play with G.I JOE action figures over Barbies. And because I grew up as the middle child between two brothers, the older of whom was obsessed with "Star Wars," I would play Galactic Heroes with my brothers. It was fun to play with the "Star Wars" guys and make them battle against each other. I would "be" the girl characters, like Padme, Ahsoka, Princess Leia, Luminara, etc. Of course we'd make the characters talk to each other (like I did with dolls). And I liked playing with Legos before they really had sets that were targeted to girls.

She-ra was a cartoon from The Masters of The Universe Series here in the U.S., which started with He-Man and then expanded to She-Ra Princess of Power in 1984. She-Ra was He-Man’s twin sister, so she was not just an attempt to copy He-man by a Company producing female action dolls. She-Ra was a big deal for young 80’s girls in the U.S. I was She-Ra for Halloween three years in a row as a kid. I had this beautiful doll, her big pink sword (plastic and quite heavy), and many other She-Ra toys. Still one of my favorite 80’s characters from childhood! So happy you included her in the video. ❤

I have all of the original She-Ra dolls aside from Netossa and Spinerella because they are super rare and expensive. I used to have the castle and all the pieces too as well as the pink lion (Clawdeen) and one of the horses, and one of the other playsets. I love them so much! They also had additional fashions that you could buy separately. When I was little I had at least one of the Princes Guinevere dolls, Flying Hero Kira, and two Sailor Moon dolls (not featured in this video).

As a little girl I was obsessed with Lara Croft, and I was always trying to dress up my dolls to look like her. I also just wanted to give the non-Lara-stand-in dolls kickass action outfits, and while I did like the pink glam clothes as well, I was forever wishing I had more than a single pair of flat boots or shoes that weren't bright or pastel coloured, same for the other clothing articles too, actually. On the flipside, I never wanted to play with "action figures", even if there was a perfect looking one out there, simply because if they looked different from the barbies in size, proportions, painted on clothes/hair ect., I they just didn't feel right in my already established cast of barbie dolls. Also, getting to do fashion doll stuff with them, i.e. dressing them and doing their hair, was still important to me regardless of how actiony they were, so most action figures were boring to me. It's funny how that element being aimed at girls might've stopped them from giving the action man Natalie brushable hair. I wonder how well she'd done if she'd had hair like in the cartoon, because I would've absolutely DIED to have her! Even if I'd never heard of her before just now!

Joey, you are the only person i have heard reference "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee". i LOVE that song

"world's first action fashion doll" reminds me of when my older sibling was quietly cackling at my hs graduation cuz my year's val put in her speech that she was our school's first ever black female val. My sib texted her friend, their year's val from *just a few years prior*, a beautiful black woman, like "Hey when were you gonna tell me you weren't black and/or a woman?" It's a great sentiment but I think sometimes folks just want to say they're the first for the instant recognition of that feat, even if that means ignoring/not looking too deep into what's fact.

13:53 what’s the reason that you think Miraculous Ladybug dolls are failures? I don’t think they are a failed line at all considering how popular they are to this day, there’re plenty of Miraculous dolls and toys in stores right now

I remember when barbie spy squad came out and i was OBSESSED. My grandma even took me to target and i bought spy squad teresa

I loved the Mattel dc Barbies. Wish I had gotten more of them.

When I played with my dolls, Ken always had Ken as a partner and my barbies ALWAYS had GI Joes/Action Men as boyfriends 😂

In the 1970's there were the Olympic Skier Barbie & Free Moving Barbie, Cara & P.J. that had tennis rackets & golf clubs. In the box they wore a sporty outfit, but also had a long skirt.

Hello from Germany,, I think the Sailor Moon anime/comic series dolls also belong in the action doll category. The series was here in Germany in the late 90s/early 2000s. My daughter loved the series and her Sailor Moon dolls. These were her heroines! She still has the dolls today.

