Mermaid Showdown

As I mentioned in my Flight of Fashion post, Mattel did another showdown in 2020, but this time it was mermaid-centric. I’m not a big fan of the mermaids because their fins are usually hard plastic that can’t come off, so I didn’t actually vote at all this time around. Adding my voice/opinion, when I likely won’t buy a doll, felt like it would have been rude to those who are actually invested and interested in the final doll.

That said, I thought the sketches showed promise and quite a bit of creativity.

These four sketches were narrowed down to two (the two on the far right).

Unfortunately, somewhere between the two chosen sketches and the prototype production, the merman had some sort of coloring malfunction. He went from a tan, dark-haired merman with golden accessories and fin to a blonde, slightly-tanned merman.

Mattel, what happened? Maybe they just wanted a matching set? I’m not sure why it happened, but here’s the result (and the two finalists):

The doll community continued to vote and, despite the drastic changes to him, he was still the clear winner:

I’m not going to lie to you, I really like this face mold. Now that I’ve seen the prototype, where the fin appears to be made of fabric and thus, removable, I’m actually leaning toward ordering him when the pre-orders are announced.  I would have preferred a darker-haired version of him, though, closer to the original sketch. Based on the forums, I know I’m not alone in this. He’s still good, don’t get me wrong, but I think he could have been great.

If 1500 preorders don’t happen, the doll won’t get beyond the prototype stage.  I’m hoping he does as I don’t personally feel there are enough Ken dolls.  Thus far, pre-orders haven’t been announced.