I had some of the Get Real dolls, I loved the clothing and accessories as they weren't the crappy quality of most Barbie clothing and accessories. The Girl Force and Charlie Angels were junk and the face sculpts were horrible. The GI Joe nurse is not pretty and expensive af. Natalie on the other hand is awesome and I'm glad I have one of her. The DC Superhero dolls I disliked as molded on/painted on clothing is a big NO for me. Dinah Mite was a female version Action Jackson. Blue Box Toys brought over the Cy Grils/Cool Girls line from Japan. Not sure of they ever made it into the UK but we had them in the US.

Just a comment, and don´t take it the wrong way. But the fact that in boy toy lines there´s just a couple of female characters it is the same as with girl´s doll lines where there are much more women dolls that men. With Barbie, for instance, most people don´t care for the Ken (s). By the way, back in the 80´s with the He-Man and She-Ra cartoon and toys there was quite the crossover. For instance, the reason why She-Ra was created was because plenty of girls were buying the action figures. And when the She-Ra show happened not only were boys watching the show but they also played with those dolls. There are several reasons explaining why those shows didn´t last. For instance, in the case of He-Man was because Mattel kept making new figures/characters but the main ones (He-Man and Skelletor) sold out and they didn´t make more for boys that wathced the show later on. As for She-Ra the reason why it didn´t last was because it was decided to stop with the He-Man show. The Toys that Made Us in Netflix of He-Man explains it all in detail. PS I´m not a Star Wars fan (just a casual one) and I can say there are diverse characters. It´s an entire universe! Thing is that most of those characters are in animated TV series, (now live action), comic books, books, games...

Great video! I really enjoyed seeing all these old doll lines. Well done!👍

I had Barbies and GI JOE when I was a little girl , Charlie 's Angela , Planet of the apes , Emergency dolls

Prices Guinevere was really popular with kids who got a chance to see it, but the spring time was always really weird. It was like sailor moon and she-ra. Each girl had a power jewel and a unique mount - it was awesome.

The thing is that most action dolls have a gimmick that limits/ makes it impossible to play with them like you would play with a fashion doll. It’s like a look what it can do rather than a doll you can play with. Edit: the best way to go is articulation. Not a gimmick...

I own some of the original dc superhero girls and the 2019 she-ra dolls; kind of sad dc girls didnt make more dolls there were so many characters I was hoping they would make but they cheapened out and threw out wonder woman, bat girl and super girl way too much instead of different characters :/ As for she-ra, I had no idea they ended up being ridiculously rare. I kept going to target everyday til they were stocked and i bought all of them. Just like the dc girls i wish they made dolls of more characters (I long for an Entrapta doll...)

I have a Forces of Destiny Rey doll...I mostly got her because she came with BB-8. She was also $5

I used to have Forces of Destiny Padme and Rey, thinking I could get over the...everything...because I love the characters (I wanted Ahsoka as well!) but nope. Like Jenny said, Star Wars has so much potential for new characters that suit a doll line instead of whatever the hell this one was trying to be

It's a travesty that the made to move barbies are even in this video, the title says FAILED action doll lines. The made to move brand is very successful especially with adult collectors who love to pose and photograph their dolls. With multiple body types and lines spanning from playline, with the wheelchair fashionistas, to collector level with barbie looks dolls as well as the special edition barbie style dolls. So made to move barbies are FAR from a failed line. Just cause you don't like them doesn't mean they don't have their audience. And frankly MTM dolls sell like hot cakes so you might want to reconsider their inclusion here. Barbie has done a marvelous job of marketing MTM dolls with new ones coming out in 2023, a new football doll and a tennis doll with made to move articulation, plus new wheelchair made to move fashionistas. Far from a fail...

I really enjoyed this video. Many of these dolls I had never heard of so thank-you for talking about them.

Princess tenko line

Omg I totally sung “Miss Dynamite tee-hee” at the same time as you 😂 I just love your videos to watch when I’m having my relaxing days

I think that Barbie make posible this mix very will in some of the lines.

In the 80s (tho he may have originated in the 70s as he was inherited), I had a "Tennis Ken" doll, whose waist was where his bottom half and his top half were connected by a very strong rubber band inside, so he could swivel and play tennis. He was the only Ken with brushable hair, too. What this meant as a kid was we held him by his legs and shook him as hard as possible so his body flopped around in a crazy way. xD

I would love if you did a video about the Midge line of dolls. My favorite barbie of all time was a Midge and I can't find it anywhere!

Farrah Fawcett’s “shag” haircut epitomizes the look

Amazing video! I enjoyed it and I watch most of your videos keep up the great content !

I don't think I would have had any interest in most of these doll lines as a kid, at least not any of the sports themed ones. I am def not into sports, hated gym class, wouldn't want to be reminded of that hell while playing with my dolls. Loved my She-ra action figures though!! I had tons of them and the castle, they were awesome!

Wasn't expecting to see Jewel Riders on this list! I loved that show as a kid. Sadly I never owned any of the toys.

Dynah-mite reminded me of Uneeda Tricki Micki dolls, which I think was their answer to Topper Dawn. I had a bunch of hand-me-down dolls from my sister - Barbies, Dawns, etc. - and loved the Tricki Micki body best. Hated her face though lol. I was just fascinated by the articulation. Our friend's brother had Johnny West dolls, and I'd always beg to play with them: they were ugly as all get out with molded clothing, but they could BEND lol. I had the Dusty doll, but one I don't recall you mentioning: Dusty and her horse Nugget. That dang white lipstick was the absolute worst part of her face, but the shag - AKA I got my hair caught in the lawn mower - didn't really help. I loved her body shape: feminine, but more realistic, kinda like Francie's bigger sister lol. I always thought Barbie had a bizarre shape. I really want to get a Dusty and try a faceup and re-root on her - she deserves better - but something causes their joints to melt? Not sure exactly what but all the ones I've seen look like somebody blind tried to glue their legs back on. I hadn't paid attention to dolls in over twenty years and recently got interested again, and my first purchase was a curvy yoga Barbie. I didn't remember how freaky the old 60s, 70s, and 80s dolls' bodies were until I saw the curvy naked and thought, "she looks completely normal - like a normal person", so then I had to try and find one of each body type to compare. Made me kind of sad actually, because most of the newer shapes (2000 and up) were so nice and average-slim looking, and there have generations of girls with messed up body image because of the OG. Grateful kids can have a doll that doesn't look like a mini sex toy lol.

I laughed when you said "She's almost alive, that creepy"! 😆 I never knew they did a reproduction of the She-Ra dolls, I knew about the movie. My daughter had the original She-Ra when she was little. I enjoyed this video and the information on dolls i never heard of.

Loved this episode, the action dolls is what started getting me back into doll lines. Specifically DC super hero girls, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, Miraculous Ladybug(the playmates line), and Marvel Rising dolls. I did manage to get the Leia doll you mentioned several years back, but some dolls, I am looking for which I will probably not end up getting at the more recent Shera dolls you mentioned(especially Catra) and the Ahsoka Star Wars forces of destiny doll. Technically there were two Miraculous Ladybug dolls lines, the first was with Bandai and the second which is currently still running is with Playmates. Main differences are first line had better costume quality, and a bit more detailed designs. Second line has much better face sculpts and a wider release across the US, though still difficult to find dolls in stores consistently especially if they are not Ladybug or Chat noir. Awesome Video! XD

The Black doll from the first pair is beautiful!

The pick me dolls 😂😂

That start though 😂 I love it and I love your videos! ❤

There was action figure/Fashion Dolls an Anime tie-in that features Licca-Chan that is Doll Knights

Loved the intro!!! hahaha

Not gonna lie the Gi nurse is ugly in my opinion. Why does she looks so creepy? Maybe that was also a reason it sold poorly

I was a DC superhero girls girl when I was a kid I was OBSESSED with them I had almost every single one and would beg my parents for the new one whenever it would realise because as I kid I loved anything that was usually marketed towards boys being marketed towards girls if you know what I mean but it’s sad that no one really knows these dolls exist because whenever anyone would ask ‘what dolls did you grow up with’ no one would know

My mom had a Dusty doll in the 70’s and she was her favorite

I have both the forces of destiny Leia dolls... they never sold a Leia with the white dress/robe with the buns in her hair. . I have the one that came with R2 but she isn’t in that outfit, that must be an older doll/just the preliminary idea for the original Leia doll.

Great chat❤❤❤

When i was kid i ve had a Natalie doll from action Man Line and... She IS STUNNING !!! love her face sculpt and her kick with the button in the back of her leg she looks like Lara Croft i love her so mutch

I was waiting for you to mention Miraculous.

I love your channel (:

Princess Guinevere and the jewel riders was early to mid 90s.

I like the DC superhero girls. They are really good for customization. They are super articulated and if you shave down the chest a little they can pass as male dolls which is good since they are somewhat common and just as articulated as monster high but with more skin tones

There’s also the MCU dolls from Disney Store! I love them as fashion dolls, but they also have great articulation and some molded pieces unfortunately

Such a gooood video!

Hey Joey, I always love your videos. I just found a brand of doll that I think you would flip out over with the highest quality real fashions I have ever seen in my entire life AND interchangeable glass eyes and wigs. They are the aedolls or “asleep eidolon” dolls. Weird name but absolutely gorgeous dolls. You might want to review them sometime. Anyway, keep up the great work. Love from across the pond 😀

I love you Joey keep it up what u doing you a awesome man I love watching your RU-vid channels dolls

The get real dolls look awesome... look at all those accesories!

Love the video, I agree with you on Barbie being a fashion doll and that Mattel should have made the Super hero dolls with real clothes to change. I hate that Mattel makes the dolls with plastic bathing suits.

You forgot: Mary Quant's Havoc & Mattel's Guardian Goddesses, Action Girl which was string jointed iirc. Also: The Robotech Doll line & there's a few more I can't remember the name of. Good job still.

Mary Kate and Ashley had an action doll line for their show if that counts

I had all of those Jewel Rider dolls as a kid and I wish I kept at least one of them. They were really cute dolls!

Dinah mite is a drag name, and that wrist 13:05

I always gave Barbie Ken’s swords. I wish they made a pretty knight Barbie. Google the Fire Witch from Dark Souls 3 for what it could look like.

I've read somewhere once that the general consensus is that dolls have rooted hair and action figures don't. So if it has rooted hair, it's a doll...

Lookup Havoc doll from UK and Police Woman. Also the vintage line of Charlies Angels. The female versions of Action Team (Actionman) from Germany. Mego´s Worlds Greatest Superheroes. Super Queens from Ideal. Dyna Girl from Barter Toys. Honey West from Gilbert.

I had a jewel rider as a kid and also really liked the one tape I had of the show. In general I liked the concept of the like...fantasy show themed action dolls. Because while I do like pretty girls in clothes, I was a child who primarily liked action figures because they could hold swords and stuff. And action dolls gave me the ability to have a pretty, girly character who also held a sword. But I don't really like the painted on clothes? I don't mind them on my action figures or my model kits. But if it's a doll with brushable hair, then I'd prefer the dolls have like...proper fashion doll clothes? The Darling Charming dolls from Ever After High are mostly what I want out of the concept. She's got brushable hair, fashion doll clothes I can take on and off but also she has Armor and A Shield. All she's missing for me to be like OH YEAH THAT'S THE STUFF is a sword. I want an action doll to be highly articulated and have swords, yes, but I still want it to be a fashion doll. And like the EAH type dolls you can remove their hands, so like you could swap out one of the hands for a hand specifically designed to hold a sword. Things like figmas, model kits and higher end action figures provide those so I think these would work really well for an action fashion doll? As they'd permit for the more fashion doll styled hands and accessories, but also allow for the action figure type accessories.

I had a she-ra doll and her Pegasus, loved her

I remember having Golden Girl paper dolls.

I was a little gay boy who loved dolls and WWE! 🤣🤣🤣 i would have lived for those WWE dolls back in the day!!!! 😭😭😭

I love Star Wars and was so disappointed in the Forces of Destiny dolls. If they had full fabric fashion and better faces I would’ve bought them all.

Feels like a real waste they never did one based on Totally Spies,like the MCs had new outfits every episode, and had gadgets disguised as accessories

I received a Skye doll as a Christmas gift when I was a child, this is dating me right now.... My grandma's dog chewed her to pieces. All because we All forgot to get stubby a Christmas gift 😩